Delectation

by Clytemnestrasrevenge

Summary:

"May I tempt you?"

 

(AKA: that one where angel Jae just wants his sweets and Sanghyuk is more than happy to oblige.)
*Some scenes may include triggers I'm unaware of, so please read at your own discretion*

Notes:

• Inspired by Temptation by Clytemnestrasrevenge

The same universe as Temptation, but all the roles are reversed.

 

Written while listening to This

Chapter 1

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“May I tempt you”

 

Jaehwan lifted his head, looking into the startling green eyes of the beautiful man before him.

 

“No, thank you. Are you Mr. Han? I had a four o’clock appointment,” Jaehwan asked, ignoring the silver tray of sweets in the man’s hand and getting to his feet. The waiting room he had been sitting in was completely empty, he hadn’t even heard the man come in.

 

“In the flesh, you must be Jaehwan. Right this way,” the man replied, smiling a brilliant smile and gesturing the young angel towards the door. Jaehwan was sure it hadn’t been open a minute ago.

 

This Han man perfectly fit the description of the demon Jaehwan was looking for. Sanghyuk. Much taller than most human males, indigo black hair, sharp facial features and deep green eyes. The words written in his file didn’t do the demon justice, Jaehwan thought, trailing after his target. He was much bigger in person.

 

“So,” the demon said, pulling a chair out and pushing it in when Jaehwan sat, “You’re here for a talent audition?”

 

The young angel nodded. This demon cultivated gifted humans and corrupted them. He used them for his own gain, financial, emotional, Jaehwan wasn’t sure. But he knew whatever it was must be terrible. Demons always did terrible things.

 

“I’m here to sing,” Jaehwan replied, folding his hands primly in his lap and trying not to shake.

 

He had been chosen for this job because of his voice. Jaehwan may not be the strongest or most powerful angel, he skewed toward the weak side of that scale actually. But he was the best singer in heaven. Aside from Taekwoon of course, but he and the archangel where the two best. Not that it was a competition, just a fact.

 

“Sing?” the demon repeated, leaning back in his large leather chair. There was an oak desk between them, but Jaehwan would still have preferred a bit more distance.

 

“Yes, I sing in my local church choir and my pastor suggested I try professional, so now I’m here.” Jaehwan really was doing his best not to stutter or ramble, but the demons gaze was too focused on his face for his taste.

 

“Your paperwork said as much. Tell me something I don’t know.”

 

Jaehwan hesitated a beat, searching the room for something to say. He settled on the truth. “I enjoy singing more than anything else. It brings me immeasurable contentment.”

 

“Contentment?”

 

“Yes,” Jaehwan replied, nodding and accidentally meeting those emerald eyes. He hastily averted his gaze.

 

“Well then,” Sanghyuk said, folding his hands behind his head and flashing that sharp white smile, “Sing.”

 

So Jaehwan sang. He had been practicing this human hymn for weeks, wanting to make sure it was absolutely perfect. As first soloist in the heavenly choir, Jaehwan knew how much work proper singing required. The young angel needed to impress his target.

 

The demon’s jade eyes narrowed, just barely, but Jaehwan didn’t notice. He was too lost in the hymn. And by the time he finished his last note, the demon was smiling wider.

 

“Divine,” Sanghyuk murmured, smacking his lips like he had tasted something unpleasant. And no wonder, with a word of the almighty on his demonic tongue. Jaehwan smiled for the first time since he walked into this office. The demon stared at him for a moment, unwrapping one of the sweets from his little tray and popping it into his mouth. “Can you sing anything more... secular?”

 

Jaehwan hesitated again, looking down at his knees. He did... on very rare occasion when he was on the surface, sit and listen to the human music in parks or cafes. He wouldn’t eat or drink anything, obviously, just sit and listen.

 

“There is... there is one thing. But I would be better with instrumental accompaniment and I do not have one of those player things,” he replied, still staring resolutely at his knees. He needed this demon to want to collect him, and if singing a non-religious human song would achieve that then he would do it.

 

Sanghyuk pulled out one of those funny little cellphones, it looked so small in the palm of his hand. Jaehwan caught himself looking at it and focused back on his lap. “And which song would this be?” the demon asked, an unmistakable lilt in his tone.

 

“Hurry up were dreaming, the outro, by an artist called M83.”

 

The demon’s eyebrow raised almost imperceptibly. “That’s an interesting choice…” he glanced at the young angel’s paperwork with a bit too much exaggeration, “Jaehwan. I’ll find it for you, in the meantime why don’t you have a treat.”

 

“I couldn’t p-possibly,” the young angel replied, frustrated with his stutter as soon as the word left his mouth.

 

Sanghyuk glanced at him but tactfully chose not to comment. “Ready when you are.”

 

Jaehwan hastily nodded, correcting his posture and taking a breath as the music began to play.

 

He did not only sing the words, harmonizing with the instruments as well. Following the swells and dips of the music as easily as a wave cresting and breaking on the shore. Jaehwan felt content as each note left his mouth, all present and correct. No stuttering, no faltering, simply pure song.

 

“Extraordinary,” the demon murmured, cocking his head and turning off the music. Jaehwan heart began to beat a touch faster in the heat of that smile. “But if you want to be a real performer, you have to know how to carry yourself. Stand up.”

 

Jaehwan saw Sanghyuk start getting to his feet and hastily stood, but the demon was already behind him when he turned around, like he had teleported there. The young angel jumped, his hand fluttering up to his heavenly collar for a sense of reassurance.

 

“Anxious?”

 

“Of course, I am at an audition.”

 

Sanghyuk grinned, taking Jaehwan’s hand in his own and twirling the young angel around in a slow circle. Jaehwan felt himself getting warm. He was never touched, not even on the hand. Ever. It was an unfamiliar sensation.

 

“You’re certainly beautiful enough, a face like that could make me lots of money, but I have something else in mind for you little angel.”

 

Jaehwan froze. “Wh-Wh-What did you call me?” he asked, mentally cursing the sticky word as rudely as his angelic vocabulary would allow.

 

Sanghyuk laced his fingers through Jaehwan’s, pulling him a few feet into the middle of the room. “The collar really is a dead giveaway, even paired with human street clothes.”

 

Jaehwan had begun to panic. Panicking was bad for him; it twisted his tongue up in knots. “You cah-cah-can’t be s-serious,” he tried, flinching when the demons other hand came to rest on his hip.

 

“Tell me, how does a little Dove like you develop a stutter upstairs? Don’t they normally beat the flaws out of you before you can walk? Or was that just in the old days?”

 

“I only stuh-stutter when I’m neh-neh-nervous,” Jaehwan squeaked, pinching his leg to force the sticky words out.

 

“It’s actually quite endearing,” Sanghyuk replied, his thumb pressing lightly into Jaehwan’s hipbone.

 

This needed to end as quickly as possible. Words of power were always the hardest for him to get out, but the demon clearly decided to try and collect him. It was now or never.

 

“Na-na…”

 

“Shh, Dove, don’t waste your energy.”

 

Jaehwan stared down at the demon’s fingertip touching his mouth. If he had the capacity to use profanity, he would be cursing his treacherous tongue and cursing Taekwoon for thinking the young angel was strong enough to take on a Fallen.

 

“Is your name really Jaehwan? Any extra titles? Feel free to nod or shake your head if the word is too difficult.”

 

Oddly considerate for a demon. Jaehwan shook his head. He was just Jaehwan, a low-ranking angel with claim to nothing but a pleasing voice.

 

“Well, Jaehwan, my name is Sanghyuk, Prince of Greed and Duke of Hell. And I would like to keep you.”

 

“N-no!”

 

“Are you sure you’re not a cherub?” Sanghyuk asked, sliding his palm up the young angel’s torso to cup his face in a way that made Jaehwan start to squirm.

 

“No! I’m not a che-che-cherub! I am an angel and I am not tuh-touched this way!”

 

The demon cooed, running his thumb across Jaehwan’s cheekbone. “You never explained how you came by that stutter.”

 

“Individ-di-di- individuality initiative. The almighty wished their creations to have a tr-trait of their own.”

 

“Well that’s very new! How old are you?”

 

“126, please let guh-guh-go of me,” Jaehwan squeaked, pulling away and trying to force some distance between them.

 

The demon yanked him back by the hand. “They sent a child to me? Do you know how old I am?” Sanghyuk asked, a look of genuine surprise of his deceptively youthful face.

 

“Yes, you’re quh-quite old,” the young angel replied, attempting to say the word of power again and failing spectacularly.

 

“I’m over five thousand years old, Dove, you didn’t have a chance, they must have known.”

 

“The archangel Gabriel is my close friend. He ch-ch-chose me for my voice.”

 

“And what a beautiful voice it is.”

 

“Thank you,” Jaehwan said, ducking his head. How could he get out of this? He couldn’t let this demon corrupt his eternal soul, he had to get out. And he needed to get back upstairs so he could give Taekwoon a stern telling off. This had been an ill-conceived plan from the start!

 

“So, I make you nervous? You spoke perfectly fine at the beginning of your audition.”

 

Jaehwan’s anxiety, already sparking dangerously high, gave a very unwelcome spike at the amused tone in Sanghyuk’s voice. “My eternal soul was not as much in peril as it is nuh-nuh-now.”

 

“Do you know what venom is, Dove?”

 

“Yeh-yes, but I do not wish to feel it’s effects,” the young angel replied shakily, turning his face away and doing his utmost to ignore the weight of the demon’s hands on his waist.

 

“It’s very tasty, I promise.”

 

Jaehwan felt himself start to tremble. Just a little but it was enough to be noticeable.

 

“Speaking of which, have a treat. Someone as sweet looking as you should be fed delectables regularly.”

 

“No, thank you,” Jaehwan exclaimed, powerless to escape the demon dragging him back around the desk. “Indulging in sins of the f-flesh is frowned- hey!”

 

Sanghyuk sat on his leather chair and pulled the young angel onto his lap. Jaehwan had never been touched this much and it was extremely disconcerting, helped none by the demon’s arm winding around his middle.

 

“Here Dove, try this,” Sanghyuk said, unwrapping one of the candies.

 

“I am an angel; I do not eat!”

 

“Not for much longer, you won't be,” The words were spoken with a smile that gave the young angel chills. Sanghyuk lifted his thumb and pressed it to Jaehwan’s lower lip, opening his mouth and popping the candy onto Jaehwan’s tongue without giving the angel time to protest.

 

Flavors exploded across his pallet, sweet and sour like a ripe green apple. It melted in his mouth, soft spun sugar. Jaehwan blinked, overwhelmed by taste where there was usually no taste all. Where there had never been any taste before.

 

“So, here’s what I propose. You let me keep you for the rest of eternity, come home with me, sing for me, and in return I will grant your every wish. Anything your immortal heart desires, Dove, it’s yours.”

 

“I cludnt pawsbne,” Jaehwan tried. The mouthful of candy made speaking even harder for the young angel than it already was. The demon just grinned, watching Jaehwan finish chewing. He swallowed hard, harder than he had been expecting. It was so difficult not to look into those jade eyes.

 

“You couldn’t possibly? But I want you, Dove. And I always get what I want.”

 

“Please let g-g-go of me.”

 

“How did that taste?” Sanghyuk asked, entirely ignoring Jaehwan’s plea as if the young angel hadn’t spoken.

 

“V-v-very nice.”

 

“Would you like to taste something else sweet? It’s a bit different than that.”

 

Against his better judgment, the young angel nodded. Before he realized what was happening, the demon unhooked he back of his collar and hissed under his breath, tossing it to the other side of the room.

 

“Wait!” Jaehwan squeaked. He felt naked without his collar, the conspicuous lack of heaven’s influence sending his mind reeling. It was much more of a challenge to avoid meeting the demon’s gaze without it. His body started to feel uncomfortably warm, like he had one of those human fevers. This should not be happening, he needed to put his collar back on right away. Taekwoon and Hongbin would be furious if he got himself corrupted, he couldn’t let that-

 

“Close your eyes, Dove.”

 

Jaehwan did, mostly because he didn’t want to make this demon angry, but also because shutting his eyes seemed safer than meeting the demon’s emerald gaze.

 

“Open your mouth.”

 

And again, Jaehwan did. He felt something brush his lip and tentatively licked at it, craving more of that sugary candy. But this taste was different. It was almost effervescent. Mint, a hint of raspberry. Saccharine undertones. Even with his lack of experience in the flavor department, it was possibly the most delicious thing Jaehwan could imagine.

 

The tantalizing taste was taken away and he whined, a sound that had never left his mouth in the entirety of his one hundred and twenty-six-year long life. Jaehwan opened his eyes and found the demon watching him, gaze a touch darker than it had been before. The young angel was so transfixed, he didn’t notice the hint of red creeping into his field of vision.

 

“And how did that taste?”

 

Jaehwan smacked his lips, feeling a bit dizzy. “Wonderful, may I please have some more?”

 

“Of course, Dove. Anything you’d like,” Sanghyuk replied, lifting his finger and sliding it into his own mouth.

 

The young angel stared back into the demon’s jade eyes. It was venom. He had just tasted venom. Imbibed it. The red stain was growing opaquer, but Jaehwan couldn’t bring himself to care. He wanted that taste, needed more of it. The demon held his now saliva-slick index finger out and Jaehwan licked it eagerly. He understood what it was and knew what it was doing to him, but that knowledge didn’t make it any less delicious.

 

“You’re a rather indulgent angel, aren’t you Dove?”

 

“Neremmner,” Jaehwan replied, not realizing how garbled the words ‘no I’m not’ sounded. He was entirely focused on trying to suck every last drop of venom off the demon’s finger.

 

Sanghyuk laughed softly, running his palm up and down the young angel’s side. “I think you are. Not a complaint, merely an observation.”

 

Once all trace of venom was gone, Jaehwan pulled away and licked his lips. It really was the most extraordinary flavor; the young angel couldn’t think about anything else. His vision was almost entirely red, but all Jaehwan wanted was more sweet. “More, please,” he asked, waiting expectantly for the demon to let him have another taste. But Sanghyuk didn’t move.

 

“Come get some,” he replied, catching Jaehwan’s wrist when the young angel tried to simply stick his finger in the demon’s mouth.

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

The demon smiled, but still didn’t move.

 

He thought for a moment, utterly confused, until it clicked. “That’s a sin of the flesh!” Jaehwan exclaimed, watching as Sanghyuk moistened his lips with his tongue.

 

“I thought you wanted more.”

 

Jaehwan did, he did want more of that mint and raspberry taste. He wanted it so badly. The angel’s mind was swirling with confusion, momentarily losing track of what he was doing there as he stared unblinkingly at the demon’s mouth. The angel had been warned about the horrible consequences of being corrupted by a Fallen, how his wings would shrivel up and fall off, how his virtue would be forever tainted, how the clear-cut line between good and evil would blur for him. But in the back of his head, Jaehwan knew it was too late to stop. He was too far gone. And he didn’t care.

 

“You’re blushing, Dove,” Sanghyuk murmured, toying with the soft wool of Jaehwan’s white human sweater. The young angel knew he was flushed, the temperature of his boiling insides manifesting on his cheeks and the tips of his ears. He squirmed impatiently, hesitantly allowing his free hand to poke the demon’s stomach.

 

“Why do you keep calling me Dove?” he asked, attempting to distract Sanghyuk long enough to let him get more venom without having to sin.

 

“Have you looked in a mirror? Or wait, of course you wouldn’t have. Your hair is almost as fair as your skin, and your dark gold eyes and white outfit remind me of a little dove. And I assume you have white wings, so that just strengthens the resemblance.”

 

Jaehwan hummed, inching closer and shifting himself on the demon’s lap.

 

“Oh, and your stutter is gone, have you noticed?”

 

No, he hadn’t noticed actually. The angel was much too preoccupied with the faint sheen he could see glistening on Sanghyuk’s bottom lip. He leaned in even closer without making a conscious decision to do so, feeling those dark jade eyes on him as he tentatively licked at that shiny spot.

 

The flavor of the venom spread over his taste buds immediately and he sighed with relief. The demon was gracious enough to open his mouth and, choosing to be brave, Jaehwan let his tongue wander along the edge of his sharp teeth. Sanghyuk tasted so good, the sweetness didn’t seem to end no matter how far he explored. It was all so breathlessly bewitching that the angel finally gave in and surrendered to the demon’s kiss.

 

All the air that had been comfortably residing in Jaehwan’s lungs promptly vanished. He gripped the front of Sanghyuk’s dress shirt, the demon’s hand on his cheek and on his thigh not seeming all that strange anymore. Venom bloomed inside the angel, coating his tongue, his senses, his brain, when Sanghyuk licked into his mouth.

 

Jaehwan pressed himself as close to the demon as possible, delighting in the delectable flavor. And then his vision blurred entirely white and then blood red, leaving him momentarily blind. The angel pulled away enough that he could catch his breath, staring unseeingly at nothing. He didn’t know what was happening around him, he couldn’t see, but it slowly began to fade.

 

“You’re okay, Dove, trust me. You’re alright.”

 

Once it melted away completely, the angel saw things in much sharper relief. Outlines of objects he hadn’t noticed before became prominent, as if someone had traced them in magic marker. He glanced up at the demon’s face and was now able to easily pick out all the tiny blue veins hidden just under his skin. Everything was vibrant.

 

“What’s ha-ha-happening to muh-me?” Jaehwan panted, clinging to Sanghyuk for all he was worth. He wasn’t worth much now, considering how tarnished his eternal soul undoubtably was, but he still held on tight.

 

“My venom is taking effect; I know it’s a little frightening at first,” Sanghyuk replied softly, stroking Jaehwan’s cheek, rubbing his back, “Take deep breaths, Dove, don’t be scared,” the demon murmured, peering into Jaehwan’s wide eyes with something akin to genuine affection, “I'm right here, I’ll take care of you. It’s going to be so good once you’re used to it Dove, I promise.”

 

Jaehwan swallowed thickly, trying to block out the external stimuli that was now threatening to overwhelm him. “I can taste-“ he whispered, snapping his mouth shut before he finished the sentence. Jaehwan could taste things in the air around him. He certainly hadn’t been able to do that before. “You had one of th-those,” Jaehwan stuttered, letting his tongue dart out to taste the air around the other, “One of those human cigarettes, tuh-tuh-two hours ago.”

 

Sanghyuk raised his eyebrows, blinking in surprise.

 

“And there- there was someone in h-here with floral puh-perfume. Gardenia?”

 

“My secretary…” the demon replied, trailing off when Jaehwan hiccupped.

 

The new demon watched Sanghyuk’s mouth form the words, and he was struck with an urge to taste his venom again that left room for no other thought in his head. 

 

"Sweets,” Jaehwan breathed. He threw his arms around Sanghyuk’s neck with so much unexpected force that it knocked the chair they were seated in backwards onto the floor. But Jaehwan barely noticed, sitting on the demon’s chest and doing everything in his power to shove his tongue down Sanghyuk’s throat. As before, the mint and raspberry taste ignited his senses, but it was now magnified tenfold. Jaehwan lapped it up, and Sanghyuk let him do it for a few moments before gently pushing the young demon away.

 

“Easy, Dove,” he murmured, petting Jaehwan’s hair to soothe him, but Jaehwan was having none of it. He snatched at Sanghyuk’s wrists and pinned them to the floor above his head before sealing their mouths together once more.

 

Jaehwan kissed the demon hungrily, desperately, trying to taste as much venom as he possibly could. Sanghyuk’s lips were soft against his, body warm under his, but Jaehwan couldn’t pay attention to those things. Venom. Venom venom venom sweet venom that’s all he wanted. That’s all he craved. He couldn’t breathe, his heart drenched in Sanghyuk’s sweet venom. Jaehwan began to feel dizzy, woozy, muddled.

 

“That’s enough for now,” Sanghyuk said, easily extricating himself from Jaehwan’s grip and sitting up.

 

Jaehwan swayed a little, reaching for the buttons on the demon’s shirt. “What does the rest of you taste like?” he mumbled, licking Sanghyuk’s cheek. His skin was just the tiniest bit salty, yummy. Jaehwan tasted the air again. Bergamot, rosemary, lavender, cardamom… “Are you wearing cologne?” he asked, picking up on vetiver and cedar that he had missed the first time.

 

“Yes, Dior, the humans like it. But we are going to go register you before we do anything else.”

 

“But I want to taste you some more.”

 

“Later, Dove. I’d rather not give the angels an excuse to smite my new Bound.”

 

Jaehwan pouted at the grinning demon. “So, I’m your Bound now? What do I call you then?”

 

“Mm, creator, maker, master, lover, anything you’d like,” Sanghyuk hummed, lifting the young demon off him and standing up.

 

“Maker,” Jaehwan repeated, rolling the ‘R’ and using Sanghyuk’s leg to help pull himself to his feet. He latched onto his maker’s side, going on tiptoe so he could steal a bit more venom from Sanghyuk’s smiling mouth.

 

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Notes:

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 2

Summary:

Hi there, My name is Clytemnestrasrevenge and I don't know how to let stories go. It's 2am and I'm feeling self-indulgent again.

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“Jaehwan isn’t coming back from your stupid mission!” a very deep and frustrated voice exclaimed. The owner of said voice glided in Taekwoon’s office, ivory wings shifting with each smooth step.

 

“Why do you say this?” the archangel officially called Gabriel asked, turning away from the window. He had been looking down on one of his favorite human families, lots of children and even more grandchildren, all so happy together. It warmed Taekwoon’s heart. This was what the almighty intended when they created the humans. Peace and joy.

 

Hongbin scoffed, flaming sword bright at his side and a manila file folder in his hand. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the registry since he went to the surface this morning, just in case, and look what came through?”

 

He didn’t hold out the folder for Taekwoon to see, merely flipped it open and began to read aloud. “Name, Jaehwan. Age, 126. Gender identity, male. Height, 181 centimeters. Rank, Fallen. Distinguishing characteristic, acute sense of taste.” Hongbin paused, shooting the other archangel a disgruntled look. “Hair, blonde. Skin, fair. Eyes… green.”

 

Taekwoon swallowed, folding his hands behind his back as staring up at his cloudy ceiling. “It would seem that my trust in his ability was misplaced.”

 

“No, your delusions of his strength were misguided,” Hongbin snapped, shutting the folder and glaring at the elder. “You sent a child to deal with an archdemon, with no backup, simply because he has a pretty voice. This was a mistake from the beginning, he didn’t have a chance.”

 

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Downstairs… wasn’t actually all that bad!

 

Jaehwan had never been here before, but it was mostly just rich black fabric and dim lights. He and Sanghyuk were in an elevator, on their way to meet Jaehwan’s new brother and the antichrist. That fact was giving the young demon jitters. He never ever dreamed he would actually meet the Lord of the Void face to face!

 

“How are you feeling now, Dove? Is it getting easier?” Sanghyuk asked, one of his strong arms wrapped snuggly around the young demon’s shoulders.

 

“Yeah, it’s okay. I’m getting used to the tastes,” Jaehwan replied, looking up at his maker. Sanghyuk was smiling and it made the young demon smile too. His maker really was handsome, Jaehwan’s heartrate picked up a little just from the glint in his emerald eyes.

 

Jaehwan had learned about demonic bonds, all angels had. It was part of mandatory training upstairs. His teacher had described being a Bound like being a slave, not having the ability to make choices or think for one’s self. It had sounded terrible when they talked about it, but Jaehwan had decided his teachers were wrong. Being a Bound felt more like having a best friend than having a master.

 

The elevator dinged and the door slid open, Sanghyuk leading Jaehwan out into a hallway decorated in black and accented with crimson. “Now, Hakyeon can be a bit… overbearing, but don’t let that put you off. Nothing will happen to you when I’m there,” he said quietly, stopping before a wide set of scarlet double doors and knocking.

 

“Enter,” a voice called, and they did, Jaehwan staring around at the black and grey and purple room in slight amazement.

 

“Who might this be?” an astonishingly beautiful man asked, appearing in front of Jaehwan out of nowhere. He had honeyed skin and glowing red eyes, smiling like a cat that had spotted a very tasty mouse.

 

A soft growl escaped the young demon’s throat, both surprise and this man’s threatening aura setting him immediately on edge. He side-stepped, putting himself directly between Sanghyuk and the man. The urge to protect his maker was clearly deeply ingrained in his new demonic programing.

 

“Easy, Dove,” Sanghyuk murmured, hugging Jaehwan against his front, before addressing the frightening man a bit more sharply, “Back up, he’s new.”

 

“I can see he’s new, Hyoggi, and I can see he’s one of yours. But you usually aren’t one for taking Bound, was Wonshik getting boring?” the man replied, taking another step towards Jaehwan and cocking his head.

 

The young demon growled louder at the man’s proximity. He was in Jaehwan’s space, Sanghyuk’s space, and he didn’t stop growling until he heard his maker’s quiet whisper in his ear. “This is Hakyeon, Dove, Prince of Hell and Lord of the Void. He won’t hurt us.”

 

Jaehwan’s eyes widened and he shrank back, trying to make himself as small as possible. This was the antichrist! No wonder he was so scary! He let his tongue dart out, tasting the air around Hakyeon as surreptitiously as possible. Black pepper, cinnamon, artemisia. “He’s sp-sp-spicy,” the young demon muttered, eyeing the Lord of the Void with undisguised suspicion.

 

“Pardon?” Hakyeon asked, raising an eyebrow and looking from Jaehwan to Sanghyuk.

 

“He can taste things on the air, it’s his special ability. And where is my other Bound? I just assume he’s hiding somewhere?”

 

The young demon kept his eyes locked on the False Prince, not liking the way his smile widened. “Shikkie is around, probably with the hounds, but I’m very interested in this little one,” Hakyeon replied, inching further and further into Jaehwan’s space.

 

“Back off, or I will make you back off, False Prince or not,” Sanghyuk said, voice full of menace as he hugged Jaehwan a little tighter. The Lord of the Void paid him no attention at all, reaching out to stroke the young demon’s hair.

 

In a flash, Sanghyuk grabbed Hakyeon’s arm and shoved him so hard he ended up sliding across the floor on his back, laughing the entire time.

 

“You’ve never been good at sharing, Hyoggi,” the False Prince said through his giggles, earning a hiss from Jaehwan. He wasn’t a possession to be shared. 

 

“Yeah, no shit, I’m the Prince of fucking Greed!” Sanghyuk snapped, looking around and calling, “Wonshik! Come here!”

 

Another man materialized from thin air right beside them. He had cherry red hair and was a lot less threatening, but it still startled another hiss from the young demon. “Shh, Dove, this is Wonshik. He’s your new brother,” his maker murmured, all trace of his sinister tone gone.

 

Jaehwan had had just about enough of other demons, but he managed to stop hissing long enough to whisper, “S-s-sweets?”

 

He felt Sanghyuk nod rather than saw it, filled with an anxious sort of curiosity as he peered at his new brother through distrustful eyes. Jaehwan flicked his tongue, licking at the air wafting off the redhead’s skin. Sandalwood and ambergris and… something aromatic. It put the young demon in mind of a forest trail. Cool blue sky. “Earthy,” he mumbled, gaze locked on the newcomer as he licked kittenishly at the finger his maker was holding in front of his mouth.

 

Sweet raspberry, sweet mint. Delightful effervescence that sent his heightened senses buzzing. Jaehwan all but purred.  

 

“Good boy,” Sanghyuk murmured, the angular plane of his cheek resting against Jaehwan’s temple. “This is Jaehwan. Why don’t you introduce yourself, Shik?”

 

The redhead startled, looking back at Jaehwan a bit warily. “Hi,” he said, voice baritone, velvet smooth, “I’m Wonshik, Prince of Envy, Duke of Hell.”

 

Wonshik. His brother was named Wonshik. His brother spoke in a way that put Jaehwan in mind of Hongbin. His best friend who would no doubt despise him now, would look upon him with shame and disgust.

 

“Hah-hah-how old are yuh-you?” Jaehwan asked, pinching the soft part of his arm to force out the sticky words. All traces of delicious venom were gone, to the young demon’s chagrin, so he began nibbling on the tip of his makers finger instead. Salty. Smoke.

 

“Three thousand and seventy-four,” his brother replied, gracing him with an easy grin. It lessened Jaehwan’s nerves, lulled him. “How old are you?”

 

“One hundred and twenty-six.”

 

His brothers’ eyes widened just the slightest bit. “You corrupted a baby?” he asked, gaze flicking up to Sanghyuk.

 

“I know, the young ones are usually so insufferable. But look at him, he’s so cute and he sings like magic, how could I not?”

 

Something twinged beneath Jaehwan’s ribs. Something ugly. They were talking to each other, talking over him, talking around him. The False Prince was talking too, now siting cross legged on the floor where Sanghyuk had thrown him and petting an enormous black dog. They weren’t paying attention to him, weren’t even looking at him, and all the sweet was gone now and he wanted it. Wanted sweets and wanted attention. That want called to him from somewhere deep in his mind. Something-

 

“Do you have ve-venom, new brother?” Jaehwan asked, trying to think of a way to kill two birds with one stone. Wonshik glanced at him, emerald eyes intent as he nodded. Sanghyuk and the False Prince were still talking to one another but at least someone was paying attention to him.

 

Jaehwan nipped his maker a little and moved, slowly, hesitantly, in his brother’s direction. That red hair was so beautiful, strands glimmering in the light from the alchemical bulbs overhead. Jaehwan would quite like to have red hair, he thought, slinking a bit closer. And muscles, he wanted muscles like his brother, not these pipe cleaners he called arms. It wasn’t fair.

 

“Can I have sweets please?” he asked, breathing in a lung full of that earthy taste. Jaehwan had to look up, physically tilt his chin up to meet Wonshik’s gaze. He was almost as tall as Sanghyuk. Jaehwan wanted to be as tall as them, he thought peevishly, that ugly thing beneath his ribs pulsing more incessantly. His brother nodded again, his finger slipping into his own mouth.

 

Wonshik’s venom was different. Not as delicious as Sanghyuk, Jaehwan thought, humming as he sucked on the digit resting on his tongue. It was still tasty though, like rose petals and white chocolate.

 

“Aww, look how adorable! They’re getting along!” Hakyeon cooed from his spot on the floor. He clapped excitedly, Jaehwan’s irritation lessening a bit. He had more attention, and he had sweets, it was a good start.

 

“Yes, yes, brotherly love and brotherly bond, absolutely precious. Now, as I was saying...”

 

Sanghyuk’s words slid out of focus. His maker still wasn’t paying attention! Was Hakyeon more interesting than him?! Sure, he was the Lord of the Void, but still! Jaehwan was Sanghyuk’s Bound now! The young demon was so suddenly and so violently flooded with jealousy that he didn’t even notice-

 

“Wah awe you do-ngh?” Jaehwan asked, going a little cross eyed as he tried to look down. His brothers’ finger was deeper in his mouth, and then less, and then more, and then less, that tasty sweetness almost gone.

 

“Shh,” his brother said, flashing that easy grin. Jaehwan didn’t know what exactly to do. He grumbled a little as his treat was taken away, pouting, but very happily opened his mouth when presented with two more venom-slick fingers. Sweetness bloomed, somewhat assuaging the ugly thing burning in his chest, if only a little.

 

Jaehwan wanted a nose like that, he thought, staring at Wonshik as he pressed down on the young demon’s tongue, fingers sliding easily in and out of Jaehwan’s mouth. Jaehwan wanted to have venom of his own! Why could everyone else have it but not him?! His brother was so lucky, he was so perfect with his muscles and hair and sharp jaw. Jaehwan’s eyes narrowed, tasting more rose and chocolate as his brothers’ fingers pushed further between his lips.

 

He wanted all of that. Wanted to be Wonshik, wanted to see through his eyes. Live inside his skin so he could be just as perfect. Not so lacking, not so small and scrawny and venom-less, it wasn’t fair!

 

Jaehwan gagged a little, his jaw starting to ache from being held open and staring at Wonshik’s lower lip, caught between his teeth. It was perfect, not to thin and not too thick, and the young demon wanted his own lips to be shaped like-

 

“Turn your mojo down, both of you. That’s enough brotherly love for today,” Sanghyuk's voice snapped, giant hand closing around Jaehwan’s wrist and tugging him backwards. That effectively broke whatever spell had fallen over them, Jaehwan shaking his head to try and clear it, Wonshik wiping his fingers on the hem of his shirt.

 

“Lucifer! That was starting to make even me envious!” Hakyeon exclaimed, eyeing Wonshik before turning his scarlet gaze on Jaehwan. The young demon shrank away, hiding himself against his makers chest as best he could. “But you… what were you doing, little one?”

 

“I genuinely don’t know what just happened,” his brother mumbled, blinking very fast.

 

“You,” Sanghyuk replied, pointing an accusing finger at Wonshik, “Spiked your energy up to eleven, my dear Prince of Envy. And you,” he continued, stroking Jaehwan’s hair, “Were egging him on. I don’t know how exactly you were doing that Dove, but what ever your gift is, it is extremely strong.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 3

Summary:

Welcome back to the circus of madness!
I may have thought of a bigger plot for this...........

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“Come with me, little Dove. This way.”

 

Jaehwan held tight to his makers hands, letting himself be pulled from room to room of a lavish, contemporary home. The furniture in Sanghyuks apartment was similar to that of Jaehwans room in heaven, although it was all black. Elegant as opposed to basic. 

 

“Your house is very... aromatic,” the young demon murmured. He let his tongue dart out to taste the air. Pine and... “Alcohol? But not the drinking kind?”

 

His maker hummed, stopping when they reached a bedroom with a wide, low mattress. Black comforter and silver pillows. Lots of pillows. If there were other things in the room, Jaehwan didn’t notice, too busy catapulting himself into the center of the bed. “I like a clean house,” his maker replied, smiling affectionately as he watched Jaehwan roll around. 

 

Jaehwan smacked his lips, the pillows tasted like clean cotton and underneath... “Sweets please!”  

 

“In a moment, Dove. I’d like you to try something for me first.” There was a gleam in his makers eyes, piquing Jaehwan's interest immediately. He sat up, waiting expectantly as his maker came to sit on the edge of the bed. “Did you understand what I meant when I said you needed to turn your mojo down?”

 

“Not really,” the young demon hummed, crawling over and plopping down on Sanghyuk's lap. He leaned in to lick at his makers mouth but Sanghyuk easily held him back. 

 

“Close your eyes, Dove.”

 

Jaehwan closed his eyes.

 

“Now, think about how much you want sweets, focus on that sense of want.”

 

Jaehwan focused hard. Sanghyuk's thighs were firm beneath him and that only increased the young demons ‘sense of want’. He wanted his maker so badly, wanted to taste his yummy venom, wanted to taste his skin, wanted to rub himself against Sanghyuk like a cat and swallow down the warmth from his body.

 

A sweep of soft fingertips on the nape of his neck brought Jaehwan back to himself. Maybe he wasn’t focusing very hard after all. Want. His sense of want. Jaehwan let his hands wander innocently up his maker’s sides, pretending it was an unconscious movement, pretending that he was being thoughtful and not just looking for any excuse to touch Sanghyuk that he could find.  

 

“Interesting.”

 

“What’s interesting?” Jaehwan asked, nibbling on his bottom lip. That need was coming back in full force now that he was thinking about it. Need for venom. He craved it, yearned for it, was getting impatient for it.

 

“I can feel it,” Sanghyuk replied, “You’re making me hungry.”

 

Jaehwan opened his eyes and peered into his makers green ones. Such a pretty shade of emerald. “I’m hungry too.”

 

He leaned in for a kiss, but his maker returned it with closed lips. Frustrating...

 

Jaehwan cupped his cheeks, trying to pry Sanghyuk’s mouth open with sheer force of will but his maker didn’t relent. “Sweets please.”

 

“Not yet,” Sanghyuk replied, leaning back and dodging Jaehwans fingers. He’d had to open his mouth to talk and Jaehwan was quick, but his maker was quicker. Jaehwan whined at a volume he considered unnecessarily loud, but maybe if he irritated his maker enough, Sanghyuk would give in. 

 

Sanghyuk jostled him a little, the heat between their bodies and hunger roiling in Jaehwan’s stomach nearing the border of unbearable.

 

“What was it you said I could call you? Creator... maker... lover... master? Do you want me to call you master?” Jaehwan grinned. Sanghyuk wasn’t his master, but from his lessons, Jaehwan knew that demons liked that sort of thing. Liked being made to feel powerful and in control. And by the tightening of his muscles beneath Jaehwan’s hands, the young demon guessed he’d found a good new tactic.

 

He pressed up against Sanghyuk’s front and licked at his cheek. That same smokey saltiness as the tips of his fingers. And something else. This new something was a smell though, not a taste, Jaehwan realized. He was starting to have trouble sorting out which sensation went with which sense. Oregano maybe? 

 

“Do you want to call me that?”

 

“Yes master,” Jaehwan sighed, burying his face in the crook of Sanghyuk’s neck. The smell was stronger there, hotter as well. Under the metallic tang of cologne, Jaehwan could inhale the individual particles that made up his maker’s scent. Bergamot and rosemary, a bit of vetiver, the smallest hint of lemon. And this new thing. Spicy and appetising and tantalizing and Jaehwan wanted to drink the air. Drink it down and absorb it into his pores and roll around in it until it coated his entire being. 

 

The scent was making him almost lightheaded.

 

The tune of their breathing in the silent room was starting to fog up Jaehwan’s hearing. He wanted to listen to something else. Wanted Sanghyuk to talk to him, listen to that delicious voice calling him pretty things. Calling him Dove. Jaehwan put his hands on his makers shoulders and shoved him backwards. Scooting up and sitting on his stomach, pinning him to the bed. Sanghyuk, annoyingly, didn’t seem fazed. 

 

“This white, hm... you can’t wear this white anymore, Dove, it’s not allowed.”

 

“Such a luh-law abiding citizen. I wonder why they s-sent me after you...”

 

“Unimportant, Dove.”

 

Jaehwan squinted at his maker for another moment, trying to think of what he could do. How he could get Sanghyuk to give him venom... he couldn’t focus anymore. Couldn’t think straight, or sideways for that matter. Couldn't think at all, just venom, venom, venomvenomvenom...

 

“Why did your stutter come back?” Sanghyuk asked, hands circling Jaehwans waist in a grip that was much too slack.

 

“Duh-d-don’t know,” the young demon replied quietly. How could he- oh.

 

Sanghyuk could feel his hunger if Jaehwan wanted him too. Jaehwan just needed to turn his mojo, or whatever it was actually called, back on. The young demon felt around inside himself, trying to find the source of his craving. It only took a few seconds at most. The hunger was a burning core of flame in the center of his chest and Jaehwan poked it, prodded it, trying to stoke the fire. Make it burn brighter. Send it outwards- 

 

His makers grip on him tightened considerably, fingers digging into Jaehwan’s sides. “Stop it.”

 

“Stop what, m-master?” Jaehwan hummed, running his hands through Sanghyuk’s dark hair. The movement dislodged another smell, eucalyptus, and the young demon leaned down to press his nose against his maker’s temple. It smelled delicious. 

 

“Turn your mojo down.”

 

“I’m not duh-doing anyth-theh-thing.”

 

Jaehwan felt a muscle twitch in Sanghyuks jaw but he continued to push his craving outwards. It was working, he knew it. Could smell it. Taste it on the air. There had to be something else he could do, Sanghyuk was still keeping his mouth shut infuriatingly tight and-

 

With a huff of annoyance Jaehwan sat up straight. He pushed his makers hands away and scooted off him, then off the bed, backing up until he stood against the wall. The space between them, lack of warmth, only served to make his craving stronger but he stopped himself from moving. Didn’t let himself run back to the bed. He needed Sanghyuk to come to him. 

 

“Why d-did they seh-send me to you?” the young demon asked, stalling for time and trying to keep his energy inside. Letting it build up. 

 

Sanghyuk heaved a breath, face smoothing over, the tight line of his mouth relaxing. Good. He thought Jaehwan had stopped. “You said you were friends with the archangel? Taekwoon?” he asked, slowly getting up and stretching his arms above his head. Jaehwan nodded. “Well, I stole something from him.”

 

The craving was sloshing around inside his chest like water in the bottom of a boat but Jaehwan held it in. “What did yuh-you s-t-teal?”

 

“His sword.”

 

Jaehwan gasped, almost losing control of his hunger but managing to hold on to it. “His sword?! B-but you can’t touch it! You’d die! Like, really die!” 

 

With a flourish, Sanghyuk snapped his fingers, and a sword appeared in his hand. It- it looked like Taekwoons, sort of, the scroll and open eye were engraved on the hilt, making it as his. But where it used to be gold, it was now a silver so dark it was almost smoke, the holy fire licking the blade now black instead of white. “I turned it infernal, and he isn’t too pleased as I’m sure you can imagine.”

 

“I imagine not...” Jaehwan replied, watching his maker cut the air a few times before the sword vanished. Now he could understand why Taekwoon had sacrificed him. He didn’t like it, but the corruption of a divine relic was not something to be taken lightly. 

 

Satisfied that his maker was lulled into distraction, Jaehwan exhaled a breath, releasing control of his energy and letting it spill out of him. The relief sent him shaking, knees noticeably weak, but the effect it had on his maker was more dramatic. Sanghyuks whole body went rigid, the emerald in his irises flecking silver they were so bright. His head snapped up in Jaehwans direction, eyes so focused they were almost menacing. Jaehwan caught his breath.

 

“Dove,” he whispered, apparently rooted to the spot. 

 

“Sw-sweets please, master.”

 

Faster than sin, Sanghyuk had crossed the room and caught Jaehwan’s face in his large hands, sealing their mouths together. The young demon went limp. Sweet raspberry, sweet mint. Venom. The tiny monsters in his brain stopped screaming, Sanghyuk’s venom running through him like tendrils of electricity. He licked into his makers mouth, gasping, panting, getting as much delicious relief as he could. 

 

“Lucifer, you have to stop that,” Sanghyuk hissed, forming the words against Jaehwan’s lips. But the young demon didn’t stop. The taste was blinding him. “Every resident... of hell... can probably... feel that.”

 

“So wh-what?” Jaehwan breathed, tugging at his makers shirt with frantic fingers. He wanted to feel his makers skin. Absorb more of his warmth. “You have wards, d-don’t you?”

 

His makers mouth had moved downward, hot against his neck, teeth scraping flesh. ”That’s not the point... and my wards don’t... keep out... everyone-"

 

A whole new feeling surged through Jaehwans insides and he managed to turn his head, just a little. Cherry red hair and deep jade eyes... Sanghyuk nipped at his throat. “Not now, Shik.”

 

“Saints below! Is that him doing that?” the other demon asked, stepping slowly into the room. Jaehwan could see how dilated his pupils were.

 

“Go away... don’t make me order you,” Sanghyuk snapped, nosing at the underside of Jaehwans jaw. 

 

Attention... Sanghyuk was distracted. Jaehwan didn’t have his full attention anymore. His heart flared black with jealousy as he dialed up his own energy, harder, stronger, so it would be impossible for his maker to ignore. He heard both demons sharply inhale. 

 

“Stop it, both of you,” Sanghyuk growled, but Jaehwan couldn’t. His hunger had seemingly taken on a life of its own, or a mind of its own, or- Jaehwan couldn’t think of the expression. Not when his makers mouth was working wonders on his throat. He remembered a bit from lessons about human breeding. The ones he used to find so earth-shatteringly boring. Maybe that information could be of use to him now.

 

“How is he so strong already?” Wonshik asked from by the door, Sanghyuk hissing as Jaehwan palmed his crotch through the front of his slacks. 

 

“Stop talking, guh-go away,” Jaehwan snarled, throwing his new brother a furious glare. He was just being distracting and Jaehwan wanted him to leave. Didn’t want anything taking his makers focus off him, not a drop of his attention to waver.

 

Sanghyuk pressed him against the wall with a growl. “I’m going to lock you both... in the deepest fucking circle of the void.”

 

Desperate now, Jaehwan began flicking the buttons on Sanghyuks shirt open. His fingers stumbled, movements jerky, interrupted by his maker dragging the sweater off over his head. Jaehwan had never been this bare in front of another person before, let alone two, but for some reason he didn’t care. New demonic brain, probably. 

 

His maker was hard, Jaehwan could feel it, pressed against his thigh. He wanted to feel that hardness in his hand, in his mouth. Taste it- Sanghyuk pulled him away from the wall and back to the bed, Jaehwan tripping over his own feet in his haste to follow. “Don’t look at him, he just likes to watch.”

 

Jaehwan did look though, stared at the shiny spot of saliva on Wonshiks lip. Venom. He’d done that on purpose. The young demon tore his eyes away as his maker shoved him down onto the bed, crawling on top of him. Hands on his midriff. Teeth on his earlobe. Breath burning his skin. There were too many smells in the room now, his brother’s sandalwood mixing with his maker’s spice. It was too overwhelming, too distracting. 

 

“Go away,” he grit out, feeling rather than hearing the fabric of his pants rip. Venomvenomvenom...

 

Jaehwan tangled his hands in his makers hair and found his mouth, tasting raspberry and mint and trying to breathe through his nose. Getting high off all the intoxicating aromas floating around the dimly lit room. The young demon whined as he felt the comforting press of denim vanish from his lower half. He felt the mattress by his head dip, Sanghyuk pulling away from him and prying his thighs apart. 

 

“Do you want this, little Dove? Because your behavior is telling me you do,” Sanghyuk murmured, lifting one of Jaehwans legs and pressing a kiss to the inside of his ankle. Jaehwan nodded furiously. He didn’t even know what exactly it was that he wanted, he just wanted Sanghyuk to envelope him completely and-

 

Sanghyuk reached over Jaehwans head and there was a slapping noise. “He’s mine, don’t even think about it,” he hissed, Wonshik laughing quietly in response. “No touching, none, do you understand?”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Mine. I don’t share, you know that.”

 

Wonshik chuckled some more, that infuriatingly rich laugh that Jaehwan now envied so deeply. He wanted to tear out his new brothers voice box and swallow it so he could sound like that, wanted to sound baritone instead of his own boring tenor- 

 

Sanghyuk was glaring over his head, still nipping at Jaehwans ankle but not in a deliberate way. More just because it was there. That awful jealousy surged up in him, souring his stomach, even as a hand caressed his temple. 

 

“I will break your fucking wrist,” his maker snarled, squeezing Jaehwan's foot uncomfortably tight. 

 

“It’ll just heal.”

 

“Stop looking at him!” Jaehwan squeaked, his own energy expanding to counter Wonshiks.

 

His new brother laughed again, even as his breath hitched. “Sibling rivalry is fun, I’ve always wanted one.”

 

“I knew this was a mistake,” Sanghyuk groaned, even as he pulled Jaehwan further down the mattress. Jaehwan couldn’t help feeling wounded by those words. He pawed at his makers bare stomach and let his tongue dart out. Tasting the air. Making sure that hungry smell was still there.

 

“I think you hurt his feelings.”

 

“Oh,” the young demon gasped, the jealous anger pulsing in his heart simmering down as Sanghyuks thumb brushed the head of his cock. An appendage he hadn’t ever paid much attention too before, something Jaehwan now realized had been a mistake. Pleasure and anticipation tightening inside him out of nowhere. 

 

“Don’t move, Dove, I don’t want to hurt you.” His makers voice soothed Jaehwan enough that he could almost ignore the fingers brushing back and forth on the shell of his ear. “Ready Dove?”

 

A wave of nerves hit the young demon too suddenly for him to control. He felt too exposed, too open, wanted to grab the comforter and cover himself up to his nose and just hide. He watched through wide eyes as his maker leaned down to kiss him, the venom taking the edge of Jaehwans anxiety for the briefest of moments. 

 

It all rushed back when Sanghyuk pushed inside him. A moan escaped, clawing up Jaehwans throat. He didn’t know if it felt good or bad but he arched off the bed regardless. 

 

Oh and that hunger was back as well, a living thing screaming in his head, and Sanghyuk groaned into the young demons open mouth. Jaehwan was completely lit up inside, pinpricks of blinding fire so bright they should be piercing through his skin. 

 

“Well, we know he likes that...”

 

Sanghyuk reached out and smacked Wonshik with the back of his hand. “Are you ready for more, Dove?”

 

“More?!” Jaehwan squeaked, unable to comprehend how more was possible with all this already happening. He squirmed a little in Sanghyuks grip. “You’re going to ruh-ruh-rip me in half!”

 

His maker smiled down at him and Jaehwan noted the glazed look in his glassy green eyes. “Just a little more.”

 

It was with great hesitancy that Jaehwan nodded. He hadn’t realized his body could feel this full or this warm. Hot, even. And when Sanghyuk rolled his hips, no matter how slowly or gently he did so, Jaehwan still felt tears prick in his eyes. They didn’t come, angels didn’t cry and neither could demons, apparently, but he felt himself sob anyway. Dry sobs that wrenched themselves from the furthest depths of his being. 

 

This didn’t feel bad, it didn’t hurt, really, it felt strangely good. But it was a lot of good. Too much good. So much good that it blocked out the distracting stimuli floating around in the air. He couldn’t smell anything. Could only feel. Just Sanghyuk’s soft skin against his own, that aching hardness inside him. 

 

His makers face was hidden in the crook of his neck, sucking gently at his throat, a large hand wrapped around the back of Jaehwans thigh and Jaehwan blinked up at the ceiling. He was having sex. Actually having sex with someone, the worst sin of the flesh in the books and he tried to get it into his head that it was genuinely happening but he couldn’t. There was some sort of disconnect. He had gone from being an angel to being a demon, gone from being free (or relatively free, since all the rules angels had to follow could start to feel like shackles after a while they were so strict) to being bound to another person, it was so much change in so little time that-

 

Something tapped Jaehwans bottom lip and he automatically opened his mouth. An entirely instinctual reaction. Rose petals and white chocolate burst on the tip of his tongue and the young demon positively purred with satisfaction. Venom. Not as good as his makers but still enough to help him relax. 

 

“Such a good boy, little Dove, it’s not so- what the fuck did I say about touching?!” Sanghyuk asked, lifting his head to look at Jaehwan. His voice had started out tender and immediately switched to harshness when he noticed that the young demon was nibbling on Wonshiks finger.

 

“He was starting to panic, I’m being helpful.”

 

Abruptly, Sanghyuk pulled away from him and the emptiness he left behind sent Jaehwan sobbing again. He wanted that full feeling back, wanted more of it, as much as he could get, and not knowing what else to do, Jaehwan jacked up his energy in hopes it would lure his maker back to him.

 

It seemed to have worked because Sanghyuk’s hands were on him again, lifting Jaehwan up and turning him around. He could feel his makers chest against his back, an arm around his middle and a hand on his throat but applying no pressure. Jaehwan mewled quietly as Sanghyuk thrust into him again, the sound sticking before it fully reached his mouth. He let himself go pliant, let Sanghyuk hold him up in that kneeling position, pleasure pooling in his stomach and hatred tangling up his brain. 

 

He was staring at Wonshik, it would be pretty much impossible not too what with him sitting cross legged on the bed roughly three feet away. Prefect, gorgeous Wonshik, with his perfect red hair and perfect caramel skin and perfect green eyes and perfect voice and Jaehwan absolutely hated him for it. He was so jealous it almost made him physically sick. 

 

“I wanna cut you open... and wear you like a suit,” Jaehwan panted, glowering at Wonshik even as he moaned. He had no clue what made him say that out loud, maybe whatever Sanghyuk was doing to him had loosened the young demon’s tongue. There was so much pressure, so much pleasure every time his maker thrust into him and then pulled back out. Jaehwan had never felt so many things in his entire life. 

 

“That's normal. It's how most people feel about me,” Wonshik replied, a smirk on that indecently handsome face, and Jaehwan wished he could punch him. He’d never wanted to punch anyone or anything before. More demon stuff, he guessed. Violent impulses. Jaehwan was also discovering that he didn’t mind being watched in that position. He thought he should mind, sex was supposed to be an intimate thing only shared by two people who loved each other. Or thats what his angel teacher had told his class, but really, what did angels know about sex? Nothing. 

 

The young demon turned his head trying to find Sanghyuk’s mouth. “Sweets,” he murmured, giggling with delight when his maker indulged him, licking at the corner of his mouth. Raspberry... mint... Jaehwan experimentally rocked back to meet Sanghyuks thrust and almost collapsed from the sensation that jolted through his body. It left him tingling from his tips of his toes to the top of his head.

 

He tried again, the same explosion of euphoria igniting every particle of his being. He swore black, enjoying his new cursing ability and seeking Sanghyuk’s mouth once more. Jaehwan kissed his maker hard. Savoring the sweetness dancing on his tongue. An idea struck him. 

 

“Come here... Wonshik,” he breathed, sinking back on Sanghyuk’s length and hoping he could get his maker to moan. It worked beautifully.

 

The other demon scooted over so he knelt in front of Jaehwan. Still able to look down at him. The list of traits Jaehwan hated now included his height. “How can I help you?”

 

Jaehwan kissed his maker one more time, making sure the inside of his own mouth was completely coated with venom before he yanked Wonshik over. Hoping the taste would last long enough that they would mix- oh they did mix. Rose petal and raspberry, white chocolate and mint. If heaven had a taste, that was what it tasted like. Or maybe hell. That was what hell tasted like. 

 

“When I’m done fucking him, I’m going to kill you,” Sanghyuk hissed, gripping tight to Jaehwan’s hips and biting gently at the nape of his neck. Jaehwan felt Wonshik smile against his mouth.

 

“No you won’t... you love me... and he started it,” he replied, words broken up between kisses. 

 

The combined flavors began overwhelming Jaehwan’s sensorium. He could smell everything again, a fact that helped matters none, and the press of Sanghyuk’s cock inside him started to feel like too much. He only had time to exhale the word, “Master...” before all the heat in the pit of his stomach spilled from him. Black stars burned behind his eyelids, breath gone, ringing in his ears. 

 

After Sanghyuk had very kindly magicked away the weird white stuff from his stomach, Jaehwan felt more tired than he’d ever felt in his entire life. He was warm and content, sated, no longer feeling the need to send his hunger outward. It had settled down like a dog curled up in front of a lit fireplace. 

 

“I told you you wouldn’t kill me,” Wonshik said quietly, letting Jaehwan lick a little venom off his finger. The young demon was cuddled up under the covers with his maker, half dozing and half awake.

 

"I'm still tempted. And I'm never taking another Bound again. The thought of what you two would do to the poor creature if you worked together... it'd be a bloodbath."

 

Wonshik snickered. “Anyway, I know what his name is.”

 

“I’ve guessed as well,” Sanghyuk replied.

 

Jaehwan blinked an eye open, tucking himself more securely between his maker arms and giving Wonshiks finger what he hoped would be a painful nip. “Mine? My name is Jaehwan, remember?”

 

“Not that, little Dove. Your name.”

 

Every archangel and Fallen had a name. Not a name for themselves, they had those already, but when they came into their full power, the almighty would bestow the gift of a formal title upon them. A name for who they truly were. Jaehwan, being an unremarkable angel of relatively low rank, had never expected to be granted a name. 

 

“What is it?” he asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know. 

 

Wonshik smiled. “Prince of Gluttony.”

 

“But gluttony isn’t a very pretty word, is it?” Sanghyuk murmured, pressing a kiss to Jaehwan’s cheek, “I think your true name would be the Prince of Indulgence.” 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Chapter 4

Notes:

Alright y'all, here it is:

So I've made a plot. It's a big, complicated, ridiculous plot that has a lot of moving parts, but it *is* still a plot. My current outline has 12 chapters, but we all know that I suck at following my own rules, so there may be more than that. Hang in there with me <3

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Jaehwan woke with a start, the dark surroundings almost frighteningly unfamiliar. It took him a moment to remember where he was. What had happened. He’d fallen from grace and was in his makers home. Snug in his makers bed, comfortable between the cool cotton sheets. He blinked for several seconds before he realized what had woken him.

 

A small, shuddering breath beside him and Jaehwan looked around. Sanghyuk was lying on his stomach, hugging one of the numerous pillows, something dampening the fabric. Tears? His maker could cry? And the tears were a translucent, glittering gold?

 

“Sanghyuk? Sanghyukkie, wake up,” Jaehwan said, coming out of his surprise. He gently shook his makers shoulders, trying to rouse him.

 

Sanghyuk made the noise once more. A sob, Jaehwan realized, and he shook Sanghyuk again. It didn’t work.  

 

He gave up on the shaking, petting Sanghyuk’s hair instead. Jaehwan could smell it now, acrid fear. Like lime juice sizzling on on an open flame. He needed to wake his maker, save him from whatever was making him so scared. 

 

“Sanghyuk,” Jaehwan repeated, louder this time. He put his mouth right beside his makers ear, fingers tangled in his makers inky hair, pressing kisses to his makers temples. A thin sheen of sweat had dampened Sanghyuks porcelain skin, but Jaehwan didn’t care. 

 

The young demon was starting to feel frantic, the sight of his makers tears kindling a sickening fire in his belly. 

 

“Sanghyukkie?!”

 

Sanghyuk's eyes flew open and he gasped. Trying to suck in air like he’d been on the edge of suffocation. He blinked up at Jaehwan for three, four heartbeats, broken glass glinting in his eyes, before grabbing the young demon around the middle and dragging him into a hug. 

 

“Love, you’re alive!” It was more of a whisper than an exclamation, but Sanghyuk's voice broke all the same. 

 

Jaehwan started slightly but relaxed into the embrace almost at once. He looked down at the top of his makers head, continuing to pet his hair. But the nerves hadn’t gone away. Sanghyuk was crying against Jaehwan’s chest now, like he was trying to listen to the young demons heartbeat. 

 

“What’s the matter?! Were you having a bad dream? You smell so scared,” Jaehwan murmured, his own fear ratcheting higher as his maker lifted his head. The gold streaking his death-pale face struck a chord somewhere in Jaehwan. It wasn’t right. Jaehwan didn’t know what exactly it was, but something was wrong. 

 

Sanghyuk stared back at him, body entirely rigid, until the warmth of him was abruptly gone. Scrambling back across the bed so fast that Jaehwan didn’t have time to react. Eyes glowing with a sinister ruby glint and feathered black wings spreading out from his his shoulder blades. Sanghyuk's nails grew, sharpening almost imperceptibly, and he dug them into his forearm. 

 

Red flared in Jaehwan's vision, his own forearm burning with phantom pain and he hissed under his breath. Could he feel when his maker was hurt? All the lessons about the demonic bond had flown right out of his head. Wonshik was in the room before Jaehwan even smelled him coming. 

 

“Oh, Hyukah,” Wonshik breathed, hurrying to their maker's side and kneeling slowly beside him. Sanghyuk fell into his waiting arms, allowing Wonshik to hold him and murmur to him and wipe the golden tears from his face. 

 

Jaehwan looked on in confusion and slight envy. He didn’t think his brother was turning up his mojo, no, this jealousy was something Jaehwan had created within himself. Was he not comforting enough? It was true, Wonshik had been Sanghyuks Bound for longer, but Wonshik hadn’t been the one to sleep at Sanghyuks side. In Sanghyuks bed. 

 

Without meaning too, Jaehwan spiked his own energy. Just a little. Just to try and get Sanghyuk to notice that he was still in the room. But his maker continued to cry. 

 

“Stop that and give him some space,” Wonshik snapped, shooting Jaehwan a glare so icy that the young demon instinctively shrank away. Jaehwan wanted to snap back, wanted to argue, but he was so undone by the image of his strong and unyielding maker huddled sobbing on the bed like a human child that Jaehwan flitted away instead. 

 

He employed his new demonic speed and left Sanghyuk's bedroom through the nearest unlocked door. With the sound of his makers shuddering breaths still echoing inside his skull, Jaehwan looked around. He found himself in a hallway, whether it was the one his maker had shown him last night or an entirely new one, Jaehwan didn’t know. Everything in Sanghyuks apartment was dark. Minimalist. 

 

Jaehwan let his eyes sweep the hallway, trying to pinpoint any identifying features, but there were none. So, he walked. Slow, measured steps as though he’d entered the den of a sleeping monster. He walked and walked and walked until he reached what looked to be a parlor. The ceilings of the apartment loomed higher, sharp angles of the furniture casting longer shadows on the walls now that he was alone. 

 

The alchemical bulbs floating around the ceiling burbled to life with a series of soft pops, reacting to the currents of energy radiating from his own body, no doubt. They cast the parlor in a dim glow and Jaehwan realized it wasn’t a parlor at all, but rather a study. 

 

Unlike the other rooms Jaehwan had seen, this room actually contained artwork. There was a desk, a varnished slab of black wood which Jaehwan surreptitiously sniffed at. Oak. And a high backed chair that both smelled and looked like leather, as well as two smaller chairs of the same material. But the art...

 

It was a painting, Jaehwan guessed, not having much personal experience in the art department. No form of art was allowed in heaven, but he’d seen a piece here and there on his brief excursions to the surface. And he could smell... lacquer? Titanium and resin and... linseed oil? 

 

Jaehwan stepped lightly around the desk to inspect the picture more closely. It was neither large nor small, a two-foot by three-foot rectangle, if the young demon had to guess its dimensions. A woman looked back at him, painted in shades of green and brown and possibly cream. Maybe a little red as well, like burnt ochre. She wasn't a very pretty woman, but she had quite a mysterious smile. Just a little quirk at the corners of her mouth. And her eyes seemed to follow Jaehwan as he moved. How strange. 

 

A memory tugged at the back of Jaehwans mind. Something about a priceless human relic that was stolen from the Louvre museum some time around 1911 AD. A painting of a woman with strange eyes and a unique smile. This could be that relic, but Jaehwan didn’t have a clear memory of what the painting actually looked like, so he couldn’t be sure. 

 

Quiet tapping had started inside Jaehwan’s head. So quiet he almost didn’t notice it. But then, his skin began to prickle and the tapping got louder. What could this new phenomenon be, he wondered, retracing his steps back toward his makers bedroom. He would ask Sanghyuk. He was going back to ask Sanghyuk, but also to make sure that Sanghyuk was still there, still breathing and whole. Make sure that he hadn’t abandoned Jaehwan to lose himself in the labyrinthine apartment for the rest of eternity. And, Jaehwan was going there to get a taste of his venom. But that was secondary.

 

“Sanghyuk? Can I come in?” he called, knocking quietly on his maker’s bedroom door. 

 

“Of course.”

 

The voice that responded was definitely Sanghyuk’s, but it lacked all trace of the sadness and fear he’d exhibited upon waking. That was a good thing, the young demon thought as he crossed the threshold. A happy maker meant a happy Jaehwan. 

 

Now that they were in the same room, the tapping in Jaehwan’s head had completely died away. His skin had stopped itching as well. That was odd, but Jaehwan didn’t have much time to consider the matter. Sanghyuk drew the entirety of his attention at once. Standing on the opposite side of the room, fully dressed, face clean of tears. And no Wonshik in sight. 

 

“Wonshik told me to go away...” the young demon said lamely, fidgeting in place.

 

The corner of Sanghyuk’s mouth quirked up in something that was almost a smile. “Come here, little Dove.”

 

Jaehwan flit across the room and tucked himself to Sanghyuk’s chest, between his strong arms, immediately comforted by the contact. By his maker's scent. Bergamot, vetiver, and just a tiny bit of lemon. The aroma swirled around Jaehwan like a consoling breeze. 

 

“Sweets, please?”

 

Sanghyuk’s smile grew and he lowered his head, catching Jaehwan’s mouth in a kiss that bordered on chaste. Every nerve in Jaehwan’s body came alive then, parting his own lips and feeling his maker reciprocate the gesture. The alchemical bulbs above them streaked the room in shadows as they moved. 

 

Sweet raspberry, sweet mint. Tingles ran down from Jaehwan’s head to the tips of his toes. Liquid relief coursing through him. An addict getting his fix. He licked into Sanghyuk’s mouth just a little. Just enough. 

 

Sanghyuk sighed into their kiss before pulling a few inches away. “I’m sorry you were kicked out of bed so unceremoniously,” he said, carding his hand through Jaehwans hair. The young demon wanted to smile but couldn’t make his mouth form one. 

 

“You cried...”

 

“Yes, I did. I get nightmares, little Dove, it is nothing to be concerned about.”

 

“But,” Jaehwan replied, smacking his lips in thought. “But demon’s cannot cry.”

 

Sanghyuk regarded the young demon with those smoldering, beautiful green eyes. Jaehwan’s eyes now, too. And Wonshik’s. His family's eyes. “I can cry. The ability is rare, but not unheard of.”

 

Jaehwan looked up at his maker, dazzled, like he’d stared at the sun for too long. Watercolor impressions of Sanghyuk’s face had been seared into his retinas. Unforgettable. That tapping in his head when his maker wasn’t at his side... it must have been The Craving. Jaehwan had learned about The Craving in his classes. The intangible force that could drive a demon insane if they were kept from their creator for too long. ‘The curse of the Bound’ his teachers had called it, and Jaehwan could understand why now. He didn’t want to feel it again, that prickling under his skin. 

 

“Would you like to get dressed now, Dove?”

 

“Yeh-yes,” Jaehwan stuttered, trying unsuccessfully to pull himself from his daze. He glanced down at his own body, surprised to find that he was clad in nothing but a pair of cotton shorts. The young demon didn’t remember putting them on, putting anything on, after the obscene events of the night before. A flash of memory, his makers fingers tangled in his hair, Wonshik’s mouth on his, almost made Jaehwan jump. 

 

Sanghyuk gave him a knowing grin, like he could read Jaehwan’s mind. “Come, let us find you something to wear, hm?” he asked, tapping lightly under the young demon’s chin. Jaehwan nodded. 

 

The two entered an antichamber just off the bedroom, a closet larger than Jaehwan thought possible. It certainly wasn’t a  practical use of space, only two hanging rods and a shelf of shoes. So much open space, enough room for a couch! 

 

“Why is there a couch in your closet?” Jaehwan asked, tugging on his makers hand.

 

Sanghyuk released him and lowered himself onto the cushions, ankle crossed atop his knee, one arm stretched over the backrest. “It’s a divan, Dove,” he corrected, “And I have it here so I can recline comfortably as I watch you dress.”

 

A flush crept its way up Jaehwan’s neck, heating his face and ears. Sanghyuk wanted to watch him dress. The young demon felt his breath quicken. “What sh-sh-should I wuh-wear?”

 

“That stutter is a blessing in disguise, Dove. I can always tell when you’re nervous.”

 

Jaehwan turned away to peruse the racks. Most everything was black or some variation thereof. Mulberry and mahogany, charcoal and indigo. A juniper green velvet jacket caught Jaehwan’s eye, quilted lapels and a satin belt. 

 

“In the garment bag.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

Sanghyuk chuckled softly, gesturing at a long black bag hanging on the end of the rack. “In the garment bag, I picked it specially for you.”

 

“When did you have the time to do that?” Jaehwan wondered aloud, padding to the bag in question and lowering the long zipper. He heard a snap, and then a light blanket settled over Jaehwan’s shoulders out of nowhere.

 

“I can summon anything and everything I want. You can do so as well, with a little practice.” 

 

A glimmer of sapphire peeked from inside the bag and Jaehwan opened it the rest of the way. It looked like a bathrobe, or more like a dressing gown, sapphire blue silk trimmed in shining silver thread, a matching silver cord knotted loosely through the belt loops. 

 

“Blue?”

 

“My favorite color.”

 

Jaehwan pursed his lips, eyeing the garment with mild suspicion. “I don’t know if blue suits me,” he replied. The young demon petulantly plucked at the silver chord. In truth, he didn’t know what colors suited him best, having never worn anything other than white. But this blue was too bright, even a bit garish? “I think I’d prefer something emerald, like your eyes.”

 

“And your eyes,” Sanghyuk hummed.

 

Jaehwan considered the robe a moment longer, adding as an afterthought, “And more casual. This looks like something a human count would wear on his way to the bath.”

 

His maker let out a snort of laughter, snapping his fingers for the second time. A pair of black sweatpants and sweater of jade cashmere appeared on the rack and Jaehwan squealed with delight. 

 

“Better?”

 

“Much.”

 

Jaehwan stepped out of the shorts and already had one leg inside the sweatpants before he remembered to be embarrassed. Remembered that he was being watched. He stuffed his other foot down the second leg and jerked them up to his waist as fast as he could. But Sanghyuk wasn’t watching him when Jaehwan shot him a covert glance. His maker was staring at the blue robe, emerald eyes glazed, as if he were... disappointed?

 

“I can puh-put that on instead, if you w-want.”

 

“No, little Dove, you may wear what you like. I simply want you to be comfortable.” Sanghyuk turned to the young demon with what was clearly a disingenuous smile. 

 

A sharp, surprising pain jabbed behind Jaehwan’s ribs and he flinched. 

 

“What ails you?” his maker asked, unfolding himself and standing to help Jaehwan pull the green sweater over his head. The wool was soft as angels wings against his skin and the young demon felt a twinge of regret. His own wings were gone now. Long gone and never to return. Lost in his fall. Taken as punishment.

 

“I think I’m... hungry?”

 

Sanghyuk pressed a kiss to Jaehwan’s forehead, dodging the fingers Jaehwan tried to stick in his mouth to get a bit of venom. “I see that you are, little Dove, I can feel it.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Wonshik had changed into a pair of conspicuously tight pants and a shirt of blue silk when he walked into the dining room, and Jaehwan tried his best not to stare. His brother was, truly, unreasonably handsome. He flashed Jaehwan that easy-going smile as he took the seat opposite. Jaehwans hand crept to his makers thigh under the table without conscious thought. 

 

Jaehwan watched his brother turn his smile on their maker and Sanghyuk return it, envy flaring instantly is the blackest part of the young demons heart. They looked at eachother with twin fire gleaming in their eyes, an affection that Jaehwan hadn’t earned yet. He sucked his lip and scowled. 

 

“So, why did you steal Taekwoon’s sword?” he asked, voice an octave higher than he would have liked. The young demon didn’t actually care, he just wanted Sanghyuk to look at him like that. Like he was worth more than all the money in the world. An image of himself holding Wonshik’s severed head by the hair bloomed in Jaehwans mind. That’d solve the problem. 

 

“Revenge,” Sanghyuk replied, drawing the word out as if savoring it, “Not that it could come close to what he deserves, but just knowing he’s displeased about it makes me immeasurably happy.”

 

“Revenge for what?”

 

Finally, his maker turned his eyes to Jaehwan. The young demon basked in the warmth of his attention. “For murder.”

 

Murder? Taekwoon hadn't murdered anyone, he was an archangel! 

 

“That’s not the only reason you took it,” Wonshik cut in, nudging Jaehwan’s shin under the table with the toe of his shoe. Sanghyuk sighed and Jaehwan kicked his brother in retaliation. 

 

“Well, it’s also one of the relics we need to locate the temple. Would you have expected me not to take it?”

 

“What temple? What are you t-talking about?” Jaehwan asked, addressing Sanghyuk and trying not to flinch at the second kick to his shin.

 

Wonshik’s grin had a malicious edge to it now. The young demon lifted a glass of juice to his mouth and gulped it down for something to do, the sweet orange taste sparkling on his tongue. “Our maker has received the divine word of you-know-who,” Wonshik replied. He didn’t even blink when Jaehwans bare foot connected with his knee. 

 

Sanghyuk cleared his throat. “On occasion, I am privy to their inane drivel.”

 

Jaehwan wasn’t even listening, not really, too focused on the battle taking place beneath the table. He gripped the underside of his chair to keep his upper body still as he kicked at Wonshik and was kicked in return. “That’s cool,” he replied, sniffing, glaring at his brother with all the hate he could muster. Wonshik just kept smiling. 

 

Their maker speared a cube of pink melon on his fork and held it to Jaehwan’s mouth. The young demon nibbled mutinously at it, the vision of his brothers dead body growing more appealing by the moment. Wonshik knew more than Jaehwan did, of course he did. Being the odd one out again made Jaehwan absolutely breathless with jealousy. 

 

“Just cool? I believe I am the only being in all creation that is able to hear the word of- Jaehwan!”

 

The last kick had been the final straw and the young demon let out a ferocious growl, springing to his feet and leaping over the table. His flailing limbs met their mark and he pinned Wonshik to the floor, sitting on his chest and clawing at his infuriatingly handsome face. He could smell his brothers anger, like cigarette smoke and pheromones leaking from his pores, and it only served to increase the young demons rage. Wonshik hissed and spat. He was older than Jaehwan and stronger to boot, their power disparity becoming apparent as his hands circled Jaehwan’s waist and he threw him clear across the room. The young demon was up in an instant, poised to rip Wonshiks spinal cord out with his bare hands, when he suddenly found a dagger buried to the hilt in the center of his chest.

 

He felt the blade slip into his lungs, warm silver ichor spilling down the front of his sweater like splatters of paint. It was all shock, then, barely any pain. But then the knife was pulled free and his flesh tore, vision going white and a cry ripped from his throat. Hoarse and broken, even as the wound knit itself back together. Jaehwan could taste his own pain, he realized, thoughts blurred in agony. Metallic salt, chlorine. 

 

“Do not bicker like rabid hellspawn at the table, do you understand me?” Sanghyuk said, voice deathly quiet and as serious as stone.

 

Jaehwan looked around, saw his brother still on the ground, silk shirt torn and stained with ichor, a knife wound healing in his chest as well. Their maker hadn’t moved from his chair but there were now two silver daggers on the table beside him. Jaehwan felt a fresh wave of anger swell in his chest. “Did you just s-st-stab me?!” he shouted, dry tears stinging his eyes and hands curled into fists.

 

Sanghyuk met his gaze, unflinching. “My creator used to say that mortal blades were an excellent disciplinary tool. They stung like a bitch, but the wounded would heal swiftly and almost never did whatever they were being punished for again.”

 

The anger abruptly choked off, replaced with regret. His maker was upset with him. Disappointed in him. Jaehwan could see it in Sanghyuk’s emerald eyes and he let his tongue dart out, tasting the air. He’d failed his maker, failed to meet his expectations for what a good Bound should be, and failure tasted like a mouthful of ash. 

 

“He was kicking me! Under the table so you couldn’t see!” Jaehwan tried, attempting to defend himself, to justify his actions.

 

“Then use your words and tell him to stop! You are a civilized being, not violent human filth, and I expect you to behave as such. You bring shame on me and our family when you lose control of your impulses,” Sanghyuk snapped, words empty of pity and cold as a corpse. 

 

Jaehwan whimpered as though he’d been kicked, falling to his knees beside his makers chair and pawing at his hand. Wanting forgiveness, needing it. Some part of his new demonic bond was deeply offended by Sanghyuk’s anger, rejecting it outright. Not being in his makers favor was intolerable. But Sanghyuk wasn’t paying attention to him any more. 

 

“And you, Shik. You should know better. Do not antagonize him without cause.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

Sanghyuk shook his hair from his eyes and sighed. “You two have put me off my breakfast and I have business to attend too,” he said, getting slowly to his feet. Their maker bent and dropped a peck on Wonshik’s cheek, then pressed a black kiss to Jaehwan’s forehead. He snapped his fingers, a slim cigarette appearing from thin air between his fingers, the tip already glowing a smouldering amber. Jaehwan watched him hold it to his lips, inhale deeply, and then vanish without giving his two Bound a backward glance. 

 

“Your fault,” Jaehwan mumbled, pinching his leg to get the rest of the words out as he turned on Wonshik, “Th-th-that was your fault! You s-started it!”

 

His brother rubbed the spot where the blade had pierced him, getting to his feet with a soft groan. “I just wanted to play footsie! I didn’t expect you to keep kicking me like that. You can’t indulge in your anger the way you did just now. I know impulse control will probably be difficult, but it will only piss Sanghyuk off.”

 

The young demon snarled, but it came out weak. He felt too drained to be angry now. The craving for his maker already coming back. He felt itchy all over, Sanghyuk’s name repeating over and over and over as it beat out a ragged rhythm against the inside of his skull. He hugged his arms around his own torso, slick ichor staining more of the now ruined sweater. 

 

Wonshik was looking at the young demon with concern. “Sanghyuk is always touchy on nightmare days, and his creator was cruel to him. Don’t be too upset with him,” he murmured, misreading Jaehwan’s panic for anger.

 

The young demon shook his head as hard as he could. “When is he c-coming back?”

 

“Probably not until later, if he really has work.”

 

“Can I go to him?”

 

“I wouldn’t advise it, he needs time to cool off after incidents like that. Why would you- oh...” It must have clicked, then, and Wonshik approached the young demon, movements slow. “Are you craving?”

 

Jaehwan nodded frantically, allowing himself to be wrapped in his brothers hug.

 

“I didn’t even consider... it is a bit soon to leave you like this. But don’t worry, little brother. I’ll take good care of you until he gets back.”

 

The words were nothing but soft and the young demon looked up, presented with a finger slicked with venom. He licked tentatively at it, the taste of rose petals and white chocolate blooming on his pallet. It didn’t entirely distract from the craving, Jaehwan didn’t think anything but Sanghyuk’s physical presence would be able to do that, but it did assuage his need a bit. Enough that he could stop his body from shaking. 

 

“Come on, we can have a bath to get this ichor off and then I'll help you pick your bedroom.”

 

Jaehwan nodded again and he took Wonshik’s free hand, still nibbling on his finger as they left the dining room and made their way down the hall. His brother released him when they reached Sanghyuk’s closet and left him at the door. Jaehwan waited there, looking around at Sanghyuk’s perfectly made bed while his brother searched for clothing. 

 

There was a bookshelf against the opposite wall that Jaehwan hadn’t noticed before, and he padded over to it, feet making barely a whisper of sound. A set of books was the only thing the shelf contained. Three volumes bound in black leather. 

 

The young demon didn’t hesitate as he pulled the book on the far left from the shelf and flipped it open to the first page. Words written by hand in neat, emerald green cursive. His makers handwriting. Jaehwan began to read.

 

‘He was my everything. My entire world condensed down into the shape of a beautiful man. And I have lost him twice. 

 

I have lived three lives here on this mortal coil. Bestowed with a power too great for my own comprehension, I have turned back time on two separate occasions. The first to save my love from his own insanity and the second to assuage my own heartbreak at his loss. And now, I have nothing of him left but a set of false memories and the phantom taste of peaches on my tongue. 

 

In these three volumes, I will detail what I remember from each life. Not for anyone else to read, but simply as an attempt to keep my mind in some semblance of order. It is difficult, more difficult some days than others, to remember who I am, and I can only hope that writing things down will help. 

 

So let us begin.’ 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Chapter 5

Notes:

Sorry for the long wait. I hope you like the chapter!

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

‘The first time around started off as an easy life. I remember Hakyeon as the angel Michael, austere and commanding in a way he isn’t now. He wielded his heavenly fire like a whip and brought divine justice down on many unlucky sinners. And I remember Wonshik, with his thunder and lightning bolts. My best friend in heaven, my constant companion. And then everything was eclipsed by Him. By my maker, my creator, my world. 

 

He took over my consciousness entirely. Sapphire eyes and soft sweetness of venom that would linger on my tongue even after the kiss we’d shared was done. I remember his indefinable strength as well as his delicate fragility. The ferocity with which he loved my brothers and I. 

 

And Hongbin, my best friend and elder brother. I remember him too. I remember...’

 

Jaehwan lowered the book for a moment, staring off into the middle distance. Sanghyuk had loved his maker a great deal, that much was clear. But the young demon didn’t think he’d had any siblings. And certainly not one with the same name as the Hongbin Jaehwan knew. 

 

He looked back down at the book and flipped to the halfway point. 

 

‘... there is a moment that sticks in my mind the most. I think of it often, even when I wish I could bar the image from my mind rather than suffer through experiencing it again. 

 

I was having a tantrum. I don’t remember exactly what set it off, presumably a hellspawn being too close to my maker. They were always too close to him, always paying too much attention. Everyone was. But whatever the case, something set me off. I had a good amount of control over my power by that point but not enough to stop the furniture flying around the room. My maker had been there with me, petting my hair and holding my hand to his chest. Trying to calm me down.

 

A book had come hurtling out of the air and collided with his wrist. I felt the bone snap. Felt that tremor of pain spreading from the break as if it had actually hit me. It pulled me from the tantrum in an instant and I healed him with my power. Made sure no scratch or scar would remain. 

 

My brothers came and then went, for they had felt the flare of our makers pain as well. But my maker had sent them away with a single look, remaining in my arms and repeating that everything was okay. That we were okay. Nothing ever brought me back to myself quite like my loves pain.’

 

Jaehwan raised his eyes to stare at the wall, head aching from the sudden onslaught of new information. The tapping wasn’t helping him think either. 

 

He shut the book with a snap and set it back on the shelf, removing the second volume and opening it to a random page near the end. Sanghyuk’s beautiful cursive had slanted and blurred, more like chicken scratch than true penmanship. And the pages were stained with golden tears. 

 

‘Red cords of fire burned where they bound my wrists to the floor, the false prince holding me there even from across the room. Just like he always did during our training sessions. Infuriatingly calm. I could think of nothing in that moment, nothing other than ‘why’. 

 

Why had my maker done this, sided with the Prince of Vice in this stupid feud.? Why had my maker cut ties with the false prince, the false prince who was like a creator to him? Who took him in and gave him tea when he fell. Why did any of them believe they were actually strong enough to take the false prince in a fight? Such a thing was impossible, it was absurd to believe. 

 

I struggled against my bonds, all of my careful training forgotten, screaming and crying. I could hear myself screaming. Pleading, begging the false prince for mercy as I watched him approach my maker, lying prone on the fine grey rug. He was wriggling and writhing, sending his void flame shooting out in every direction. Screaming my name. Shrieking it, high pitched and frantic. 

 

My two eldest brothers were already dead. Hongbin had left us behind when the conflict began, refusing to choose sides, but I thought I saw an illusion of him flicker into view at several instances. No doubt summoned by my makers pain. But it was just us three in the room. This room, the wide dining room where I had spent so many happy hours with the false prince and my family. Just me, the antichrist, and my maker. 

 

‘Puppy!’ he’d screamed, rolled onto his back by invisible hands as the false prince stood over him. Pitiless and cold, his two favorite hellhounds flanking him. 

 

I’d struggled harder, as hard as I could, but the false prince always knew tricks that I didn’t. Knew magic that I didn’t. And the magic held me fast.  

 

‘Love!’ I’d shouted back, but it was no use. He couldn’t see me, lying there on the floor. He couldn’t see me, probably couldn’t hear me either because my voice had become so hoarse from screaming that I could barely even hear myself anymore. 

 

‘I warned you, child, I warned you so many times not to get yourself mixed up in this. But you couldn’t resist the promise of excitement, could you?’

 

My maker had begun to cry, I could hear it, could picture those silver tears spilling over the roses of his cheeks as if I were the one standing over him instead. 

 

The spike of energy, I felt it lance through me all the way to my bones. My makers energy. That potent blend of seduction and hunger that always left me gasping. But the antichrist could handle it. He could handle anything. Everything. 

 

‘You know I can fight you, child. This resistance is futile.’

 

My maker had spoken then, his lovely voice shaky and broken by sobs. The last words I ever heard him speak. I can still hear them, hear him, even now. 

 

‘Let Sanghyuk go! You’ve taken all my other children from me, taken my whole life from me, but please let my youngest go free, I beg of you, highness, please!’

 

It had all happened at once, nearly too fast for me to comprehend. The antichrist had raised a hand. Two jaguar-shaped demons appeared from thin air and launched themselves at the hellhounds, all snarling and clapping of jaws. Hongbin had materialized from nowhere and thrown himself between them, dazzling face contorted with agony and rage. 

 

‘Don’t do this, highness, you’re better than-‘

 

My favorite brother, my best friend. I watched him fly backward into the wall, thrown so hard that he collided with a sickening crunch. He’d fallen to the floor unconscious. The animals were still savaging each other, my makers beloved jaguars too preoccupied to come to his aid. 

 

‘Love!’ I screamed again, but I knew it would do no good. 

 

The false prince had bent over my maker, an expression of genuine upset turning his features to a grim mask. ‘I’ve loved you like my own child and always will. I wish you’d heeded my warnings. Rest with you-know-who in everlasting peace.’

 

I felt my makers neck snap. 

 

I felt our bond break.

 

I felt him die.

 

I had broken the world for him, turned back time for him, but I knew in that moment that it had all been for nothing. Even the second time around. Nothing. I would always lose my maker. I couldn’t handle losing him again. I would never have to lose him again. 

 

I screamed. Channeled all of my agony and despair into the scream. Imagining a world where I’d never walked into my maker's atelier. Never looked into those sapphire eyes. Never felt the warmth of his kiss on my lips. 

 

Reality broke, snapped cleanly in two just like my makers neck. And I was falling. Falling, falling, falling until...’

 

“What’s that?” Wonshik asked, his earthy smell filling Jaehwan’s nose as he peered over the young demons shoulder. 

 

Jaehwan frowned at the book. “A work of fiction, I believe. I think Sanghyuk is writing a novel.”

 

“How strange. He’s never mentioned doing such a thing before,” Wonshik replied, smoothly removing it from Jaehwan's hand and replacing it on the shelf, “Better that it stay exactly where you found it. Our maker has a keen eye and can be a bit touchy when it comes to intruding on his private life.”

 

“But- but we’re his Bound! He shouldn’t keep secrets from us.” Jaehwans frown deepened but he allowed himself to be led from the bedroom by the hand. Wonshik was a very confusing person in Jaehwan’s opinion. Much more likable when he wasn’t spiking his energy but still, there was something altogether incongruous about the way he treated the young demon. 

 

“Are you jealous of me?” he asked, trying to think of any logical reason for Wonshik’s behavior. They entered the large bathroom and his brother snapped his fingers. Everything in Sanghyuk’s bathroom was dark. Onyx flooring that was cool against Jaehwan’s bare feet, fixtures that were made of what Jaehwan guessed to be matte steel, walls painted an emerald so deep it edged on black. Even the chandelier seemed to have been crafted from smoked crystal. Jaehwan stared at the bathtub his brother had began to fill with water, a black porcelain monstrosity that more closely resembled a human jacuzzi than an average bath. 

 

“You are aware that I am the patron saint of jealousy, yes?”

 

The young demon blinked at the smile spreading across his brothers face, unperturbed. “Is that why you keep poking fun at me and trying to make me mad?”

 

Wonshik made a sound that could have possibly been a laugh, but Jaehwan wasn’t entirely sure. “How am I making you mad by drawing you a bath?”

 

“Not right now, I mean every other time we’ve been in the same room.”

 

“I’m not really ever actively trying,” Wonshik hummed, releasing Jaehwan for long enough that he could pull his ichor stained shirt off over his head. And wasn’t that just the cherry on top of Jaehwan’s sibling-hatred cake. His brother was beautiful. So beautiful that it almost hurt to look at him. Nothing like how Jaehwan’s own body looked when he accidentally caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Not scrawny and narrow and pale. Wonshik was the word handsome made flesh. “You’re just sensitive.”

 

“I’m not sensitive, you’re j-just irritating,” Jaehwan snapped, jabbing his brother in the stomach with his index finger. He’d hoped there’d be some give, at least a little bit of squishiness, but no such luck. Muscle as hard as rock. Jaehwan whined in frustration. “Anyway, I bet you’re just mad that you’re being replaced,” he snapped, slipping his finger into his mouth to try and soothe away the soreness. 

 

Wonshik made a cooing noise and cupped Jaehwan’s cheeks, squishing them until it was almost painful. “Don’t be silly, little brother, I could never be replaced.”

 

He released Jaehwan’s poor cheeks, finding the hem of the young demons ruined sweater and helped him peel it off. The silver glittering on Wonshik’s skin where the blade had pierced him drew Jaehwan’s gaze and held it. His entire body seemed to glitter, faint shadows of sinew beneath his skin, glowing like ribbons of liquid caramel. The troughs and valleys of his abdomen, hollows above his collarbones, shallow at the base of his throat. Jaehwan let his eyes roam, shivering slightly. 

 

“You’re staring, little dove.”

 

The mocking tone in his brother’s voice irritated him enough to snap, “Don’t call me that,” but not enough to actually make him stop staring. Only Sanghyuk could call him that.

 

“What do you want me to call you instead?”

 

Jaehwan huffed and kicked off his sweatpants, forgetting to be self conscious, as he watched Wonshik dribble some delicious smelling liquid into the water. Jasmine, rose, the smell of starlight being reflected off dew on a flower petal. Jaehwan didn’t know the proper name for that smell but he was trying his best. “I don’t know.”

 

Wonshik, handsome and salacious and infuriating Wonshik, turned back to flash Jaehwan a smirk. “You like sweets, maybe I’ll call you sugar.”

 

They never made it in the bath. 

 

Jaehwan lunged at him, knotting his hands in that cherry hair, tasting the delicious hint of arousal that pooled just under Wonshik’s skin. “You are so irritating,” he hissed, pinning the elder on the black tiled floor. He swiped his tongue across Wonshik’s bottom lip and growled. Demanding that he open his mouth. Demanding a taste of venom. 

 

Wonshik didn’t throw him off this time. In fact, Wonshik was laughing at him. Arms winding smoothly around the young demon’s middle. “You’re this hard up? It’s only been what, a day?” he hummed, teasing, only opening his mouth enough to speak and denying Jaehwan’s request for the sweetness that would begin to assuage his craving. 

 

“Stop talking,” Jaehwan mumbled, perfectly willing to pry his brothers jaws open with his bare hands if he had too. Oh, but there was an easier way, wasn’t there? How had he forgotten? Probably the tappings fault. 

 

“What, you don’t like the sound of my voi- huh,” Wonshik coughed, the force of Jaehwan’s mojo hitting him like a two-ton truck.

 

Jaehwan felt heat rising in his own face but he couldn’t care about it just then. Not when he could see Wonshik’s pupils dilate, iris’s dark and shiny with want. Not when he could hear Wonshik’s steady breathing increase until it was nothing but shallow panting. Not when that exquisite face of his had smoothed over and his mouth finally went slack. 

 

His hands slid down to grip the back of Jaehwan’s thighs, squeezing, kneading those fingers into the young demon’s flesh and allowing Jaehwan to finally get a taste of venom. Rose petals and white chocolate. The way valentines day tasted to humans. Wonshik tasted like romance. 

 

“Mm, sugar,” Wonshik groaned, his head lolling to one side as Jaehwan pressed his mouth to his throat. Licking at Wonshiks skin, running his tongue over Wonshiks Adam’s apple. It didn’t taste like apples, more like... almonds. Almonds and citrus musk. What a misnomer. 

 

He nipped and bit and licked at Wonshik’s throat, yanking on that cherry hair with a bit more force than was strictly necessary as he spiked his energy higher. Pleased with the soft moans he was pulling from the elders mouth. “Hungry,” he murmured, somewhat lamenting the breakfast he’d lost the opportunity to eat. But now Wonshik was here and he could just eat Wonshik. Problem solved. 

 

“I know,” Wonshik replied, releasing a breathy groan as Jaehwan nibbled at his earlobe. 

 

“Hungry,” he repeated, mouthing the word against Wonshiks jaw. He arched his back, just a little, just enough that he could press himself against the larger man’s stomach. Craving friction, craving sensation, craving everything. Wonshik bucked underneath him, a tiny aborted movement. Automatic. 

 

Their lips met again, Wonshik’s hands traveling up and then raking his nails down Jaehwans sides in the same movement. Pinpricks of pain flashed there but it was a good pain. The right kind of pain. “What are you... hungry for, sugar?”

 

Wonshik still had pants on and that was a problem. “You,” Jaehwan replied, the entire length of his body pressed up against Wonshiks, hips working a slow rhythm as he ground down against the elders lap. Wonshik twitched every time he moved. This was so easy. 

 

“Our bath is getting cold,” the elder mumbled.

 

Jaehwan barely heard him. Wonshik’s attempts at snarkiness were weaker when he was like this, Jaehwan realized. Good information to store for the next time Wonshik inevitably pissed him off. “Fuck the bath.”

 

“And to think-“ Wonshik’s words cut off momentarily as Jaehwan let his energy rise further, but the silence didn’t last long. Jaehwan was being shoved away and ended up pinned on his stomach before he even knew what happened. “Just days ago you were a sweet little angel, weren't you?”

 

“Yes,” Jaehwan squeaked, caught off guard by the change in position. He realized he’d liked being the one on top, even if only for a few minutes. 

 

“So,” came the murmur, hot breath fanning across the shell of Jaehwans ear, “You want to replace me?” His voice was a cool song, uncaring. Tinged with icy humor. Jaehwan made an involuntary sound in his throat. “You think you’re good enough? So freshly fallen from the grace of you-know-who?”

 

And there it was, Wonshik’s mojo, poking and prodding at the inside of his skull. Jealousy. How could Jaehwan, inadequate and lacking and stupid, possibly be good enough to take the place of this beacon of perfection in their makers heart? What chance did he have? The answer was none. He had nothing to offer, nothing working in his favor when he was compared to Wonshik.

 

“No,” Jaehwan lamented forlornly, because of course he wasn’t. The onyx tiles were cold against his palms and chest and- other more sensitive areas but Jaehwan hardly cared anymore. So fraught with feelings of hopeless inadequacy that it was all he could do not to cry. 

 

Wonshik shifted away, stroking Jaehwans hair in a way that was much too soothing. Jaehwan pressed his cheek to the cold floor. Dry tears that would never come pricking at his eyes. “Do you want me to teach you?”

 

Jaehwans eyes flew open and he stared into the elders smiling face. 

 

“Do you want me to teach you what to do so that our maker will want you without having to use a drop of your power?”

 

“W-wuh-why would you do that?”

 

Wonshik twirled a lock of Jaehwans hair around his finger. “You remind him of his master, has he told you?”

 

Jaehwan shook his head no. 

 

“Well you do. I never met his master, obviously, but I know of him. Of what he used to be. He was one of the first archdemons to fall before the revolution. The Prince of Lust and Father of Incubi. I’ve heard that he was cold and detached, for all of his love of carnal pleasure. Barely left his home and kept Sanghyuk locked up in there with him. And despite his shortcomings, Sanghyuk loved him, still loves him, more than a drowning man loves to breathe. And for some reason, you remind him of all he’s lost,” Wonshik went on, now lying on his side with his chin in his hand. 

 

“I don’t want to remind him of s-someone cruel,” Jaehwan replied, unsure what any of this had to do with the lessons Wonshik offered. 

 

“You’re missing the point, little brother. This is the reason he corrupted you, I think. To recreate a life with the man he loves most. You can do that for him. You can give him a love that is true, rather than the casual brutality he was raised on. So I ask again, would you like me to teach you what to do?”

 

Jaehwan... well he didn’t entirely understand, but he got the basic gist. 

 

“Yes please,” he replied, shimmying a bit forwards so that he could lick a drop of venom from Wonshiks mouth. Just to steady the nerves. 

 

Wonshik indulged him for a few moments but eventually drew back, getting to his feet and leaning against the edge of the still steaming bathtub. “Get on your knees.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“What do we have here?”

 

Sanghyuk’s voice succeeded in drawing Wonshik from the light doze he’d fallen into, under the covers of their makers bed with Jaehwan tucked against his side. They’d had their lesson, then had their bath, and ended up sleeping most of the day away. But now Sanghyuk was home, and Jaehwan sat up so fast Wonshik was surprised he hadn’t cracked his neck. 

 

“You’re back!” Jaehwan squeaked, making to leap from the bed, but Wonshik dropped a restraining hand on his thigh under the covers. Lesson One: Make him come to you.

 

Jaehwan bit his lip but stayed put. It was an admirable display what with the craving he was suffering from. Wonshik remembered that particular torture and was glad he hadn’t suffered under its cruel embrace for millennia. 

 

“You missed me, little dove?” A small smile tugged at the corner of Sanghyuk’s mouth and he crossed to the bed. Taking a seat on the edge of the mattress and reaching out to cup Jaehwan’s cheek. He still had a suit on, black velvet detailing on his lapels and top few buttons of his emerald dress shirt undone. Tall and dark and beautiful, Sanghyuk always moved with an arrogant sort of grace. Strength evident in even the smallest twitch of muscle. Wonshik could watch his maker simply walk around for days. 

 

“I think, my illustrious creator, you have gone so long without taking a Bound that you forgot about the craving,” Wonshik said quietly, the bit of mockery meant to set Sanghyuk at ease. 

 

Their makers face went pale. He had forgotten then. It hadn’t been a part of Jaehwan’s punishment. Wonshik had guessed as much. 

 

“Oh... oh dove, I am so sorry,” Sanghyuk said, large hands circling Jaehwan’s middle and lifting him on to his lap as if the fledgling weighed less than nothing. Still, even after three thousand years, that strength was astonishing. And then, as Jaehwan hugged on to him, nuzzling his neck, Wonshik saw his maker sniff at the air. His face grew paler, if such a thing was possible, and Wonshik understood why. “Jasmine... you used my oils?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Sanghyuk rounded on him, a slightly feral glint in his eye. “Those were a gift from my master! I told you never to-”

 

“I know,” Wonshik replied, feigning disinterest. He knew, from Hakyeon’s stories, that Sanghyuk’s maker always smelled like jasmine and rose. It was a calculated move, placing those particular aromas on his little brothers skin. “Look at him. Smell him. Touch him.”

 

Sanghyuk looked baffled now but he turned back to the fledgling, raking Jaehwan’s body with his eyes. Sucking in deep lungfuls of air. Recognition replaced the frenzy in his emerald eyes now and Wonshik fought to suppress a smile of victory.

 

“Sugar,” he prompted, leaning back on the mountain of pillows and folding an arm behind his head. Lesson Two: Take control. 

 

Jaehwan had apparently been paying closer attention than Wonshik had expected. He dropped his hands on Sanghyuk’s shoulders and kissed their maker as deeply as he could. This time, Wonshik failed to suppress his smile. It went on for a while, the fledgeling tugging at Sanghyuk’s hair each time their maker got too greedy. 

 

Wonshik almost drifted off again, unconcerned, knowing that his little experiment was working so far. But his maker let out a strangled little gasp and Wonshiks eyes opened. Jaehwan had wrapped a hand around Sanghyuk’s throat. Lesson Three: Learn his most sensitive spots and use them to your advantage.

 

Wonshik had learned that little trick from Hakyeon as well. Sanghyuk used to wear some kind of collar, and even though he had never worn it in all the time since Wonshik’s fall, their maker was always most receptive to caresses where it used to be. 

 

Apparently satisfied, Jaehwan shot Wonshik a look over Sanghyuk’s shoulder and slid backwards to kneel on the floor. He was so pleased with himself. It was very hard for Wonshik not to laugh. 

 

There were two more things left, Wonshik thought, watching Jaehwan unfasten their makers slacks and worry his lip between his teeth. Two more things to complete the perfect likeness. They’d gone over the timing and Wonshik hoped Jaehwan wouldn’t forget.

 

Wonshik watched as Jaehwan wrapped those slim fingers of his around Sanghyuk’s cock and begin to stroke slowly. A little clumsy, but admittedly better than the first time. He was a quick study. That was good. 

 

“Dove, you don’t have to,” their maker breathed, looking first down at Jaehwan and then over at Wonshik, an expression of mild bafflement on his beautiful face. Wonshik only smiled. 

 

A look of concentration had fallen over Jaehwan’s pretty features and he tentatively began to lick at Sanghyuk’s slit, their maker reflexively carding his fingers through the fledglings blonde hair. It advanced quickly from there, Jaehwan taking in as much of Sanghyuk’s length as he could without gagging and swallowing the way Wonshik had showed him earlier that day. Not gagging was key. Until he had a bit more experience, Wonshik had instructed Jaehwan to take it easy. 

 

A look as close to tenderness as Wonshik had seen in a very long time bloomed on Sanghyuk’s face. Wonshik curled the fabric of Sanghyuk’s silk bed sheets between his fingers, watching the muscles in Jaehwan’s pretty throat work around the sizable intrusion. He waited. Noting the way Sanghyuk’s eyes had closed, how his chest was rising and falling unevenly. Fingers flexing convulsively at the back of Jaehwan’s head. Just a bit more, a bit longer now...

 

Jaehwan pulled off slowly, his plush lips swollen and eyes glassy, but he’d remembered what to do. Perfect.

 

Wonshik snapped his fingers as quietly as he could, hand back under the covers to muffle the noise as much as possible. He’d seen a portrait of Sanghyuk’s master, the one Sanghyuk hid in the bottom drawer of his desk that he thought Wonshik couldn’t unlock. So when his fingers snapped, Jaehwan’s blonde hair shifted to a cool indigo black. Just like the man in the portrait. The resemblance really was hauntingly accurate. This was one of Wonshik’s special tricks, altering hair color. How he kept his cherry locks vibrant and bright. 

 

“Puppy,” Jaehwan murmured, voice hoarse from overuse, and he licked a stripe from the base of Sanghyuk’s cock to the tip, “Puppy, you’re so good.”

 

Sanghyuk’s eyes flew open just as Jaehwan throated him in a single smooth motion. Back rigid, Wonshik was unsure whether their maker was angry or shocked. Wonshik held his breath. 

 

Jaehwan pulled back again and stroked his length with the same slow gentleness he’d started with. “My puppy. My good pet.”

 

Their maker came with a strangled yelp, spilling himself across Jaehwan’s bare chest and throat. Wonshik knew it wasn’t from Jaehwan’s admittedly skillful amateur blowjob. It was the words. The sweet nicknames spoken in Jaehwan’s now raspy voice. And the looks. And the jasmine and rose perfume. 

 

Wonshik closed his eyes, satisfied. He’d been correct. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

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Curious Cat

Chapter 6

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“How did you do this?” 

 

Sanghyuk was cupping Jaehwan’s face in his large hands, deep green gaze flicking back and forth from one of Jaehwan’s eyes to the other. The young demon couldn’t help but bask in the attention. The predatory focus with which Sanghyuk was assessing him making him shudder with pleasure. 

 

At the edge of Jaehwan’s vision, Wonshik shifted. Propping himself up in the center of the mattress. “Do you really believe me so inept at magic that I cannot pick a simple locking ward?” he asked, bass tone slicked with satisfaction. 

 

“Elaborate,” Sanghyuk murmured, peering at Jaehwan like he was a particularly mouthwatering piece of meat. Jaehwan preened a bit. Pressing his fingertips against the nape of his maker's neck. Sanghyuk had pulled him up from where he’d been kneeling and now cradled him on his lap. Refusing to let Jaehwan out of his encircling arms. 

 

Wonshik sighed. “The portrait in your desk. Really, it wasn’t all that hard to figure out.” A pause, a small sniff. “And his highness gave me a few extra details.”

 

“Of course, he did,” Sanghyuk murmured, speaking like a man in a trance. He didn’t look like he was registering his own words. “Do you feel any different, love? Or is the transformation solely cosmetic?”

 

Jaehwan wrinkled his nose. “Love? I’m your pretty little Dove, remember?” he asked, wiggling a bit and tugging on his maker's earlobe. Sanghyuk cocked his head to the side. A barely-there movement but Jaehwan still caught it. Like an inquisitive demonic dog.  

 

“Of course, Dove. Of course, you are.”

 

“Yes, I am,” Jaehwan hummed, combing his fingers through Sanghyuk’s raven hair, “And don’t leave me again,” he added, pouting, “It makes me very upset.”

 

“Of course.”

 

Jaehwan’s lips pushed out. “You sound like a broken record.”

 

Abruptly, Sanghyuk whipped his head around to stare at Wonshik. “Why did you do this?” he asked, voice almost painfully young. Soft with a wound that Jaehwan didn’t understand. 

 

Wonshik shifted again, face impassive. “I wanted to see what would happen. I’ve always envied that portrait.”

 

Something inside Jaehwan began to purr. He hadn’t seen the portrait in question but from what Wonshik had told him, he bore a strong resemblance to the portraits subject. That meant that, indirectly, Wonshik envied Jaehwan. He almost purred aloud at that thought but managed to keep it inside. 

 

“Why would you envy a portrait of my master?” Sanghyuk asked. He sounded distant, like he genuinely did not understand. Jaehwan thought he understood though. For all Wonshik’s talk of being irreplaceable, the presence of a dead lover was still a heavy weight on his broad shoulders. 

 

Wonshik blinked. Green eyes shining bright. “You’ve never looked at me the way you look at that portrait.”

 

Sanghyuk turned back, averting his gaze from them both even as he pulled Jaehwan closer against his chest. “You should be glad I don’t look at you the way I look at my master, Wonshik. Ours was a relationship that should never be replicated.”

 

That... was a tidbit of personal information Jaehwan hadn’t been expecting. Sanghyuk always seemed to keep things behind high walls, lashing out with anger rather than expressing a genuine emotion. Other than the crying. But that had only been once. 

 

“Was you’re m-master cruel?” Jaehwan asked, noting the choice of titles with mild trepidation. Something about the way Sanghyuk said it, master, spoke of a mixture of deep pain and great respect. A confusing combination to be sure. 

 

Sanghyuk’s emerald eyes flicked to Jaehwan’s and then away again. “My master was many things. Cruel. Kind. Both an angel and the devil incarnate. He was more complex than you could ever hope to fathom.”

 

His voice was so full of... of feeling that Jaehwan felt his own heart begin to ache. The warmth of tears that would never fall pricking in his eyes. Wonshik has gone silent on the bed, eyes out of focus and apparently thinking hard. 

 

“I’m- I am sorry you lost him,” Jaehwan said quietly, speaking slow to make sure he would not stutter. 

 

Sanghyuk blinked back at him, eyes not softening exactly but shifting to something Jaehwan had no name for. “It was my choice,” he replied in a death-quiet whisper, “It was my decision and I still can’t escape him, even his death wasn’t enough.”

 

Those words rang a bell in Jaehwan’s head that he’d momentarily forgotten. The books. Written in Sanghyuk’s handwriting and sitting on a shelf only fifteen feet away. He decided to keep quiet. Remembering Wonshik’s warning. 

 

“Sweets?” Jaehwan asked, both because he wanted venom and because he hoped a kiss might cheer his maker up a bit.

 

Sanghyuk indulged him, kissing Jaehwan rather sweetly on the mouth. Sweet raspberry and mint tingled on Jaehwan’s tongue. His maker's lips we soft and his hug was so warm, like being wrapped in velvet. 

 

Jaehwan deepened the kiss a bit, licking into Sanghyuk’s mouth. Feeling the satin softness on the inside of Sanghyuk’s cheek. And Sanghyuk was kissing him back right up until the moment he wasn’t. Mouth slack, body going rigid. Green eyes glazed when Jaehwan pulled away to see what was wrong. 

 

Jaehwan felt it a moment later. Rippling in the air, rolling over Jaehwan’s body like a shiver. The apartments wards being disturbed. Wonshik felt it too, if his sudden jolt was any indication. The sensation made Jaehwan’s nerves jangle uncomfortably. 

 

“Wonshik, stay here with Jaehwan. I have a murder to commit,” Sanghyuk murmured, shifting the young demon off him and standing with the grace of a large jungle cat. 

 

“Not a chance.” Wonshik was already up and out the door before Sanghyuk had completely risen. Jaehwan didn’t fully grasp the situation but he certainly wasn’t going to allow himself to be left behind again. He hooked a finger in Sanghyuk’s belt loop, trying to slow his maker down as Sanghyuk strode purposefully from the room. 

 

“Behind me. Now.”

 

There was an order in those words, unable to be ignored. Jaehwan fell back and switched to the belt loop that lined up with his makers spine. Wonshik appeared at his side as well, apparently incapable of going against Sanghyuk’s words either. 

 

“Shik?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“You did his hair, but can you change eyes as well?” Sanghyuk asked, rolling his shoulders as they walked down an unfamiliar hallway in a triangle formation.

 

Wonshik frowned. “I suppose so. Not shape, color is what I’m good at.”

 

Jaehwan saw Sanghyuk nod. “Make Jaehwan’s eyes blue. The color of a pure sapphire.”

 

“Why!? I like my green eyes!” Jaehwan exclaimed, still being towed behind Sanghyuk like a waterskiing human tied to a boat. 

 

Sanghyuk reached back and caught Jaehwan’s free hand but he didn’t slow down. “An experiment.”

 

“Don’t worry, little brother. The change is just a glamour. It’s not permanent,” Wonshik murmured, snapping his fingers once. Jaehwan didn’t know what he was expecting, some phantom pain or a blue tinged vale falling over his vision. But nothing happened as far as he could tell. 

 

“Oh...” Wonshik sighed, peering into Jaehwan’s face like the young demon was a particularly interesting specimen. “You really do look like the portrait now. Genuinely... identical.” Wonshik shot a quick glance at their makers back. Sanghyuk didn’t turn around. 

 

“Neither of you are to speak a word, do you understand me?”

 

“Yes,” the two younger demons chorused, Jaehwan secretly planning to disregard that request. He saw a glint in Wonshik’s bright eyes, indicating his brother was of a similar mind. 

 

They reached a door and Sanghyuk pushed it open, striding into what turned out to be a wide, open concept living room of sorts. Dark and modern furnishings that matched the rest of Sanghyuk’s home with a ceiling at least fifteen feet high. 

 

And there, standing before them like a rock outcropping in the midst of a roiling sea, stood Taekwoon. The calm eye at the center of a tornado. Strong and serine and absolutely immovable. And by his side, radiating health and fierce intelligence, was Hongbin. 

 

The stolen sword was in Sanghyuk’s hand before Jaehwan had a chance to blink, fire of the void licking up and down the infernal blade like oil in water. Jaehwan saw Taekwoon’s dark golden eyes narrow. 

 

“Why are you trespassing in my home, Gabriel? And why did you bring Raphael with you?” Sanghyuk asked, voice impassive despite his aura of undiluted fury. Jaehwan blinked. He didn’t know why his maker was addressing the archangel's by their official names, but it seemed to set them on edge. It set Jaehwan on edge as well, come to that. 

 

“I am only here to inspect your newest acquisition, demon,” Taekwoon replied, crossing his arms and eyeing the sword. Displeasure written clearly in his granite features. Hongbin glowered at them all in turn but he stayed silent.

 

Jaehwan felt a little twinge of pain at that. Hearing that Taekwoon really had never cared about him. Thought of him as an acquisition rather than a friend. Hongbin clearly wasn’t loyal to their friendship anymore, not much of a surprise since he used to be annoyed with Jaehwan more often than not. 

 

“And what have you done to him? He doesn’t match his registry documents,” Hongbin asked, visibly shifting as Jaehwan peeked around Sanghyuk’s shoulder. 

 

“Experimented,” Wonshik replied, speaking up before Sanghyuk had the chance and flashing that easy, predators smile. 

 

Jaehwan let his tongue dart out, tasting the air wafting off the angels, and then promptly gagged. The reek of purity was too strong, like bitter lime and black pepper. He pressed his face against his makers shoulder blade, breathing in his bergamot and vetiver aroma to clear the stench from his senses.  

 

“Do you recognize my Bound, Taekwoon?”

 

Sanghyuk stepped forward, Jaehwan sensing a broad vein of anxiety beneath his brothers smile as they watched their maker move. The young demon had no idea what was going on, he was just glad to see familiar faces. Even if those faces were looking back at him without any recognition. 

 

“No, I do not. And even if I did, he is no longer the angel I once called a friend. He’s been tainted, you saw to that, Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon replied, not a drop of feeling in his voice. Jaehwan winced. “Always so greedy. How long did it take you to corrupt him, a full minute or was it only thirty seconds?”

 

The tone wasn’t mocking but the words certainly were, and Jaehwan began to growl under his breath. Wonshik’s hand circled his wrist and squeezed but Jaehwan ignored it. 

 

“Why did you send a baby angel to me, Taekwoon? What hope did you think he’d have against an archdemon and Duke of Hell? It’s almost like you were trying to get rid of him,” Sanghyuk countered, eyes for no one and nothing but the archangel standing before him. 

 

“Get rid of him? No,” Taekwoon replied, “Just a fortunate accident. A turn in the path of the almighty we failed to anticipate. Hongbin?”

 

Fortunate? How was Jaehwan being corrupted fortunate? 

 

Hongbin gave a small grimace but he fixed his pale gold eyes on Jaehwan. Jaehwan blinked back, not understanding what they- the world around him melted and his head filled with screams. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Wonshik had a hand on Jaehwan’s wrist, but he yanked it back as his brother began to shriek. A high, bone chilling scream of pure agony that made Wonshik instinctively recoil. 

 

Sanghyuk dropped his sword and whirled around, dragging Jaehwan to him and trying to speak but it was like Jaehwan couldn’t hear him. Tearing at his own hair and eyes squeezed shut, curling in on himself. 

 

“Stop it!” Wonshik shouted, wings unfurling from his back and rounding on the archangels. Taekwoon looked like a statue, cold and unfeeling, but Hongbin... the angel Raphael, the angel of healing. The one who defeated Azazel in the revolution. Who took a personal interest in the health and safety of humanity. But he was also the angel of nightmares and Wonshik realized that must be what was happening. He’d trapped Jaehwan in a living nightmare.

 

Wonshik tried to shield his maker and brother with his wings, stepping between them and the angels to try and break Hongbin’s concentration but he was swept aside. Just a single flick of Taekwoon’s wrist. Brushed away like an errant piece of dust and slammed into the wall. Wonshik felt one of the bones in his left wing crack. 

 

“Release him,” Sanghyuk growled, trying to subdue Jaehwan’s flailing. But it was no use. 

 

“Tell us what we want to know, demon, and your new bond will be spared.”

 

Oh, and there it was. Why Jaehwan’s corruption, now of all times, was fortunate. Their bond was still fresh, fresh enough to be torn. Damaged. The demonic bond lived in the mind, the most primal part, and if the mind was broken then the bond would be as well. 

 

The angels had accidentally found a new pressure point. Something to use against Sanghyuk so they could have their way.

 

Wonshik didn’t know what it would do to Sanghyuk if his new Bound was torn from him in that way, but he really didn’t want to find out. 

 

Sanghyuk’s own wings had unfurled now and he was clutching Jaehwan against his chest. Murmuring things Wonshik couldn’t hear and emerald eyes sparkling with panic. 

 

“I’ll tell you,” Wonshik said loudly, breath escaping him in a choked sort of rasp. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, just stop hurting him!”

 

Taekwoon’s golden eyes swiveled to him, like dishes of frozen honey, and Wonshik fought not to shrink away. He knew he wouldn’t be able to lie to Taekwoon, the angel of truth, he wouldn’t be able to speak a lie when he was held in that gaze. But Wonshik could still twist things a bit, he could dance around the truth for hours without even coming close to a flat out lie. 

 

“What has your creator been told by the almighty?”

 

Wonshik blinked. Jaehwan’s screaming was making it hard to focus on anything but he managed a strangled “Not much.”

 

“Everything. Tell me everything you know.”

 

His brother was sobbing now, dry sobs wracking him as he escaped Sanghyuk’s grasp and tried to crush his body against the floor. “He was told to steal your sword,” Wonshik replied, assuming the angels already knew that. What else could he say that wouldn’t give the game away? How could he conceal the fact that they knew about the temple?

 

“It’s supposed to help him during Armageddon. The sword of an angel turned infernal, corruption made manifest,” Wonshik went on, skipping around the whole story like it wasn’t even there. He hadn’t lied, that was a true statement even if it was vague. 

 

“What else,” Taekwoon murmured, somehow making his soft voice heard over the racket. 

 

“That Armageddon is coming sooner than we thought.” That was also true, but not the whole truth, and Wonshik hoped it would be enough, darting frightened glances between Hongbin and Jaehwan. Bile rising in his throat. 

 

“Anything else?” 

 

Wonshik shook his head, anxiety tight in his throat. “You said you’d stop if I told you, so stop!”

 

Taekwoon tilted his head. “I said nothing of the sort.”

 

A wave of power rippled across the room, mixing with the anger and fear spinning in Wonshik’s gut. Furious hunger. The urge to devour, to absorb, to demolish the entire world. He was so hungry it made him nauseous, made the tips of his fingers shake. 

 

It was Jaehwan. The dam holding back his energy had broken. His control had snapped. Wonshik knew he wasn’t the only one that felt it, Sanghyuk was hunched and breathing hard. Even the angels had taken a step back. 

 

Hakyeon, Wonshik thought, trying to summon the false prince from wherever he may be. Hakyeon were in trouble. Help us. 

 

A second ripple, the Lord of the Void stepping from a pool of shadow with his hellhounds at his side. Crimson shirt billowing in an unseen breeze and deep red gaze flashing dangerously. If he could feel Jaehwan’s energy, Hakyeon didn’t show it. 

 

“You trespass in my realm and hurt my kin, angels?” he asked, beautiful and terrible as he strode forward. Wonshik drew back. Not wanting to get between Hakyeon and the angels. 

 

Hakyeon waved a hand and drew up a wall of solid shadow around Sanghyuk and Jaehwan, Jaehwan’s screams muffled slightly. 

 

“You dare?”

 

The angels stepped back. They could probably take Hakyeon in a fight if they worked together but not individually. And especially not with Hongbin’s focus still pinned on Jaehwan. No one was a match for Hakyeon other than the archangel Michael and he rarely bothered to intercede in disagreements such as this. Especially when the angles started it.

 

“I have questions for you, false prince,” Taekwoon murmured, but Hakyeon clearly had no patience for it now. He held out his hands, wisps of jet spreading from him and shooting toward the angels. Tangling and curling in the air like insidious vines. 

 

One brush from that darkness would mean corruption and the angels knew it, both blinking rapidly and vanishing on the spot. 

 

Hakyeon shook off his shadows and turned, jogging over to kneel in front of Wonshik. 

 

“I heard you, I would have come sooner but I was on the surface. Have you been hurt?” he asked, worry blooming in those scarlet irises. Wonshik shook his head, the emptiness in his stomach threatening to consume him from the inside out. 

 

“Not me, help Jaehwan,” Wonshik gasped. 

 

Hakyeon gave him another once over before standing. The wall of shadow fell away and the full force of Jaehwan’s shrieking hit Wonshik like a slap to the face. He wished he was deaf. Deaf or dead. Hearing the sound of his little brothers’ agony was breaking his black heart to pieces. 

 

“Back up, Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon murmured, Wonshik stumbling up to the little huddle just as the false prince knelt. There was command in those words and a good thing too, because Sanghyuk would have never done so otherwise. He growled as it was, hands clawing at the floor where he crouched maybe two feet from his youngest. 

 

The false prince pulled Jaehwan’s hands from his face and stroked his cheek with one hand, forming a complex series of wards in the air too fast for Wonshik to follow. He murmured something, a word of power Wonshik didn’t know, and pressed his fingers to Jaehwan’s mouth for an instant. 

 

He pulled slowly away, drawing a blinding white fog from Jaehwan’s open mouth. Like sucking the poison from a snake bite. Hakyeon was purging the angelic venom from Jaehwan’s body. 

 

Jaehwan coughed, fingers curling and uncurling at his sides as he stared up at nothing. Sapphire eyes glazed and empty. Wonshik banished his glamour with barely a thought, hoping it wasn’t too late. Hoping Hongbin hadn’t hurt him too badly. 

 

Jaehwan’s blonde hair gleamed but his eyes still did not, even though they were back to the emerald of his family. 

 

“Can you hear me, little one? No, don’t try and speak,” Hakyeon hummed, index finger pressed gently to Jaehwan’s lips when he opened his mouth. The young demon nodded slowly. 

 

“Good, that’s good.” The false prince brushed Jaehwan’s hair off his face, ignoring the way Sanghyuk was snarling at him. Jaehwan was shaking but every spot Hakyeon touched calmed almost at once. First his trembling hands. Then his twitching legs. Then his stuttering heartbeat. 

 

“Can you get him to stop projecting? I’m fighting it but it’s so difficult,” Wonshik gasped, trying to focus on his own hands. The hunger inside him was screaming for sustenance, to eat. Eat a human, eat his maker, eat an entire banquet, the hunger didn’t seem to care what. An indiscriminate predator. 

 

Hakyeon glanced up. “No, but... Sanghyuk, where’s that old collar you used to wear?”

 

Sanghyuk flinched. “My desk.”

 

“Fetch it.” 

 

His maker was visibly resisting the order, Wonshik could see it, the way his shoulders shook. Not wanting to leave his youngest. Probably taking personal offense to Hakyeon’s touches, if Wonshik had to guess. 

 

“Highness-“

 

“Fetch it, Sanghyuk, now.”

 

Sanghyuk vanished with a growl, reappearing barely ten seconds later with a circle of leather and gold clenched in one fist. Wonshik recognized it from one of the ancient pictures Hakyeon had shown him. The one of a younger Sanghyuk, standing behind an armchair on which his master was sitting. Legs crossed at the knee and an expression of clear boredom on that face that looked so much like Jaehwan’s. Sanghyuk had this very collar around his neck and Wonshik always wondered why. 

 

Hakyeon took the collar from him and secured it around Jaehwan’s neck, the energy spilling from the young demon abruptly drying up. Wonshik heaved a sigh of relief. 

 

“He’ll be fine, he’s just had a fright, didn’t you little one?” Hakyeon asked, smiling softly when Jaehwan nodded. “Now, take him elsewhere Wonshik, I would like to speak to Sanghyuk privately.”

 

“Highness, no! I need to be with-“

 

“You will stay,” Hakyeon snapped, interrupting Sanghyuk’s retort. “It won’t take long and then I will leave you with your Bound.”

 

Wonshik looked too Sanghyuk, waiting for his maker's signal as to what he should do. Sanghyuk and Hakyeon stared at one another for almost a minute, engaging in a silent battle of wills, before his maker relented. “Bring him to my bedroom, I’ll be there in a moment,” he hissed, eyes narrowing as Wonshik scooped Jaehwan into his arms and stepped back into the shadows. 

 

They reappeared in Sanghyuk’s bedroom as Wonshik intended. He hadn’t wanted to waste the time it would take to walk, and he was glad he’d done so, laying his brother on their maker's bed. 

 

“How are you feeling sugar?” he asked quietly, anticipating Jaehwan’s question before the younger had to ask. He slipped his own finger into his mouth and then held it out. Knowing that his venom wouldn’t be as good as Sanghyuk’s but wanting to be helpful all the same. 

 

“Better,” Jaehwan mumbled, licking kittenishly at Wonshik’s finger. His eyes had cleared considerably, and they inspected Wonshik’s face for a moment before drifting lower. Fixing on something behind Wonshik. The young demon went entirely still. 

 

Wonshik whipped around and then stilled himself. Frozen with shock and a healthy dose of trepidation. 

 

Two large jaguars were sitting by the foot of the bed. Long tails swishing back and forth, eyes the color of polished sapphire glinting with a startling intelligence. And they were staring directly at Jaehwan. 

 

Notes:

Hongbin was azazel in original tempt and the parallel between azazel bin and Raphael bin makes me happy lol
also if you're confused or feel like you're missing something, its because I haven't fully explained what's going on yet. that'll be next chapter

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 7

Notes:

welcome to the plot lol

‘When I awoke the second time, my new life was already halfway done. It was as though I’d been born as a teenager. My youth was finished, a thing of the past, already lived and mourned and put to rest. A demon on the cusp of adulthood, which was a milestone I hadn’t managed to reach the first two times around. I had barely ever made it past being a fledgling.’

 

‘And my maker, my darling, my love, had already been taken away. I had memories of him, certainly, memories of a catastrophe that would have torn me apart, but I never had to experience it first-hand. That was the one kindness done to me by You Know Who. Well, that and my eyes. No longer my love’s glittering sapphire. This time around, my family’s eyes were a shade of green that instantly reminded me of untouched, murky pond water. The kind where moss and other lichen flourish. And my maker was no longer my maker, but my Master. Always adorned with a capital M.’

 

‘The memories I managed to retain of this childhood, this fall, bore almost no resemblance to those of my previous lives. No unwitting stumble into an archdemons atelier. No being unwittingly gifted away to pacify an ex-lover. This time around, I’d fallen the old fashion way. Succumbed to temptation.’

 

‘As an angel, I had been one of Raphael’s deputies. It was my job to travel amongst the pious humans and heal them, answer their prayers to You Know Who by curing their maladies, large or small. My Master had happened upon me during one of his rare ventures to the surface while I was working. Peering inside the dreams of a man slumbering on the steps of a temple in Cyprus to find the source of his illness. I’d been so absorbed in what I was doing that I failed to notice a slender, dark haired man slipping out of the temple door above.’

 

‘He had already stepped to me, almost close enough to touch, by the time I felt his energy. “Lovely,” he’d hummed, startling me so abruptly out of my trance that I’d almost tumbled down the stairs. “So lovely. Tell me your name.” And I’d told him. Told him that my name was Sanghyuk, and that if he didn’t leave me be, I would banish him to the void where he belonged. I remember being so frightened that my hands had trembled and my voice came out as nothing more than a squeak. My Master had simply laughed.’

 

‘I remember his energy hitting me, then, a sensation not unlike being hit in the face with a brick. “Lovely Sanghyuk, my pet, come along home with me. Everything your heart desires will be yours, pet, I can make you special. All you need do is come with me.” Of course, I’d been powerless to refuse. His mojo was irresistible to me, like siren song, and I’d gotten to my feet. Looking down on him, then, but still very much the lesser of the two of us. My Master had smirked, yanked me down so I was bent at the waist, down to his level, and kissed me on the mouth.’

 

‘He hadn’t waited for my fall to finish, hadn’t held me as the vail of heaven was torn from me, hadn’t been benevolent even during the first moments of my new life. He simply ripped the red collar from around my neck and led me into the night, the world I knew shattering as we stepped through the shadows together.’

 

Jaehwan frowned down at the book lying open on his lap. With each word he read, the young demon became more sure that Sanghyuk’s master had been a real grade-a piece of work. An absolutely monstrous individual who’d never deserved someone like Sanghyuk. Not one bit.

 

It was the first day in nearly three months that Sanghyuk had left Jaehwan by himself. Urgent business to attend to on the surface. Unavoidable. Nothing to be done about it, and would Jaehwan please stay there until he was done? He wouldn’t be alone, he would have Wonshik to keep him company, and Sanghyuk wouldn’t be gone too long. He could finally finish decorating his new bedroom, wouldn’t that be nice?

 

It wasn’t nice. The tapping in Jaehwan’s head bordered on maddening but it wasn’t like he could refuse. Or refuse anymore, after begging and pleading and dry sobs had failed to make Sanghyuk agree to take Jaehwan with him on this mysterious errand.

 

Jaehwan had decided against decorating his new room, though. In an effort to stave off madness, he’d put on Sanghyuk’s favorite dark green dressing gown and wrapped himself in Sanghyuk’s duvet, curling up in a nest at the center of Sanghyuk’s bed. Being able to smell his particular perfume was assuaging the worst of Jaehwan’s cravings, and the enormous bag of chewy raspberry flavored candies he was devouring helped make the tapping bearable.

 

Now, to keep his mind occupied. Jaehwan popped a sweet into his mouth and returned his attention to the book.

 

‘Our love was not the same either. He was neither a best friend nor a confidante. Not caring. Not visibly kind. He was possessive and jealous and as frigid as a glacier.’

 

‘Right from the start, my Master had found my energy off-putting. Unpleasant, he’d called it inelegant and crude. This time around, he hadn’t fastened the power-dampening collar around my neck to stop me from hurting myself or others, he’d done it simply so he wouldn’t have to feel my energy when I was in his presence. And he would always mention it, when he was irritated with me for some transgression or other, how I lacked finesse. How my ability was common, how having a Bound with such an unrefined ability embarrassed him. I had become the embodiment of ‘want’ and “Want is a feeling that should be inspired in lesser beings,” he always said, “Wanting is beneath ones such as ourselves. We should not need to want. Everything is already ours, and what isn’t should be given to us before we ever notice the lack of it.’

 

‘My transgressions, such as they were, usually stemmed from something trivial that I’d done accidentally. Spent too much time away on the surface, spoken with someone for too long at one of the few gatherings my Master brought me too, shown too much interest in a subject that didn’t relate to him. My Master would grow pouty and peevish. Sullen and juvenile in a way he usually wasn’t. He would cling to me, hang off me, not let me out of his sight, but refuse to speak unless it was to snap an occasional insult. It went on for days sometimes, until I finally managed to soothe him back to normalcy. Reassured him that I loved him and cared for him more than I cared for any other being in all the realms. I think, at the heart of it, my Master was unused to the feeling of my absence. Of the absence of my attention. Of missing me. And missing something, wanting something, was intolerable. I think it frightened him.’

 

‘Despite all of that, despite his little tantrums and outwardly cold demeanor, I loved him. I was his, mind, body, and soul. He was beautiful. He was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant, possessed of a mind so fathomless that I never had any hope of truly understanding why he did what he did. A beautiful, complicated mind. He was always swirling in and out of rooms. Collapsing on well-placed pieces of furniture. Extemporizing wildly on subjects that I had no grasp of. The meaning of life, the meaning of death, what we were all doing here and why demons hadn’t been granted the same privileges as the angels even though we were vastly superior. Why we had been relegated to The Beneath when they could walk amongst the clouds. He was a walking, talking, existential crisis. And I loved him.’

 

‘Some things hadn’t changed. My Master was still dramatic, loud and theatrical for no reason. He still enjoyed it when I read aloud to him, still liked to play dress up with me, still ran his fingers through my hair and called me his puppy. But the dynamic of our intimacy had shifted somewhat. He no longer allowed me to take him apart, didn’t allow me to make him ‘feel’ things. This time around, he was the one who took me apart. Broke me down into my most basic components and then found slight amusement in the fact that I wanted him to do so. He was a being of lust and only lust. Pure carnal frenzy. The word pleasure made manifest. Not to say that I ever complained about that, because I did not. There was something liberating in it, letting go of complication and thought and simply drowning in the want I felt for him.’

 

‘But the madness, which had always been so cleverly concealed beneath bravado in my two previous lives, still lurked. My Master was prone to fits of melancholy. He would lash out at things around him (usually unlucky hellspawn), demolish entire rooms worth of furniture, or simply vanish for days (or sometimes even weeks) into the bowels of the apartment. Hide himself away from both me and the world and keep only his jaguars for company. Times such as those made me immeasurably sad. I’d call for him and search for him and try to soothe him back to reality, but he never returned until he was ready. Even if I actually managed to find him lurking in disused rooms on the lower floors, even if I held him in my arms and kissed his cheeks and spoke soft words, it was only his body left. His mind was somewhere else entirely. He was gone.’

 

‘Really, the fact that he had undergone such changes shouldn’t have surprised me. Like me, my Master’s fall had been very different from that of my previous lives. His origin story was still mostly the same. My Master had been sent to Eden to teach Adam the ways of love and then was dragged from the garden once his job was complete, just as he had in my previous lives, and was still christened Lilith by the humans. However, something must have gone wrong with the timeline of history, because the first wave had come after Eden’s creation, unlike the first time around when it had come centuries before.‘

 

‘And when my Master returned from Eden, he hadn’t been shunned or ridiculed like the first time around. He had gathered a sort of cult following among the angels. He and his friends had challenged the word of You Know Who, lost their fight, and then swiftly followed Lucifer into The Beneath as punishment.’

 

‘My Master had been alone until he happened upon me on those temple steps. The only Bound he ever took.’

 

‘Not being the false prince anymore, Taekwoon hadn’t been there to take my master in when he fell. Hakyeon was the false prince now, and Hakyeon had only come into being a few months before my master’s fall. They grew to be more like brothers than creator and adopted-Bound. Because of this change, my Master had none of the innate familial instincts, none of the paternal or protective behavior he’d possessed in my first two lives. And most importantly, my Master hadn’t been in love with Wonshik this time around, so he had no understanding of the concept of want. No understanding of rejection or longing or broken hearts. The only time he felt rejected was when he fell. When he was kicked out of his home. Was kicked out for no other reason than deciding to speak his mind.’

 

‘The outcomes of his two falls were very different. They were easy enough for me to understand, and I should have expected as much. After all, I had wished for everything to be different. I don’t know why I thought my Master would have remained unchanged.’

 

Jaehwan huffed, raising his eyes to glare at Wonshik where he was snoring at the foot of the bed. Why would Sanghyuk’s master have been in love with Wonshik? Was everyone just in love with Wonshik? Was he that irresistible, even to long-dead archdemons?! Jaehwan extended one leg and kicked his sleeping brother in the stomach.

 

“Ow! Saints below, Jaehwan, why?” Wonshik grumbled, in that grumbly rumbly voice of his, always a touch deeper and more gravely when he was tired. Jaehwan kicked him again.

 

Wonshik caught his ankle and pinned his foot to the mattress. “Stop it. Just because I’m babysitting you, that doesn’t mean I have to let you behave like a brat.”

 

“Why would Sanghyukkie’s master have been in love with you?” Jaehwan snapped, wiggling and trying to free his leg with little to no success.

 

“What?”

 

Jaehwan growled softly in frustration, popping another raspberry candy into his mouth to stop himself biting Wonshik’s fingers off. “He wrote that his master hadn’t been in love with you, or that he used to be in love with you but wasn’t this time, something like that.”

 

One of Wonshik’s pretty emerald eyes opened. Peering at Jaehwan, brow furrowed, confused. “I never met his master, sugar, he was long gone by the time I came into the picture.”

 

“Sanghyukkie doesn’t think so.”

 

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, Sanghyukkie is wrong.”

 

Unhelpful. Why was the infuriating man always so unhelpful?!

 

“Fine. Just go back to sleep,” Jaehwan mumbled, burying his face in the coverlet and breathing in his maker’s bergamot and rosemary and vetiver smell. He had the book concealed inside his nest so Wonshik couldn’t see it. Jaehwan really wished the tapping would stop.

 

‘I don’t know what exactly it was that finally pushed my Master over the edge, but I wonder about it often. It could have simply been the natural progression of his troubled mind, or it could have been the millennia of having his questions about the meaning of life go unresolved, or it could have been something small. A single thought, the straw that broke the camel’s back. But whatever the catalyst, my Master regressed into a state of madness from which he never emerged.’

 

‘I couldn’t bring him back, Hakyeon couldn’t bring him back, nothing could. He was determined to reduce upstairs to ruble. Not only to corrupt every angel still living, but take possession of upstairs, return himself to what he thought was his rightful place in the universe. To be king in Heaven and Hell, even if he would only be king of the ashes.’

 

‘It was the archangel Michael, I found out later, that decided my Master’s abilities were the problem. His frenzied lust and lack of self-control made him unpredictable and dangerous. Too dangerous to kill, lest they be passed on to another and the whole cycle would start again. It took some doing, and it wasn’t easy, but he and Hakyeon finally managed to trap my Master in the deepest circle of the void. A cage from which he couldn’t escape, the only living beings he would ever come into contact with again were his jaguars. And the jaguars are only permitted because everyone is too frightened of them to force them away.’

 

“Wait, what!?” Jaehwan shrieked, nearly throwing the book and startling Wonshik from his doze. His brother was up and crouching protectively over him an instant later.

 

“What?! What’s the matter?!”

 

Wonshik’s closeness sent a wave of his particular earthy aroma crashing over Jaehwan, invading the young demon’s nose and wiping away any trace of Sanghyuk. Jaehwan couldn’t bear the loss of it. He hid his face in the blankets once more and tried to breathe.

 

Those jaguars… The ones that had visited him after Taekwoon and Hongbin’s unwelcome appearance…

 

They had come with no warning or explanation, terrifying blue eyes boring into the depths of Jaehwan’s mind. And when Sanghyuk had come, he had screamed at them. Apparently unfazed by their aura of menace. Told them to get out and go back to the void, not to leave their prisoner alone.

 

Their prisoner...

 

“Is Sanghyuk’s master still alive?!” Jaehwan exclaimed, throwing the blankets away and accidentally pushing Wonshik off the edge of the bed in the process.

 

“No! How could he still be alive?! Bound do not take their own Bound until their makers are dead, and we are here! He can’t be.”

 

“This begs to differ,” Jaehwan replied, waving the book at Wonshik.

 

“I told you not to touch those!”

 

“And I ignored you! Listen to this!”

 

Jaehwan reread the paragraph about Michael and trapping Sanghyuk’s master aloud, Wonshik sitting in stunned silence. He didn’t say anything when Jaehwan finished. Didn’t say anything when Jaehwan demanded answers from him and shouted at him to explain it. It was like someone pointed a tv remote at him and pressed pause. He didn’t even move.

 

With an angry hiss, Jaehwan looked back down at the book and continued to read. There had to be answers hidden somewhere in the pages.

 

‘I remember it happening. I remember Hakyeon restraining me as the angels dragged my Master away in golden chains, kicking and screaming and sobbing, silver tears of pure anguish rolling down his face. I remember it all, everything I have detailed within the pages of this volume, but they are dull. Like looking at old photographs. The memory of the pain is there, but the pain is simply a fact. It doesn’t actually hurt me. Not like the memories of my first two lives that cut me like silver blades each time they surface.’

 

‘The first real memory of my third life is when I corrupted Wonshik. He had been my best friend in heaven, even now, and I couldn’t physically bear the thought of being alone. I’d sought him out on the surface and corrupted him with my venom before he even had a chance to speak, a power I hadn’t had before, and made him infernal. It was selfish, the action of a frightened child, I know, but I wanted a friend. And my memories told me I always got what I wanted. I was the Prince of Greed now. I wanted everything.’

 

‘Soon after that, I began to hear the whispers of You Know Who...’

 

“Give that to me. Now.”

 

Wonshik had apparently unfrozen, kneeling on the floor beside the bed with his hands curled in the sheets. Knuckles white. Jaehwan barely looked up long enough to snap a “No.”

 

“Now, Jaehwan, I’m not playing.”

 

It took the majority of the young demon’s willpower not to flinch at the growl in his brother’s voice. He couldn’t stop now. There was too much to discover.

 

‘I didn’t know that was what it was in the beginning. Intrusive thoughts perhaps, or some sort of madness inherited from my Master. But once they made their identity clear to me, gave me my mission such as it was, I knew. It’s why I have spent the last two millennia looking for the...’

 

“Jaehwan, I’m not fucking kidding. Give it to me.”

 

A sighed, “Shut up,” was all Jaehwan had time to get out before his brother leapt at him. Snarling wordlessly and trying to tear the book from Jaehwan’s hand.

 

The young demon hissed and tried to kick him off, overwhelmed by the earthy sandalwood aroma oozing from Wonshik’s pores. Seeping into his lungs and choking him. And there was something else there, Jaehwan had smelled it before. An acrid tang... bitter citrus... heat... fear? Wonshik smelled absolutely terrified.

 

“Give it to me!”

 

“No!” Jaehwan clawed his brothers throat and cheeks and forehead, noticing somewhere in the back of his mind that his nails had elongated, silver ichor making his hands slippery even as Wonshik shoved him halfway off the bed.

 

“Let me see it!”

 

“No!”

 

Jaehwan held the book over his head, stretching it as far as he could so Wonshik couldn’t get it. He didn’t even know why he was trying so hard to fight. He simply wanted it, wanted to keep it wanted to read it wanted to share whatever this insane story was with Sanghyuk and only Sanghyuk. If the books were so much of a secret that Wonshik had never so much as touched them, then it could be something for just him and Sanghyuk. Something just for the two of them. Something to make him special in his maker’s eyes-

 

“What is all this screaming?!”

 

The tapping in Jaehwan’s head went silent. Gone so abruptly it was as though it had never been there at all. The young demon froze.

 

“Little dove?”

 

Wonshik had frozen as well, giving Jaehwan just enough time to maneuver around and slide the book under the bed before Sanghyuk walked in. The scared smell was even stronger now.

 

“What in Lucifer’s unholy name are you two doing?!” Sanghyuk asked, striding over to where Jaehwan and Wonshik were still tangled together. Covered in ichor too, Jaehwan noticed belatedly. “I thought you were going to decorate your bedroom! Not cut each other bloody in mine!”

 

The young demon shoved his brother away and threw himself on Sanghyuk. He did smell a bit angry, like cracked red pepper, but the majority of it was simply Sanghyuk. Bergamot and rosemary and vetiver with a hint of lemon.

 

“I missed you,” Jaehwan mumbled, hugging his maker like a koala and trying to bury his face in his maker’s neatly styled hair. “Don’t go away again.”

 

Sanghyuk gave a reluctant chuckle, carrying Jaehwan back to the bed and perching on the edge of it. “You’re getting ichor all over me, dove. And you, Shik, would you care to explain what happened?”

 

“Nothing.” Wonshik was still crouched on the mattress like an overgrown bat, those lovely bright eyes narrowed and jaw set in a firm line. “He was being a brat, that’s all. It pissed me off.”

 

Their maker sighed reluctantly, reaching out to pet Wonshik’s hair even as Jaehwan licked lightly at his temple. He tasted like coffee and cigarettes and salt and that green tea face soap he favored. Delicious.

 

“Well, at least you two stopped employing your mojo, because it was getting exhausting. Not that this barbarism is much better, but... well.”

 

“Was your errand successful?” Wonshik asked. It was a clear attempt to divert the conversation, but Sanghyuk allowed it, gently prying Jaehwan’s mouth off his cheek and moving to sit more comfortably. “It was. Very successful, actually. I found it.”

 

“Found what?” the young demon hummed, too distracted by the hint of venom he managed to snag when Sanghyuk opened his mouth to notice that Wonshik’s face had drained of color.

 

“The temple, dove. I found it.”

 

Notes:

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 8

Notes:

sup lol its 2am again

“Highness?”

 

Wonshik rapped his knuckles against the door to Hakyeon’s apartment for the third time. Starting to grow impatient when he still received no response.

 

“Highness?!” he called again, louder, attempting to inject a note of urgency into his tone.

 

This- Sanghyuk’s plan was going to result in disaster. An unqualified disaster for his family that would ripple outward from their cozy three-demon unit. Every living thing would be affected and Wonshik couldn’t think of a way to stop it. He needed Hakyeon’s advice and needed it badly.

 

Finally, after several more knocks and shouting that grew progressively louder as the moments passed, Wonshik heard footsteps approaching.

 

“What?!” the false prince exclaimed, flinging the door wide. He must have been in the middle of a bath or something because Hakyeon was shrouded in a fluffy maroon bathrobe, warm skin damp and shiny, hair slightly frizzy from humidity.

 

Wonshik stepped past him before Hakyeon had a chance to bar him entrance. “We have a problem. An extremely big problem.”

 

Thankfully sensing the younger’s anxiety, Hakyeon gave no protest. He trailed Wonshik over to the couch and sat when Wonshik did, placing a comforting hand on the young demon’s knee. “Tell me.”

 

And so, Wonshik told him.

 

Told him about the ruin of a building in the heart of Rome, located an ironically short distance from Vatican City.

 

How the building, what Sanghyuk called a temple, was covered in wards so ancient that Wonshik was barely able to make them out. How those very wards discouraged a person from noticing the building at all, tricked one’s eyes into sliding past it like there was nothing there at all.

 

How the voices in Sanghyuk’s head were telling him that he had to find the temple and rescue what was trapped within it. How Sanghyuk was entirely certain the thing hidden away was his long-lost maker. How Sanghyuk believed his maker would bring about Armageddon and the end of the world as they knew it.

 

“We’ve been casing the place out for a week now, or- Sanghyuk and I have been. Jaehwan mostly just sits in the cafe across the street and inhales gelato. But I tell you, Yeon, the surrounding area is swarming with angels,” Wonshik sighed, voice softening to a whisper as his word-vomit slowly trickled to a stop. He was so tired. Worry exhausted him.

 

Hakyeon rolled his shoulders and hummed in contemplation. He’d been uncharacteristically quite throughout Wonshik’s story, it was almost unsettling.

 

“Wonshik, I’m going to be honest with you, but you aren’t going to like it,” he replied after another moment.

 

Wonshik narrowed his eyes, an icy finger of dread trailing down his spine.

 

“Sanghyuk is correct. The temple is- was actually a temple, many years ago. But when his master went a bit-“ Hakyeon tapped his forehead, “- a bit wrong, the archangel Michael and I devised a plan. We asked Sanghyuk’s master to renovate the temple, make it into the most secure prison he could imagine. Jyani was cunning that way, devilishly clever when it came to using his imagination. He followed instructions, formed a lock whose key was technically impossible to fabricate, and then we trapped him inside.”

 

“Why didn’t you simply execute him!? It would have saved a world of trouble,” Wonshik blurted, wits hanging by a thread. 

 

The false prince shook his head. Very obviously lost in memories. “Too dangerous. By the end, Jyani was a contagion. He contaminated every demon he spoke too, infecting them with poisonous ideas that would have ended in civil war if we hadn’t stopped him when we did. It’s an effect of his gift, you understand? He made people want him so much that they’d do anything, think anything, believe anything to try and win his affection. If we’d simply killed him, his gift would have been transferred to a new demon, and a new demon would have been an unknown quantity. It wasn’t worth the risk.”

 

Wonshik shut his eyes and counted to five. The false prince didn’t understand. Wonshik hadn’t gone there looking for a history lesson, Sanghyuk had told him and Jaehwan that story already.

 

“And now, my maker has found the temple,” the young demon tried, grasping for words to express the pitch of his fear and failing. “Sanghyuk is going to release his master, Jyani, Jaehwan senior, whatever he’s called. All of your hard work will come to nothing.”

 

“He won’t be able to,” Hakyeon reached out to comb Wonshik’s cherry hair with his fingers, then gently rubbed his back. Trying for reassurance. “You have nothing to worry about. The magic sealing him in there is strong, even I couldn’t break him out. The angels can’t either, that’s probably why their hovering around. Observing.”

 

Wonshik bit his lip. “Humor me. If Sanghyuk was going to break in, how would he go about it?”

 

“Not brute strength, that’s for certain. The only way to open the door is that key I mentioned.”

 

“And what kind of key is it?”

 

The false prince sniffed. “A blade foraged by you-know-who themself, imbued with the power of hell. No such item exists-“

 

“And-“ Wonshik interrupted, needing Hakyeon to understand. Hakyeon, who was the best friend he had other than his maker. Who Wonshik trusted implicitly. “And what did Sanghyuk recently steal from the archangel Taekwoon?”

 

Glancing up, the young demon watched all color drain from Hakyeon’s face. Horror descending over him like a blanket of fog. “The sword...”

 

“Exactly.” Wonshik looked at the door, then to Hakyeon, then down at his feet. “Sanghyuk has a key.”

 

“Saints bellow,” Hakyeon sighed, jumping to his feet and sweeping away to his desk. Rifling through papers like he was searching for something before rounding on the young demon. “I need to contact- Taekwoon will need to-“ a gulp, “If he goes through with this, we’re all fucked.”

 

Wonshik hung his head. “I know. And I also know I won’t be able to stop him. Lucifer knows I’ve tried already.”

 

“Shit.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

The door creaked as Sanghyuk pushed it open, his stolen infernal sword still driven into the center. Jaehwan was firmly latched to his makers back, his nerves jumping, trying to taste the air in this unfamiliar place.

 

Today was the big day, and to Jaehwan and Wonshik’s chagrin, the rescue mission had gone off without a hitch.

 

“Relax, dove, everything is fine. All’s going exactly as it should,” Sanghyuk murmured softly, a valiant but incredibly distracted attempt to calm Jaehwan down.

 

The young demon was not at all ready to meet his... his grand-maker or whatever the term was. Jaehwan didn’t actually know. He didn’t think there was a term for the demon he was about to meet. Wonshik was shadowing them, close but entirely silent.

 

When Sanghyuk had explained that his master was being imprisoned in the deepest circle of the void, Jaehwan had expected darkness. Gloomy, damp, possibly full of fire... if not that then at least somewhat unpleasant. Like, try and picture the deepest circle of the void, the pit of doom, hell’s heart. The room they walked into was not that. Not even a little bit.

 

Opulent was really the only word to describe it. Jaehwan peered around his makers shoulder, trying to take in as many details as he could. Bookshelves lined one entire wall, crammed with books of all shapes and sizes. A cherrywood desk hulked in one corner, pens and quills and ink pots scattered across it in no discernible pattern. There was also an easel, what appeared to be a half-finished portrait displayed on it and a pallet covered in dried out oil paints abandoned on the floor nearby. The floor, Jaehwan guessed, was some sort of marble, an ivory so bright that it seemed to glow.

 

On the opposite side of the room -calling it a room really didn’t do the place justice because it was the size of a basketball court- was a huge canopy bed. Silver satin sheets and an emerald featherbed were tangled up at its foot like someone had kicked them off while sleeping and never bothered straightening up in the morning. A single wingback chair beside an ornate fireplace, damask curtains stretching from ceiling to floor over wood paneled walls, a gilt-framed mirror. There was even a black porcelain claw foot tub that looked deep enough to drown several people in simultaneously.

 

Above the mantelpiece, though, there hung a life size portrait of two people. Jaehwan stared at it. Couldn’t take his eyes off it, in fact. One of the subjects was unmistakably Sanghyuk. His maker in an emerald green tunic-type shirt with mother of pearl buttons down the front, that weird leather choker around his neck, hair down so it framed his face. And he was standing behind a chair. A chair in which sat someone that looked strikingly like Jaehwan himself. It was almost like peering into a mirror and having an alternate reality reflected back.

 

The man’s base coding was Jaehwan’s carbon copy, only the details were different. Indigo black hair to Jaehwan’s platinum, soft curls to Jaehwan’s straight. And he was a bit older looking, Jaehwan thought, more like a human on the cusp of thirty to Jaehwan’s mid-twenties. Stronger as well, if the painting did Sanghyuk’s master justice. Not too built, not a straight up muscle boy like Wonshik, but what Jaehwan guessed he himself would look like if he worked out regularly. Their green eyes were the same though. Same pointy nose and full lips and sharp chin. Fucking uncanny. 

 

The place didn’t even smell bad. Jasmine and rose and something that put the young demon in mind of nighttime. Like dew almost. Fresh condensation kissing the stars. And that smell was getting stronger the further they advanced into the room.

 

“Love?” Sanghyuk called, the tremor in his voice barely concealed as he turned slowly on the spot. This had the effect of turning Jaehwan as well, since he flat out refused to unglue himself from his maker's back. “Love, where are you? I know you’re here.”

 

A soft hiss and the sound of the cell door slamming shut had the three demons spinning around, Jaehwan growling under his breath from surprise. And then growling much louder at the sight of what had been hidden behind the door.

 

It wasn’t- the thing that stared at them was nothing like the man in the portrait.

 

It was barely a man at all. For one thing, its wings were at least six feet in span. Each. The black feathers were ruffled, and several were missing, their color subtly shifting like an oil slick. Its hands were talons, teeth much too sharp, the pupils of its eyes slit like a snake, Jade irises glinting a hint of dangerous crimson. Green-tipped fire surrounded its body like a halo, licking across its skin without leaving any burn marks behind.

 

It was gigantic. Larger than life, like it took up all the remaining space in the room. Terrible and strangely beautiful at the same time. Jaehwan hid his face against Sanghyuk’s shoulder, only managing to suck in shallow breaths as he shook with panic.

 

“Love, Master, it’s me, it’s Sanghyuk. We’re here to take you home,” Sanghyuk said, unnaturally still between Jaehwan’s encircling arms. Like he was tensing for a fight. “You don’t have to-“

 

His words abruptly cut off as the thing snarled, deep in its throat and loud enough to shake the floor. It took a step forward and Sanghyuk stepped back, his own glossy black wings unfurling to shield Jaehwan and Wonshik from view.

 

“Jyani, stop this, I’m not going to hurt you!”

 

More snarling. Anxious shifting of wings.

 

“Jyani, Love, please.”

 

At his side, Jaehwan noticed that Wonshik had his wings out too. More charcoal grey than black, reminiscent of a bat. Jaehwan was the only one without them. Pitiful.

 

“Breathe for me, love. You’re alright, everything is alright. You’re safe. Just breathe.”

 

The note of tenderness in his makers voice made Jaehwan want to cry, suddenly and without warning. Sanghyuk’s love for this creature, this thing, was so all-encompassing that he’d corrupted Jaehwan simply because of their physical resemblance. That was the truth, no matter how hard Jaehwan tried to deny it. He was a placeholder and nothing more.

 

All at once, the creatures horrifying shadow that had been cast by the light of the alchemical bulbs on the ceiling vanished. Air returned, space returned, the feeling of being caged in by a wild predator ebbing away.

 

“Pet?”

 

Lucifer, it even sounded like Jaehwan. Or how Jaehwan thought he sounded. It was always tricky to gage that sort of thing for one’s self.

 

“Stay,” Sanghyuk murmured, nudging Jaehwan back few steps with his wing so the young demon could hug onto Wonshik instead. And Jaehwan did so. He needed an anchor just then, something stable to keep him grounded as a sense of unreality set in. Wonshik tucked the young demon under his arm, subtly raising a venom-slicked finger to the young demon’s mouth while still very clearly on alert. Jaehwan licked at it gratefully. Rose petals and white chocolate. The taste fortified him, if only the smallest bit.

 

With Sanghyuk’s wings no longer blocking Jaehwan’s line of sight, the young demon could take the creature in properly. Whatever transformation it had undergone had left it- left him, person shaped. The man from the portrait, but visibly diminished. Several millennia of solitary confinement had taken a toll on him. He was sitting on the floor now, curled up against the wall with his knees to his chest, feet bare. Clothing that must once have been elegant and beautiful now torn and dirty. Hanging off his bony frame in tatters. And his hair had grown almost past his shoulders, still those lovely dark curls, but now matted and greasy.

 

The eyes, though, those knife bright emerald eyes, they were wide and alert. Tracking Sanghyuk’s movements as he came to crouch before the man he called master.

 

“I’m going to touch your hand,” Sanghyuk said, the epitome of outward calm. And he did, reaching out with deliberate slowness and brushing his finger across his master’s knuckles. The man was looking up at Sanghyuk like he’d never seen anything more fascinating in his six thousand years of life. Jaehwan flinched.

 

“My pet... how?”

 

On second hearing, Jaehwan thought the man sounded like him if he was a very heavy smoker and spoke exclusively in shrill screams. Hoarse from disuse probably. The man wouldn’t have had anyone to speak to, locked away down here all by himself.

 

Sanghyuk attempted to retract his hand but the man snatched at it, clinging to Sanghyuk and lacing their fingers together. Tugging Sanghyuk down to kneel so he could look directly in Sanghyuk’s eyes. “How did you get in here? Are you another mirage? You can’t be real, pet, they wouldn’t have allowed such a thing.”

 

“No, love, it’s really me, we came to rescue you- huh.”

 

His words were cut off as the man pushed him, a rough little shove that ended with Sanghyuk flat on his back and the man sitting on his stomach. A snarl began building in the back of Jaehwan’s throat. He didn’t like this stranger who looked so like him touching his maker. The taste of Wonshik’s venom wasn’t as comforting anymore.

 

The man seemed to fold himself down so his and Sanghyuk’s noses were almost touching, those skeletal, malnourished fingers wrapping around the lapels of Sanghyuk’s jacket. Lank hair falling to pool on the floor like a curtain. “Have you come to ravish me, pet? Is it that kind of dream?”

 

“Not exactly, love, we came to bring you home. You are needed.”

 

The man cocked his head like a curious puppy. “Home?”

 

“Home.” Sanghyuk swallowed, shifting the man off him and then getting to his feet. Standing side by side, the man looked even scrawnier. “Fair warning, I have done a bit of redecorating in your absence.”

 

“Redecorating?!” the man shrieked, hands flexing and nails elongating so they looked very like the talons from a moment ago.

 

Sanghyuk made a cooing noise that was downright upsetting. He never did that to anyone other than Jaehwan. Not even Wonshik got a coo. “Don’t worry about it, love, I left your room exactly as it was,” he replied, tapping lightly under the man’s chin.

 

“This is absurd,” Jaehwan grumbled, nipping at Wonshik’s finger for something to do. He was feeling hungry again.

 

At the sound of Jaehwan’s voice, the man whipped around, piercing Jaehwan with those wild green eyes. He’d skittered over and climbed up on Sanghyuk’s back a heartbeat later, clinging to him piggyback style like a demonic koala.

 

“Pet,” the man hummed, arms wound tight around Sanghyuk’s neck. He nosed behind the shell of Sanghyuk’s ear while continuing to glare at the young demon. “Aren’t you going to introduce me? Or, in my absence, have you lost the social graces I tried so hard to impart upon you?”

 

“Of course, love.”

 

Something like... white musk and patchouli, a dash of saffron. Jaehwan was slowly learning to interpret the smells and tastes he constantly took in from everyone and everything around him. If he had to guess now, he’d say that his maker smelled nervous.

 

Sanghyuk carried his master over to the two young demons, sneaking glances sideways at the strangers face every few seconds. “Jyani, love, these are my Bound. Wonshik,” he said, gesturing to Wonshik, “And my youngest, uh- Jaehwan.”

 

“What have I told you about uh?”

 

“Never hesitate, hesitation shows weakness,” Sanghyuk replied, like he was reciting a passage from a textbook.

 

The man smiled and stroked his hair. “My good puppy.” Those wild eyes swiveled back to the two younger demons, looking them over appraisingly. “My kittens have told me all about you two. This one, I like. Very much.”

 

That last was addressed to Wonshik. Because of course it was. Even this ancient monster was susceptible to his charms, such as they were.

 

“And this one,” the man clicked his tongue, feet kicking lazily in the air like a human child on a swing. “A poor substitute, pet. Scrawny little fledgling... not at all like the real thing.”

 

His manner was so staggeringly and unapologetically affected that Jaehwan didn’t actually know how to respond. But being insulted to his face didn’t endear the man to Jaehwan at all. For lack of anything better to say, Jaehwan settled on, “Watch who you’re calling scrawny, you look like a skeleton.”

 

“Jaehwan, that’s enough.”

 

The man’s full mouth curled into a sinister smirk and he leaned forwards, ignoring Sanghyuk’s rebuke and nearly throwing Sanghyuk off balance so he could peer into Jaehwan’s face. He didn’t say anything, probably storing further insults away for later use. Just stared. Those madly flashing eyes darting all over Jaehwan’s face.

 

“Tell me about yourselves, children,” he purred, raising a hand in Jaehwan’s face when he opened his mouth to reply, “Not you, the lovely one first.”

 

Jaehwan balled his hands into fists.

 

“My name is Wonshik, Prince of Envy and Duke of Hell. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Wonshik said, the soul of obsequiousness, even though his grip on Jaehwan’s wrist was as tight as a vice. He smelled nervous too, now that Jaehwan bothered to check.

 

“Envy,” the man hummed, “Well, at least your child has a sensible gift, pet. And how old?”

 

“Three thousand and seven.”

 

“Good. A wonderful age.” Hand now no longer blocking Jaehwan’s face, the man threaded his fingers through Sanghyuk’s hair and tugged. “And you, fledgling? What do you do?”

 

“I’m th-the Prince of Indulgence,” Jaehwan replied, aiming for a relaxed sort of dignity and slightly missing the mark. “And I’m a hundred and tw-twenty-six.”

 

“A bit young, don’t you think, pet?” the man asked, tugging Sanghyuk’s hair again and holding his head back, throat bared. “What, pray tell, is indulgence? I don’t remember there being any Prince of Indulgence.”

 

“Gluttony, officially, but we thought indulgence sounded a bit more elegant, Love.”

 

The man hummed again, running a casual hand down the column of Sanghyuk’s throat before dropping to the floor. Jaehwan saw Sanghyuk shiver.

 

And then something happened. Jaehwan didn’t know what to call it, and it certainly wasn’t happening to him, but Wonshik nearly fell over.

 

“What-“ Jaehwan tried, watching in horror as his brother and maker crowded the man in. Both breathless and flushed, hands wandering, Wonshik’s mouth on the man’s neck, Sanghyuk nipping at the man’s earlobe. The two snapping at each other like rabid dogs whenever they got too close.

 

Lust. The man was Prince of Lust. He was using his mojo on Wonshik and Sanghyuk, Jaehwan realized, watching the man preen under the attention. Did his cheeks look fuller? Skin less translucent? Lips a hint redder?

 

“Stop it!” Jaehwan squeaked, dialing up his own energy to try and break the spell. Why wasn’t the man lust-ifying Jaehwan? Why had his maker and brother fallen for it so easily?!

 

The man blinked his eyes half open, looking through his lashes at Jaehwan. Flashing a grin that was downright feral. Look how much they want me, that smile said, you are nothing compared to me.

 

“That’s enough now, puppies, save your energy for later,” the man purred, pressing a kiss first to Sanghyuk’s temple, then Wonshik’s cheek. He looked so fucking pleased with himself that Jaehwan wanted to scream. With a shrill little cackle, the man hopped up to cling on to a decidedly flustered looking Wonshik’s back. “This one will do nicely for recharging my energy. Pet, go tend to your pitiful little fledgling. He looks about ready to have a tantrum.”

 

“Dove,” Sanghyuk sighed, out of breath as he reluctantly walked over to where Jaehwan had crouched. The hungry smell, the nervous smell, they’d both been so strong and so overwhelming and those roses, the jasmine- Jaehwan had been able to taste the strange man then, and he tasted like vengeance. Like death. 

 

Notes:

daddy's home lol

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 9

Summary:

the Jyan x Jyan saga continues lol

Notes:

Sanghyuk is a bit of a masochist lol

“Sanghyukkie?”

 

Sanghyuk’s grip on Jaehwan’s hand tightened, but he didn’t answer. 

 

Their retreat from the temple had been a hasty one. The infernal sword had still been slotted into the door, so it opened easily when they attempted to leave despite the fact it had been slammed shut. It wasn’t even a real door. More of a construct. A portal into the deepest circle of the void where Sanghyuk’s master had been trapped. The little party had only needed to go so far as the threshold before stepping through the shadows. It was the easiest way to travel when wanting to avoid angelic detection. 

 

As soon as Sanghyuk’s master had stepped from the shadows into the apartment, he’d started screaming. Not from fear, as Jaehwan first thought, not because he hadn’t left the temple in almost five thousand years and so was frightened by an unfamiliar place. 

 

He’d screamed about the decor. About ‘the state of his beloved home’. About how Sanghyuk had ‘ruined his sanctuary’ and ‘taken advantage of his absence to wipe away all trace of his memory, like Sanghyuk had actively tried to forget him’. 

 

Jaehwan and Wonshik had instinctively retreated partway down the hall, hunched together as the ancient demon’s furious tirade reached a fever pitch. But his maker, to Jaehwan’s incredulous amazement, hadn’t risen. Sanghyuk hadn’t given his master the fight he was so clearly looking for. He’d simply listened for a minute or two before catching his master in a hug and sitting them both on the ground. Murmuring ceaselessly through his master’s shrieking until the man had finally calmed down. Subdued by Sanghyuk’s reassurances. 

 

Once the tantrum -that was the only word for it- had ended, Sanghyuk had helped his master to his feet and guided him down the hall. The two younger demons had shadowed them all the way, silent as the dead, until they reached a door that was usually locked and sealed up tight. Jaehwan knew that, since he’d tried to break into it several times on his explorations. It turned out to be Sanghyuk’s master’s bedroom. Velvet and silk, silver and bronze, an ostentatiously comfortable room that Jaehwan personally found a bit vulgar. Preserved all these millennia by Sanghyuk so it wasn’t even dusty. 

 

His master had cried, then. Whether from simple relief or from some more complicated emotion, Jaehwan had no clue. He’d collapsed face down on the enormous canopy bed and wept for what felt like a lifetime. Sanghyuk calmly stroking his long dark hair all the while.

 

It had been several hours since then. 

 

Sanghyuk’s master had declared that he wanted to be left alone, other than Wonshik, whose ‘company was required’ for something Jaehwan didn’t want to think about. Sanghyuk had agreed, albeit reluctantly, leaving his eldest Bound in his master’s clutches and dragging Jaehwan away. 

 

The two of them had been walking the apartment's perimeter, Sanghyuk only pausing for a moment every few feet to form fresh wards. He’d explained that they were extra protection to keep everyone out. Hakyeon included. That the false prince couldn’t find out his master was free until his master was in a better state of mind. That none of them, aside from himself, would be able to leave until he lifted the wards. It was for the good of everyone. For the safety of everyone. 

 

Not being proficient in the arts arcane, Jaehwan hadn’t been able to contribute much to the effort. He was there for moral support. One hand in Sanghyuk’s back pocket and the other holding a strawberry lollipop, simply happy to be in his maker's company. The lollipops had been Wonshik’s suggestion, something to subdue what his brother called his oral fixation and help control his impulses. Jaehwan found them surprisingly effective. 

 

“Sanghyukkie,” Jaehwan tried again, keeping the lollipop secure against the inside of his cheek so his hand was free to tug on Sanghyuk's sleeve. “What’s wrong?”

 

His maker had abruptly stopped walking, eyes out of focus and entirely still. He was listening for something Jaehwan couldn’t hear. 

 

“Hyukkie-“

 

“Hush, dove, please,” Sanghyuk murmured, resting a gentle hand on the nape of Jaehwan’s neck. Idly fiddling with the collar of Jaehwan’s sweater as he continued to listen. 

 

Jaehwan leaned into the touch, enjoying the comforting press of his maker's fingers. He gave the air around Sanghyuk a surreptitious sniff. Bergamot, vetiver, a dash of rosemary and a hint of lemon. But a bit of his master’s Jasmine lingered on Sanghyuk’s skin now, and Jaehwan wrinkled his nose. That smell didn’t belong. It threw Sanghyuk’s unique perfume off balance, tainted it almost. And there was something else... he let his tongue flick out around the lollipop stick to taste- dirty paper, leather, and something metallic. Jaehwan had never experienced that taste before, but if he had to name it, he’d say it was greed.

 

His maker had never actually spiked his mojo around Jaehwan. His greedy tendencies just sort of presented themselves. Small, physical outbursts that had no smell. No taste. Simply a part of Sanghyuk’s personality. But now... money. Lots of it. Possessions claimed for no other reason than he didn’t want others to have them. Sanghyuk smelled possessive, protective, but Jaehwan didn’t know what the object of his desire was. He didn’t think it was himself.

 

“Are you alright?” the young demon whispered, easily keeping pace as Sanghyuk began walking once more. It wasn’t the meandering stroll from before, though. His maker had a destination in mind. 

 

Sanghyuk didn’t answer. His emerald eyes had a dangerous gleam and were fixed straight ahead. Mouth a tight line of displeasure. 

 

And then Jaehwan heard it too. Quiet, some distance away, but definitely groaning. Or moaning, he wasn’t entirely clear on the difference between the two sounds. Sound didn’t matter to him all that much, other than enjoying Sanghyuk’s rich tenor speaking voice or Wonshik’s sonorous baritone. He couldn’t process that stimuli as well as scent and taste. They made more sense to him. Sounds could trick him, perfumes could not.  

 

Sanghyuk’s pace quickened and Jaehwan matched him, the noise growing more and more intrusive as they reached the Prince of Lust’s bedroom. That’s what Jaehwan had decided to call Sanghyuk’s master from now on. Not by name, not grand-maker, only the Prince of Lust. Everything else felt either clunky or uncomfortably personal. 

 

They hadn’t even bothered to shut the door. 

 

Jaehwan peeked around the doorframe, trying to remain inconspicuous, unlike his maker who was standing stock still right on the threshold. The spicy smell of arousal and night blooming flowers hit Jaehwan like a smack in the face. 

 

The Prince of Lust and Wonshik were tangled up together in the center of that monstrous bed. They were both still dressed, or partially dressed anyway, but it looked like their clothes had been removed and then sloppily put back on again. Wonshik’s shirt was missing and his slacks were wrinkled, the Prince of Lust now only in a bathrobe looking thing and pants of flowy black satin. 

 

And they were kissing. Sort of. Wonshik was on top of the ancient demon, grinding against his thigh with quick, jerky movements. Lips parted and groaning as the Prince of Lust carded his cherry hair with those spidery fingers. 

 

But something else was happening. Wonshik was glowing, a faint emerald glow that ringed his entire body. Tiny, almost colorless tendrils akin to heat haze were spilling from him. The Prince of Lust seemed to be drinking them in, looking more rejuvenated with each inhalation. Feeding, Jaehwan realized, the Prince of Lust was feeding. 

 

Sanghyuk was there one instant, standing beside Jaehwan with hands clenched into fists, and then gone the next before the young demon had time to react. 

 

“Stop it!” he growled, reaching the bed in a heartbeat and yanking Wonshik off his master, both arms around Wonshik’s middle and pulling so hard he damn near flung his eldest Bound across the room. 

 

Wonshik gave a yelp of surprise, stumbling back against the wall on unsteady legs. Concern for his brother pricked in the back of Jaehwan’s mind and he flit over to try and support him. A hand on his elbow to keep him upright. Wanting to do something useful for a change. 

 

“Do not feed on my Bound, Jyani. I love you, but I love them too, and you could have easily killed him! I won’t allow it!” 

 

The Prince of Lust was crouched on the foot of the bed, lips pulled back in a snarl, breathing hard and giving Sanghyuk a glare full of so much anger that Jaehwan had to look away. So, this was where the greedy smell had come from. Protective instinct for his Bound. That was sweet, in a twisted sort of way. But-

 

With absolutely no warning, the Prince of Lust pounced. He leapt forwards with the speed and grace of a panther. Nails elongated into talons and green eyes possessing that ruby gleam once again like they were reflecting firelight. He grabbed Sanghyuk by the throat and shoved him backward into the mirrored armoire standing in the corner. 

 

Their difference in stature had less than no effect. Sanghyuk was tall and frightfully strong, but the Prince of Lust was old. Very old and very powerful, danger oozing from his pores. Bitter almond, a cyanide smell.

 

“You presume you have the right to dictate orders to me, puppy,” he hissed, a muscle twitching in his jaw, “That is incorrect.”

 

Sanghyuk had gone a bit pale, eyes fixed unwaveringly on his master, but he flicked a hand in the young demon’s direction when they’d begun to inch forward. Nudging them away and back to the safety of the wall. “I’m not a fledgling anymore, love. I look after what’s mine.”

 

Brave. Jaehwan could admire that bravery in the face of this monster. But the Prince of Lust didn’t seem to share the sentiment. 

 

“What’s yours?” he replied, letting out a maniacal little giggle that made Jaehwan’s ichor freeze in his veins. “Nothing is yours puppy. You are mine. They-“ an arachnidian hand waved lazily into the young demon’s direction. “-are mine. Everything is mine, and I may do as I like.”

 

“No,” Sanghyuk snapped, a small hurt sound escaping him as the Prince of Lust’s hand tightened around his throat. 

 

That was when Jaehwan realized the truth of the situation. That smell of greed wasn’t just for Wonshik. Wonshik was part of it, yes, but it was for his master as well. Jaehwan could see it clear as day in Sanghyuk’s eyes. The Prince of Lust valuing another person, even if it was simply for the life force they provided, was intolerable to Sanghyuk. 

 

“Master, you’re mine too! I don’t want you to-“

 

The Prince of Lust’s free hand shot out, one of his nails swiping a deep gash across Sanghyuk’s cheek that Jaehwan felt burn in his own flesh. He made to dart forward but Sanghyuk’s invisible hand shoved the young demon back, even as he dropped to his knees. It looked like a gesture of supplication more than anything else, but the sight still struck a chord somewhere in Jaehwan’s heart. It wasn’t right. 

 

The Prince of Lust growled deep in his throat, the growl of a furious animal. “Bring me your collar. Now.”

 

Sanghyuk vanished and reappeared in a heartbeat, the circle of leather and gold now clutched in one shaking hand. Unable to fight against the force of his master’s order. His master snatched it and secured it around Sanghyuk’s throat. It was easy, with Sanghyuk still kneeling at his feet. 

 

“Always so stubborn, pet, always so wanting.” The Prince of Lust wrinkled his nose, tugging at the collar. “You have regressed in my absence, pet, and this must be remedied.”

 

“I’ll try harder, love, I’m sorry,” Sanghyuk replied, starting in a whisper, but his voice grew stronger as he got to his feet. “I’m sorry, but I won’t back down on this issue. If you need to feed, you feed off me. Not Wonshik, not Jaehwan, nobody else.”

 

The Prince of Lust’s eyes flashed. Instead of answering, he turned his head to stare at the young demons, Jaehwan only realizing he’d been snarling when the low sound choked off. There was something in those wild eyes, a casual brutality that Jaehwan couldn’t quantify. It sent a bolt of fear through him that was so strong he grabbed Wonshik’s wrist to stop himself from running out and down the hall as fast as he could. 

 

“You value these children so highly, pet? Do you?” the Prince of Lust giggled, a shrill sound that made Jaehwan jump, and then refocused on Sanghyuk. “Or are you just greedy for my attention?”

 

Sanghyuk blinked once, twice, hands clasped behind his back as he looked down at his master. That metallic paper smell grew stronger and Jaehwan’s nose twitched. “Those statements aren’t mutually exclusive, love. I know that caring for one's Bound isn’t something you can understand, but-“

 

A second slap cracked across Sanghyuk’s bleeding cheek and the Prince of Lust snatched at the collar, tugging Sanghyuk down so their eyes were level. Jaehwan growled again but he went ignored. His maker made a noise, almost like a whimper, but his eyes were wrong. They didn’t match the sound at all, full to the brim with longing even as ichor dribbled down his face. Confusing... Jaehwan inhaled a breath, trying to find the truth of it, and nearly choked on the scent of poison longing that filled his lungs.

 

Sanghyuk wanted him, even now. Even with the harsh treatment, his desire for his master grew stronger. More overwhelming with each tug and slap. The smell was coming directly from Sanghyuk, his master didn’t smell like he was spiking his energy. No outside influence. That fact confused Jaehwan more than anything else so far.

 

“Do not speak about me this way, like I’m some callous, heartless creature you found in a gutter,” the Prince of Lust snapped, flicking his long hair over one shoulder. It wasn’t so dull anymore, Jaehwan noticed, distracted. The black strands gleamed with a luster they hadn’t possessed a few hours ago, curls bouncy and a bit more full. A result of his feeding, perhaps?

 

“You know that’s not what I meant, love. Don’t let your imagination carry you away, it will only bring you pointless hurt.”

 

Jaehwan liked to believe himself to be a kind and sympathetic person. And as he looked at the monster Sanghyuk called master, Jaehwan tried to come up with an excuse for the man’s behavior. He’d been in solitary confinement for longer than Jaehwan had been alive. Significantly longer. He was out of practice at interpersonal relations. He would calm down once he got used to having people around him again. 

 

And yet, a phrase from Sanghyuk’s diary echoed in Jaehwan’s mind. 'He was neither a best friend nor a confidante. Not caring. Not visibly kind. He was possessive and jealous and as frigid as a glacier.’ 

 

“Easy, little dove,” Sanghyuk murmured, grunting under his breath as his master latched onto his front, climbing up his body and wrapping his legs around Sanghyuk’s middle so he could nuzzle the spot on his cheek where the scratch had been. Healed over now without leaving a single blemish. 

 

Jaehwan switched the lollipop to his other cheek, focusing on the saccharine strawberry taste to keep himself grounded. He’d been growling again. 

 

“Shik, take Jaehwan and have a nap, you’ll need it to regain your strength after- after Jyani’s treatment.”

 

Jaehwan heard a noise of protest from behind him but Sanghyuk silenced it with a look. He’d slipped his arms around his master and now moved to set the ancient demon back on the bed. “Both of you, go. Now.”

 

A hand closed around Jaehwan’s upper arm, pulling him gently from the room. The young demon wanted to fight, wanted to bury his teeth in that hand until his brother let him go and then run back into the room. Free his maker from the ancient demons’ sinister clutches and then kill the Prince of Lust for good measure. But he didn’t. Wonshik’s grip was weak already and something in Jaehwan couldn’t bring himself to cause his brother anymore pain. 

 

The sound of the door closing rang like a gong, echoing around the inside of Jaehwan’s skull. 

 

“What did it feel like,” he asked, placing a tentative hand on the small of Wonshik’s back. His brother looked dim. Cherry hair dull and skin sallow, eyes drooping with exhaustion. Even still, Wonshik managed a smile. 

 

“It felt like heaven.”

 

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“I know it’s your thing, sugar, but I still have trouble fathoming how you can eat so much and still be so little.”

 

Jaehwan blinked at Wonshik across the dinner table. “Shut up,” he grumbled, mouth stuffed full of macaroni. Wonshik snickered. 

 

It had been two and a half days since the rescue mission. Sanghyuk had been locked away in that horrible bedroom almost the entire time. He’d come out every few hours or so, come to check on Jaehwan, give Jaehwan a few hasty kisses and a taste of venom so the craving wouldn’t get too bad. But inevitably, to Jaehwan’s chagrin, the Prince of Lust would flounce into the room and whine until Sanghyuk went back to him. 

 

Instead of moping like he’d originally planned, Jaehwan had spent his free time annoying his brother. Following him around the apartment and squeaking every time Wonshik’s attention wandered. Wonshik had indulged him sweetly enough. He seemed to understand that Jaehwan was dealing with the intruder’s presence in his own way, so he’d put a temporary pause on poking fun at the young demon. 

 

“I’m just hungry,” Jaehwan mumbled once he’d swallowed, jabbing Wonshik’s cheek. Wonshik caught the offending finger between his teeth and nibbled, giving the young demon an affectionate growl. “You’re always hungry.”

 

A giggle from down the hall drew Jaehwan’s attention. The tapping in his head went quiet, signaling his maker's approach, but the young demons eyes narrowed all the same. It seemed that their meal was about to be spoiled. 

 

The Prince of Lust sauntered into the dining room, Sanghyuk close on his heels. Jaehwan stuffed another spoonful of cheesy pasta into his mouth and glared at his plate. The young demon had seen all he needed to see. 

 

Sanghyuk’s master had pinned his hair up in a tight swirl on the back of his head, a few loose curls framing his face. He looked like a beacon of radiant vitality, nothing of the fragile broken thing they’d brought home remained. His ivory skin glowed, lips and cheeks were more lush, both dusted with pink, and his previously skeletal form had filled out. Somewhere between willowy and statuesque, lithe muscles more prominent and the curves of his body more pronounced. He looked perfect and Jaehwan hated him. 

 

“Good evening, children,” he hummed, running a hand through Wonshik’s hair as he went past. 

 

“Good evening, sir,” Wonshik replied. Patronizing to the last. The Prince of Lust sighed, pleased, tapping affectionately under Wonshik’s chin. “Such a good boy, this one. Just delightful.”

 

Jaehwan stayed silent. 

 

The ancient demon paused behind Jaehwan’s chair, Jaehwan could feel him standing there. Like a reaper poised at his shoulder. “I said, good evening, fledgling.”

 

At the feeling of something brushing against his hair, Jaehwan whipped his head around. Snapping his jaws and growling. He’d nearly managed to get a bite of those horrible fingers. 

 

The Prince of Lust drew back, eyes flashing as he stared down at Jaehwan. Those eyes that were identical to Jaehwan’s own. The young demon had spent several hours earlier in the day staring into a mirror. Cataloguing each feature that matched Sanghyuk’s master. Coloring aside, they were exactly the same. Jaehwan was simply a washed out, pastel version of the ancient demon’s deep jewel tones. It unnerved him, so he tried to push their similarities from his mind. 

 

“Feral, this one,” he murmured, a hand shooting out in Jaehwan’s direction before Sanghyuk caught his wrist.

 

“Love, don’t.”

 

“Discipline your child then, pet, and I won’t have too.”

 

The Prince of Lust moved away in a swirl of sapphire silk, and Jaehwan’s heart sank. That blue silk dressing gown, trimmed in bright silver thread, was the one Sanghyuk had wanted Jaehwan to wear that first day. The one Sanghyuk had made for him special. 

 

Jaehwan had thought it looked garish, that the color wouldn’t suit him, and he saw now that he’d been correct. It wouldn’t have suited him, but it did suit Sanghyuk’s master. The color looked rich on the Prince of Lust, not garish at all, it brought out the indigo undertones in his hair and made his skin glimmer like fresh cream. 

 

“That’s m-mine,” Jaehwan whispered, eying the hateful dressing gown like the garment itself had betrayed him. 

 

“Little dove-"

 

The Prince of Lust silenced Sanghyuk with a flick of his wrist, propping a hand on his hip as he turned back to look at Jaehwan. “What is?”

 

“That. Tha-that robe. Sanghyukkie made it for me.”

 

Wonshik nudged him under the table but Jaehwan barely noticed. He felt pinned by that emerald gaze. Like he’d been backed into a corner even as his maker lifted him with gentle hands. Now sitting on Jaehwan’s chair and settling Jaehwan on his lap. 

 

“Here, dove,” Sanghyuk murmured, spooning up some of the macaroni and holding it to Jaehwan’s mouth. The young demon nibbled at it, but only because his instincts made it impossible not to.

 

It was clearly an attempt to stop him talking, Jaehwan didn’t actually know why he continued to speak when the ancient demon was liable to rip him to shreds at any moment, but he couldn’t stop. Once he’d swallowed, he added, “You shouldn’t be wearing it.”

 

The Prince of Lust grinned, a smile of pure sweetness so at odds with his hostile demeanor that it caught Jaehwan off guard. “Dress up!” he squeaked happily, “Let’s play dress up!”

 

“That’s a good idea, love,” Sanghyuk replied, smiling at his master and then smiling at Jaehwan. 

 

The Prince of Lust bounded over to them in an instant and tugged Jaehwan to his feet. He formed several very fast wards in the air, snapped his fingers, and Jaehwan felt the fabric on his body rustle like he’d been caught in a breeze. 

 

When he looked down at himself, he realized that the ancient demon had magicked him into new clothes. Gone were his cozy cotton shorts and the large black sweater he’d borrowed from Sanghyuk’s closet. In their place was a robe of identical sapphire silk and wide-legged black trousers. They were made from some sort of shiny material that slipped across his skin like water and trailed onto the floor behind him. And the lack of a shirt was rather conspicuous. The outfit was absolutely identical to that being worn by the Prince of Lust. 

 

“Precious,” the Prince of Lust said, plucking at the waistband of Jaehwan’s trousers so they settled in a perfect line across his hip bones. “Just precious! Look, puppy, we’re twins now!”

 

The ancient demon wrapped his arms around the younger and nuzzled Jaehwan’s cheek. He hadn’t stopped giggling. Jaehwan stiffened in the embrace, nearly choking on that rose and Jasmine perfume. 

 

“Very cute,” replied Sanghyuk. He looked unnecessarily happy, Jaehwan thought, glaring from his maker to his brother still seated across the table. Wonshik hadn’t reacted, his expression had smoothed over and he was sitting very still, and for some reason that pricked at Jaehwan’s nerves. Like he’d scented danger.

 

“You know, little fledgling,” the Prince of Lust continued, poking the tip of Jaehwan’s nose, “This dressing gown was hanging in my armoire. I crafted it myself before they trapped me in that prison.” 

 

Jaehwan was trying his best to hold his breath so the floral perfume wouldn’t overpower him, but it was still managing to slip into his lungs. Invading his senses like a stain. He didn’t understand what-

 

The Prince of Lust kept one arm around Jaehwan but turned his eyes to Sanghyuk. Glittering with cruel humor. “Is this what you wanted, puppy? Did you summon it from my room so you could dress the fledgling up like me while you played with him?”

 

Sanghyuk flushed. He had the decency to look a bit ashamed as the Prince of Lust began to chuckle. A deep, bedroom chuckle that sent unnatural tingles all the way to Jaehwan’s toes. 

 

“He does look quite like me, doesn’t he? Even if he is a bit peeky. That can be easily remedied.” With a snap of his fingers, the ancient demon summoned a glass of red wine. Jaehwan could tell by the smell, current and blackberry and a bit of mahogany, all clouding over the top of its alcoholic sting. He dipped his index finger in the glass and then began dabbing it on Jaehwan’s bottom lip. 

 

Jaehwan snarled, snapping at the Prince of Lust’s fingers and trying to pull away, but the arm around him was like iron. “I’m nothing like you,” he hissed, suddenly furious with Sanghyuk and furious with himself. Furious with himself for believing that he was special. Believing his maker loved him for who he was and not just because he had a familiar face. 

 

The Prince of Lust shoved him away with a hiss of disgust, so hard that Jaehwan fell backward against the table. The force of it sent the dishes sliding, the glass of wine tipped over, staining the emerald tablecloth like blood splatter.

 

“Master, stop it!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, catching Jaehwan and pulling him back into his lap. Hugging him close. The young demon huddled against his maker, hiding his face in the crook of Sanghyuk’s neck and breathing him in. Bergamot and vetiver. The most comforting smell in the universe. 

 

The ancient demon affected a pout as he straightened his hair. “What’s wrong with him? Wonshik is so well behaved and yet this one can’t even make it through a game of dress up without trying to attack me! It’s like you’ve adopted a rabid hellspawn!”

 

“He’s young, Jyani, and you were taunting him. You know you were. What were you expecting?”

 

“I was expecting,” the Prince of Lust replied, voice like a jagged shard of ice, “That your children would know how to behave themselves. I was expecting that you would have taught them not to overstep in the presence of their elders and betters. And I was expecting you to discipline them when they act out of turn.”

 

He collapsed into the chair at the head of the dining table and summoned a fresh glass of wine. 

 

“You’re too soft by half, pet. Give me an hour alone with him and he won’t try to attack anyone ever again. I promise you that.”

 

 

Notes:

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 10

Summary:

welcome to Jae/Jae bonding time lol

Notes:

I guess the Neo starts now, although it doesn't ramp up for a little while. I didn't want to tag it until their interactions started.

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“Don’t be frightened, little dove, he just wants to talk to you.”

 

Jaehwan was frightened, although he’d never admit it to anyone. Least of all his maker. Sanghyuk was so nauseatingly in love with his master that Jaehwan didn’t think mentioning the ancient demon's tendency for monstrousness to be a prudent course of action. If he had said something, Sanghyuk would probably just snap at him. Or worse. 

 

“Did he happen to mention what about?” Jaehwan asked, clinging to his maker's arm and dragging his feet. 

 

Sanghyuk gave a half-hearted shrug. That horrid collar was still around his neck and Jaehwan glared at it. He pressed a kiss to Jaehwan’s temple, smoothing down the young demon's hair. “He simply wants to get to know you better, little dove. We’re a family, and my master is, above all else, a sensitive creature. He doesn’t like the thought of you hating him.”

 

A sensitive creature, my full and shapely ass, Jaehwan thought mutinously. “What if he hurts me?”

 

“He won’t.”

 

“But what if he does?”

 

“He won’t, dove.”

 

Jaehwan grumbled. “Why doesn’t Shik have to come for bonding time then?”

 

“Because Shik doesn’t try to bite him every two seconds, dove.”

 

“So, this is a punishment? For wanting to protect myself and protect you?” Jaehwan asked, unwrapping one of his strawberry lollipops and sticking it in his mouth. He was trying to calm down, to relax, he really was. But one-on-one time with the Prince of Lust was about the last thing he wanted to have. 

 

His maker sighed, pulling Jaehwan gently to a stop before the Prince of Lust’s bedroom. “No, Jaehwan. This is not a punishment. I understand the urge to protect your creator, believe me, I do. And you haven’t done anything wrong. But he is my master and you are my Bound. I want you to at least, if not like each other, then at least be civil. Does that make sense?”

 

Jaehwan squinted, debating whether it would be worthwhile to continue the argument or not, but eventually he decided to relent and just nod. 

 

“Thank you,” Sanghyuk murmured, bending slightly to kiss Jaehwan on the mouth. He even let the young demon get a taste of venom. Sweet raspberry and sweet mint, it spread across Jaehwan’s pallet. Obscured the flavor of his lollipop. Eliminated everything that wasn’t Sanghyuk. Fortifying him. “I’ll be nearby so your craving doesn’t get too bad, dove. Only a few rooms away. You have nothing to worry about.”

 

With that, his maker knocked twice and pulled the bedroom door open, nudging the young demon inside with a final kiss on the cheek. 

 

Jaehwan blinked around at the room, instantly overwhelmed with the jasmine and lavender perfume that was the Prince of Lust's signature. He felt his hands curl, the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Trying to breathe as shallowly as possible. Absolutely sure in the knowledge that he was being watched. 

 

“Hello, little fledgling.”

 

The Prince of Lust dropped to the floor with no warning, landing in a crouch and smiling with too many teeth. 

 

Jaehwan hissed, an entirely instinctual response, skittering so his back was pressed to the door. A quick glance up showed Jaehwan where the demon had been hiding. There was a small loft up near the high ceiling, adjacent to the wall of bookshelves and only furnished with an armchair and little clump of alchemical bulbs. He must have been skulking up there waiting just to give Jaehwan a scare. 

 

“Why don’t you ever use my name?” Jaehwan snapped, glaring as the Prince of Lust slowly rose to his full height. 

 

“Why don’t you ever use mine?”

 

Jaehwan snarled wordlessly. In truth, the reason he didn’t address the Prince of Lust by name was simple. Jaehwan didn’t want to call this evil thing the same name he called himself. It felt like doing so would bring him bad luck. Like it was an omen of something terrible. He preferred the boundaries that formality provided. 

 

“Exactly,” he replied, after Jaehwan’s reluctant silence stretched on a beat too long. A smirk curved the corner of the Prince of Lust’s mouth. “You know, I once killed a hellspawn for daring to have the same name as me. Have you killed a hellspawn yet, sweet little fledging?”

 

“No,” Jaehwan grumbled, going stiff as the Prince of Lust led him further into the room. He was almost holding his breath by that point. The perfume grew stronger the deeper in he went, it was like walking into a cave full of night-blooming flowers. 

 

The Prince of Lust sat him down on the edge of the enormous bed. It had a new coverlet on it today, Jaehwan noticed, and the emerald damask enveloped him like a cloud. 

 

“A little birdy told me,” the Prince of Lust continued, settling himself beside Jaehwan and artfully arranging his long limbs, “That you enjoy venom. Is that correct?”

 

Jaehwan narrowed his eyes, but he nodded. Hands clasped tightly in his lap. 

 

Smile growing wider with each passing second, the Prince of Lust plucked the lollipop from Jaehwan’s mouth. Jaehwan’s first instinct was to growl, and growl he did, itching to pounce and snatch his candy away.

 

“Hush now, if you sit quietly, you can have it back.”

 

Jaehwan stared at the lollipop stick, protruding from between the Prince of Lust’s perfect scarlet lips. He didn’t like having his sweets taken away. As a general rule, it was something he didn’t allow. Wonshik had tried it once and Jaehwan had nearly torn his arm out of his socket. 

 

But this wasn’t Wonshik. This demon was scarier than Wonshik. Infinitely more frightening and infinitely more likely to cause him physical pain, and Jaehwan had figured out relatively early on that he was a baby about pain. 

 

So, he hushed. He sat completely still, there, on the foot of the bed. Suppressing every instinct telling him to tackle the demon beside him and take his sweets back by force. Counting the seconds and holding his breath. Thank Lucifer that Sanghyuk was close by, because if Jaehwan had had to deal with the tapping right then, he didn’t know what he would have done. 

 

“That’s a good boy,” the Prince of Lust hummed, giving the lollipop one last lick before handing it back. “Those are delicious, by the way.”

 

Jaehwan snatched at it, sticking it back in his own mouth before he said something he’d regret. But the flavor that bloomed on his tongue wasn’t the sugary strawberry he’d been expecting. Peaches. It was definitely peaches, with only the barest hint of sweetness. The flavor was nearly effervescent, and it possessed that certain something that only venom had. The purest, most delectable taste of sin.

 

The Prince of Lust's particular venom wasn’t like any that Jaehwan had ever tasted. Not that he’d tasted many, only those of his maker and brother. But the young demon concluded in an instant that this was different. It didn’t have the comforting quality of Sanghyuk’s raspberry and mint. Neither was it the soft romantic sense of Wonshik’s rose petal and white chocolate. This venom was purer. He could almost taste the peach fuzz. Like the essence of the fruit had been distilled. Almost compelling. 

 

“How’s that, fledgling?”

 

Jaehwan only realized he’d begun to purr when he’d stopped. The Prince of Lust was still smiling at him, lovely and full of bemused curiosity. 

 

“Yummy,” the young demon mumbled around the candy, feeling the venom begin to coat his senses. It had an addicting- there was something new in this venom. Something new that made Jaehwan desperate for a second taste. It was almost like the day of his corruption. That first time he’d imbibed Sanghyuk’s venom with his angelic eyes shut tight against temptation. Like he’d never actually tasted anything up until this very moment. Jaehwan tried to riddle that fact out and failed. 

 

“Good.” The Prince of Lust nodded, sitting up a bit straighter and crossing his legs. “Now, another little birdie told me that you think I’m beautiful.”

 

Jaehwan opened his mouth to protest but the elder spoke again before he had the chance. “You don’t need to deny it, sweet little fledgling, it’s written clearly in your eyes every time you look at me. You think I’m beautiful and you hate me for it.”

 

Again, Jaehwan tried to snap something rude in response -that the Prince of Lust was a narcissistic sociopath, that he was just a creepy old demon who was jealous of Jaehwan’s youth and status as the baby of the family- but it was like someone had tied his tongue in a knot. The majority of his brain was still focused on trying to absorb the venom lingering on his candy, down to the last drop. 

 

“Would you like me to teach you how to be beautiful?” the Prince of Lust murmured, nearly radiant as he flounced onto the center of the bed and sprawled out with his feet on the pillows, “I can teach you, if you’d like.”

 

“You-you c-can?” Jaehwan managed, once the very last hint of venom had been salvaged. He wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to hear the things this demon had to say but it was... tempting. 

 

Jaehwan thought of his brother, Wonshik’s' perfect physical beauty. And the way Sanghyuk looked at Wonshik. As though Wonshik was the most valuable thing in this plane of existence or any other. And, in contrast, the way Sanghyuk looked at Jaehwan. A mixture of ancient grief and newborn affection. The way Sanghyuk looked at his master wasn’t something to be contemplated right then, or Jaehwan would inevitably find himself attempting to fillet the demon alive. 

 

The Prince of Lust hummed his ascent. 

 

“Is tha-that your spe-special ability? Like Wonshik’s glamour?”

 

“No, darling. Glamour is different. It’s an illusion cast over one's features or the features of another. Like a veil. What I speak of is no illusion, physical alterations that won’t go away if you lose focus. It is simply a skill one can learn with a bit of practice and determination.”

 

Jaehwan took the lollipop from his mouth and looked at it. Frowned. “What is your ability then?”

 

“You tell me yours; I’ll tell you mine.”

 

Jaehwan frowned harder. “I’m Prince of Indulge-gence. My ability is acute sense of ta-ta-taste. Yours is s-something sex related, I’m guessing?”

 

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no. I have been graced with the power of persuasion.” 

 

“Oh.” The young demon hesitated, unsure of how nasty he wanted to be if there was still a possibility of getting another taste of venom. “Is that why Hyukkie fucks you even though you’re so mean to him? And how you got Wonshik to let you fe-feed off him?”

 

The Prince of Lust’s head lolled sideways and he met Jaehwan’s unfocused gaze. “No, darling. I don’t force anyone into bed. They always come of their own volition. And my puppy is a masochist.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“Very simply, it means he enjoys pain, you understand? A bit of degradation never goes amiss with him either.”

 

“Oh,” Jaehwan repeated. He tentatively held out the lollipop, only half daring to hope. “Sweets please.”

 

“Sweets?” The Prince of Lust rolled over, propped on an elbow as he tied up his long hair with an emerald ribbon. Wonshik had offered to cut it for him, style it so it resembled the short crop of black curls depicted in the demon's various portraits, but the Prince of Lust had refused. Jaehwan idly wondered why. “You have the sweet right there in your hand, darling.”

 

“Venom,” Jaehwan corrected, “Sweet venom. That’s what I ca-call it. Sweets.”

 

The Prince of Lust watched Jaehwan for a moment, contemplative. Like he was trying to solve a puzzle that Jaehwan couldn’t see. Not that the young demon actually cared all that much, he was starting to squirm. Needing another taste of those delicious sugary peaches. 

 

“Why don’t we make a deal, little fledgling?” the Prince of Lust replied, sitting up fully now so he could look Jaehwan in the eye. They were exactly level, Jaehwan staring blankly into those emerald irises he knew so resembled his own. He’d checked again that morning, though, in the mirror on the wall of Sanghyuk’s bathroom. Their eyes may be the same color and shape, but there was no wildfire burning behind Jaehwan’s own. None of the madness he could see in the eyes of the Prince of Lust. That was reassuring at least. 

 

“A deal?”

 

“A deal. You continue being such a good boy for me, nice and calm like you are now, and in return I’ll give you all the sweets you want.”

 

Jaehwan frowned again, thinking that proposition over. It seemed straightforward enough. He’d do his best to control his impulses, and he’d done okay at that so far. It wasn’t like he was about to sell his soul or anything. Jaehwan only wanted more venom. He’d manage. “Deal.”

 

“Good boy,” the Prince of Lust hummed, visibly pleased now as he took the candy from Jaehwan a second time, “I knew you could behave; it was only a matter of finding the proper incentive. Now, tell me your story.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“We need to talk, Angel, get down here as fast as possible.”

 

A throat was cleared on the other end of the line and Hakyeon could practically hear Taekwoon’s frown. He got no response, not that he was expecting one, only the faint buzzing and then a noiseless blip that signaled the end of the call. Taekwoon had hung up on him. 

 

The phone was a clever little thing that he and the angel had rigged up together several millennia ago. Not like those silly human telephones that worked with electricity or whatever it was. Taking the white phone off its receiver opened a minuscule portal so he could hear the angel's voice, and said portal closed again once the phone was back in its cradle. The arrangement worked both ways and the false prince had been grateful for the easy communication more times than he’d like to admit.  

 

With a flash of white light that bordered on blinding, the archangel materialized just as Hakyeon was hanging up the phone. 

 

“I didn’t expect you so quickly, Angel. Slow day at the office?” Hakyeon asked, a smile curving the corner of his mouth as he moved out from behind his desk. 

 

Taekwoon gave a derisive little sniff. “You said to come as soon as possible. That happens to be now.”

 

“You come so obediently to my call, Angel.”

 

“No.” The archangel folded his hands behind his back, deep golden eyes narrowing the closer Hakyeon got. “Tell me what is so urgent.”

 

“Well,” Hakyeon hummed, sidling up so he stood directly before Taekwoon and trying not to snort as the angel took a step back, “It has to do with the sword you so carelessly misplaced.”

 

“I misplaced nothing. The sword was stolen, and you know that perfectly well.”

 

Hakyeon worried his lip between his teeth. It wouldn’t do to give the whole game away yet, considering how little of the situation he was actually sure of. But the depth and breadth of this colossal fuckup needed to be explained. How to do so that would leave the most lasting impression?

 

“Who is the last being you’d want running around free?” he asked, tentative, letting his gaze wander along the line of the angel’s broad shoulders. So delightfully broad.

 

“Lucifer.”

 

“Other than Lucifer,” Hakyeon amended. 

 

The archangel thought for a moment, those cats’ eyes sharp and brow creased in contemplation. A delightful mouth too, Hakyeon thought idly, eyeing Taekwoon’s lips that were currently pursed in annoyance. “I don’t have time for your riddles, false prince. If you aren’t going to tell me anything concrete, then I shall take my leave.”

 

Hakyeon clicked his tongue, extending a hand to grab the angel’s shoulder when he turned to go and then retracting it just as quickly. Not for his own benefit, obviously. He’d pondered on more than one occasion what it would be like to have this particular angel within arm’s reach. Specifically laid out beneath him in bed, those lanky limbs sprawling in every direction. But he knew that if he actually had tried to touch, Taekwoon would most definitely leave. And they still had business to attend too. 

 

“Jaehwan, perhaps?” he promoted, hoping the angel would catch on quickly. That damned heavenly veil always made them so dull witted when it came to solving unpleasant problems. Angels didn’t solve problems so much as they smote them. 

 

Taekwoon turned back around, eyeing the hand that Hakyeon still held half extended. Hovering in front of him like he was holding an imaginary drinks tray. The false prince let it fall to his side. 

 

“Jaehwan has been ruined and is running around free. Sanghyuk saw to that. Sometimes I think that demon has a sixth sense, he so easily seeks out things I like and proceeds to ruin them.”

 

“Not that Jaehwan,” Hakyeon snapped, trying and failing to keep a note of impatience from his voice. “Although there’s a problem with him as well. I meant the other Jaehwan. The first one.”

 

The archangel’s frown deepened considerably. “You mean the Prince of Lust? He’s locked up in the void, and besides, that was Michael’s project, not mine. Go pester him about it.”

 

“Yes, he was Michael’s project. Michael, who recently retired from active duty, if that’s what you call it upstairs, to go work on one of you-know-who’s pet projects.”

 

“So what?”

 

“So,” Hakyeon replied, actively forcing himself not to appear anxious. “He’s out.”

 

“No, he isn’t.”

 

“Yes, he is actually.”

 

“I have scouts watching the temple day in and day out, false prince. If Jaehwan so much as breathes too close to the entrance, I’d be informed.”

 

“Listen, I know you don’t trust me-“ Hakyeon began, but he was interrupted by the angel’s quiet snort of laughter.

 

“Of course, I don’t trust you. You are a demon and a liar.”

 

The false prince soldiered on, not allowing himself to imagine running his fingers through that lovely silver hair. Or pulling it. “And since Michael isn’t around at the moment, who would Jaehwan’s target be? Because he does have a target and he does want revenge. I haven’t even spoken to him yet, but I guarantee the truth of it.”

 

“I barely knew him before his fall, demon, so I say again, this isn’t my problem.”

 

The fucking infuriating little shit-

 

“Not you, which is a lucky thing since you’re already the main target for Sanghyuk’s hatred.” Hakyeon took a slow, deep breath. “You aren’t who I’m worried about. Your little deputy, the grumpy one who attacked baby Jaehwan on your orders.”

 

Taekwoon flicked the hair out of his eyes. “Why would you bestir yourself to care about the well-being of an angel? Please, for the love of the almighty, take care of your own and let me take care of mine.”

 

“Frankly, I don’t give a shit about you or yours, Angel! But I’m content with our current arrangement. You lot staying upstairs and us staying down here. Separate but peaceful. It’s the best of a bad situation and if there is anyone capable of ruining that arrangement, it’s the Prince of Lust. And your deputy would be a powerful ally for him!” Hakyeon growled, finally losing hold of his temper at the blank expression on the angel's face. 

 

“If you find this situation so upsetting, confront him. I don’t believe the Prince of Lust is free, but you seem pretty convinced. I don’t know what I can say to change your mind.”

 

“I cannot get in,” Hakyeon replied slowly, eyes falling shut on a sigh. “Sanghyuk knows wards that even I can't find a way to break. He’s locked up his home and locked both Jaehwan’s in with him. Not to mention Wonshik, although I don’t know what purpose his eldest Bound could serve in all this. But I know the Prince of Lust is back, Angel, I can sense him. I felt it the instant he arrived in my realm.”

 

The archangel shifted where he stood, rolling his shoulders and glancing around at the wide room. The grey paneled walls and black furniture. “You mentioned a problem with the other Jaehwan? Sanghyuk’s fledgling?” he asked in that soft voice. It was an obvious attempt to change the subject and Hakyeon allowed it for the moment. He clearly wouldn’t get anywhere until he could prove the Prince of Lust’s escape. 

 

“Your deputy-”

 

“Hongbin is not my deputy. We are of equal rank,” Taekwoon interrupted. Always so focused on semantics and minutiae. Fucking angels. 

 

“Fine, Hongbin did something to the fledgling when you two broke into Sanghyuk’s home. I reversed it as much as I could, but his and Sanghyuk’s bond has been damaged, which was no doubt your intention. Not fully damaged, the bond itself still exists, but some small part has been lost.”

 

“It was.”

 

“And did you pause for a moment,” Hakyeon continued, smoothing down the front of his crimson blouse, “To consider how that would affect the balance of Hell? What impact such a thing would have on Sanghyuk who, to reiterate, would love nothing more than to see you corrupted and rotting in the deepest circle of the void? Or, what it would mean to have an untrained, extremely powerful archdemon running around untethered? How vulnerable he would be to outside influences?”

 

Taekwoon blinked. Hesitated. “No.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“Did you make this, then?” Jaehwan asked, running the silken belt of the Prince of Lust's silver dressing gown between his fingers. 

 

They’d been talking for maybe an hour, Jaehwan explaining the mission he’d been sent on that ended with his corruption. That he'd been the best singer in Heavenly choir, that he was young, but everyone said his abilities were remarkably strong. And he’d listened to the few bits of personal information that the Prince of Lust let slip. How he used to enjoy crafting garments in his spare time. That he’d been best friends with the now deceased Prince of Vice, executed for crimes against the Almighty during his confinement. How he had no creator, had corrupted himself, just like every other demon who’d fallen during the first wave. 

 

He was fascinating, truthfully, and so Jaehwan didn’t mind listening. The constant supply of venom didn’t hurt matters either. And he’d come up with a solution to their name issue. Jaehwan would call him Sir like Wonshik did, and he would call Jaehwan darling. Jaehwan was a Duke of Hell too, and so technically of equal rank, but he was still extremely junior to this ancient demon, so he didn’t protest the arrangement. 

 

The Prince of Lust flexed his muscles with a deep, satisfied sigh. There was an elaborate casualness about him that Jaehwan didn’t quite believe. Like a facade. Even reclining on the bed as he was, legs crossed and eyes closed, the young demon could sense chaos lurking beneath. Tightly coiled energy that never went away. “I did, darling. Everything I wear is of my own design. Who made your outfit today?”

 

“Hyukkie,” Jaehwan mumbled, glancing down at the pink sweater and black jeans he was wearing. 

 

“You always address your creator so casually, darling. You and Wonshik both. Not that it's much of a surprise, my puppy has never recognized any authority other than mine, certainly not his own.”

 

“He did once,” the young demon replied, finding himself squirming on the mattress. The venom was gone again, his lollipop had been finished ages ago and he’d begun licking it off the tip of the Prince of Lust’s finger. That didn’t make the taste last any longer though. “Hyukkie liked it when I called him master. I thought he was going to break me in half.”

 

“Did he now?” the Prince of Lust asked, smiling and cracking open one emerald eye. Jaehwan wanted to touch his hair but stopped himself. Touching the Prince of Lust’s hair would bring his hand too close to the source of that delicious venom, and Jaehwan didn’t want to test his impulse control. 

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Interesting.”

 

The Prince of Lust rolled off the bed, flitting across the room in the time it took Jaehwan to blink. The movement was so abrupt that it startled a hiss from Jaehwan. A hiss he instantly regretted when a spark of black flame burned the exposed skin of his wrist.

 

“Watch yourself, darling, you were doing so well,” the Prince of Lust growled, so low and full of menace that Jaehwan nearly choked as he forced himself to quiet.

 

He sat perfectly motionless and the slow breaths he’d been taking since he’d entered the room stopped all together. Eyes wide. Trying his utmost not to gasp at the pain.

 

“Better.” 

 

Jaehwan blinked hard. He squeezed his eyes shut and bit the inside of his cheek. The longing for venom combined with the burning was making it very hard for him to relax-

 

“Here little darling,” the Prince of Lust hummed, soft, right beside Jaehwan’s ear. Long fingers closed around his wrist, a cool breeze caressing his skin until all the pain had been soothed away. 

 

A featherlight kiss was dropped on his cheek and Jaehwan opened his eyes once more. The Prince of Lust was watching him closely, tongue darting out and leaving a shiny patch of saliva on his bottom lip. 

 

Jaehwan leaned forward before he could stop himself. Lapping up that tiny bit of venom with the tip of his own tongue. His whole body seemed to go slack as the flavor washed over him and the Prince of Lust didn’t protest right away. Hands curled around Jaehwan’s biceps and essentially holding the young demon upright. Peaches and a hint of sugar. 

 

“See, darling?” he murmured, pulling back a few inches and leaving Jaehwan panting shallowly, “I didn’t forget our deal. Be good for me and you can have sweets.”

 

He giggled, a wild disconnected sound, and stood from where he’d crouched beside the bed. Taking the young demon’s hand and pulling him through a doorway on the opposite side of the room. It was a closet, apparently, nearly as big as the bedroom with racks of clothes lining all four walls. There was a wide divan in the center just as there was in Sanghyuk’s closet, but this one was covered in rich silver damask and emerald embroidery. And, unlike Sanghyuk’s closet, there was a gigantic gilt framed mirror before the divan, like the kind of tri-fold mirror humans had in those big department stores.  

 

Jaehwan took all of it in, the range of colors and textures nearly assaulting his eyes, and then glanced down at his wrist. He hadn’t known what he was expecting. A ring of singed flesh marring his once smooth skin, black patches of char perhaps. But all he saw was a tiny scar. A perfect circle the size of his pinky nail, only a shade or two lighter than his normal skin tone. 

 

“Let’s find you something better to wear, darling,” the Prince of Lust said, voice as soft as a lullaby. He flashed Jaehwan a full, ripe smile and it seemed to transform him. No longer so intimidating when he smiled like that. Simply beautiful. “My puppy is many things, but a designer isn’t one of them, and I can't have a member of my family walk around dressed like a fast-fashion manikin.”

 

He moved like poetry, first depositing Jaehwan on the divan and then swirling away. Perusing his racks of garments, fingers tripping over the fabrics, light from the alchemical bulbs reflecting off his silver silk like moonlight on open water. “I do think he was going in the right direction with pink.”

 

A few moments of restless shifting later, Jaehwan was instructed to stand. He lurched awkwardly to his feet, locking his knees, trying to quiet their trembling. Mind still muddled from that enchanting venom and the fresh memory of pain. The Prince of Lust damn near tore the clothing off Jaehwan, the sound of ripping cotton too loud in the otherwise quiet room. 

 

In place of the sweater and jeans, Jaehwan was draped in satin. Only a simple tunic and trousers first, the slippery fabric such a light shade of pink it was almost creme. Other than the loosely laced V neck and the cinches on the cuffs, they reminded Jaehwan strongly of pajamas. But then over that went a robe of blush colored silk chiffon (or that’s what he was told the material was), more transparent than opaque, patterned in roses of the same hue. The flowers looked as though they’d been embroidered by hand and the bursts of emerald green of their leaves gave the thing a dazzling bit of contrast. All secured around his waist with an emerald chord. It was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful garments Jaehwan had ever seen. 

 

“Pink is definitely your color, darling, what do you think?” the Prince of Lust asked, drawing Jaehwan back to the mirror once he was satisfied with the draping or whatever it was he was fussing about.

 

Jaehwan stared at his reflection in slight amazement. The color, a softer shade than his sweater, brought out a hint of pink in his cheeks. His skin was a bit brighter too, and the green of his eyes was more noticeable. But he was still a plain thing, and that reality was only reaffirmed when he glanced to his left. The Prince of Lust was standing beside him, so darkly resplendent that the comparison made Jaehwan look almost sickly.

 

“It’s nice,” Jaehwan replied, plucking his sleeve and frowning at his feet. 

 

The Prince of Lust crooked a finger and raised Jaehwan’s face. That calculating expression was back, like he couldn’t understand what Jaehwan was feeling but was trying to figure it out. Neither positive nor negative. A flat, base level curiosity. “You don’t like it?”

 

“I do like it, it’s lovely, but-” the young demon’s voice became a whisper, choked and tiny, “Even with the pretty clothes, you’re still so much prettier than me.”

 

“Close your eyes,” the Prince of Lust instructed, moving to stand behind Jaehwan and placing hands on his shoulders. Jaehwan complied.

 

“Now, take a deep breath.”

 

Again, Jaehwan complied, but slower that time. As soon as he inhaled, the intoxicating perfume of jasmine and rose overwhelmed his senses. He almost coughed. The sensation was akin to drowning. 

 

“Keep breathing.”

 

Jaehwan did. It got easier with each lungful, his body beginning to adjust to the scent. Slowly relaxing. And there was a strange tingling feeling on his face, fingers running through his hair, electric current buzzing across his skin. It made the young demon shiver.

 

“Open.”

 

When he opened his eyes and saw his reflection, Jaehwan accidentally gasped. The Prince of Lust had done something- his pallid skin was warmer like he’d gotten a light tan, cheeks fuller, lashes darker, lips a deeper shade of pink. His already sharp jawline was somehow more noticeable as well, and his hair... the previously monochrome platinum sparkled like someone had woven diamonds through the strands. 

 

“What did you do?” Jaehwan asked, reaching up to touch his own face. Making sure it was real and not some kind of trick mirror. He still looked like himself, no mistake, but better.

 

“Magic, darling,” hummed the Prince of Lust, resting his chin on Jaehwan’s shoulder and eyeing his reflection, “Just a little demonstration of all that I can teach you.”

 

It occurred to the young demon that the Prince of Lust could be doing this for Sanghyuk’s sake. Being kind to keep his Bound happy. Sanghyuk could have asked him to do so, actually. But somehow, Jaehwan didn’t think so. That didn’t seem like the Prince of Lust’s style. He wouldn’t play nice for anyone’s sake if he didn’t want to, and he didn't really seem to care whether Sanghyuk was happy or not. 

 

That was when Jaehwan realized he could feel it. Not the hand on his waist or the warm breath fanning out light across his cheek. Not the gaze dropping intimately down the length of his back a moment later. He felt all that, but he could also sense the Prince of Lust’s energy.

 

It was so subtle he could have easily missed it, as though the ancient demon wasn’t projecting on purpose. Soft heat settling in the pit of his stomach, fingers curling and uncurling at his side, an urge to touch and be touched in return. 

 

A faint blush colored Jaehwan’s cheeks and the tips of his ears grew warm. There was uncertainty beneath the lust but not much of it. He could feel the Prince of Lust’s energy starting to feed his own, the careful control he’d been holding over his impulses beginning to crumble. Jaehwan was hungry. 

 

He dropped his head back to try and get a bit of venom but suddenly found his chin held in a firm grip. Wild green eyes glaring at him. “Stop it. Now.”

 

Jaehwan tried, he really did. But even after all Sanghyuk’s instruction and Wonshik’s helpful tips, he could never get his mojo to settle when he wanted it to. He could increase it easily, more was never a problem, but the energy always had to burn itself out. “I c-can’t.”

 

“I said, stop it.”

 

Despite the growled command, Jaehwan was powerless to comply. He reached a hand up, the hunger inside him screaming for venom, but only succeeded in getting his arm pinned behind his back. 

 

“I can’t! I don’t know how!” Jaehwan whined, wriggling to try and get free so he could pounce on the ancient demon. “I’m only a fledge still, I haven't learned all the tricks you-”

 

Jaehwan’s attempted explanation cut off with a yelp. The Prince of Lust had momentarily released his chin and slapped him across the cheek. He could feel the skin there sting and he yelped again as the ancient demon held his face once more, fingers bruising hard. “Learn faster.”

 

The Prince of Lust’s own energy was getting stronger too and Jaehwan’s breath grew uneven. For lack of any other ideas, Jaehwan pulled his mojo inside himself. Letting it pool in his core rather than spill out. This wasn’t a solution so much as a delaying tactic, because the energy would have to go somewhere. He couldn’t hold it in for very long. But maybe he could distract the elder enough that he wouldn’t notice. 

 

“Good boy,” the Prince of Lust murmured, letting Jaehwan go and carding a hand through the young demon’s hair. 

 

As soon as he was free, Jaehwan basically threw himself on the elder, sealing his mouth to those crimson lips. He barely even noticed the giggles spilling from the Prince of Lust. Everything was obscured by that addicting flavor, peaches and a dash of sugar. 

 

He purred as the ancient demon wrapped him in a tight embrace and pulled him closer. Jaehwan ran his hands over the hard muscle of his arms. Silver silk slipping against his fingertips. The Prince of Lust cradled the back of Jaehwan’s head in one hand, the other skimming smoothly up and down his side, caresses smoldered into Jaehwan. 

 

In small, unobtrusive increments, the young demon began siphoning off the hunger still growing inside him. Releasing it in tiny blips that he hoped could go unnoticed as he explored the inside of the elder’s mouth with his tongue. Trying to drown himself in venom. 

 

“You and my puppy really are two of a kind,” the Prince of Lust breathed, snapping his fingers behind Jaehwan’s back. The tunic and trousers abruptly vanished, leaving the young demon only covered by the transparent chiffon. Jaehwan couldn’t bring himself to care. “No control, and so needy.”

 

The Prince of Lust breathed warm kisses into Jaehwan’s neck, smoothed the slightly damp hair from Jaehwan’s face, softly caressing Jaehwan’s skin as he maneuvered them backward and collapsed onto the divan. 

 

Jaehwan fell upon him like a starved animal. Ran his tongue up the Prince of Lust’s cheek so he could taste that perfect skin. Like almonds and shea butter. He yanked the ribbon from the elder’s hair and let it fall down around his shoulders, filling his hands with the indigo strands and smothering a groan.

 

Tiny random details became charged with overwhelming significance. The firm thighs beneath him. The sensation of the couch fabric rasping against his shins. The quiet tinkling of the alchemical bulbs bumping together above their heads. 

 

“We really are identical, down to the last detail,” the Prince of Lust sighed, palming Jaehwan’s crotch over the fabric. A wicked little grin flit across his face at Jaehwan’s whimper. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to fuck myself. Perhaps I’ll let you fuck me later, only if you’re a very, very good boy.”

 

Jaehwan made a low noise somewhere in the back of his throat, tugging at the Prince of Lust’s shirt. Wishing he could make the garment vanish as easily as his own clothes had disappeared. The Prince of Lust was no help at all. He just sat there, eyes half closed and an easy smirk curling his mouth as Jaehwan stood and yanked off his trousers. 

 

Once his task was completed, Jaehwan stayed still for a moment. Staring at the ancient demon with breathless anticipation. Long dark hair draped about his face, swathed in nothing but perfume and a bit of fresh sweat, the Prince of Lust was a vision of absolute perfection. Jaehwan was so hungry he thought he might die. 

 

“Come here, pretty little darling,” the Prince of Lust said, voice dipping to a husky purr. He took Jaehwan’s hands and helped guide the young demon. Situating Jaehwan so he was straddling him backwards. Legs spread and knees on the cushions. Back to the elder’s chest.

 

The Prince of Lust’s fingers were like molten iron against his skin. His hips. His abdomen. His thighs. Bunching the pink silk chiffon up around Jaehwan’s waist and crooning sweet words in his ear. Stroking Jaehwan’s cock, swift and smooth. 

 

“Look how pretty you are,” he murmured, nudging Jaehwan’s cheek so the young demon had no choice but to stare at his reflection in the tri-fold mirror. He looked a mess, if he was honest, rumpled and flushed. But pretty too, he supposed. Nothing close to the darkly luxuriant being behind him, but still pretty. 

 

Their eyes met in the mirror and Jaehwan bit his lip, watching as the elder easily pushed him up onto his knees. Watching as the Prince of Lust spit on his palm and slicked himself up, then did it again and ran those clever fingers over Jaehwan’s rim. 

 

The young demon bit harder, tasting the salty tang of ichor as he was guided back. Sinking onto the elder’s cock with a low breathless whine.

 

“That’s a good boy,” the Prince of Lust purred, tilting Jaehwan’s head back and pressing a light kiss so his lips. He remained there, holding Jaehwan still. Hovering close so their identical pointy noses brushed against one another. “How do you feel, darling?”

 

“Full,” Jaehwan mumbled, pressing a hand to his sprinting heart. Lashes fluttering. “Warm.”

 

Time slowed to an almost painful crawl as he leaned in and they kissed again, soft and dizzying as venom coated his pallet. Heady effervescence mingling with the fissions of pleasure shooting through him as Jaehwan finally found the strength to move.

 

Jaehwan shivered as their tongues touched. Thigh muscles burning low as he lifted himself up and sank back down, then up, then down, then up again. The Prince of Lust had a hand in his hair, smoothing the blonde strands back off his forehead, the other hand flat across Jaehwan’s stomach with fingers splayed wide.

 

Opening his eyes, Jaehwan saw the Prince of Lust’s face just an inch from his. Lips still close enough to brush. But the ancient demon wasn’t looking at him, no, those wild green eyes were focused on the mirror. 

 

The loss of attention had its usual effect on the young demon. Frustration surging inside him in an instant. Without even realizing what he was doing, Jaehwan let his internal dam break. Let the built-up energy pour from him like a tidal wave. Hunger and need sending him shaking. 

 

“What did I tell you?” the Prince of Lust snarled, the hand in Jaehwan’s hair curling in a fist and yanking the young demon’s head back. He held Jaehwan completely motionless with the other, arm wrapping tight across Jaehwan middle. Still buried in Jaehwan to the hilt. 

 

Jaehwan squirmed, or tried, dusky red creeping up his throat. He could feel the Prince of Lust’s unsteady breath against his neck. “Can’t he-help it,” he gasped, reaching back to touch the base of the ancient demon’s skull and bracing himself with a hand on the cushion. “Too full- lemme move!”

 

“No,” was the hissed replied, accompanied by another sharp yank of Jaehwan’s hair. “I am going to fuck you until you cry, pretty darling. I am going to keep you here until you’re too exhausted to come for me properly, let alone project, if that’s what it will take for you to learn to control yourself. Do you understand me?”

 

Jaehwan did understand, but at that moment he couldn’t find it in himself to care. A glance in the mirror showed the tiny patches of pink high on the Prince of Lust’s pale cheeks, a lock of dark hair across his forehead in rakish disarray. Charm personified, even then. 

 

“Sir,” Jaehwan whined, face twisting as he tried to hold back his sobs. He rolled his hips as much as he could with his movements so restrained, which wasn’t much at all, but it was enough to give him the smallest sensation of the friction he craved. And, instead of trying to dampen his energy, the young demon let it grow stronger. 

 

The Prince of Lust growled, too-sharp teeth piercing the flesh at the juncture of Jaehwan’s shoulder and neck. The young demon yelped at the pain but the elder didn't stop, thrusting up into him and leaving tiny silver crescents of ichor each time he bit into a fresh patch of skin. 

 

Jaehwan cried out, fucking himself down on the elder’s length, eyes closed against the pleasure-pain of it. He lost himself to sensation, aching in the pit of his stomach, jasmine and rose perfume tangling up his sensorium, sharp fingernails digging into the skin of his soft tummy. The low groans spilling from the Prince of Lust’s scarlet lips. Indulging in a perfect, amorous frenzy. 

 

Motionless and languid in the elder’s arms an immeasurable time later, Jaehwan tried to think. He couldn’t, not really, too oversensitive and the Prince of Lust's cock still hard inside him. Thoughts askew, like a row of toppled bookshelves. The books in disarray and detached pages lying helter skelter in every direction.

 

A new smell pricked in Jaehwan’s nose. Dirty paper, leather, metallic underneath. He blinked his eyes open just in time to see a blur of black and green cross the threshold before the Prince of Lust spoke. 

 

“Stay, pet.”

 

There was an unmistakable note of command in the words and Sanghyuk froze. Halfway between standing and crouching maybe ten feet from the divan. He was still in his slacks and black button-down, just as he’d been when he left Jaehwan there that morning, but his jade green eyes were glazed with anger and some other emotion Jaehwan couldn’t name. And he smelled greedy. 

 

“I could smell him bleeding, why is he bleeding,” his maker snarled, hands curled in fists at his sides. 

 

The Prince of Lust giggled under his breath, thrusting sharply up into Jaehwan’s body, still heavy with exhaustion. The young demon whimpered around the venom-slicked fingers in his mouth. 

 

“We are having a lesson, pet, and I’m not finished with him yet.” He stroked Jaehwan’s hair almost lovingly and nipped at Jaehwan’s cheek. “Either get out and come back when I call for you, or make yourself useful.”

 

“I don’t like to share, you know that-”

 

“Enough.”

 

The word silenced Sanghyuk in an instant and Jaehwan blinked at his maker. A muscle twitching in his jaw and lips set in a firm line. The taste of peaches was almost gone and the young demon pawed weakly at the Prince of Lust’s arm, hand trembling with effort. Wanting more. 

 

“Useful how?” Sanghyuk asked, nearly vibrating he was standing so still. 

 

The Prince of Lust hummed, nibbling Jaehwan’s earlobe and thrusting up again. “Give him something to do with his mouth.”

 

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Notes:

thoughts?

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Curious Cat

Chapter 11

Summary:

welcome to *Jaehwan Senior* POV

Notes:

TW // brief mentions of cannibalism

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“Darling, don’t play with your food. It’s impolite.”

 

Jaehwan, Prince of Lust and Duke of Hell, watched through heavy-lidded eyes as his new fledge plaything blinked back at him. Bird bright gaze still a bit wary when he was near. So lovely. So darling. A lovely little darling. Even if the fledge was stacking the crackers that had accompanied his soup into a pyramid with his fingers. 

 

“Sorry,” the fledgling murmured, ducking his lovely blonde head and tucking his hands in his lap. Prince of Indulgence. What a ridiculous title, Jaehwan thought, gently swirling the glass of pinot noir in his hand. 

 

They had come to the surface for a little adventure, Jaehwan shearing through and then stitching up Sanghyuk’s wards with almost no difficulty. His Bound was talented, no mistake, but Sanghyuk often underestimated the scope of Jaehwan’s own talents. A fact that would no doubt get him in trouble one day.

 

But they had come to the surface, Jaehwan and the fledgling. The Prince of Lust had been getting the urge to breathe fresh air and see the sky, something he had not done in five thousand years, and his Bound’s overprotectiveness was not going to stop Jaehwan from following through on his urges. He had brought the fledge... Jaehwan was not exactly sure why. Sanghyuk and that other one, Wonshik, had been gone when he had woken, and the little fledge was always so entertaining.  Jaehwan adored being entertained. 

 

After strolling around for almost an hour, Jaehwan had decided they should stop for refreshment. But his taste was rather particular, and so it had taken another hour of wandering before he had selected an establishment that fit his requirements. Crisp white tablecloths and a menu that had tactfully left off prices. It was full of well-dressed humans, so he and the fledgling fit right in.

 

He had made sure the fledgling was dressed properly before they had left the apartment. A sweet little double-breasted blazer that was the softest of purples, with black buttons and a black sweater of fine cashmere underneath. And a silly pair of sneakers because the fledgling had insisted. At least he had agreed to comb that lovely hair up off his face. 

 

Jaehwan had made sure he himself looked presentable as well, of course. Black tailored trousers, a black silk jersey shirt, a pair of black Oxford brogues of shiny leather with a bit of a heel. A black wool twill trench coat on top pulled the look together. Their matching sunglasses were a nice touch as well.

 

“That has a funny smell,” the fledge said, nodding in the direction of Jaehwan’s glass, “When you did that swirly thing just now. It made the smell much stronger.”

 

“Bouquet, not smell,” Jaehwan corrected, but he leaned in a bit. Peering at the fledgling across the small table at which they were sitting. “Would you like a taste?”

 

The fledgling nodded a bit, hesitantly accepting Jaehwan’s proffered glass in both hands and sipping. The Prince of Lust sat back in his chair. Crossing his legs at the knee as the fledgling drank. He could see traces of his own features on that sweet Elvin face, haunting similarities that made a slight itch prickle his skin. The shape of his lips. The turn of his nose. The well-defined eyebrows. The fledgling even pouted the way Jaehwan did. 

 

“It smells like violet and lavender, and it tastes like,” the fledgling hummed, losing himself to robust sensorium, “Like blackberry. And rose petals. Like ve-velvet, almost.”

 

“Very good, darling, exactly right,” Jaehwan replied, tone as close to fond as it ever got. The little fledgling may not be the smartest, but he did possess a wonderful pallet.

 

Instead of giving the glass back like Jaehwan had been expecting, the fledgling let the tip of his pink tongue swipe across the rim. Licking at the hint of venom that lingered there. Like he was some kind of house cat lapping at a dish of warm milk. Or a lizard. 

 

“Stop that,” Jaehwan snapped, his ever-changeable temperament flipping into a more hostile mode. He felt the switch within himself, heard the coldness in his tone as he snatched the glass out of the fledgling's hands and set it roughly down on the table. Contemplated it, staring fixedly at the few red drops that had spilled onto the white tablecloth. 

 

That sort of thing had been so unimportant when he had been locked away in his prison. There, the difference between anger and contentment was nonexistent. It did not matter if Jaehwan had woken up in a good mood or if he was overcome with a need to lash out and demolish his room. There were no consequences. Nobody was there to see him, for him to talk too, no witnesses to provide him validation. Other than his kittens, of course, but the ancient jaguar demons didn’t come visit as often as he would have liked. 

 

His emotions, his behavior, these things became fluid. After his pet had rescued him, Jaehwan could not figure out a way to regain any semblance of control. Not that he actually had much control to begin with. 

 

But he made himself try for the sake of his pet’s mental health. Because Jaehwan being happy had the odd effect of making Sanghyuk happy. So, he tried. Tried to, if not curb the mood swings, then at least internally acknowledge them. Like he was doing now, glaring at the cowering fledgling across the table. 

 

He acknowledged it and yet... and yet it was so much easier to simply slip back. Revert to the fluidity he’d enjoyed for so many thousands of years. Complex thought was so exhausting.

 

So, so easy...

 

To simply...

 

Slip

 

“Don’t forget your manners, darling, you are not an animal.”

 

Animals. Humans. Mortals.

 

All the same. 

 

Vulgar, grasping creatures drowning in a sea of ineptitude from which they would never escape. 

 

The fledgling flinched. 

 

“S-s-sorry, Sir. I didn’t mean- it’s just that I could taste your sweets...”

 

Jaehwan smiled.

 

A smile that could almost be called fangy, K-9’s just that bit too pointed. 

 

He reached out

 

Brushing a fingertip under the fledglings pointed chin

 

“I know, darling.”

 

Voice a soft purr

 

Infusing his words with an urge to comply

 

Invasive and persuasive 

 

“Would you like sweets, darling? I know you would.”

 

A shy little nod in response

 

Avoiding eye contact

 

So sweet and shy 

 

So sweet and shy it was almost repulsive

 

Not the way a Fallen should behave

 

Too much like an angel

 

Like how he himself had behaved as an angel 

 

The idea made him shudder minutely with displeasure

 

“Would you?”

 

Repeating himself

 

Leaning in closer across the table

 

Wetting his bottom lip so it shined with saliva

 

Making himself a temptation

 

“Answer me, pretty darling.”

 

Could see base instinct trying to take control now

 

Saw the fledgling’s emerald eyes tracking his movements over the rims of those sunglasses

 

Heard the fledgling’s breath quicken

 

Heard the fledgling's pulse tick up 

 

Saw the moment the fledgling decided to leap over the table and take his sweets by force

 

Preempted the movement easily

 

Grabbed the fledgling roughly by the chin and held him still

 

“You may have sweets, pretty darling, I’d simply like you to try something for me first.”

 

“What kind of something?”

 

A laugh

 

A laugh he knew would sound like honey rolling slowly down a sheet of sandpaper

 

Seductive and destructive 

 

“Focus on your power. Your hunger. Pull it inside yourself in that way you told me about some days ago.”

 

Released the fledglings chin

 

Satisfied that the fledgling was momentarily distracted

 

Now

 

To try

 

A little experiment

 

What would happen...

 

What would happennnnn...

 

His ever curious mind perking up

 

Let his own energy build

 

The energy his pet always referred to as his mojo

 

A ridiculous word

 

Lust

 

Want

 

Need to touch

 

The sensation of skin on skin

 

Warmth of a foreign body

 

Caress a being’s most sensitive spots

 

Contact

 

“Take my hand, pretty darling.”

 

Smiling darkly

 

The fledgling’s fingers curling around his own

 

The fledgling jumped in his seat

 

Those lovely round cheeks pinkening

 

“Focus, darling, focus on those humans there.”

 

He pointed a languid hand in the direction of the humans in question 

 

Obviously, a couple

 

Haughty

 

Sipping cappuccinos in their bourgeois branded clothes

 

As though they were the most important beings in the room

 

As though everyone present was lucky to be breathing the same air

 

But Jaehwan didn’t have to breathe

 

And they weren’t the most important beings in the room

 

Nobody

 

Nothing

 

Was more important than Jaehwan 

 

Prince of Lust

 

Father of Incubi

 

True spouse to Adam of the first men

 

Duke of Hell

 

Sent his energy curling around the couple with barely a thought

 

Easier than making his immortal heart beat

 

Watched their papery skin blotch with heat 

 

Heard their raspy breaths increase in speed

 

Snickered as they began to paw at each other, utterly oblivious to the other humans gaping around them

 

Scandalized

 

“Make them hungry, pretty darling,”

 

He urged

 

Brushing the side of the fledgling’s hand with his thumb

 

“Make them so hungry they won’t be able to bear it.”

 

The fledgling gulped

 

Nudging Jaehwan's shoe under the table

 

Holding his hand tighter

 

“But- but isn’t that cr-cruel? They’re only humans, they haven’t done anything-“

 

“Do it.”

 

A low snarl

 

The order escaping between his gnashing teeth

 

Another gulp of uncertainty

 

“I want Hyukkie, the tapping is getting so distracting-“

 

Such a whiny tone

 

Jaehwan released the fledgling’s hand in favor of clutching his chin a second time 

 

Listening to the fledgling’s pitiful little whimper

 

Basking in it

 

Such a pathetic excuse for a demon, this one 

 

Needed more training

 

“You can have your Hyukkie-“

 

Such disrespect

 

“After you do this for me. Now, focus.”

 

The fledgling turned away

 

Head ducked low in supplication

Submission

 

Doe eyes wide and frightened as he looked at the humans now groping each other maybe ten feet away

 

Jaehwan felt it

 

He felt it

 

The fledgling's power

 

Felt it, but did not let it touch him

 

Not close enough to affect him

 

Good

 

The human couple shuddered

 

Oblivious to the horrified shrieks of the other mortal patrons

 

Oblivious the everything but one another

 

As kisses turn to licks

 

Licks to nibbles 

 

Nibbles to bites

 

The human woman biting the human man’s finger off at the knuckle

 

Chewing luxuriously 

 

Moaning as the human man tore the skin from her wrist with his teeth

 

“They’re- they’re eating each other!”

 

The fledgling drew back, trying to pull his power back inside

 

But the job was done

 

Jaehwan smiled wider

 

Watching the filthy little mortals devour each other

 

Enjoying the sound of their pleasured groans

 

Blood, hot and wet and red, splattered across the restaurant

 

Staining the white tablecloth just as the wine had done

 

Jaehwan swiped up a drop with his finger and dragged it across the tip of his tongue

 

He was in a state of grace, almost

 

Euphoric

 

Hadn’t felt this good in centuries

 

His pet called him mad

 

Maybe his pet was right

 

But Jaehwan did not care

 

He needed more

 

Wanted more

 

Wanted to feel some kind of fulfillment

 

Some kind of pleasure

 

Some kind of catharsis

 

Retribution

 

Sweet, sweet retribution 

 

“Come, darling, our work here is done. We have other business to attend too.”

 

Gathered the trembling fledge up in his arms and led him away from the carnage

 

Allowing the fledge to suck venom off his fingers as they strolled out onto the street 

 

“I want Hyukkie.”

 

Ignored the fledges whining

 

Glanced around the street for the structure he was looking for

 

His target

 

“Please, Sir, let’s go back, I w-w-want Hyukkie! Let’s go home-“

 

“Silence!”

 

Elongated talons slicing at the fledges pretty face

 

Staining that lovely lilac blazer with silver ichor 

 

Knotted his fingers in that platinum hair and yanked the fledgling’s hair back

 

Baring his teeth

 

“I made your Hyukkie. I am better, I am stronger, I am more in all things. If you want anyone, pretty little darling, you will want me.”

 

But he would not

 

Jaehwan's pet had created this demon

 

Had given the fledgling his name and his power and his new life

 

The fledgling would never want Jaehwan that way, no matter how entertaining he was

 

Maybe it was time 

 

After this spontaneous wish was fulfilled

 

Maybe

 

Maybe it was time for a new child of his own

 

His pet would be furious

 

But when had Jaehwan ever cared whether his pet was furious about something 

 

Never

 

Maybe it was time

 

“Stand there and be silent.”

 

A snarled command

 

Jaehwan’s eyes found it

 

Nearly close enough to touch 

 

Part of the reason he had selected that particular restaurant

 

The temple 

 

His prison

 

Narrowed his eyes

 

Focused on the crumbling façade as he grew

 

As he transformed

 

Feathered black wings unfurling from the center of his back

 

Their color subtly shifting like an oil slick 

 

Taloned claws taking the place of his hands

 

Teeth elongating to fangs

 

Black pupils slit like a snake and green irises glinting crimson

 

Emerald-tipped fire ringing his body as he grew

 

He could hear the fledgling hissing from fear and pain but he ignored it

 

He could hear what sounded like the flapping of angel’s wings and his pets shouting voice but he ignored that too 

 

He started forwards

 

Faster than lightning 

 

Tearing into the temple with his bare hands

 

Ripping the building apart

 

Laughing with joy as the plaster crumbled between his fingers

 

Sweet, delicious revenge on the place that had held him captive for five thousand years

 

“Love, Master please stop!”

 

His pets voice, unmistakable

 

The ring of holy steel

 

A flaming sword visible in his periphery

 

Jaehwan 

 

Cackled as the temple collapsed in on itself

 

Nothing more than a pile of rubble 

 

He smiled a sharp, dangerous smile

 

Victorious. 

 

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Jaehwan Senior Fit-spo

Jaehwan Junior Fit-spo

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Notes:

Yes lol the prince of lust is still a bit insane like he was in tempt 1 lol it can’t be helped

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 12

Summary:

yes, it did take me 11 chapters to finally decide on a proper title for this fic lol

Notes:

I know its been a while lol

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Wonshik had woken up that morning to find Sanghyuk in his bed, his creator’s large form curled against his own. 

 

It was unexpected, as Wonshik had most definitely gone to bed alone the night before, but not displeasing. He had let Sanghyuk sleep, staying as still as possible, taking in Sanghyuk’s slumber-soft features. The hard lines and angles of his face turned smooth. Thick lashes fanned out across his cheeks. Black hair tousled. Handsome. 

 

He hadn’t known the time, wasn’t sure how long he laid there, but the inevitable moment of Sanghyuk’s waking did eventually come. Sanghyuk had smiled at him and kissed him and carded his hair, always so sweet in the morning. 

 

Something in Wonshik deeply enjoyed that attention. The base part of his brain, his demonic programming, flourished in the light of his creator's affection. And Sanghyuk hadn’t immediately run off to the Jaehwan's, which was another surprise. 

 

Not that Wonshik was jealous, of course. To suggest such a thing would be more than absurd. He couldn’t even decide which Jaehwan he was jealous of least, the ancient lunatic or the naïve baby. Both states of being were equally repulsive. But it was still nice to have Sanghyuk to himself for a change. 

 

They’d stayed in bed for a while longer, until Sanghyuk finally got up. Saying that he had to go and meet with the false prince. That he figured it was finally time to clue Hakyeon in on what was going on with his master. Wonshik was only the slightest bit sad to see him go, but in the grand scheme of things, he agreed that it was well past time for that conversation. The matter of Jaehwan senior needed to be dealt with, and dealt with swiftly. 

 

Since he hadn’t been invited to join the meeting, Wonshik decided he would seek his brother out.  

 

The little Hwan, as Wonshik jokingly called the fledge in his head, had been spending too much time with Sanghyuk’s master. The Prince of Lust was not someone that anyone should be around for very long, and least of all someone as new and impressionable as Jaehwan. 

 

Wonshik wasn’t an idiot. He knew what to say, what expressions to make, how to behave around the Prince of Lust to avoid getting his throat slit. He knew to constantly be on his guard no matter how beguiling he may or may not find the Prince of Lust. He understood the danger. But the same couldn’t be said for Jaehwan, and Wonshik felt a familial protective inclination towards his little brother. An urge to keep him safe from the monster currently living in the apartment. 

 

But his little brother wasn’t there, and neither was the Prince of Lust. Wonshik had searched high and low but neither of them were home. Which shouldn’t have been technically possible, what with Sanghyuk’s insanely strong wards. Wonshik had tried leaving on several occasions since the forced seclusion began and the magic keeping them in had nearly fried his skin off. 

 

Sanghyuk was already long gone by the time he realized they weren’t home. The capacious apartment did take a while to search through thoroughly. And Wonshik was worried. So worried that he was on the edge of trying to telepathically summon the false prince in hopes that Hakyeon would know what to do. Until he found the break in the wards. 

 

Not a true break, the woven webs of magic were as strong as ever, but like someone had patched them up. Like fixing a hole in a plaster wall. Figuring out who’d broken through wasn’t a difficult thing to deduce. Jaehwan wasn’t nearly gifted enough to have achieved such a thing, and the break was in the Prince of Lust's bedroom. The feel of the magic was so starkly different from Sanghyuk’s that the patch-job fairly glowed it was so obvious. 

 

Wonshik wasn’t as gifted as his creator in the magic department, not many demons were, but he had lived long enough to have picked up a few tricks here and there. The seam of the break, the edges, where the Prince of Lust’s magic overlapped with Sanghyuk's, that was the weak spot. And Wonshik picked at it, slowly, painstakingly peeling the new layer away from the old until he was able to slip through. 

 

His first thought was Hakyeon. To go to Hakyeon’s rooms where Sanghyuk most likely still was, enlist their help to find the missing demons. But then, Wonshik hesitated. Unsure. They could have simply snuck out for some fresh air, a perfectly harmless venture. Wonshik didn’t truly believe that, but still, raising hell (haha) over nothing would do him no favors. If anything, that would just make the Prince of Lust distrust him or dislike him or think of him as a snitch, and the Prince of Lust’s displeasure was something to be avoided at all costs. 

 

So, Wonshik did not do the smart thing and head straight to Hakyeon. Instead, he employed one of his own personal abilities. Not the glamour, that wouldn’t have been helpful in this case. His other one. His envy. 

 

If Wonshik concentrated very hard, thinking of a person that instilled envy within himself, he could see them. Like some form of personal torment. The ability was practically useless since Wonshik was envious of almost nobody, and so he was a bit out of practice. But it could be useful at moments like this. 

 

He thought of Jaehwan. His fledgling little brother with his unnaturally strong gifts. He thought of all the attention Sanghyuk gave Jaehwan. All of the affection and praise their creator showered Jaehwan with on a daily basis. The freshness of their bond. The depth of it. He thought of Sanghyuk’s face when the archangels had shown up and Jaehwan had begun to scream. Sanghyuk’s mix of outrage and panic when he realized he wasn’t able to help his youngest Bound surface from the waking nightmare Jaehwan was trapped in. Like he was preparing to level the entire continent in retribution. 

 

Wonshik let the jealousy fill him. The feelings he usually ignored when Sanghyuk chose to spend time with Jaehwan rather than himself. The way Sanghyuk smiled whenever Jaehwan flounced into a room. Jaehwan’s fascinating and unusual power. He allowed all of that to wash over him, eyes closed where he stood in the hall just outside the apartment. Let the jealousy grow inside his chest, adding each new thought like feeding kindling to a fire, until he could feel it crackling throughout his whole body. 

 

And then, Wonshik could see him. Not like he was watching a tv and Jaehwan had appeared on the screen. Not like looking through a window either. Flashes. 

 

Quick at first. A glint of platinum hair. A twinkle of emerald. A flicker of a wine glass. The visions slowly began to grow, to lengthen, giving Wonshik a more accurate picture. A white linen tablecloth with a few drops of red wine staining the fabric. The Prince of Lust’s fingers soft against his jaw. The interior of what Wonshik guessed was a restaurant. 

 

Fear struck him then, like a bolt of lightning. Because Wonshik recognized that restaurant. He’d been there, he and Sanghyuk and his brother as well, when they were scouting out the temple. Back when all of this had merely been a terrible idea, rather than a terrible reality. 

 

All hesitation vanished in an instant. So too did rational thought. Wonshik stepped back into a shadow, appearing in the street outside the restaurant before he’d even decided what he would do once he got there. 

 

The mayhem had already begun. The humans were already screaming and he could clearly smell the coppery tang of blood in the air and the Prince of Lust had transformed. 

 

Wonshik stood in the street like a dumbstruck fool, blinking, trying to digest this feast of catastrophe. He watched as the Prince of Lust began to tear the temple apart. Talons shearing through stone as if it was nothing more than paper, wings unfurled and holding him a few feet off the ground. Peels of laughter spilling from his crimson mouth, loud and jarring in the midst of chaos. 

 

And then a hand grabbed his arm, startling Wonshik from his growing sense of terror. Jaehwan was clutching frantically at him, whole body shaking with dry sobs as he asked where their creator was. Begged for Sanghyuk. Repeating ‘I want Hyukkie, where’s Hyukkie, get Hyukkie please get him please,’ over and over until Wonshik managed to speak. 

 

Or, not speak exactly. He shushed Jaehwan as gently as he could manage, wings unfurling from his own back and pulling his little brother against his front. Curling his wings around them both like a shield as he sent frantic thoughts to Hakyeon. 

 

‘Highness, come now, emergency. Hurry. Hurry.’

 

Jaehwan’s clothes were singed and there was human blood splattered across his face, staining his fair hair like dye. He stared imploringly up at Wonshik, big green eyes shiny and lip pushed out in a pout. The elder idly wondered what could have happened before he arrived, why there was so much blood everywhere, but his thoughts were too jumbled to piece things together.

 

Wonshik felt rather than heard the False Prince materialize on the street. A ripple of force radiating out from a spot maybe ten yards to their left. Sanghyuk was there too, Wonshik could tell, that place in his mind settling the way it always did when his creator was near. 

 

Jaehwan wriggled, no doubt sensing their creators presence as well, but Wonshik held him firmly for a few moments more, peeking out from their makeshift shield to check how far Sanghyuk actually was. If there was anything dangerous between them. 

 

The fledgling, though, wasn’t one to be patient. He snarled and gnashed his teeth, growling until Wonshik finally slackened his grip. Jaehwan broke away from him with a hiss. Bolting down the street and careening into Sanghyuk without slowing at all. 

 

Their maker took their collision in stride, barely flinching, scooping his youngest up and letting Jaehwan cling to him like a koala without once taking his eyes off the temple. Still dressed in the navy 3-piece suit he’d put on that morning and expression one of genuine fear. 

 

Wonshik flit to Sanghyuk’s side. Trembling hands now stuffed in his pockets and wings shifting restlessly. Rubble continued to rain down, the humans continued to scream, sparks continued to flare as the magic that had kept the Prince of Lust imprisoned for five millennia was ripped apart. 

 

“Love-” Sanghyuk shouted, somehow making his voice heard above the racket, “Master, please, stop!”

 

The Prince of Lust did not stop. Wonshik didn’t think he’d even noticed them standing there. “Master, please! That’s enough!”

 

And then another ripple rocked through Wonshik’s consciousness. The reek of purity filled his nostrils. The sound of ringing steel echoed in his ears. Angels. Several of them. And close. Very close. 

 

Hakyeon was no longer beside Sanghyuk. He strode purposefully forwards, toward the danger rather than away from it, loose shirt of dark violet satin billowing slightly in the breeze as he rolled up his sleeves. The hue of it made his warm skin glow so brightly that it was almost distracting. 

 

“Jaehwan, stop,” he said. Not a shout, not a hint of desperation or fear in his voice. Pure command. As unflinching and steady as a rock in the midst of a storm-tossed sea. 

 

The Prince of Lust faltered, but only for a heartbeat. Somehow managing to brush off Hakyeon’s call and continue his destructive fit, which was something Wonshik had thought was impossible. The idea that a lesser demon was strong enough to disregard an order from the False Prince was utterly terrifying, but Wonshik didn’t waste the time it would take to panic about that now. He could panic about it later. When there weren’t angels swarming around their heads. 

 

Hakyeon was still moving, curls of shadow stretching out behind him as he went. Pavement webbing with impact tracery beneath his feet with each step. Two enormous hellhounds materializing from nothing and flanking him. Long narrow wings roughly reminiscent of a hawk extending from his shoulder blades, the inky feathers tipped with crimson. Resplendent in all his diabolical glory. 

 

But he wasn’t the only one. 

 

Wonshik inwardly flinched at the sight of the two archangels approaching the temple from the opposite direction, white robes bright in the daylight, golden eyes sharp and focused. The same two who had invaded the safety of Sanghyuk’s home. Taekwoon and Hongbin. And more behind them, the rank and file, angels in the white suits and red collars with pins of the nine-pointed star on their lapels. Heavens infantry. Unimportant. Not nearly as intimidating as the two in the lead. Wonshik remembered the feeling of that collar around his own throat and had to fight to suppress a shudder of revulsion. 

 

“Forsaken,” Hongbin said, deep voice so loud it made the ground begin to shake, “What in the name of the almighty do you think you’re doing?”

 

The temple had been reduced to dust by that point, and it seemed that the Prince of Lust had run out of things to destroy. 

 

Hakyeon was there now as well, very close, a hand on his shoulder, whispering too low for Wonshik to hear. Actions familiar, as though the five thousand year absence had never taken place and the two had only seen each other yesterday. But the Prince of Lust was just standing in the center of the lot where the building used to be, panting shallow and fast, smiling around and the remains of his prison. Entirely unfazed by the antichrist attempting to speak to him, as well as the angels. Wonshik didn’t know what the forsaken thing was about, but now was not the time to ask. 

 

Very abruptly, Jaehwan was deposited in Wonshik’s arms. Mercifully calmed by Sanghyuk’s momentary attention, he didn’t try to bite Wonshik again, clinging onto Wonshik’s front and nibbling his own thumb. Not that Wonshik minded, generally speaking, but he hadn’t been ready for Sanghyuk to pass off his little brother like a you-know-who-damned football. 

 

“Turn around and walk away,” Hakyeon snapped, sending a glare in the angel’s direction, “This is the business of Hell. Your presence is not required.” 

 

Taekwoon gave a soft scoff, the absence of his flaming sword made all the more stark but the holy blade unsheathed and gleaming in Hongbin’s hand. “He just destroyed a principle property of heaven, demon, I believe our presence is very much required.”

 

“You will do more harm than good here, you know that. Leave.”

 

“Harm is what is intended,” Hongbin replied, “He has defied his sentence of eternity in the void. Destroying his prison aside, that is grounds for his entire family to be executed and you know it.”

 

Wonshik saw Sanghyuk shoot a look back at him, but the look only lasted an instant. 

 

The Prince of Lust’s head snapped up and he whipped around, staring at Hongbin with what Wonshik thought was incredulity. But not the kind of frightened incredulity one might expect, not the expression of someone finally realizing the consequences of their actions. It was the indignant bafflement of a king who had just been talked back to by a servant. Like he couldn’t believe Hongbin had actually said those words.

 

Hakyeon’s whispering seemed more urgent now and Wonshik could understand why. 

 

“You dare, angel?” the Prince of Lust asked, slipping away from Hakyeon’s restraining hands and prowling toward Hongbin. Still smiling that unnerving, beautiful smile. “You dare threaten me?”

 

Sanghyuk made to follow but Hakyeon yanked him back, saying something that rooted Sanghyuk to the spot and following instead. One of the hellhounds sitting beside Sanghyuk. An order, if Wonshik had to guess. His master may be strong enough to ignore those but Sanghyuk was not. 

 

It was Hongbin’s turn to scoff. “Of course, I dare. I have the blessing of the Almighty behind me, Forsaken, you are nothing.”

 

Wonshik had always liked Hongbin back when he was an angel. Shame Hongbin was going to get himself ripped apart by angry archdemon. Or, not a shame, but- well. 

 

“Nothing, am I?”

 

“Correct.”

 

“Get your lieutenant in line before he gets his fucking head kicked in,” Hakyeon said coldly, addressing Taekwoon and very clearly sharing Wonshik’s train of thought. 

 

“Hongbin is not my lieutenant, I told you-”

 

“Get him in line anyway!”

 

That one was almost too obtuse for his own good. Wonshik sensed the storm brewing even if Taekwoon did not, and he was stuck between wanting to take Jaehwan and run and wanting to wait and see what would happen. 

 

“Come here, sweetling, and say that to me again,” the Prince of Lust purred, delicate, devilish subtlety etched in each word. Undaunted by the archangel's blade.

 

Hongbin arched a brow, haughty disbelief on his face as he watched the Prince of Lust approach. “I have no need,” he replied, voice edging on lazy now, “I can handle you as easily as I handled your namesake. You’re nothing but a nuisance.”

 

That made the Prince of Lust stop. Finally. Halting maybe ten feet from the clump of angels, propping a hand on his hip. “My namesake?”

 

“Indeed,” Hongbin waved a hand in Wonshik and Jaehwan’s direction, the hand not clutching his sword, “Your Bound’s child.”

 

Jaehwan gave Wonshik’s hair a tug, effectively distracting Wonshik from his attempt to lip-read what Hakyeon was whispering. All he managed to get was ‘calm down.’

 

“Are they talking about me?” Jaehwan asked, trying to stick his finger in Wonshik’s mouth. Obviously not paying attention to the foreplay.

 

Wonshik glanced down at him and nodded, feeling little shocks of hunger prick in the pit of his stomach. 

 

“Why isn’t Hyukkie doing anything?”

 

“Hakyeon told him not too.”

 

“So what?”

 

“You know he can't disobey Hakyeon, sugar, nobody can.” Nobody aside from the Prince of Lust, apparently, but it wasn’t later enough for Wonshik to start panicking about that yet.

 

“We should help-”

 

“No we shouldn’t, this isn’t our fight. Don’t you remember what happened last time?”

 

Jaehwan frowned, brow furrowing. “Hyukkie cares about Sir, we can't just stand by and watch Sir get hurt. It’s our job to protect Sir too, just like we would if Hyukkie was in danger!”

 

They have been spending too much time together, Wonshik thought, again, before the Prince of Lust’s laughter caught his attention. He’d missed some of the conversation. 

 

“So,” the Prince of Lust hummed, only five steps from the angels now, “You have attacked my Bound and his children in my absence, have you angel?”

 

Hongbin didn’t answer, which Wonshik thought was a smart fucking move. 

 

“And now,” four steps away, “You have decided to threaten me? Threaten my Bound and his loved ones? You think that a wise and just course of action, do you?”

 

Three steps. 

 

Wonshik was mentally feeling around for the nearest shadow to step through, knowing Sanghyuk would want them to go if a proper fight broke out, and a proper fight was most definitely about to break out. 

 

“I follow the word of the almighty, Forsaken. Their word is wisdom and justice made manifest.”

 

The Prince of Lust -the only word for it was cackled- stopping only a pace before Hongbin. Fingers twitching sporadically at his sides. Looking past the flaming broadsword and holding Hongbin’s gaze. 

 

“You’ve never heard a whisper from you-know-who, let alone a word. How could you possibly be so sure of yourself?”

 

“Unlike you, I have faith.”

 

Wonshik suppressed a snort of laughter at that, doing his best to hold Jaehwan still. 

 

“How exactly did you deal with my little darling, angel?”

 

“He infected Jaehwan with nightmares! Master, stop this and back off, it’s not worth it!”

 

Apparently, whatever Hakyeon had ordered Sanghyuk to do didn’t include keeping his mouth shut. 

 

“You did, did you sweetling? And that is how you intend to deal with me?”

 

“I’m not exactly sure why he has not yet done so,” Taekwoon murmured, but the Prince of Lust held up a hand in his face. Not even bothering to look, let alone respond. 

 

Hongbin nodded once, his pale golden eyes narrowing a fraction.

 

“Go ahead. Try your best.”

 

Sanghyuk made a strangled noise of protest and Hakyeon grabbed the Prince of Lust by the arm. Hauling him a few steps back and snapping something at Taekwoon that Wonshik didn’t catch. Too focused on Hongbin. Recognizing the cold stare from that time in the apartment, understanding what was about to happen. 

 

Or- what should be happening. 

 

Nothing was happening. 

 

It was so quiet that Wonshik could hear his own immortal heart pounding. 

 

Nothing happened. The Prince of Lust didn’t even flinch. 

 

What- why was nothing happening?!

 

The Prince of Lust’s smile grew, Hongbin’s eyes narrowed further. And then widened in surprise. 

 

“You threaten my Bound, you think yourself strong enough to trap me in a nightmare, sweetling. You are mistaken. Grievously mistaken. I have been trapped in a nightmare for the past five thousand years. There is nothing you can do to me. You are nothing.”

 

And then he lunged. Wonshik realizing a moment too late that the twitching fingers hadn’t been twitching at all, but wards being formed. The Prince of Lust had made them on the fly, but even so, as far as Wonshik could tell the magic was faultless. 

 

All Hakyeon managed before impact was “Jaehwan, no-” 

 

A column of deep green flame erupted in a ring around Sanghyuk, completely blocking him from view. Something for protection most likely. 

 

A sterling saber with an emerald encrusted hilt appeared in the Prince of Lust’s hand, the laughter turning into a mad shriek as he bolted forwards, parrying the ferocious swing of Hongbin’s flaming sword. 

 

And what felt like an enormous invisible fist connected squarely with Wonshik and Jaehwan, the force of the blow so strong that it knocked both of the younger demons into the shadows, through the veil, straight downstairs so they ended up flat on their backs on the apartment’s living room floor. 

 

Too winded and shocked to do anything but gasp. 

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Notes:

thoughts?

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 13

Summary:

*Upside down smily face*

Notes:

apologies for taking so long

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Sanghyuk’s Journal:

Volume Three

*Dated one year after the temple’s destruction*

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Something is very, very wrong. 

 

My youngest is sick. My sweet Hwannie, my little one, he is sick. 

 

I didn't even know such a thing was possible, a demon falling ill, and yet there he lies in his bed. Skin clammy and hot, eyes glazed, curled up and trembling like a human child with a fever. He can’t eat, barely sleeps; he is in pain and I don’t know how to help him. 

 

The feeling of helplessness this situation inspires is almost more than I can bear. I cannot leave his bedside for more than a few minutes at a time, both because my anxiety won’t allow it and because if I’m gone for too long, my dove begins to weep until I return. So I sit with him, read to him, try to coax him into eating...

 

My Master is the only one who can persuade him to eat. In fact, the only respite I have is when my Master takes my place at his bedside. Wonshik can’t even come within twenty yards of my dove's bedroom before the smell makes Hwannie cry. Dry sobs racking his little body until Wonshik retreats to a safe distance.

 

That’s part of the problem, I think; whatever this malady is has pushed his already heightened sensorium into overdrive. The taste of most food makes him nauseous now, as does the way Shik smells (not that I know what Shik smells like to Hwannie, he’s always just smelled good to me. But I’m not as sensitive to those things as my youngest). 

 

It hurts Wonshik, not being included. Not being allowed near his brother. It hurts me too, come to that. Forcing them apart when their brotherly bond was just beginning to strengthen. But what am I supposed to do? Force my youngest to suffer for the sake of Wonshik’s peace of mind?

 

I don’t understand why my Masters' presence is tolerable when Wonshik’s is not. His perfume, I can smell, and sometimes it’s even too much for me to handle. But having my Master close by seems to calm Hwannie, just as it calms him to have me there, and so I’m not complaining. I only wish my Master would agree to visit him more often. 

 

My Master is not the nursing type. He has no patience for weakness nor for fragility. No patience for tears. He only comes to sit with my dove if I beg, and beg properly. So beg, I do. 

 

Every time, I have to remind him not to lash out, not to hurt Hwannie, not to get upset or lose his temper. And he only stays for an hour at most. It’s all he can stand. But the brief respite is worth it to preserve my sanity. It gives me a moment to breathe and to think and to close my eyes in silence without feeling tugs at my sleeves or hearing pitiful little whines and knowing there is nothing I can do to make it better.

 

Perhaps, this is my fault. 

 

Perhaps, my dove really was too young to handle the rigors of corruption. 

 

We celebrated his 127th birthday only a month ago. He barely had any time to grow into a full-fledged angel before tasting my venom for the first time. I know taking him was reckless, I know that, but I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted him. I want him still. Am I paying the price for that recklessness now? Is my little dove paying the price for me?

 

Maybe... but surely, if that were the case, if he was too young, he would have died. Surely, the venom wouldn’t have worked, it would have killed him instead. The effects wouldn’t manifest at so late a stage. Right?

 

Or, perhaps it’s my fault in another way? Having two Jaehwans in the universe at the same time has broken something? Caused some kind of cosmic glitch? 

 

I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I don’t think any demon has ever died of natural causes before but the idea of such an occurrence has been swirling inside my head for days. As Taekwoon once said, several lifetimes ago, there’s a first time for everything. 

 

There is...

 

(A page has been torn out, it’s contents is unknown) 

 

There is one possible solution that I have been contemplating. A way to help my dove get better. The longer this drags on, the more my dove suffers, the more desperate I grow, the more appealing this solution seems. 

 

Asking Hongbin for help. 

 

He wouldn’t help, I’m almost sure of it. Hongbin has no reason to care, has no reason to help me or any of my Bound. In truth, Hongbin would probably use my doves weakness as an excuse to execute him. To rid the universe of another demon, another flaw, in the name of you-know-who. 

 

We are not brothers this time around. Haven’t been brothers for quite some time, and yet...

 

Hongbin is the angel of healing. He works miracles on a regular basis, so who's to say he couldn’t heal my youngest? There’s a first time for everything, right?

 

Maybe I can offer him something in return for his help. Maybe- the sword. I could trade Taekwoons stolen sword, promise to give it back if he comes and takes a look at Hwannie. 

 

I’d do it too, return the stolen sword to save my doves life. No hesitation. Fuck Armageddon, fuck you-know-who, and fuck the voices in my head telling me to keep it. It’s nothing more than a hunk of metal. I can get a new one if needs must, but my dove is irreplaceable.  

 

Hwannie thinks I don’t love him. He’s thought so ever since Wonshiks little experiment so many months ago, bathing him in my Master’s special oils and turning his hair black. Ever since he learned the truth of his resemblance to my Master. Believes that I think of him as nothing more than a placeholder for an absent love. And my Master’s taunting hasn’t helped matters. 

 

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

 

Did his looks catch my eye in the very first moment of our meeting? Yes. How could they not? But was his physical resemblance to my Master what held my attention? No. 

 

His voice held my attention. That cute little entirely unexpected stutter held my attention. The soft line of his round cheeks and those big golden eyes held my attention. The serene calm that radiated from him as he sang held my attention. The way his head tilts to the side when he’s curious held my attention. And his beautiful heart holds my attention to this day.

 

Saints below, I wanted him. Still want him. And the thought of losing him to this unknown illness is beyond intolerable. My youngest. My little dove. My sweet Prince of Indulgence. I only wish to keep him happy, keep him safe. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. 

 

That’s it, decided. I will consult my Master on this issue (he may be a bit mad, generally speaking, but his tactical mind is as sharp as ever) and see what he thinks of bargaining with Hongbin for help. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

The Prince of Lust sat beside the fledgling's bed. Legs crossed at the knee. Black hair draped about his ghost pale face. Dark doublet embroidered with shining silver roses. Tapping his fingernails on the wooden arm of the chair he was currently occupying. 

 

Contemplative.

 

His pet was on the floor next to his chair, cross legged, scribbling in that absurd diary of his for the third time this afternoon. 

 

He’d been enjoying a peaceful afternoon before his pet had sought him out. Reclining in his favorite sitting room, listening to Wonshik play the piano. Listening to him sing softly in that soothing baritone that always hit Jaehwan right in the sweet spot. It was the kind of luxury that Jaehwan was still re-acclimating to, even after a year of freedom; sitting in the presence of another, not speaking, able to feel their energy, their closeness. 

 

Jaehwan was making good progress, according to his pet, although Jaehwan himself struggled to see any difference in himself at all. True, he did make a bit more of an effort not to pick on his pet’s children, if they hadn’t done anything to deserve it. And, when the angel had threatened him, Jaehwan had spared an extra moment to ensure his pet and the young one’s safety before taking care of business, as his pet liked to say. But while this was all technically progress, a single year of freedom did not undo the effects of five thousand years of solitary confinement. Not even close.

 

The fledgling made a little snuffling noise, Jaehwan’s eyes flicking in his direction. The little darling really did look dreadful. The sun-warmed skin Jaehwan had gifted him was so sallow it bordered on paper white, glowing spots of red flushed high on his cheeks. And that pretty blonde hair had been reduced to a rat's nest, tangled and matted with sweat. Lips chapped and nails bitten down to the quick. 

 

He was a mess. The Prince of Lust detested messes. 

 

Hakyeon had come to visit a handful of times, but he was just as useless as the rest of them in this matter. Unable to heal the fledgling no matter how hard he tried. And all of his research had come to nothing so far. No answers. No clues. 

 

Not that Jaehwan cared, exactly, but the fledgling dying would make his pet very upset. And upset Sanghyuk was, quite possibly, the most irritating incarnation of Sanghyuk. He grew even needier than he already was. Clinging to Jaehwan like an overgrown leech, staining Jaehwan’s clothing with his unending streams of golden tears, never giving Jaehwan a moment's peace. Frustrating. Such a state was to be avoided at all costs, for the Prince of Lust’s peace of mind, if nothing else. 

 

Asking the angel Hongbin for help. 

 

Such a notion did not sit right with Jaehwan. Asking for things. Begging for help. It didn’t come naturally to him. He didn’t like it. 

 

Unfortunately for Jaehwan, it seemed that his pet was correct at this juncture. The Prince of Lust lowered a hand to stroke Sanghyuk’s fluffy black hair. Rolling the strands between his fingers. The only hope for the fleges recovery was angelic intervention. They were out of options. 

 

But the Prince of Lust would not beg for Hongbin’s assistance. There would be no bartering.  

 

If their previous confrontation was proof of anything, it was that Jaehwan could take Hongbin, even with his eyes shut and both hands tied behind his back. 

 

There hadn’t even truly been much of a confrontation. 

 

After Jaehwan had taken care of his pet and banished the two young ones downstairs to keep them out of harm's way, Jaehwan had disarmed the angel in roughly four seconds. He’d been poised to remove the handsome head from Hongbin’s body before Hakyeon had dragged Jaehwan off. Dragged him away, downstairs, and locked him in a guest bedroom while he worked out a new little truce with the angels. Made a new agreement that somehow eventually resulted in Taekwoon agreeing to leave Jaehwan alone, and then proceeded to scold Jaehwan for what felt like a millennium after that. Hongbin was no threat. None at all. 

 

The angel would help. Jaehwan would make him. 

 

Without a word, Jaehwan stood, paying no attention to his startled pet. Nor to the hand his pet wrapped around his ankle. He’d had enough of playing nursemaid and sitting beside sickbeds. This would be fixed and it would be fixed now. 

 

“Love, where are you-”

 

“Stay,” the Prince of Lust hummed, swiftly extricating himself from Sanghyuk’s grip and stepping lightly to the door. Ignoring the barrage of questions that were shouted after him as he left the room. 

 

Jaehwan moved through the shadows; up to the surface, from city to city, finally stopping at the entrance of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. He would have gotten there faster if he hadn’t confused Baltimore with Birmingham. What a foolish country, the United States. Too many fucking cities in it. 

 

Despite his lengthy captivity, the Prince of Lust wasn’t clueless. His kittens had kept a close watch on all relevant parties, reporting on their movements and interests. It was, for the most part, a tactic designed to try and keep Jahewan connected to the world outside his prison. Remind him that the world was larger than a basketball court; that he wasn’t the only living being in the universe, no matter how much it may have felt that way. But the information gathered over the millenia could be put to good use now. 

 

Hongbin liked to come to this hospital in particular. Why, Jaehwan didn’t know, but he did know that the archangel had a soft spot for sick human children. That could be an amusing pressure point, the Prince of Lust thought, strolling across the foyer like he’d built the place. Threaten to burn the hospital to ash if Hongbin refused to help, sick children and all. 

 

Following instinct, Jaehwan entered a stairwell. Wings unfurling and carrying him upwards. Tracking the sensation of angel. Prickling under his skin, hair standing on the back of his neck, an unsavory taste in his mouth. Moving toward the unpleasantness rather than away from it. 

 

Up and up to the fifth floor, through the stairwell exit, and into the oncology ward. How quaint. 

 

People looked as Jaehwan passed. They usually did. Long hair rippling out behind him in an unseen breeze, jade eyes bright and glittering, dressed in the finery of an eighteenth-century prince. He’d made no effort to blend in with the humans on this occasion, and even with his wings safely tucked back out of sight, prowling down a hospital corridor in all his infernal glory was sure to turn heads. 

 

He smiled to himself, sensing the waves of adoration beginning to mix with the angelic static. Mortals affected simply by his presence. Distracted parents ignoring their crying children, doctors frozen in the middle of carrying out procedures. One medical human dressed entirely in pink even dropped the plastic cup of ice cubes he’d been holding, frozen chips skittering across the linoleum floor. 

 

Jaehwan stepped over the mess without pause. Focusing on the mission at hand. 

 

Just as the tension growing inside him reached a breaking point, the Prince of Lust reached a room at the end of the corridor. It appeared to be a playroom of sorts, or that’s what Jaehwan assumed, stepping over a stuffed creature that had been discarded on the floor. His lip curled in distaste, the garish bright colors and smell of plastic offending his delicate aesthetic sensibilities. 

 

And there, seated cross legged on the floor with a large picture book open on his lap, was Hongbin. An archangel, surrounded by a flock of human children, reading aloud like he was some common attendant. Jaehwan didn’t like angels, had no love for the power structure upstairs, but even he found the sight upsetting. An archangel belittling himself this way. 

 

The broad smile that had graced the angel’s face a moment before vanished as soon as Jaehwan entered the room. Springing to his feet and stepping forwards, as if to shield the children from Jaehwan’s wrath. As if Jaehwan couldn’t snap his fingers and end them all if he liked, no matter where the angel happened to be standing. 

 

“What are you doing here?! Leave this instant!” Hongbin snapped, pearlescent wings extending from his back, golden eyes glowing dangerously. Oblivious to the shrill cries of panic bursting from the children behind him. 

 

The Prince of Lust smiled. A wicked smile, all white, sharp teeth. He could sense a current of fear, coiled just below the angel’s flawless skin. Fear of what Jaehwan would do, the harm he could cause here in this most cherished place. And beneath that, fear at the realization that he was not strong enough to hold Jaehwan back. The Prince of Lust could almost taste that tangle of emotion, and it tasted absolutely delicious. 

 

There was no bravado in this one anymore. No more arrogance, no more haughty superiority, no more calling Jaehwan forsaken. Not at this moment, anyway. At this moment, the angel was making mental calculations, Jaehwan could see the wheels turning inside that lovely head. And he was so, so frightened. Pitiful. 

 

“Your talents are required, sweetling,” Jaehwan purred, striding forwards. Shoulders back, chin raised, silver-tipped nails extending to claws, “Don't make this harder on yourself than it needs to be.”

 

As Jaehwan moved forward, Hongbin moved back. “How did you find me?” he spat, the wards to summon his flaming sword only half formed before Jaehwan reached him. Snatching the angel’s wrists and tossing him carelessly away to slam against the wall. 

 

“I can find anyone; angel, demon, it matters not. Now, come along.”

 

Hongbin leapt to his feet, clearly hell-bent on making this very hard for himself indeed. But the Prince of Lust had no patience for bravery and theatrics. His own theatrics were another matter; Jaehwan always enjoyed those, but he found such displays from other people a step above infuriating. 

 

He grabbed the angel by the throat; half-pulling half-dragging him toward a patch of shadows in the corner. Ignoring the way the angel's skin had begun to singe his own as soon as they touched. The purity of him burning Jaehwan like acid. 

 

And while this handling was far from gentle, the Prince of Lust did not allow his energy to rise. Keeping his mojo firmly in check. Because, even if the idea of watching this lovely vile creature fall under the weight of corruption, turning Hongbin now would simply be a waste. This unpalatable form was a requirement if he was to be of any use in their current predicament. 

 

“Do not touch me! I am an archangel! We are not touched!”

 

“You’re very weak for an archangel,” Jaehwan said in a conversational tone, once Hongbin stopped dry-heaving and they’d resumed their journey. 

 

“I am not!”

 

“Yes, you are.”

 

Shadow stepping was not a mode of transportation familiar to angels and it seemed to have taken its toll. Like Hongbin had had an allergic reaction. But he recovered quickly enough and so Jaehwan resumed his dragging; the pads of his fingers stinging more incessantly as he hauled the angel along the corridors of his apartment. 

 

It was still his apartment. Not Sanghyuks. He hadn’t died and so his pet hadn’t inherited anything yet, despite all the redecorating. It was Jaehwans. It was. It is. 

 

“What is the matter with you?! Unhand me this instant!” Hongbin snapped, shaking the chestnut brown hair from his pale gold eyes and glaring. Trying to free himself now that the effects of their journey through the dark had completely worn off. One of the rare ones upstairs who could experience anger. Jaehwan always did so love the angry ones. 

 

The Prince of Lust paid no attention to the angel's struggles. Doing his best to keep a handle on both his temper and his energy. “You like helping sick children, don’t you, sweetling?”

 

“Yes, so what?! It’s my job, my purpose!”

 

“And you were friends with my little darling upstairs, were you not?”

 

“Yes, but what has that got to do with anything?!”

 

“Good,” Jaehwan nodded to himself, pausing a few yards away from the fledgling’s bedroom door to push the angel against the azure-painted wall; holding him still and looking him directly in the eye, “Then you are going to help him.”

 

“Help him with what, exactly!?” 

 

Be calm, just be calm for a little while longer, don’t think about the impertinent tone or the disgust in his eyes or the burning in your fingertips, just be calm. Think calm thoughts. Think about Wonshiks piano music. Think about the taste of a very oaky Chardonnay. Think about your warm featherbed. Be calm, just a little while longer. 

 

“He is unwell,” the Prince of Lust replied, in the most relaxed voice he could possibly manage, “So, you are going to look him over, sweetling, and then you are going to make him all better.”

 

Hongbin blinked at him, bafflement and confusion taking the place of anger on his lovely face. “Unwell?”

 

“Yes, unwell,” Jaehwan felt a muscle in his jaw twitch involuntarily, felt his mind pleading that he slip back into fluidity and let go of this attempt at control, but he ignored both, “In this moment, my namesake is nothing more that another sick child in need of your help.”

 

And then, smiling soft and sweet, infusing his voice with a drop of persuasion, “Looking after sick children is your job; simply think of this as indulging your professional curiosity. Now, stop trying to fight me and come quietly because my patience is wearing extremely thin.”

 

The angel looked back at him, lovely mouth hanging open, and it took every ounce of determination Jaehwan had not to lean in and nip at his bottom lip. Not to indulge that impulse, just to see how that mouth of his would look painted with golden ichor. He didn’t indulge. The Prince of Lust stayed perfectly still and shut his eyes and breathed in through his nose...

 

Just a little longer, be calm, only a few more steps and then you won’t have to be so close to this wretched creature, just a little longer, don’t ruin all your hard work now.

 

... and exhaled through his mouth. Ridding his lungs of purity’s reek and slitting his eyes open. 

 

To Jaehwan’s mild surprise, the angel nodded. Once. Short and sharp. “Show me.”

 

Sanghyuk was framed in the doorway when they approached, expression downright livid, but Jaehwan ignored his pet; fingertips brushing the clasp of Hongbin’s heavenly collar as he shoved the angel inside. 

 

“What seems to be the problem?” Hongbin asked, once Jaehwan had stepped away. He’d affected a tone that was nearly stern, like the humans in one of the doctor programs Jaehwan enjoyed watching on the funny box that Sanghyuk called a television. Mortals came up with the strangest things. 

 

“He cries too much,” the Prince of Lust snapped, earning an exasperated look from his pet. 

 

The angel moved to stand beside the bed in which the fledgling lay, mercifully asleep for a change, and Sanghyuk took the lead, which was probably for the best in this instance. In this instance only. 

 

“We think his sense perception may have grown stronger since his corruption and become too much for him to handle. He won’t eat, barely talks, refuses to breathe unless my Master coaxes him into it. And it feels as though he’s burning up inside. He- I have never heard of such a thing happening to a Fallen before.”

 

“Neither have I,” replied Hongbin, looking the fledgling over with a clinical detachment that Jaehwan couldn't help but like. 

 

Sanghyuk’s large, warm hand curled around the Prince of Lust's upper arm and he tugged, lowering his voice to a whisper. “What did you do to get him to come here?! Why didn’t you tell me first? We could have planned- or tried to negotiate something peacefully-”

 

“Watch your tone when you speak to me, pet,” Jaehwan snarled, easily freeing himself from Sanghyuk’s grip and pushing him roughly away. Not wanting to be crowded. Needing some room to breathe. The air in this room was too close. “You should be thanking me on bended knee, not interrogating me. I’ve had just about enough impertinence for one day.”

 

He could always simply slip...

 

slip

 

no

 

No. 

 

No slipping. Not yet.

 

The Prince of Lust tucked a loose curl behind his ear and turned back to glare at the angel. “Have you fixed him yet?”

 

“No,” Hongbin said quietly, “I am looking for the root of the problem. There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with his physical form at all...”

 

Jaehwan huffed out a breath of frustration, hands curling into fists and then uncurling just as quickly. “He cries too much, I told you already! It is not his body that is sick, it is his mind! His gift is what the illness affects and one’s demonic gift resides in the mind, not the body! How much more clearly must I speak?!”

 

“Considerably more so, if your aim is to have anyone else understand what you’re talking about,” the angel replied. 

 

But he was not looking at Jaehwan, nor was he looking at Sanghyuk. The angel wasn’t actually looking at anything at all, so far as Jaehwan could tell. Those pale golden irises of his were alight, the color spreading until the entirety of his eyes were obscured. He slowly knelt beside the bed and folded his hands in his lap. After a pause, he added, “Does Jaehwan dream?”

 

The Prince of Lust almost snapped that of course I dream, I dream all the time, until it fully processed that the angel was referring to the fledgling. 

 

Sanghyuk shrugged. “Doesn’t everyone? I believe he does, he tells me about them all the time... most are something to do with food. Floating across lakes full of hot cocoa and on a boat made of marshmallow, that sort of thing. Why?”

 

Hongbin frowned, his sightless eyes searching the room around them like the answer was written on the wall. 

 

The room itself was another reason Jaehwan detested having to babysit the fledgling. His little darling’s bedroom was horrid. All pinks and greys and blues, simple straight edges, unpleasant textures. There was nothing lavish about the room, nothing lush, nothing elegant. Nothing for the Prince of Lust to look at and admire. It was like being trapped in some human’s euro-trash crashpad. Saints below, even Sanghyuk’s dark minimalism was better than this. 

 

“He isn’t dreaming now,” the angel remarked, sounding distracted yet thoughtful. He must be peering into the fledgling's brain. Testing the truthfulness of Jaehwan’s assertions.

 

And while that was a good thing, the Prince of Lust couldn’t stop himself from exclaiming, “Why does it matter if he dreams or not, or what he dreams about?! Just find the root of the problem and cut it out of his head! I didn’t bring you down here to psychoanalyze him!”

 

“I am not psychoanalyzing him, Forsaken,” Hongbin snapped, lip curling in distaste, “The mind is a complicated thing, even in a monster of your caliber. There are innumerable facets that need to be examined; it's not so simple as cauterizing a flesh wound or removing a tumor.”

 

And the haughtiness had finally returned. Angelic superiority, derision dripping from each word. 

 

Jaehwan’s eyelids fluttered just a touch. He wet his bottom lip with a swipe of his tongue, fingernails tingling as they began to elongate. His reserves of patience that had been slowly draining were now abruptly depleted. Control gone and temper surging to the surface, filling the inside of his head with a static buzz. 

 

A split second before Jaehwan moved to launch himself over the bed, intending to throttle the impertinent little wretch and throw his heavenly body to be devoured by the hellspawn, Sanghyuk grabbed him. Strong arms coming around the Prince of Lust in a tight hug. Lifting the Prince of Lust several inches off the floor and carrying him to the threshold. But the angel was unfazed, his eyes still filmed over with gold and so unable to see Jaehwan struggle and thrash. 

 

“Jyani, love, please don’t do this now,” his pet murmured, holding Jaehwan like a boa constrictor, “Don’t throw a tantrum, it’s not going to help anything.”

 

The Prince of Lust growled a wordless growl, the sound vibrating inside his ribcage, lips pulling back from his teeth in a furious snarl. He snapped at his pet’s jaw, the talons that were normally his fingernails drawing shallow silver cuts across his pet’s abdomen until Sanghyuk released him.

 

“I am not throwing a tantrum, you insolent little brat!” he hissed. 

 

Hating the fledgling who had suddenly woken and was coughing as he curled into a ball on his side. 

 

Hating the angel for speaking to him like he was some kind of idiot. 

 

Hating the tired expression on his pet's face, as though Sanghyuk found him exhausting. 

 

Hating all of them for neither understanding nor appreciating the fact that he had been trying to help for a change. 

 

“I am finished with this mess,” the Prince of Lust continued, drawing himself up to his full height, “Your ingratitude is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it a moment longer. Do not speak to me about it again, do not ask for my help, do not bother begging me to watch your youngest anymore because I will not. I am done.”

 

The feeling of another presence in their immediate vicinity caught Jaehwan’s notice, even as his pet tried to gather him up a second time. Wonshik, no doubt, crossing the boundary of safety that had been set when the little one got sick. Must have felt Sanghyuk’s pain from the scratches on his stomach. 

 

“Don’t say that, love,” Sanghyuk replied, his tone patronizing and pointedly non confrontational, “You just need a minute to clear your head. Would feeding help? Shik can watch Hwannie for a few minutes and you can feed, would that make you feel better?”

 

The Prince of Lust glared at his pet, then glared at the fledgling sobbing tearlessly into his nest of pillows, and finally glared at the angel still kneeling contemplatively beside the bed. Hating all of them so much he could barely manage to keep his body from shifting into its more traditionally demonic form. 

 

“I do not want you, for sustenance or otherwise,” he grit out, cold stare returning to Sanghyuk, “Do not approach me again unless I call for you, and if I feel you within twenty yards of me, pet, there will be punishment. Stay here with my understudy, I do not need you.”

 

The exhaustion on Sanghyuk’s face broke into hurt and he reached out to try and take Jaehwan’s hands again, but the Prince of Lust was already walking away. Biting the inside of his cheek to stop tears of frustration from welling in his eyes; doing his best not to slip away, to find calm, to stay present.

 

Wonshik had been hovering just outside, sleepy eyes wide with concern and hands tucked into his pockets. He must not have been informed of Sanghyuk’s plan to ask an angel into their home. Jaehwan didn’t care.

 

He took the young demon by the arm and pulled him away from the fledgling’s disgusting bedroom in the direction of his own. 

 

“What’s going on, sir?”

 

Always so polite. Voice always so gentle. Jaehwan let out a tiny sigh of relief. “The archangel Hongbin agreed to a house call so he can look the fledgling over, precious, it’s nothing you need concern yourself with.”

 

The younger refrained from asking anything else and they reached the Prince of Lust’s bedroom a few moments later. His puppy may infuriate him, but feeding wasn’t the worst idea in the world. So what if Sanghyuk had tried to forbid him from feeding on Wonshik? Jaehwan was well past the point of caring. 

 

“May I taste you, precious? Just a little taste?” the Prince of Lust crooned in a low voice, drawing Wonshik into his room and shutting the door. He was taller than Jaehwan, and generally speaking, larger than Jaehwan, but Jaehwan had never found facts like that intimidating. He preferred his men large. “Will you be a good boy for me like always? I’m so hungry, it will just be a tiny little taste, I promise.”

 

Wonshik pressed his lips together for a handful of heartbeats before nodding aquecense. Leaning up against the door frame. Mouth drifting open a centimeter or two as he looked at the Prince of Lust through unfocused eyes. 

 

Only then did Jaehwan allow his energy to spill forth, releasing the tight grasp he had maintained around it since entering the shadows of that hospital. He hadn’t lied to the fledgling all those months ago when the little darling had asked; persuasion was never a power he used as a prelude to amorous activities. Only indulging his power in concert with those activities when agreement was given freely.

 

The Prince of Lust reached up and took Wonshik’s face in both hands. Kissing first his top lip, then his bottom lip. Agonizingly slowly as far as he was concerned, but just the right pace to coax the lifeforce inside Wonshik to float to the surface where he could reach it. Pressing the length of his own body against Wonshik and stroking the demon’s cheeks. “Such a good boy.”

 

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Notes:

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Curious Cat

Chapter 14

Summary:

the thick plotens

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“Little dove?”

 

The call, when it left Sanghyuk’s mouth, was sleep-rough and stilted. His youngest was being tended to by Hongbin for his third round of angelic healing, safe under Wonshik’s watchful eye -or so he’d believed- and Sanghyuk hadn’t gotten an opportunity to sleep in days. True rest was becoming a precious commodity for the Prince of Greed, even only a few hours of it. The promise of a brief respite hadn’t been an opportunity he was willing to pass up. 

 

Footsteps were the sound that had woken him now; drawn him back to consciousness, blinking where he lay nestled beneath his black comforter, head resting on silver pillows. And, when he sat up to see who had come, Sanghyuk found a mop of platinum hair and a pair of big green eyes peering at him around the doorframe. 

 

“Little dove, is that you?” Sanghyuk called again, sitting up and propping himself on one elbow. Drowsily ruffling his hair. It was a silly question. Who else would it be? “Come here, dove, let me see you.”

 

Jaehwan crossed the threshold, moving to stand beside the bed in a few light steps. 

 

He didn’t look how he’d looked when Sanghyuk had sat at his bedside earlier that day. That lovely blonde hair was no longer matted, there were no spots of fever on the high points of his cheeks, his lips weren’t chapped and raw. On the contrary, Jaehwan was nearly glowing; radiant in his immortality. His hair shined and his skin gleamed and his eyes were brighter than bright. If the Prince of Greed didn’t know better, he’d have thought that his youngest had never been sick at all. 

 

But Sanghyuk did know better. 

 

“What has happened to you, dove? Are you well again?” Sanghyuk asked, reaching for him, “Or- am I dreaming?”

 

Just the sight of him was enough to make the tips of Sanghyuk’s fingers begin to itch. To stir the greedy urges inside him that his Master had always shamed. It wasn’t as though Sanghyuk could stop them. He would if he could. But he could not, not right then, mind still muddled from sleep. He wanted to hold his little dove. Wanted to have him; wanted to reassure himself that Jaehwan was his. Only his. 

 

His youngest smiled; one of those delightful squishy-cheeked smiles that Sanghyuk adored, and put a knee up on the mattress. Coming close enough for Sanghyuk to take his wrist and urge him to sit. And he did sit, but he said nothing. 

 

“Dove,” Sanghyuk tried again, relief and concern warring for dominance inside his head as Jaehwan climbed clumsily onto his lap, folded legs straddling Sanghyuk’s hips, allowing Sanghyuk to enfold him in a gentle embrace and clinging to the Prince of Greed with surprising strength, “Jaehwanie, what’s going on? Did Hongbin- did it work? Did he make you better?”

 

Jaehwan simply shrugged. His Bound was wearing one of the silks Sanghyuk’s Master so favored; his Master’s floral perfume still lingering on the fabric. Flowing yards of rose-petal pink bunching like water in Sanghyuk’s hand. The color highlighted the warmth of his skin and brought out the strands of diamond woven into his blonde hair. So lovely. So precious. Sanghyuk’s own personal little miracle. 

 

But...

 

“You should be resting, dove, even if you’re all better. We still don’t know what caused your illness, and if it returns unexpectedly then-” 

 

Sanghyuk’s words broke off with a sigh as Jahewan slumped against him, ducking his head. Hiding his face against the place where Sanghyuk’s neck and shoulder met. Soft hair tickling the underside of Sanghyuk’s chin. 

 

And then, something clicked. 

 

“Were you craving?” Sanghyuk asked, wrapping his arms around Jaehwan’s narrow body and hugging him tight. Cradling him close. He nosed gently at Jaehwan’s temple. “I shouldn’t have left you for so long, dove, I’m… I have not been a good maker to you, ever since your corruption. I haven’t been good enough to you and I’m sorry.”

 

Sitting up -the movement so slow it was almost like he was waking from a dream- Jaehwan wrapped his arms around Sanghyuk’s neck. Raising his face to peer at the Prince of Greed. Confusion and mild annoyance dancing across his pretty features for an instant before the squishy smile returned. Could that have even been a hint of disapproval? Sanghyuk wasn’t sure; he had never seen such an expression on his youngest before. 

 

A quiet noise from his left caught Sanghyuk’s attention and he flicked his eyes to the still-open door of his bedroom. 

 

Wonshik was standing there. Had probably been there the entire time. Strong arms crossed and glaring down at the floor. Wonshik, who was more dear to the Prince of Greed than he himself could truly fathom. The one constant across all three of his lifetimes. 

 

“Shik?” he asked, uncertain, reaching out for his eldest as well, “Hwannie can be near you again? That's good news, isn't it?”

 

Sanghyuk knew how hard all of this had been on Wonshik. It had been hard since the moment he and Jaehwan had met for the first time. Going three millennia without a sibling to all of a sudden have one forced upon him without his consent. The strange little rivalry between him and Jaewhan. And then, Jaehwan’s mysterious illness keeping them apart just as their brotherly bond was really beginning to solidify. 

 

Sanghyuk understood how hard Wonshik was trying, appreciated that effort and told his eldest so when they were in private, but those small shows of gratitude never felt like enough. When it came right down to it, he was failing both of his Bound. Failing them miserably. 

 

Wonshik ignored Sanghyuk’s outstretched hand. Didn’t even look up. He shuffled a few steps out into the hallway to lean against the wall, so all Sanghyuk could see of him was a flash of cherry red hair. In moments like this, and the moments were rare, Sanghyuk longed for his lost ability to read the thoughts of his loved ones. 

 

A fingertip trailed down his face, and Sanghyuk turned back to his youngest. Watching Jaehwan trace a line along the column of his neck. Down his chest. He took one of Sanghyuk’s hands in both of his, bringing it to his mouth, silent plea shining bright in his big emerald eyes. 

 

“No, dove,” said Sanghyuk, but he could feel it already. That oh so familiar warmth stirring in the pit of his stomach. Need prickling beneath his skin. The sensation of having been hollowed out. Empty, and desperate to be filled. He shifted his hands to Jaehwans waist, fully intending to gently remove Jaehwan from his lap, but he couldn’t physically bring himself to follow through. “It’s too soon. We need to be sure that you’re fully healed first.” 

 

But his youngest shook his head. Those pretty green eyes growing impossibly wider as he ran his thumb over the bow of Sanghyuk’s upper lip. Leaning in to kiss first one corner of Sanghyuk’s mouth, then the other. 

 

Sanghyuk had expected that last part, knowing how much Jaehwan liked his venom. Kisses from his youngest were sometimes not true kisses at all; only a way for him to seek flavor rather than show affection. Sanghyuk was actually a bit surprised that the kisses hadn’t come sooner. 

 

And, while Jaehwan had no venom of his own, he certainly had a taste. Tart and sweet, almost like a caramel apple, but not quite. It was a taste Sanghyuk enjoyed, a taste he’d missed in the interim since Jaehwan had fallen ill, and so he was surprised when he did not taste it now. His youngest's lips didn’t part for him as they usually did. Not even as that longing in his core grew hotter and stronger and he traced the seam of Jaehwan’s mouth with the tip of his tongue. 

 

Jaehwan moaned softly against his mouth, snatching at the pair of black boxers Sanghyuk had fallen asleep in with those long and slightly clumsy fingers. More daring than he normally was in this particular arena. The Prince of Greed would have whimpered if it was a noise he was physically capable of producing. And despite both his mild shame and his surety in the knowledge that they needed to wait, Sanghyuk found that he didn’t want him to stop. 

 

“Are you sure, dove?” Sanghyuk asked, because he knew that he should, trying his utmost not to notice how Jaehwan was rubbing against him, “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

 

His free hand weaving through Sanghyuk's hair, his breath coming fast and shallow and hot against Sanghyuk’s ear, Jaehwan nodded. 

 

The Prince of Greed surrendered, then; giving into the seemingly insatiable need coursing through him with every beat of his weak, immortal heart. 

 

He reached down, impatient fingers parting pink silk, seeking out the cream colored trousers beneath. The hard warmth he knew would be there. Finding Jaehwans length and stroking him through the fabric. 

 

How had he missed it? Why hadn’t he guessed? How hard up Jaehwan must be after all this time? How much his Bound must be craving release, craving embrace, craving Sanghyuk himself? 

 

With a hasty snap of his fingers, the Prince of Greed vanished the clothing concealing his Bounds body from view. Greedy for the sight of him. Needing to peruse the bare skin that he knew belonged to him and him alone. 

 

Jaehwan gave a little squeak but Sanghyuk barely heard it. Much too focused on the way his Bound pressed against him. Jaehwans chest nearly flush against his own. Focused as he ran the tips of his fingers up Jaehwans cock, then down. Then up again; thumbing the underside of the head and letting Jaehwan rut into his loose fist. 

 

“My dove,” he growled, groaning under his breath as he let his other hand slip down Jaehwans back. Along his spine and over his backside. Keenly aware of the supple flesh against his palm as he brushed a teasing finger against Jaehwans rim.

 

His Bound squeaked again, nails digging into Sanghyuk’s shoulder, but the Prince of Greed only smiled. That same teasing finger pressing gently. Pressing again. And again, until Jaehwan relaxed enough for it to slip inside. 

 

The pace he set started slow, but Jaehwan came fast. Sanghyuk didn’t stop moving, pushing in and pulling out, stroking Jaehwan through the surge of pleasure and back to rigidity. Prying Jaehwan open, first with one finger and then with two. 

 

“A good place to start,” he murmured, some dark part of his demonic mind deeply satisfied by the sensation of Jaehwan rocking against him. By the way Jaehwans lovely little body trembled and shook between his arms. “A good place to start, but we aren’t even close to done.”

 

He urged Jaehwan to sit up on his knees and Sanghyuk nuzzled against him, taking advantage of the shift in position to press his mouth to his Bound’s soft stomach. Licking and biting. Tasting the downy skin on his tongue. The need for him was near madness now; every inch of Sanghyuk bristled with it. 

 

Jaehwan whined, shoulders hunched, face buried against the crown of Sanghyuk’s head, and Sanghyuk growled. Teeth bared, lips brushing Jaehwans navel before he easily shifted his Bound off his lap and onto the mattress beneath them. Pinning Jaehwan on his back. Jaehwan’s lanky limbs tangling themselves around Sanghyuk’s body like living vines.

 

But something twinged in the back of the Prince of Greed’s mind. Like a toothache he couldn’t keep himself from prodding. “What did the angel do?” he asked, “How exactly did he return your health? After all of my failures and all of Hakyeon's failures, how did he manage it?”

 

Jaehwan was looking up at him through those wide liquid eyes. The emerald green of his family. His family; the family he built for himself after abandoning the family that had built him the second time around. The emerald green he loved. 

 

But there was something else… predators gleam in his youngest’s eyes, a glint of ruby, like his irises were reflecting firelight that the Prince of Greed couldn’t see. 

 

Sanghyuk felt a moment of unreality. 

 

Heat and shock rushed across his face as he continued to stare. Understanding, now, why Jaehwans lips hadn’t parted when they kissed. That they had remained sealed so that Sanghyuk wouldn’t taste venom that shouldn’t have been there at all. Why Jaehwan hadn’t spoken a word since he entered the room. Silent so that the smoky richness of his voice wouldn't give the game away. Why Wonshik was still waiting out in the hall. There to keep the glamour of his youngest Bound in place. 

 

He had confused the familiar warmth stirring in the pit of his stomach for hunger, rather than what it truly was. Lust. Two emotions that could present in such different ways, but, in essence, were actually quite similar. 

 

Fluttering heart sinking, a sound of confusion escaped Sanghyuk as the blonde hair between his fingers began to lengthen and curl. Platinum strands darkening to lustrous ebony black. Pink lips deepening to bloody scarlet. The warm hue of his skin drained to its usual ghostly pallor, flushed silver by the ichor that ran through his veins. 

 

“Did I surprise you, pet?” asked his Master, a smile like a whip crack splitting his face. So pleased with himself. So happy at the effect of his little trick. “You do look quite surprised.”

 

Somewhere deep within himself, Sanghyuk understood that getting upset would be pointless. That his Master had most likely grown bored and only pulled this trick to entertain himself. That his Master probably hadn’t meant the trick to be cruel. That his Master wouldn’t actually care if Sanghyuk was upset about it or not. 

 

And yet, he was upset. Not truly angry; after his first two lives had been spent mastering his temper, it took a lot more than a childish prank to truly anger Sanghyuk. But he was still upset. 

 

“Why? Why did you do this?” Sanghyuk replied, quiet, answering the question with questions of his own, “Why would you give me false hope that he’d gotten better?”

 

His Master frowned and the Prince of Greed closed his eyes. Getting his breathing under control the way a different False Prince had taught him the first time around. In, 1, 2, 3, 4, out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And repeat. 

 

“Don’t be so dramatic, pet,” his Master grumbled, “I only wished to play with you.”

 

The muscles in Sanghyuk’s jaw clenched and he forced them to relax. “By masquerading as my Bound? My Bound, who has slowly been dying before my eyes for weeks?” 

 

There was a huff from beneath him; a pouty little sound that Sanghyuk knew all too well. “You pay no attention to me at all anymore,” his Master hissed, “All you do is agonize over the dreadful little fledgling! You leave me alone, just as I was alone in my prison! Why did you go to the trouble of freeing me if you planned to simply abandon me again?!”

 

Guilt stung Sanghyuk, hearing that accusation, but he shoved the feeling away. “You ordered me to stay away from you, remember?” he snapped, “Or have you grown forgetful in your old age?”

 

That last bit, the taunt, had slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it, and Sanghyuk would have regretted it if he’d had the capacity for any emotion other than frustration. 

 

His Master glared up at him with those lovely emerald eyes. The exact same color and shape as his youngest’s eyes. “You should have come to me anyway.”

 

“And, what?” the Prince of Greed let out a breath of humorless laughter, “Willingly let you punish me for disobedience?”

 

“Yes!” If his Master had been standing, Sanghyuk knew he would have stomped his foot just then. “You are my child and you belong at my side! Always! Not fretting at the bedside of that pathetic little-”

 

“I thought you liked him,” Sanghyuk interrupted, “I thought you’d grown to like him; was I wrong?”

 

“The fledgling is disturbed,” his Master replied, voice edged with a sharp chill that nearly made Sanghyuk flinch, “Even before this dying nonsense, there is something wrong with him. He is too pure, still. Too naive. Too weak. He is too much like an angel, pet, an embarrassment. Something must have gone wrong during his corruption. We are demonic royalty. There is no place in our family line for a defective creature such as that.”

 

There were very few sentences that could break Sanghyuk’s immortal heart. Shatter it like a boot heel on a thin pane of glass. But his Master had just given voice to one of them. 

 

It was a nerve that hadn’t been touched inside him for milenia. That fact didn’t make it hurt any less. 

 

“I hate you,” Sanghyuk snarled, something he had never ever felt the urge to say to his Master before, and pushed himself up off the bed. Snapping his fingers so the pink silk reappeared on his Master's body and a clean black suit appeared on his own. 

 

His Master growled and grabbed for his wrist but the Prince of Greed slipped out of reach before he could be caught. Walking quickly away. Ignoring the angry screams behind him no matter how much it hurt to do so.   

 

“You left Jaehwan alone with the angel,” Sanghyuk said, tone one of forced calm, once he reached the hallway where Wonshik was waiting, “Why?”

 

His eldest’s fingers closed around his arm, nearly pulling him to a stop, but Sanghyuk kept walking. Dragging Wonshik along when he refused to let go. 

 

“The Prince of Lust gave me an order,” Wonshik replied through gritted teeth, tension coiled through every inch of him, “And I could not refuse it.”  

 

That statement was more than a little unsettling but Sanghyuk couldn’t contemplate it too deeply right then. He was too wounded, still; too heartbroken. The word defective ringing over and over inside his head.  

 

When they reached Jaehwan’s bedroom, all was as it had been when Sanhyuk had left it. His youngest lay in a nest of blankets, half asleep and mumbling incoherent wordless little mumbles. The archangel Hongbin was kneeling on the floor beside him, staring at the opposite wall through gold-filmed eyes. 

 

He wondered, for what had to be the thousandth time, exactly how his Master had managed to trick the angel into helping. And, to Sanghyuk’s surprise, at the sound of their footsteps, Hongbin’s head turned in their direction. 

 

“How long has he been down here?” the angel asked. His deep voice contained a note of something it usually did not, something Sanghyuk couldn’t decipher. Almost like prophecy.

 

The Prince of Greed paused to think. “A few months, at least. Perhaps even a year. Why? Such a thing isn’t unusual for our kind.”

 

Hongbin shook his head and the gold of his eyes seemed to grow even brighter. “Take him to the surface. He needs the sunlight.”  

 

“Sunlight?” Wonshik asked, sounding just as taken aback as Sanghyuk felt, but the angel nodded. 

 

“Sunlight. And water, bring him somewhere with water.”

 

The Prince of Greed arched an eyebrow. “How much water, exactly? A river? An ocean?”

 

“A river,” Hongbin replied, thoughtful, “Somewhere to the north.”

 

“This is nonsense,” Wonshik murmured from behind him, still standing in the hallway so the smell of him wouldn’t upset Jaehwan’s delicate olfactory senses. And privately, Sanghyuk agreed that water and sunlight were nonsensical remedies to heal the illness of a demon. Jaehwan wasn’t a houseplant. But, it was something they hadn’t yet tried, and the Prince of Greed was desperate. He was willing to try anything, no matter how strange. 

 

Sanghyuk bent and gathered his youngest into his arms. He felt Jaehwan stirring, instinctively burrowing closer against his chest. The feeling of Jaehwan’s warm little puffs of breath through the fabric of his shirt almost made Sanghyuk smile. 

 

And then he stepped back into a pool of shadow that hung in the corner of the room. Closing his eyes. Barely noticing as the wards around the apartment parted for him like thin gossamer curtains. Picturing ice blue skies and moss-green mountain cliffs, crisp cool water running over sharp rocks. 

 

When he opened his eyes, it was exactly how he remembered. Chill air prickling at his exposed skin and the distant rumbling of an enormous waterfall very close by. 

 

“Where are we? It’s beautiful...” asked Wonshik, peering around at the scenery with the kind of mild, detached fascination of someone who had been alive for a very, very long time, and had seen everything there was to see at least once. 

 

It took him a moment, but Sanghyuk remembered the name. “The River Fossá,” he replied, stepping carefully down to the dark rocks that lined the rivers bank, Jaehwan still clutched securely in his arms, “In Iceland. The Haifoss waterfall is where that rushing sound is coming from.”

 

“When he said sunny river, I was really expecting someplace warmer than this,” Wonshik grumbled, picking his way along behind them. 

 

But Sanghyuk barely heard his eldest’s words. This place, he thought, is undoubtedly one of the Almighty's most perfect creations. If a miracle was going to happen anywhere, it would happen there. 

 

“Here,” Hongbin called, gliding past them on his pearly white wings, sandaled feet hanging several inches above the ground, “Bring him here, all the way in.”

 

Despite how much it irritated his demonic programming -following the commands of an archangel- Sanghyuk went. He stepped into the water. First one foot, then the other, until the water reached over his knees. 

 

Deciding that was a good spot, and hearing no protests from their angelic companion, the Prince of Greed knelt. Feeling the tug of the river flowing around him as he carefully unwrapped the blanket Jaehwan was still cuddled up in. 

 

“Hyukkie?” Jaehwan mumbled, but Sanghyuk shushed him gently. Shifting so when he sat, the water lapped at his chest and they were both nearly submerged. 

 

Hongbin was beside them now, still hovering in the air. “Look up at the sky, Jaehwan,” he instructed, waiting for Jaehwan to comply before looking skyward himself. 

 

That strange quality to his voice remained, as did the gold veil over his eyes, and as the archangel of healing peered sightlessly up toward Heaven, the clouds parted. A thin beam of purest sunshine breaking through and bathing the three of them in light. 

 

Jaehwan’s breath caught, hitching in his chest. Half floating on his back between Sanghyuk’s arms as he blinked at the sky above. 

 

It felt as though that moment had been frozen in time. The world around them moving in slow motion. 

 

Sanghyuk looked down at his youngest Bound, awe and wonder stealing away any word that might have formed on his tongue. He watched, dumbstruck, as the small tricks of beauty illusion his Master had bestowed upon his Bound fell away. There was no room for illusion here. 

 

Jaehwan’s platinum hair seemed to be leeching the color from the dark stones beneath them and the water surrounding them, turning a slate grey tinged with barely visible hints of green. And the tone of his skin deepened too; not the artificial illusion of a tan that it had been only moments ago, but more like cooltoned sand. Earthy and natural and breathtaking. And his lips; not the blush pink of before, not bloody scarlet like Sanghyuk’s Master, but the color of mulberry juice.

 

He shifted in Sanghyuk’s arms, sitting up on his own. The Prince of Greed didn’t dare to touch him; the air around him sizzling as he stood on legs that no longer shook. Held his hands out before him. And then a pair of wings unfurled from his back. Wings that were rounded and soft, just like those of a dove, but the same slate grey as his hair. 

 

And when he turned around to look at Sanghyuk through eyes that had been completely swallowed by emerald, the water turned with him. Glistening droplets swirling up around him like a glittering whirlpool.  

 

“He has Become,” said Hongbin, still in that voice that most definitely sounded like prophecy. 

 

Sanghyuk could feel his Master nearby. Lurking in a patch of shadow several yards away. Could feel the rage in his Master as he always could. 

 

But he was unable to tear his eyes away from Jaehwan. 

 

His little dove, precious and impossible.

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Notes:

Baby Jae visual transformation reference: basically from dynamite Jaehwan to Closer Jaehwan
If you're curious about the place I was describing at the end, it looks like THIS

COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3

 

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Curious Cat

Chapter 15

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“Hyukkie?”

 

Wonshik looked up from the book in his hand. Looked to the open door through which Jaehwan was peeking. Looked to Sanghyuk where he sat on the opposite sofa. 

 

They were relaxing in the library, Wonshik and Sanghyuk. One of the very, very few rooms in the apartment that still bore touches of the Prince of Lust’s opulent decor. So large that one could not see the end in either direction; high slanted ceilings and windows that glowed with false alchemical light. 

 

Wonshik loved this room, nearly as much as he loved the man seated across from him. Loved the time they spent there together. Just the two of them. 

 

But now, it seemed that their solitude was at an end. 

 

The Little Hwan stepped lightly over the threshold, head cocked so his new slate colored hair fell across his forehead, emerald eyes wide and shining. The results of his most recent physical transformation still made Wonshik a touch uncomfortable. 

 

Not because Jaehwan looked unpleasant- quite the opposite, but… he looked like a human. The eerie, otherworldly, patrician beauty that Wonshik had grown to expect from his diabolical counterparts was no longer present. Jaehwan looked like himself, but he looked human. Even more than that, he looked like a being of the earth. Sunkissed; carved from limestone and shaded with silt, glazed eyes like precious stones. A puzzling appearance to be sure. 

 

Sanghyuk raised an open palm and beckoned his youngest over. Wonshik watched his creator. Watched as the lines of anxiety smoothed from Sanghyuk’s forehead, noticed the pleased press of his lips, saw a sparkle ignite behind his eyes. 

 

Wobbling slightly as he walked like he’d been caught in a gale force wind, as he always did now, Jaehwan ran the pads of his fingers along the spines of books as he passed. 

 

“Good evening, little dove,” said Sanghyuk, drawing Jaehwan down beside him and slipping an arm about his waist, “How are you feeling?”

 

Jaehwan stared at Sanghyuk, foggy and unfocused, for a few moments before turning his sightless gaze to Wonshik. “You both chose my name for me,” he replied, with no preamble, like he hadn’t heard Sanghyuk’s question, “Indulgence. You chose it, both of you. Why?”

 

Wonshik crossed his legs. “Because it’s a prettier word than gluttony, sugar. Don’t you like it?”

 

“That’s not-” Jaehwan nibbled his lip, momentarily turning away to slip his fingers into Sanghyuk’s mouth and then pressing them into his own. He spoke around his fingers. “That is not how a demon is given a name, is it?”

 

“Not traditionally, no,” replied Sanghyuk, face so full of affection that Wonshik’s fingers twitched. Fighting an urge to throw a book at his creator's head. “But your affinity was clear to both Wonshik and myself. It didn’t seem necessary to deliberate or wait for a whisper from you-know-who.”

 

“You were wrong,” Jaehwan declared. 

 

Wonshik went still. Completely and utterly still; as only a creature who had no need for breath could. The tone of his brother's voice sent a prickle through his nerves. 

 

“Why do you say that, dove?”

 

Jaewhan leaned into the hand Sanghyuk had rested against the base of his skull. Ignoring their creators' question a second time. “I want to go to the surface. Will you lower the wards so I can? Just a little, just for a second.”

 

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Sanghyuk replied, “What with my Master being as angry as he is. And besides, how will you return if I put the wards back in place after you leave?”

 

A frown tugging down the corner of his mouth, Jaehwan turned back to stare at Wonshik. Still not listening. “I’m not a very good demon, am I, Shikkie? I never have been.”

 

“You’re an excellent demon, little brother,” Wonshik lied, coaxing his own mouth into a smile. 

 

“Of course you are,” Sanghyuk agreed, “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. My Master included. You are perfect just as you are.”

 

Wonshik remembered what the Prince of Lust had said, what he had heard as he waited in the hall outside Sanghyuk’s bedroom. Forced to maintain a glamour against his will. That Jaehwan was disturbed. That Jaehwan was too pure and naive and weak. That there was something wrong with him. But Jaehwan couldn’t possibly have overheard that frankly catastrophic conversation; he’d still been sick in bed. No, this stemmed from something else. 

 

Jaehwan shrugged. Went quiet for a moment. Touched Sanghyuk’s lips again. “I’m not evil enough, not cruel enough to be a proper demon.”

 

“Demons do not need to be evil, haven’t I taught you so already? I could have sworn… but perhaps not,” Sanghyuk hummed softly, brushing his fingers through Jaehwans hair, “Being a demon does not mean you are evil. It simply means that you were once an angel. You may be good if you like; or kind, or benevolent. You may be whatever you choose. It’s not for the will of heaven to decide any longer.”

 

If Jaehwan heard the frankly heretical declaration, he gave no sign. 

 

Eldest Bound and creator exchanged a look of concern. 

 

“All this talk of your name,” Wonshik tried, urging his voice into its lowest, most soothing register, “What brought it about? Have you- were you given a different name?”

 

Jaehwan shrugged again. 

 

Rather than pressing the issue, Wonshik lay his book down and folded his hands in his lap. “What on the surface could be so enticing that Hyukkie should risk releasing his master to wreak havoc on the world?”

 

“You are not real,” said Jaehwan, and Wonshik opened his mouth. Poised to reply. 

 

No words came. He was so thoroughly taken aback that anything he might have said died on his tongue. 

 

“Neither am I,” Jaehwan continued, legs wobbling like a newborn colt as he rose to stand, “And now I can’t be the demon Sanghyuk imagined me to be anymore. No matter how much I want to be. Not since Hongbin finally gave me my eyes.” 

 

He braced a hand on the doorframe and paused, glancing at Wonshik over his shoulder. “My name,” he whispered, “Is Order. I am the Prince of Order.”

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Chapter 16

Summary:

why hello there, Lee Hongbin

Notes:

I'm incapable of retiring lol

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Jaehwan stepped into his bedroom, eyes blind and mind on fire. 

 

The world didn’t behave properly down here. Down here in hell. He couldn’t feel the earth's heart beating beneath the soles of his feet. Couldn’t spread his wings and sore, letting the song of the wind raise him up in flight. Couldn’t hear the whispering of the water as it carved a path through the rocks. 

 

He felt like he was trapped in a vacuum. And he was under no illusion that he would feel any differently if he were in heaven. The only place Jaehwan felt even slightly real now was on the surface. 

 

When he had healed from his sickness -the cause of which Jaehwan was still unsure about- he had been surrounded by sunlight. By warmth and water and sand and stone. Whatever Hongbin had done to him had bathed him in truth. In understanding and acceptance. 

 

He was not a correct or proper demon in the traditional sense, Jaehwan was at peace with that. But his family had been wrong about him. About the source of his power, the root of his hunger, the empty feeling he inspired in others. 

 

It wasn’t the hunger of gluttony. Nothing so simple as that. Jaehwan’s hunger was the hunger of nature. 

 

His hunger was the vines that climbed ever higher in hopes of reaching the sunlight. It was the hunger of plants reclaiming land that humans had paved and then abandoned, roots pushing through concrete to take back their home. The hunger of animals searching for mates in the eternal hope of preserving their species. 

 

Jaehwan hungered to cover the world. Take it over and cover it with safety. It was the same hunger that first bloomed in the almighty and inspired them to create Eden. He hungered for paradise. 

 

In short, Jaehwans hunger was a hunger for life.

 

“Dove?” called his maker, knuckles wrapping on the doorframe. The door itself hung open like an unfinished sentence. 

 

Jaehwan turned to look at him, at Sanghyuk, not daring to hope that his maker had had a change of heart. “Yes?”

 

“Can I come in?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Sanghyuk crossed the threshold and softly shut the door behind him, moving to where Jaehwan stood in half a dozen strides. He took Jaehwans hands in his own. “Why did you say that to Wonshik just now? Why did you say that he isn’t real?”

 

There was no anger in his maker's tone, no reprimand, which Jaehwan was thankful for. But Sanghyuk’s expression of badly concealed concern made Jaehwans fingers twitch. 

 

“He’s not,” the young demon replied, watching his maker's green eyes flick quickly around the room, “I’m not. None of us are.”

 

Sanghyuk paused, still distracted by the interior decor, so Jaehwan looked around too. 

 

Tree roots had broken through the far wall, very deep and very old tree roots that had answered Jaehwans call. Black vines wound around the canopy of his bed. Colorless flowers blooming in the dirt Jaehwan had scattered over the floor. Trying to make his bedroom feel as much like the surface as possible. 

 

“But- why do you think that?” his maker asked, choosing for the moment not to comment on the strange collection of plants, “What gave you that idea?”

 

Jaehwan shrugged. He didn’t know how to explain it to someone who didn’t already understand. 

 

“None of us are real, Hyukkie, not angels or demons,” he replied, trying his best to make the words make sense, “We are constructs of feelings had by humans. We are immaterial. Imaginary. We’re names to give the scary monsters lurking in the dark.”

 

Sanghyuk’s brow smoothed over; no longer looking concerned, but rather resigned. “Come here,” he said, picking his way carefully over to sit on the edge of the bed without accidentally crushing any flowers. 

 

Jaehwan followed with equal care. He hadn’t used his bed in a few days, preferring to curl up between the roots so he could listen to their creaky voices, but it was still a perfectly serviceable bed. Not a bad place to sit. 

 

“This, dove,” Sanghyuk continued, tone one of utmost patience, “Is what people call an existential crisis. Everyone has one sooner or later -other than angels of course- but they are perfectly normal. Shik has had one, I’ve had a handful of them myself; my Master has them almost constantly. We all question the ways of the world, little dove.”

 

“You don’t understand,” said Jaehwan, because his maker very clearly did not understand what he was saying at all. 

 

But Sanghyuk shook his head. Holding a venom-slicked finger up to Jaehwans mouth that the young demon was powerless to ignore. 

 

His sense of taste was another thing his family had gotten wrong. It wasn’t simply that he tasted things well because he was hungry all the time. Jaehwans sense of taste was a way of organizing and categorizing the things around him. The feelings, the people, the places; all of these had a unique taste and Jaehwan could recognize them. Could understand them more easily than through speech or sound or sight. 

 

“I do understand,” Sanghyuk hummed, his words full of kindness, “Young adult humans have these thoughts too, you know, in their twenties and thirties. It’s a mark of growing up.”

 

Jaehwan bit his lip. “That’s not the point, and I don’t know how to explain it so you’ll understand what I mean.”

 

“I understand, dove. I know it probably seems like I don’t right now, but trust me, I understand.”

 

Jaehwan inhaled a deep breath, coating himself in the bergamot and vetiver smell that was Sanghyuk’s alone. “If you truly understood, then you’d let me go to the surface,” he whispered, “Please.”

 

His maker sighed, those large perfect hands weaving gently through Jaehwans hair. Scratching at the young demon's scalp. “You know I can’t. My Master is too much of a danger right-”

 

“Sir would understand!” Jaehwan exclaimed, the sudden rise in volume startling even himself. 

 

Sanghyuk blinked, clearly taken aback. “My Master is many things, but he is not understanding. He simply expects to be understood.”

 

“That may be so, but he would understand this.”

 

After a moment of charged silence, Sanghyuk’s expression emptied of feeling. A valiant effort to be stern as he cupped Jaehwans left cheek. “This is not about my Master, Jaehwan. This is about you. I understand what you’re going through even if you don’t believe me, but I need you to know that saying things like that to other people is not a correct way to handle this situation.”

 

“Things like what?” Jaehwan asked, biting back the other thoughts that were poised on the tip of his tongue. 

 

His maker frowned. “Dove, you cannot simply walk up to someone and tell them they don’t exist. It was alarming for your brother and alarming for me as well. I don’t believe you intended to make us worry, but please try to think before you speak.”

 

It was the young demons turn to frown, but he listened to his maker's words. He thought before he spoke. And once the thinking was over, Jaehwan decided not to say anything at all, because nothing he could say in that moment would make Sanghyuk really, truly understand him. 

 

Instead of speaking, Jaehwan nosed at the palm of Sanghyuk’s hand for a moment. Breathing in his smell and luxuriating in the comfort of having his maker so close. 

 

And then he stood on wobbly legs, bracing himself on the vines that extended to help balance him as he walked back across the room. 

 

“Dove,” Sanghyuk called, standing as well, “Dove, where are you going?”

 

Jaehwan didn’t answer. 

 

“Jaehwan, dove, come here please. Our conversation isn’t over.”

 

‘Yes it is’, Jaehwan thought, leaving his maker alone in his bedroom and wandering down the hall. Hoping that Sanghyuk wouldn’t order him to return. 

 

Sanghyuk didn’t order him to do so. His maker rarely ordered him to do anything, only utilizing that particular authority in dangerous situations. Far too kind to take advantage of his Bound’s obedience to suit his own whims. 

 

When he didn’t hear the sound of his maker following after him, Jaehwan let his feet take the lead. They carried him down now-familiar corridors, through the now-empty library, all the way across the apartment toward two of the other occupied bedrooms. 

 

Jaehwan hadn’t seen the Prince of Lust in a long while. Not since he’d refused to visit anymore when the young demon was ill. 

 

The young demon couldn’t remember much from that time, but he did remember how the Prince of Lust's presence had made him feel. The perfume of jasmine and rose casting him in a blanket of safety. The taste of sweet peaches soothing the twisting nausea in his stomach and throat. And he knew from Wonshik that the Prince of Lust had been the one to bring Hongbin down to heal him; a fact that Jaehwan was immeasurably grateful for. Something he hadn’t said ‘thank you’ for yet. 

 

He knocked on the door to the Prince of Lusts bedroom, half expecting the request for entry to go ignored. After all, the Prince of Lust had no reason to speak to him. Wonshik had also told him that Sanghyuk and his master had had a fight, and that Jaehwan himself was at the core of their argument somewhere, but the young demon didn’t have any more details about it. Wonshik refused to tell him anything else. 

 

But to his mild surprise, the door swung open after only a few seconds. Revealing the Prince of Lust in all his infernal glory. Sable curls still luscious and long, hanging loose to frame his picture perfect face. Darkly resplendent in a black ensemble with a plum velvet dressing gown hanging open over top. 

 

“Darling?” he asked, genuine surprise raising the pitch of his voice.

 

Jaehwan gave a little wave, jasmine and rose dominating his senses at once. “Hi, sir. Were you expecting someone else?”

 

A beautiful smile spread across the Prince of Lusts face. “I didn’t know who to expect,” he replied, stepping back and motioning for Jaehwan to enter, which Jaehwan did, “What brings you here, darling? I thought my pet had forbidden his Bound from paying me visits.”

 

“Not as far as I know,” Jaehwan murmured, not expecting to be welcomed with open arms like this, and slightly confused by it, “He didn’t say anything about it to me.”

 

“Well, you’re here now whether he forbade you to visit or not.” 

 

Jaehwan perched on the edge of an armchair, hands twisting in his lap. Watching the Prince of Lust take a seat opposite. 

 

“Tell me, darling,” he crooned, in the way Jaehwan imagined human mothers spoke to their children, “Why did you wish to see me?”

 

As it had been the first time they had a ‘family bonding’ session, the Prince of Lust’s expression was smooth. Curious, but neither positive nor negative; like he was trying very hard to gauge Jaehwans emotions. It made the young demon feel like he was under a microscope. 

 

“I wanted to say thank you,” Jaehwan mumbled, dropping his gaze to the carpeted floor, “For getting Hongbin to make me better.”

 

“Of course, darling. My pet always says that kin must take care of one another, does he not? I did what I thought was right, fetching the angel, even if my pet disapproved of my methods.”

 

The young demon swallowed hard. “What methods were those?”

 

“Brute force I suppose,” the Prince of Lust replied, laughter tinkling in his voice, “I simply went to the surface and dragged him down here, and then ordered him to fix you. Sanghyuk was trying to come up with a plan to bribe the angel into helping you, but I wasn’t inclined to wait for that to happen.”

 

“Well,” Jaehwan hiccuped, on the verge of crying but not exactly sure why, “Tha-thank you anyway.”

 

A hand under his chin raised Jaehwans face back up. “What is the matter?” the Prince of Lust asked, the laughter in his voice replaced by something sharp as he looked from one of Jaehwan’s eyes to the other and back again. 

 

The young demon hiccuped a second time, lower lip beginning to wobble. He blurted the words out before his mind had a chance to stop them. “Hyukkie doesn’t understand me. He doesn’t understand how I’m feeling and he won’t let me go to the surface.”

 

Without having to be asked, the Prince of Lust stood and paced to Jaehwans armchair, bending at the waist so the young demon could lick a bit of venom from his mouth. Peaches and a dash of sugar. The effervescent taste soothed Jaehwans frantic nerves almost at once. 

 

“Tell me how you’re feeling,” the Prince of Lust murmured when Jaehwan was done, guiding the younger across the room and settling them both on the bed. The elder leaning up against the pillows with Jaehwan’s head in his lap. Carding his fingers through Jaehwans hair.

 

And so, Jaehwan told him. 

 

He was startled, at first, by the Prince of Lust's kindness. There was no taunting, no roughness, no slaps if Jaehwan didn’t speak quickly enough. He was unaccustomed to patience when it came to Sanghyuk’s master. Always ready and expecting the cruelty when it inevitably came. But it didn’t come, hadn’t come so far, and while Jaehwan had no idea why the Prince of Lust was being so nice to him, Jaehwan wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

 

He poured his heart out there and then. How he was feeling, why he thought he was feeling this way. The truth of his nature and Sanghyuk’s mischaracterizations. He told the Prince of Lust everything, his sense of relief growing the more he spoke. And when he was done, the Prince of Lust looked down at him with a contemplative expression on his face. 

 

“Hyukkie won’t let me go up because he doesn’t want you to escape if he lowers his wards, but I have too! I just have too!”

 

“I understand you, darling, have no fear on that front. I understand you perfectly.”

 

And Jaehwan, surprisingly, believed him. 

 

“You know,” he hummed, after a moment of pensive silence, “My pet is very clever, but there are certain concepts he is simply unable to grasp. His own ability to be wrong is one such concept.”

 

Jaehwan closed his eyes, nibbling at the venom-slicked finger in his mouth. 

 

“And there is another such concept that he still refuses to accept, despite how hard I tried to teach him.”

 

“What’s that, sir?” Jaehwan asked, the words muffled. He blinked one eye open and saw a wickedly charming grin on the Prince of Lust’s face. 

 

“That you,” the elder replied, “No matter what name you-know-who decides to bestow upon you, are an archdemon and Duke of Hell.”

 

He pulled his finger free and Jaehwan forced himself to sit up, leaning into the Prince of Lust’s caress. The hand against his cheek and fingers running soothingly up and down his back. 

 

“And as such, you are entitled to anything and everything you could ever wish for.”

 

Unsure of where this was going, but not about to interrupt, Jaehwan nodded. 

 

The Prince of Lust stood with a dramatic flourish, letting his dressing gown fall to the floor. A black wool coat replacing it when he snapped his fingers. “Remember that lesson, little darling, and remember it well. If you want something, it’s already yours.”

 

“But what does that have to do with Hyukkie?” Jaehwan squeaked, too confused to keep quiet any longer. Even more confused as the Prince of Lust’s grin grew broader. 

 

“I have stayed put to soothe my pet's worries. But I am quite gifted in the arts arcane.”

 

Jaehwan nodded, he already knew that.

 

“You want to go to the surface, my darling Prince of Order?” The nails on the elders right hand extended, and he made several very fast gestures before doing a sort of slicing motion. Cutting through the web of magic that was Sanghyuk’s warding spell to keep them inside. “Then you shall.”

 

Jaehwan leapt off the bed, pulse thrumming as he took the Prince of Lust’s hands and practically dragged him through the opening. Letting the Prince of Lust guide them through the shadows and up to the surface. 

 

A gust of cool wind hit Jaehwan first, kissing his exposed skin with freshness. Then the smell of grass and dew and sunlight. The sound of water rushing somewhere nearby was like a greeting to his ears. 

 

He could see again. He could see and hear and feel and smell and he could taste the sunset on the tip of his tongue. 

 

He felt real.

 

Jaehwan felt free.

 

“Thank you,” he gasped, falling to his knees in the grass beside the Prince of Lusts feet and pressing his palms to the earth, “Thank you, sir.”

 

“Of course, darling. I’ll give you anything you want so long as you behave,” the elder hummed, petting the top of Jaehwan’s head, “I haven’t forgotten our deal.”

 

Jaehwan sighed a shaky sigh, slumping to let his head rest against the Prince of Lusts thigh. Daisies pushing up through the soil and blooming around them in a wide, neat circle. Unable to stop himself from repeating one more, “Thank you.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

The Prince of Order. 

 

What a fascinating development, thought Jaehwan, Prince of Lust and Duke of Hell, inspecting his nails where he reclined in the shade of a large oak tree. 

 

The fledgling remained close by, frolicking about in the fields like a sweet little spring lamb. Jaehwan had ordered him not to wander off and his darling had agreed without protest. Knowing they’d need to go back downstairs soon, but simply happy to be outdoors. 

 

The Prince of Order… This was a turn of events that Jaehwan had not expected. A fascinating turn of events, brimming with promise and tantalizing possibilities. 

 

A plan was beginning to take shape in Jaehwans mind. Because what would compliment the gifts of a Prince of Order? A Prince of Chaos, of course. 

 

The current Prince of Chaos -if Jaehwans memory served- did not like him. It would be tricky to realign one as old and clever as himself. Much easier, then, to have him replaced? Jaehwan thought so, and he had the perfect candidate in mind. 

 

“Darling,” he called, getting to his feet, banishing the dirt from his clothes with a flick of his hand. 

 

The fledge bounded up to him, sunshine smile wide and bright, plants growing in the wake of his footsteps. Grey wings fluttering as he folded them against his back. “Yes, sir?” he chirped, clutching at Jaehwans forearm for balance. 

 

Jaehwan looked at him. That oh-so familiar face, those emerald eyes Jaehwan knew so well. The fledge looked like him, yes, but not like a demon. More than anything else, his darling looked like a little forest pixie. 

 

“We must return below now, darling,” he hummed, acquiescing to the fledgling's request for a kiss. Parting his lips, the corner of his mouth tugging upward as he felt the fledges tongue dip into his mouth. Such a simple creature, this one. 

 

Satisfied that the fledge was clinging on tight, Jaehwan drew them back into the shadow of the oak tree. Stepping out an instant later into Jaehwan’s empty bedroom. 

 

“Listen closely darling,” he said, holding the fledges chin firmly in one hand, plucking a twig from that slate grey hair, “Best not tell my pet about our adventure, hmm? Keep this between us. Our little secret.”

 

The fledgeling beamed at him and Jaehwan plastered a smile on his face. His most dazzling, wicked smile. “Of course, sir, I don’t want to get us in trouble.”

 

“That’s right, my good boy. A little conspiracy just between us.” Jaehwan fondly tapped the underside of his chin and drew him towards the door. “We can go to the surface again whenever you’d like.”

 

With no warning, the fledgling threw himself into Jaehwans arms. Hugging the Prince of Lust tight. It was rather alarming, actually. Jaehwan knew how to feign affection when necessary but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it. 

 

“Thank you, sir, really,” the young demon mumbled, words muffled by Jaehwans curls, “I knew you’d understand.”

 

“Of course, darling.” Jaehwan held still for a count of five, allowing himself to be hugged, before gently untangling himself from the fledges grasping arms. “Now, run along before my pet takes note of your absence.”

 

The Prince of Lust watched his namesake scamper away -occasionally bumping into walls due to the unsteadiness of his steps- until he rounded the corner and disappeared from view. 

 

Such a sweet, simple thing, the fledgeling was. So easy to train. All it had taken was a firm hand and the promise of rewards for good behavior, as Jaehwan had known from the first moment they’d met. Easy to train for him, anyway; Jaehwan knew his pet would never even have tried. To his unending shagrin, Sanghyuk had never taken an interest in asserting his natural born authority over others. Such a disappointing child. 

 

Jaehwan sighed, shutting his bedroom door and pacing into his closet. Taking a seat at his wide vanity table and letting his fingers drift over his innumerable jars of cosmetics. Not the kind of cosmetics humans used; those strange powders and creams. No, Jaehwans cosmetics were of a different sort altogether. They blended with his power, a skill taught to him by Azazel before the civil war so many millennia ago. 

 

First, he reached for a jar of black opals. Running his fingertips over the smooth stones before finger-combing his hair. Transferring the dark rainbow hue onto each of his curls so that his hair shined like an oil slick. Still black, but always reflective when it caught the light. 

 

Then, after a moment's deliberation, he selected a box of red jasper. Stealing its color and carefully dabbing the hue first on each of his fingernails and toenails, then onto his lips. Not the glossy crimson color he normally selected; this was more muted and matte. More natural. To give him the look of one who had just surfaced from a kiss. 

 

Next, rose quartz for the apples of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. A bit at the center of his chest as well for good measure. After that, crushed diamond for his collarbones and the high parts of his face. And then the subtlest purples for his eyelids; kunzite for the inner corner and amethyst for the outer. Black tourmaline cobed gently through his lashes. 

 

The final touch was always Jaehwans favorite. He dipped a finger into a jar of rare Pitcairn honey. Rolling the amber-gold substance between his fingers until it had thoroughly soaked in. Touching his bare arms and legs and torso and neck, so that when he returned his gaze to the vanity mirror, Jaehwans skin glowed. Not a true tan, perhaps, not the kind of sun kissed warmth he’d gifted the fledgeling; he’d used maple wood for that. The honey made the Prince of Lusts fair skin glow like a moonstone. 

 

Perfect, thought Jaehwan, eyeing his reflection, perfect.

 

Now; to dress. 

 

He’d need something sultry, the Prince of Lust mused, tapping his bottom lip as he walked up and down the racks of clothing. Something demure that could be rendered risqué in a heartbeat. Something seductive, but not overtly so. Not something that made him look like he was trying. 

 

And what color? With the purple he’d chosen to shadow his eyes, Jaehwan was leaning towards a complementary green. Not bright, never bright. A deep jewel toned green. That should compliment the purples nicely and make his jade irises shine. 

 

His gaze settled on a robe of sage green brocade. So long that it touched the floor when he slipped it on, full sleeves to match. Beaded at the collar and cuffs with strings of malachite, and secured at his waist with a wide black sash. It would do nicely. 

 

Jaehwan swept out of the room and took a seat on his favorite black armchair. He fiddled for a moment; crossing his legs at the knee so that one bare bare foot and shin escaped from the robe's heavy folds. Tugging the front a bit so that it slipped off one shoulder, exposing his collarbone and highlighting the graceful slope of his throat. 

 

That was enough. He left the rest of his body securely covered and folded his hands in his lap. Enough exposure to make anyone who saw him imagine what he looked like underneath. 

 

Beautiful enough -distracting enough- to disarm his opponent. To lull his opponent into a false sense of security

 

‘Oh, highness?’ he thought, sending the words out into the ether for the False Prince to hear, ‘Hakyeon, love, I’d like a word with you… highness…’

 

With a whisper of raven’s wings, the Lord of the Void appeared on the other side of the room. Dazzling as ever in indigo silk and black leather. 

 

It was a rule that had been put in place after Jaehwans escape; Sanghyuk may put up wards to keep the occupants of his apartment inside, but he may not bar others from entering. The False Prince did not want any more secrets hidden away here that he could not access. 

 

“You called for me?” Hakyeon asked, turning slowly on the spot until his scarlet eyes settled on where Jaehwan was artfully arranged in the armchair. Blinking slowly but not stepping closer. 

 

Jaehwan understood his old friend's reluctance to be near him. Hakyeon had been partly responsible for Jaehwans stint in solitary confinement. Had actively worked in concert with the angels to imprison Jaehwan in the temple. And now Jaehwan had gotten free; and Hakyeon understood Jaehwans lust for retribution and revenge better than anyone else. He knew, too, how easy it was to ignite Jaehwans infamous temper. 

 

But Jaehwan couldn’t truly blame his old friend for locking him up. Jaehwans plan would have unseated Hakyeon, just as it would have unseated the angels. It was the smartest move Hakyeon could have made in his position. Not to say that the five thousand years of forced imprisonment endeared Hakyeon to him, it absolutely did not. But Jaehwan could always appreciate the cunning in others' actions. 

 

“Come here, love, sit with me. I have questions for you,” he hummed, crooking a finger to beckon Hakyeon closer. 

 

The False Prince made no move to do so, simply crossing his arms over his chest. 

 

Jaehwan sighed, “I won’t bite, love, I promise.”

 

“Won’t you?” Hakyeon muttered, giving in and taking the empty chair beside Jaehwans.  

 

The Prince of Lust flashed his most charming smile. “Only if you ask nicely.”

 

Hakyeon ignored the comment, but Jaehwan still saw those lovely scarlet eyes linger on his ankle and shoulder. “What did you wish to ask me about?”

 

“I need... a consultation of sorts,” Jaehwan replied, idly raking a stray curl from his face with his nails, “On the matter of the fledgeling. Sanghyuk’s youngest.”

 

“What about him?”

 

Jaehwan settled back, relaxing into the plush upholstery to appear more at ease. Giving the illusion that his questions were idle ones; nothing of real importance. “Have we ever had a Prince of Order before? I can’t recall.”

 

“Yes,” Hakyeon nodded, “Some time ago. He was killed in the civil war and his power went dormant for quite a while. It never bonded with another demon so far as I’m aware.”

 

“You know that the fledgling has claimed ownership of that title then? I’m sure my pet informed you already…”

 

“No,” the False Prince shifted a bit, clearly put off at being kept out of the loop a second time, “He did not. I was under the impression he’d taken up the mantle of gluttony.”

 

“As was I,” Jaehwan replied, “But it seems that my pet gave the fledgling that name, not you-know-who. And the fledgling certainly seems to believe that his true name is, in fact, the Prince of Order.”

 

“How did you find that out? I thought the young ones weren’t allowed to speak to you.”

 

“Again, as did I,” said the Prince of Lust, tapping his bottom lip, “But the fledgeling came to visit me earlier today and told me the whole story. It seems that he’s having trouble communicating with Sanghyuk. That’s not normal, is it? To struggle with being understood by one’s maker?”

 

Hakyeon's frown deepened a touch, eyes narrowing in thought. “It’s not normal, no,” he replied, “But the fledgling isn’t entirely normal to start with. And the damage to his and Sanghyuk’s bond…”

 

“Damage?” Jaehwan interrupted, raising one eyebrow, “What damage?”

 

The False Prince paused, giving Jaehwan a very calculating look. Mentioning that tidbit had been a mistake, Jaehwan thought; Hakyeon had never meant to tell him about whatever this damage was. But now that it was out in the open, he knew Jaehwan would find the explanations he wanted even if Hakyeon refused to give them. Too late to turn away from the subject now.

 

After a few more seconds of silent staring, Hakyeon explained. “When the angels broke in, the fledgeling was still freshly turned. Not even a week old yet, if memory serves. The bond between him and Sanghyuk was still mostly unformed, still malleable, and I believe it was damaged by the angel Hongbin. He attacked the most fragile part of your namesakes mind and attempted to break it.”

 

“Why?” Jaehwan asked, nonplussed, “Archangels do not enter Hell simply to torture helpless newborns.”

 

He remembered now, that taunt of Hongbin’s. That he’d handled the little one, and Sanghyuk's shout that he’d poisoned the little one with nightmares. But this... there had never been any more explanation to the story. 

 

Hakyeon folded an elbow up on the armrest of his chair and propped his chin in his hand. “Of course they don’t! Do you and your Bound tell each other nothing?!” he snapped, “I looked after Sanghyuk for you the entire time you were gone, and he has no problem talking to me! What is it about you that makes him so unwilling to speak?!”

 

A muscle in Jaehwans jaw twitched. His mask of relaxed composure nearly slipped at that, at the accusation hidden within the questions. 

 

That he was an unsuitable candidate for taking Bound. That he had somehow failed as a maker because he happened to have a child that was useless and stubborn. That he would never succeed at earning his Bound’s trust because he was unable to provide the correct forms of endearment. 

 

Hakyeon hadn’t needed to say those things aloud for Jaehwan to hear them. The False Prince had told him all of it before, told him frankly and without malice, when Jaehwan first grew interested in taking a Bound of his own and pointed out the angel he’d decided to take. Hakyeon hadn’t approved of it, and he’d never believed such a scenario would end well for anyone involved. 

 

But Jaehwan, still young and naive and in the first bloom of his ever growing power, had ignored his best friend's warnings and taken Sanghyuk anyway. And look where that had gotten him; poisoned with emotional attachment to a child who would never trust or appreciate him, who only feared him. Sickened with a flavor of love that he couldn’t understand. Such feelings only served to infuriate him. 

 

“This is not about my relationship with Sanghyuk,” Jaehwan purred, in his most dangerous purr; remembering Sanghyuk’s expression when he’d shouted ‘I hate you.’

 

“Everything is, to some extent,” Hakyeon retorted, “If there was no problem between you, he would have explained all this to you himself.”

 

Jaehwan forced his muscles to relax once more. Not letting just how flushed with anger he was show through his uncaring facade. “Well, he hasn’t, so why don’t you explain it instead, love?”

 

His friend shot him a look of frustration. “Sanghyuk stole the angel Taekwoons sword. He corrupted it and used it to open the lock on your cage.”

 

“I knew that already, love.”

 

“Well, as one would imagine, the angels weren’t happy about that and Taekwoon wanted his sword back. They used the freshness of his bond with the fledgling as a pressure point. A way to try and force Sanghyuk to comply. They damaged the bond and weakened it so much I was scared it might snap, all so Sanghyuk would give the sword back and tell them the real reason he took it.”

 

“He took it to rescue me, they should have guessed as much,” Jaehwan replied, but Hakyeon shook his head.

 

“No. He only did so, only freed you, because he can hear the voice of you-know-who. They spoke to him and told him both the sword and you would be key parts of Armageddon. He had to free you for that purpose alone.”

 

The Prince of Lust did not speak. Not quite yet. 

 

Sanghyuk had told him none of this. 

 

Jaehwan had thought his Bound had come to his rescue because that’s what Bound were supposed to do. That he’d freed Jaehwan from his prison because he’d missed him. Becuase, in Jaehwans absence, he’d finally grown close to loving Jaehwan and wanted to have Jaehwan back. He’d thought Sanghyuk had saved him because Sanghyuk cared.  

 

But no, of course not. Nothing was ever so simple as that. Jaehwan had been a fool to believe such a thing. He’d been a fool to believe that his wayward and disobedient child would bestir himself to rescue Jaehwan because of some twisted kind of love or devotion. Of course, that hadn’t been why. It had just been another part of the almighties great plan. 

 

Something twisted inside Jaehwans chest, tight and sharp. It was not a pain he was familiar with and it caught him by surprise, drawing a shallow gasp from him. 

 

“Jyani?” the False Prince asked, concern overtaking his momentary flash of frustration. He reached out to lay a hand on Jaehwans arm. 

 

But Jaehwan couldn’t feel the contact. He was overwhelmed with the sudden dawning of truth and the strange sensation of pain. 

 

“You were right,” he managed to whisper, staring at nothing through unfocused eyes, “All those years ago when you told me I shouldn’t have taken him. That I wouldn’t be able to give him -someone with his personality- what they needed to form a proper bond. You were always better at predicting how angels would be once they’d been corrupted. I should have listened to you and chosen someone else.”

 

Hakyeon's grip on him tightened and Jaehwan felt it this time. Felt the tips of Hakyeon's fingers digging into the soft part of his arm. “Jyani…”

 

“There’s no need to gloat, love,” sighed the Prince of Lust, blinded by revelation. The single fact, the reality of his pet's motivation, opened so many doorways in Jaehwans mind that he hadn’t been prepared for. 

 

Chief among them being that Sanghyuk had been willing to trade his infernal sword away for Hongbin's help. That he’d gone through all the trouble of taking it and freeing Jaehwan, following the words of the almighty to the letter. That, to him, Jaehwan and the sword were of equal value. And that Sanghyuk had been willing to give the sword up for the sake of the fledgling. That, if the scenario were to happen again, he may very well also be willing to give Jaehwan up the same way.

 

“I don’t wish to gloat, Jyani. There is nothing to gloat about. Your Bound is devoted to you, even if the two of you rarely speak on matters of the heart. You know that as well as I do.”

 

I thought I did once, Jaehwan mused, turning his head to meet Hakyeon's enchanting scarlet eyes, but now I know the truth. That everything I believed about my child’s affections were false. 

 

“You said something- it was so long ago now that I barely remember,” the Prince of Lust murmured, letting his robe slip lower off his shoulder to pool in the crook of his elbow, “When I first chose my puppy. You told me that compassion was not a trait that would complement my skills. That I’d be better served taking a child with fury.”

 

“Hush,” Hakyeon hummed, smoothing a gentle hand through Jaehwans hair, “There’s no need to contemplate the past now. What’s done is done. Better to look towards the future than back into the dark. That darkness doesn’t serve you.”

 

“You’re right, love,” Jaehwan replied, finding a smile at last as he thought of his plans for the immediate future. That very evening, in fact. “You’re always right.”

 

The Prince of Lust leaned forwards, his curtain of sable curls cascading down around his face like a waterfall. Lingering just close enough that he could feel Hakyeon's breath fanning across his lips. Hanging still in the air. 

 

“Now,” he murmured, letting a hand settle on the False Prince's thigh, “Won’t you ravish me, love? It has been such a long time.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Dabbing his mouth with a black handkerchief, the Prince of Lust let his victim's body crumple to the ground. 

 

He was sated; truly sated for the first time in thousands of years. Nothing satisfied his demonic form more than draining every drop of energy from the body of an equal. 

 

Doing such a thing was illegal, which Jaehwan knew very well. Feeding off one of his own kind the way he’d just done, killing one of his own, meant a death sentence. No confinement, no isolation in the void, no punishment other than death by holy water. 

 

But, Jaehwan thought, as he opened a portal to the part of the void where the hellspawn hatched, what Hakyeon doesn’t know won’t hurt him. 

 

He pushed the corpse of the now deceased Prince of Chaos through the portal and then peered through himself. Watching as the freshly formed monsters lept on the body, tearing it to shreds with their teeth and claws like a pack of starving, rabid dogs. He watched until the evidence of his crime had been totally and completely obliterated. 

 

Jaehwan had chosen a good target, albeit unwittingly. The Prince of Chaos had not been well liked amongst the demonic nobility and had any number of enemies that wished to do him harm. And, having been locked up for so long, Jaehwan was not one that could be counted on a suspect list. He had no reason to go after the Prince of Chaos. Barely knew the demon personally. Had no clear motive for killing him. This was a murder he could get away with, and get away with easily. 

 

After closing that portal with a snap of his fingers, the Prince of Lust opened another. Not into the void this time. Up to the surface. 

 

He’d shrouded himself in black for this venture, a long cloak with a hood that would conceal him from the curious eyes of passing humans. Such a trick would not work on his intended target. His target didn’t need to see him to know he was coming. 

 

But that fact didn’t deter Jaehwan in the slightest. He’d proven himself to be more than a match for his prey twice now already. 

 

So he slipped from the shadows onto a night-darkened street, following the smell of angel. 

 

Up and around and over and through until he found the right place. An orphanage. 

 

The desk attendants and caregiver humans didn’t see him because Jaehwan didn’t wish them to. No one noticed him, until he pushed open a door to a dormitory and found his prey lost in a web of reverie. 

 

“Are you gifting them pleasant dreams?” he whispered, catching his prey by surprise. 

 

The angel Hongbin startled, jolted out of his trancelike state by the feeling of Jaehwan’s hands on his arms. “What are you- unhand me this instant, forsaken! I will not do you another favor!”

 

“I have no favor to ask of you, sweetling,” Jaehwan replied softly. 

 

Moving lightning quick, he shoved the angel against the nearest wall and unhooked the collar from around his throat. Hongbin couldn’t stop him, much too stunned to do anything in those few seconds other than gape like a landed fish.

 

Like he’d done so many millennia ago on those temple steps in the dark, Jaehwan decided to skip the foreplay. But unlike the first time, he didn’t kiss the angel right away. Instead, he licked the pad of his finger and pressed it into the angel's mouth. Pushing lightly down on his tongue to make sure Hongbin could taste it. 

 

Jaehwan watched, barely daring to breathe, as a fog rolled across Hongbin's lovely golden eyes. Watched Hongbin's face go slack. Watched him slump against the wall for support as the heavenly veil was torn away. 

 

The Prince of Lust hadn’t been able to appreciate the intricacies of corruption the first time. Then, with Sanghyuk, it had been all haste and frantic hurrying. He’d been concerned about getting caught on the surface by other angels and taken away for sentencing, and about what would happen if he’d done something wrong and the venom hadn’t worked. So focused on bringing his only Bound home that he hadn’t taken the time to enjoy the experience. 

 

But now, Jaehwan was determined to watch every second of it. His first child hated and despised him, disappointed him at every turn. But his second child would be different. The Prince of Lust was certain of it. Certain that he would get it right this time. Hongbin was one of the rare angels capable of anger. As an angel, he looked lovely as sin. Jaehwan had even hand-picked the ability Hongbin would momentarily inherit. Every aspect of this new child was tailored to suit him. 

 

Slowly, very slowly, Jaehwan drew his hand back. Retracted his finger from Hongbin's mouth. To his surprise, Hongbin followed him, swaying away from the wall to slump against Jaehwans front. Wrapping his arms around Jaehwans middle and panting into the juncture of Jaehwan’s shoulder and neck. 

 

“That’s right, sweetling,” Jaehwan crooned, stroking Hongbin's hair, so pleased with himself that his insides began to grow warm and fuzzy, “That’s right, I have you.”

 

“You-“ Hongbin whispered, barely able to speak yet, “You corrupted me…”

 

“I did, sweetling.” The Prince of Lust clutched his new child close, stepping back into the shadows with him and then out onto a stretch of empty meadows. Wanting to be somewhere isolated when the transformation was completed in case there were any explosive side effects. “I wanted you very, very badly, sweetling. Can you blame me?”

 

“Yes… no- I don’t know.”

 

Hongbin still clung to Jaehwan, obviously not steady enough to stand on his own yet, but he managed to raise his head. 

 

The Prince of Lust drank in the sight of his Bound with unbridled delight. Hongbin looked much as he had done only moments before. So similar to how he was as an angel. But there was more contrast to him now. The lips were more red than pink. The bones in his face more structured than soft. The hair a touch darker, the skin a touch closer to death. And his irises were no longer gold. They burned the bright green of Jaehwan’s kin. 

 

“You’re perfect,” Jaehwan hummed, running a hand through Hongbin's hair, touching his cheeks, “You will be my most perfect creation, won’t you, sweetling?”

 

“Yes,” Hongbin whispered. He stared at Jaehwan through unfocused eyes, drifting across Jaehwan’s face. From feature to feature, not settling on any one in particular. 

 

Jaehwan felt himself smile. Felt himself beam. “My good boy,” he touched Hongbin's bottom lip, letting his sweetling nibble absently on his finger, “Reach for the power within you and set it free.”

 

Hongbin blinked at him, and an altogether unfamiliar sensation of fondness rose in Jaehwans chest. 

 

“Show me what you can do before I take you to our home.”

 

His new Bound blinked again, and then tried to step back. Still panting and steadying himself with hands on Jaehwans shoulders. The Prince of Lust helped him remain upright; holding firmly to his waist until a pair of onyx wings spread from the center of Hongbin's back. Long and narrow and skeletal wings, just like Jaehwans own. 

 

“That’s it, sweetling,” he praised, shifting his grip to Hongbin's hands, “Just like that. Just a little more. Can you feel the power inside you now?”

 

Hongbin nodded. 

 

“Good. Let it out.”

 

There was only a second of warning, barely that long. Jaehwan felt Hongbin's hands in his own, felt Hongbin's grip suddenly tighten. Saw his sweetling's brow furrow in concentration. 

 

And then the world around them exploded. The ground caught fire and the grey sky above them shattered like glass. 

 

The air had been swept up into something like a hurricane, wailing shrilly as it stoked the blaze around them and raked its jagged fingers over Jaehwans skin. But the Prince of Lust could barely hear it over the sound of his laughter. Laughing from pure, undiluted joy. 

 

This is a proper gift, he thought, pulling his new Bound close once more and submitting to the frantic kiss Hongbin pressed against his lips. Still laughing as they dropped through the shadows into the relative safety of Hell. This was how a proper Bound should be. His new child, his sweetling, was perfect.

 

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Notes:

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Curious Cat

Chapter 17

Summary:

I know I just updated but I can't help myself lolol

Notes:

TW: mentions of fighting/violence/bleeding

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“You’re in a very cuddly mood, dove,” Sanghyuk murmured, holding the Little Hwan on his lap where he sat at the head of the dining table, “I thought you were angry with me.”

 

Jaehwan grinned a silly, lopsided grin. Arms flung around Sanghyuk’s neck. “You’re my maker,” he replied, burying his nose in Sanghyuk’s hair, “I can’t be mad at you.”

 

“That’s not strictly true,” Wonshik muttered, even though no one had asked his opinion on the matter. He was sitting in his normal seat, legs crossed at the ankle, trying to eat his dinner in peace. But his maker and brother seemed hellbent on rendering such a thing impossible. 

 

“He’s right, dove,” Sanghyuk agreed, smiling like a lovesick idiot as Jaehwan peppered his face with tiny kisses, “You certainly can be mad at me; being your maker has nothing to do with it.”

 

“Well, I don’t want to be mad. So there.”

 

Ducking his head so they were more on a level, Jaehwans lips met Sanghyuk’s. They kissed each other so deeply and for so long that they were lucky they didn’t need to breathe, otherwise they’d both have passed out by now. 

 

Wonshik relaxed his grip on the fork in his hand before he accidentally bent the metal in half. “Saints below, I am trying to eat.”

 

“Jealous,” Jaehwan mumbled, not bothering to stop the kiss even to speak. His fingers snarled in Sanghyuk’s dark hair. Straddling Sanghyuk’s lap, legs spread and feet kicking absently several inches off the floor. 

 

Sanghyuk managed to unglue one hand from Jaehwan’s hips and he reached for Wonshik. Feeling out blindly in the direction of Wonshik’s chair. Palm up and expectant. 

 

Part of Wonshik, the softer and more gentle part of him, wanted to take his maker's hand. To accept the small peace offering that the gesture was. To forget his irritation with them both and go back to eating. 

 

But another part of Wonshik, the part of him that had come along with his title and name, did not. That part of Wonshik very much would have liked to drop-kick his little brother into the deepest circle of the void and watch the flames consume what would remain of his body after the hellspawn had finished with it. 

 

That part of Wonshik had been steadily growing more frustrated with his little brother's constant need for attention. The regularity of his interruptions and unending pleas for Sanghyuk to spend time with him. The way he could get away with almost anything, and all Sanghyuk would do was smile at him. 

 

That part of Wonshik was annoyed with their maker as well. Firstly, for taking a Bound without informing him beforehand. It was an old wound but it still stung like the devil each time Wonshik remembered. Secondly, for happening to select a Bound that brought so much drama and uncertainty into their previously calm life together. And thirdly, for giving Jaehwan everything he wanted. Be that time or affection or attention, anything. Jaehwan had Sanghyuk wrapped around his finger and Sanghyuk didn’t even seem to care. 

 

He doesn’t only look like the Prince of Lust, Wonshik thought mutinously, pushing himself back from the table and getting to his feet, he acts like him too. Spoiled, needy brats, the pair of them.

 

“Shik,” Sanghyuk called, “Where are you going?”

 

Well, it was nice to know Sanghyuk could manage to stop making out long enough to form a full sentence. “Somewhere else,” Wonshik snapped without bothering to turn around, “I’ve lost my appetite.”

 

“I’m sorry. We’ll stop, I promise- there, dove, get up. You have your own chair. See? We stopped. Sit back down and finish your food.”

 

Wonshik took a deep breath, holding for a count of three before exhaling slow. When he did turn around, he saw that they had indeed stopped. Now sitting in two separate chairs with their own untouched meals waiting to be eaten. Both blinking at him across the room. 

 

“Fine,” Wonshik muttered, dragging himself back to the table and resuming his seat. Picking up the fork he’d accidentally bent despite his best efforts not to and taking a bite. Resigned to eating in silence. 

 

Until, three mouthfuls later, when Sanghyuk began feeding Jaehwan pieces of chicken off his own fork, cooing about how sweetly he nibbled when he ate. 

 

“For fucks sake!” Wonshik snarled, standing so fast it almost made him lose his balance, “He’s not a human infant, Hyuk, he can feed himself!”

 

“Shik, calm down-”

 

“No! It’s fucking insufferable and I’ve had enough of both of you today!” 

 

He stomped back toward the door, thoroughly ignoring Jaehwan whining his name and Sanghyuk’s apologies. Apologies didn’t count if the person didn’t mean them, and his maker clearly didn’t. Wonshik bet that if he sat back down, Jaehwan would be sucking Sanghyuk’s dick under the table in about five minutes time-

 

Wonshik recoiled the instant he raised his head. 

 

He’d been so focused on his anger that he hadn’t heard the approaching footsteps. Not one set of footsteps. Two. And now, with his hand on the doorframe and able to see clearly down the hallway, a sense of dread filled Wonshik. Dread that was so strong it eliminated every other thought from his mind. 

 

He stumbled backward as the newcomers approached, running into the edge of the table. Holding onto it like it could anchor him to reality. Not daring to breathe or move or make a sound. 

 

“Set a place at the table for my child,” the Prince of Lust snapped, aiming the words at a hellspawn servant that scurried off to comply at once. 

 

Sanghyuk, who could not yet see the oncoming disaster, called, “There’s already a place for me, love.”

 

This was so bad. So unbelievably bad. 

 

“Not for you,” the Prince of Lust replied, sweeping into the dining room with an unnecessarily dramatic flourish, “For your brother.”

 

The room went entirely still. Even little Jaehwan managed to stop his incessant fidgeting for once, no doubt sensing the magnitude of the impending catastrophe. 

 

Behind the Prince of Lust, glaring at them over the Prince of Lust’s shoulder with his hair falling across his now emerald eyes, was the angel Hongbin. Not an angel anymore by the look of him. 

 

Wonshik desperately wanted to turn and look at his maker, to try and gauge Sanghyuk’s reaction, but he didn’t dare. 

 

“Here, sweetling, sit here beside me,” the Prince of Lust hummed, impervious to the electric tension in the air. He touched Wonshiks shoulder. “You’re standing in my spot, precious.”

 

Backing away from the table as quickly as he dared, Wonshik inched back to press himself against the wall. 

 

And now he could see the whole tableau, laid out like a parody of the last supper. The Prince of Lust sitting at one head, Sanghyuk sitting at the other. Jaehwan perched on a chair to Sanghyuk’s right and Hongbin still lingering beside the Prince of Lust's left hand. 

 

“Sit, puppy,” the Prince of Lust snapped, an unmistakable note of command in his tone, the instant Sanghyuk moved. No doubt preparing to launch himself across the table and throttle Hongbin to death. “Stay.”

 

Sanghyuk growled, low and threatening, but he didn’t move. Couldn’t move now, no matter how much he wanted to. 

 

For a single, savage moment, Wonshik felt a sense of catharsis. Because now Sanghyuk would know how it felt to have a sibling unwillingly thrust upon him with no warning. But the feeling evaporated as quickly as it had come. Now was not the time to be childish. 

 

“What did you do?” Sanghyuk asked, the growl still shredding his normally calm voice, “Master, what have you done?”

 

The Prince of Lust didn't acknowledge that he’d spoken, too busy trying to coax Hongbin into sitting down. “That’s it, sweetling,” he hummed, smiling an indulgent smile as Hongbin scooted their chairs as close together as the table legs would allow. Smoothing Hongbin's chestnut hair and petting his cheeks with the back of his hand. “Now, what would you like for your first meal? I’m sure you’ve never eaten before, have you?”

 

Hongbin gave a little shake of his head. “I don’t know,” he whispered, still glaring around at all of them, winding the fabric of the Prince of Lust's oversized tunic around his fist, “What do you recommend?”

 

“Master, answer me!” Sanghyuk snarled, and Wonshik could see that his knuckles were white. His face, too, had drained of all color and his sharp teeth were bared. 

 

The Prince of Lust whipped around to stare at his eldest Bound, expression conveying impatience. “I wanted a new child, pet. It was long past time.”

 

Sanghyuk’s bloodless lips peeled back from his teeth. “Why?” he grit out, “You’ve always sworn you’d never take another, so why is he sitting at my fucking table looking like that?!”

 

“This is my table, pet, not yours,” his master replied, a snarl humming in the words to match Sanghyuks, “Unluckily for you, I have not yet died. You inherit nothing until I’m dead for true.” He turned to look at Hongbin, still petting Hongbin's hair. “I wanted him, and so now he is mine. My perfect child, aren’t you, sweetling?”

 

Hongbin nodded, biting playfully at Jaehwans fingertips as he did so. 

 

“And he’s properly gifted. Introduce yourself, sweetling, the way we discussed during your registration.”

 

“Hongbin,” said Hongbin, his already deep voice now touched with gravel, “Prince of Chaos and Duke of Hell.”

 

The Prince of Lust beamed, leaning in close to whisper something in Hongbin's ear. Allowing Hongbin to nip at his jaw before sitting back in his chair. 

 

“That’s right, the Prince of Chaos. He will need to select a bedroom for himself and get settled, which I have no doubt Wonshik and my namesake will assist him in doing.”

 

“I want to stay with you.”

 

“And you can, sweetling, but you’ll want a space of your own soon enough.”

 

“Well, I still want to stay with you.”

 

“Enough,” Sanghyuk hissed, banging his fist on the tabletop and making the dishes jump, “Get rid of him! I don’t want him here! And stop speaking to him like that, like it’s normal! It’s not normal!”

 

The Prince of Lust's nails had grown into talons as he watched Sanghyuk across the table. Unmistakable crimson fury glinting in his green eyes. “Watch your tone, pet. You are treading on very thin ice.”

 

Sanghyuk growled again, gouging scratches into the wooden tabletop. “He doesn’t belong here! I’m your only Bound! Just me, no one else!”

 

“In the past you were, pet, but not anymore.”

 

“I don’t share! You’re my master! Mine! Only mine!”

 

Hongbin ducked to rest his head on the Prince of Lust's shoulder. Letting his eyes slip shut. “I told you family dinner was a bad idea.”

 

Wonshik was beginning to feel sick. There was too much energy being flung around the small room; his maker's greed, Jaehwans hunger, a thread of something else cold he thought might belong to Hongbin. And his own envy too, already stirred up by the actions of his maker and brother. Each of them were projecting to some degree- aside from the Prince of Lust, who by some miracle was keeping himself under control. It all came together to form a potent cocktail of poisonous discord. 

 

“It isn’t family dinner if you’re here,” Sanghyuk snarled, still clawing at the table, “You are not family! You shouldn’t even be alive!”

 

Wonshik risked a glance at his little brother. At the Little Hwan, now curled up and cowering in his chair with his arms over his head. Wonshik might want to kill him sometimes- who didn’t have the urge to murder their sibling every now and then? But he had never, not once, wished that little Jaehwan had never lived at all. 

 

At Sanghyuk’s words, the tension in the room finally snapped. 

 

When the Prince of Lust transformed, the picture he painted strongly reminded Wonshik of a dragon. Larger than life, with his talons and enormous wings and fiery green eyes. But when Sanghyuk transformed, which was not often because he rarely got this upset, he looked more like a winged black dog. All gnashing teeth and large hands and thick dark hair. 

 

They transformed in tandem; the Prince of Lust brushing Hongbin behind him with the tip of his wing and Sanghyuk slamming down on the table so hard that it broke in half. Palpable rage radiating off them both.

 

Using the split second it took for the shape of their bodies to change, Wonshik flit around the edge of the room as fast as he could. Grabbing Jaehwan off his chair and pressing him back into a corner. Shielding his little brother behind him so that Jaehwan wouldn’t accidentally be hurt in the crossfire. 

 

And then, Sanghyuk did lunge. Able to do so, perhaps, because he was not quite Sanghyuk at that moment. Only the Prince of Greed. And the Prince of Greed had not been ordered to sit still. 

 

He growled low enough to shake the floor and threw himself forward. Over the broken remains of the dining table. Straight for Hongbin. Claws carving deep scratches in the floor and lips pulled back from his teeth. 

 

Before he could reach Hongbin -in truth, he didn’t even get close- the Prince of Lust stepped forward and swatted him clean out of the air. The blow sent Sanghyuk flying until he collided with the wall, Wonshik’s ears full of the crunch of breaking bones. 

 

Wonshik felt the pain of his maker in his own ribs and left arm, vision flashing red in alarm. Behind his back, Jaehwan whimpered. Wonshik wanted to help. He wanted so badly to step forward and help but he knew he was no match for the Prince of Lust. And he also knew that getting himself killed on Sanghyuk’s behalf was the last thing Sanghyuk would ever want him to do. So he stayed still and watched, making the only valuable contribution he could; protecting Jaehwan. 

 

“Back down, puppy,” the Prince of Lust snarled, voice barely recognizable, speaking around his fangs, “You are no match for me and you know it. Pathetic.” 

 

But Sanghyuk wasn’t listening. He was well past the point of listening to anything or anyone; completely lost to the demon that lived inside his mind. Letting it control him entirely. 

 

He sprang back up and darted forwards, trying to duck under his master’s tallons, but he was still too slow. This time, when the Prince of Lust shoved him away, the wall he collided with cracked. 

 

Rather than staying still, the Prince of Lust skidded after him. He grabbed Sanghyuk by the arms and pinned him to the floor, snapping his jaws and hissing as they both began to melt back into their vaguely human-shaped bodies. 

 

“You loathsome, insolent little brat,” the Prince of Lust snarled, now sitting on Sanghyuk’s chest. One hand pinning Sanghyuk’s wrist and the other knotted in Sanghyuk’s hair, pulling Sanghyuk’s head back and baring his throat. “How dare you?! Try and attack me?! Your creator, who took you in and raised you as kin?!”

 

Sanghyuk made a sound but it was nowhere close to speech. Silver ichor dripped from the wound on his hand and gold tears streaked across his face. Still so visibly furious that Wonshik wondered if he even felt the pain. 

 

“You lack self control so much that you attack me, in my own home?! Are you really such a slave to your revolting greed?!”

 

The Prince of Lust released his wrist just long enough to slice several cuts across his face, already pinning his hand again before he had time to move. 

 

“Hateful child,” he spat, dragging his dagger-sharp nails slowly down the length of Sanghyuk’s forearm, deaf to Sanghyuk’s groan of pain, “Stay still! Hateful, useless, disobedient child! All I’ve ever tried to do was teach you how to behave! Clearly, my lessons meant nothing! My care and attention had no effect on you whatsoever!”

 

He carved identical wounds into Sanghyuk’s chest, slicing through fabric, then skin, then through the flesh beneath. Parallel lines stretching from one collar bone to the other. And, with the fresh order, Sanghyuk was unable to fight back. Only able to glare up at his master, mouth trembling, as his silver ichor mixed with his golden tears.

 

The Prince of Lust yanked his head back further, bending to look him in the eye, so close their noses nearly touched. “All you have ever done, pet,” he whispered, venom dripping from every word, “Is disappoint me.”

 

Sanghyuk tried to speak again, but only managed a quiet, “Love, please...”

 

“Don’t insult me with a title that has no meaning. You do not love me, pet, you never have. There is no need to play pretend any longer.” 

 

With a snap of his fingers, the collar of leather and gold appeared in the Prince of Lust's hand. He fastened it around Sanghyuk’s neck, too tight to allow Sanghyuk proper breath, and then slapped him hard across his wounded cheek. 

 

“If you ever attempt to fight me this way again, puppy,” the Prince of Lust continued, still in that terrifying whisper, “Be sure, it will be the last thing you ever do on this mortal coil. And do not even dream of doing your brother harm. The punishment for attempting to do so will be just as final. Do I make myself clear?”

 

Sanghyuk nodded, his groan of pain melting into a whimper as his master slapped him a second time. 

 

“Answer me!”

 

“Yes,” Sanghyuk breathed. 

 

“Yes, what?”

 

“Yes, Master.”

 

“Good,” the Prince of Lust growled, just as the broken remains of the dining table burst into flames. 

 

If he hadn’t been so focused on holding Jaehwan still, Wonshik would have jumped about a mile. 

 

There were no sparks, no obvious point of ignition, no preamble at all. The wood simply exploded into a roaring ball of heat and light. Raging fire so tall that its fingers touched the ceiling. 

 

And then just as fast as it had burned, the fire went out. 

 

“I’m bored,” said Hongbin, leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed, observing the scene with obvious disinterest. Like he had been watching paint dry, instead of two demons trying to savage each other. 

 

The Prince of Lust pulled away from his eldest and got to his feet, leaving Sanghyuk crying and bloody on the floor. Tying his long hair back with a length of green ribbon as he stepped lightly to his new Bound’s side. “Apologies, sweetling,” he hummed, as though nothing had happened at all, “Your brother sets a poor example of how a proper archdemon should behave. We are not all such slaves to our power.”

 

Hongbin snarled one hand in the Prince of Lust's tunic and tugged him nearer, resting his chin on the Prince of Lust's shoulder. “Let's do something else. I’m not that hungry anyway.” 

 

“We’ll find ourselves something more entertaining to do then, sweetling, shall we?” the Prince of Lust replied, smiling a fond, indulgent smile that looked entirely alien on his face, smoothing a hand down Hongbin’s back. Not seeming to mind having Hongbin's fingers tangled in his ponytail. 

 

“Okay.”

 

“Good,” the Prince of Lust nodded. And then, tossing a final look of disdain over his shoulder at where Sanghyuk was still lying on the floor, he snapped, “Clean up your mess.”

 

As soon as they vanished down the hall, Wonshik fell to his knees at his maker's side. Siphoning the ichor off Sanghyuk’s skin and dabbing the golden tears from his face. But his maker continued to cry, fresh tears taking the place of the old as soon as Wonshik wiped them away.

 

“Hyukkie,” he whispered, as Jaehwan knelt next to him and took their maker's hand, “Hyukkie, I’m sorry, he shouldn’t- shouldn’t have done this to you.”

 

Sanghyuk tried to shrug but winced almost immediately. The slashes on his chest weren’t healing as quickly as they should be. “That…” he paused, sucking in a shallow breath, “Is just how he is. My Master always knows just what to say. Knows what words will cut me deeper than any knife.”

 

“That’s not an excuse,” Wonshik snapped, voice sharper than he’d intended. His nerves had been worn far too thin to maintain anything close to composure. “You’re his Bound! His kin! He shouldn’t treat you like an animal! We're your Bound, and you’d never do this to us!”

 

Sanghyuk lifted a hand to pat Wonshiks knee. “Of course, I wouldn’t. But, then again, I did not inherit my Master's appetite for cruelty.”

 

Wonshik blinked back at him, hating the resignation barely concealed in Sanghyuk’s voice. His fingers itched to unhook the collar from around his maker's throat, but he knew Sanghyuk was capable of removing it himself if he’d wanted to. Maybe- maybe having his power dampened was making the news of his new brother easier to handle. 

 

“Is that why Sir calls you puppy?” Jaehwan asked quietly, and Wonshik looked around. He’d nearly forgotten the fledgeling was in the room. 

 

Jaehwan had folded over, almost like he was doing the child’s pose, with his head pillowed on Sanghyuk’s thigh. Big green eyes wide and lower lip caught between his teeth. 

 

“Is what why?” Sanghyuk replied, letting his hand slip from Wonshiks knee down to touch Jaehwans brow. 

 

“When you-” Jaehwan swallowed, “When you changed. You kind of looked like a dog. Or a giant wolf.”

 

“Ah,” their maker sighed, dropping his head back and closing his eyes, “Yes, I believe that’s why. He’s never said otherwise.”

 

“What are we going to do?!” Wonshik exclaimed, unable to stop himself from blurting the words out, “What are we supposed to do now?! About him- and Hongbin… What if this happens again?! He’s going to kill you!”

 

“He won’t kill me,” Sanghyuk replied, groaning a little as he pushed himself up to a sitting position, nodding in thanks at Wonshiks supportive hands under his back, “If he killed me, then he wouldn’t have anyone to pick on, would he?”

 

“Not necessarily,” Jaehwan murmured, sitting up too, “If you’re gone, he might start picking on us.”

 

Their maker waved that concern away. “It wouldn’t bring him the same kind of satisfaction. Neither of you have done anything to deserve his contempt the way I have.”

 

Wonshik opened his mouth, on the edge of shouting that Sanghyuk hadn’t done anything to deserve it either. That all Sanghyuk had done was live, and that his master was a dangerous, violent psychopath. But he couldn’t make himself say anything like that. He couldn’t argue with Sanghyuk now when Sanghyuk’s heart was already so wounded. 

 

“Besides,” Sanghyuk continued, tugging Jaehwan onto his lap and slipping an arm around Wonshiks shoulders, “If he ever makes a threat against either of you, I’d take you both away to somewhere safe until his anger calmed. But you’re safe now, trust me, I know my Master.”

 

“And Hongbin?” Wonshik prompted, “What are we supposed to do about him?”

 

Sanghyuk hesitated, taking the opportunity to wave his hand and return the dining room to its undamaged state. “I don’t know,” he whispered, “And it’s not an issue I want to consider too deeply at the moment.”

 

Seeing the unfocused look in his maker's eyes, knowing that further questions would get them nowhere just then, Wonshik nodded. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he replied, in an equally quiet voice, “And then we can all relax and get some sleep.”

 

Wonshik and Jaehwan helped their maker get to his feet, each keeping an arm wrapped securely around his middle as they made their slow way to Sanghyuk’s bedroom. Wonshik drawing a bath and Jaehwan picking out three matching terry cloth bathrobes for them to wear. 

 

Sanghyuk watched them flit about the room with a small smile playing across his mouth, but no matter how hard Wonshik tried, he couldn’t decipher exactly what it was that his maker was thinking. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“Good evening, Angel,” Hakyeon hummed into the phone, cradling it between his shoulder and ear, “To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”

 

He heard Taekwoon’s breathy little huff and couldn’t suppress a grin.

 

“I’ve had my eye on the demonic registry, False Prince,” the angel replied, “And you’ll never guess who just appeared inside it?”

 

Hakyeon sat back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling of his office. “Did you really call me to play a guessing game, Angel? You know how valuable my time is; it’s not something I like to waste.”

 

“Name,” the angel said, obviously reading aloud, the words accompanied by the faint rustling of pages, “Hongbin. Age; 6189. Gender identity; male.”

 

Hakyeon sat up straight, the foot he’d propped on the edge of his desk slipped to the floor. 

 

“Rank; Fallen. Height; 181 centimeters. Creators' full name; Jaehwan, True Spouse to Adam of the First Men, Prince of Lust, and Duke of Hell.”

 

The pen in Hakyeon's right hand promptly disintegrated, dust falling through his fingers as they curled into a fist. 

 

“Distinguishing characteristic or ability,” Taekwoon paused, Hakyeon able to hear the slap as he shut the demonic registry, “Control of the elements, with a pronounced proclivity for fire.”

 

“Jaehwan,” Hakyeon murmured, his vision going grey around the edges.

 

He should have seen this coming. After their most recent conversation, Hakyeon should have anticipated the move. But he hadn’t, because his oldest friend talked so constantly about so many things, it was almost impossible to decipher what he meant and what he didn’t. 

 

“Yes,” Taekwoon snapped, “Jaehwan. He has corrupted an archangel, False Prince. The exact archangel you believed he would target.”

 

“I know,” Hakyeon replied, forgetting to modulate his tone so a bit of a growl slipped through. He rubbed his temples. “I know what Hongbin popping up in the registry means, Angel, but what do you expect me to do about it? If you’d kept him off the surface and guarded him more closely, as I suggested you do, this wouldn’t have happened. None of you caught Jaehwan in the act, none of your people stopped it. He’s corrupted now and there’s nothing else to be done.”

 

“Hongbin is too powerful to be aligned with someone as unstable as the Prince of Lust,” Taekwoon said, and Hakyeon grit his teeth, “Find out what you can about his abilities, figure out exactly why Jaehwan picked him, and then dispose of him. Lock him in the void, kill him, I care not. But he cannot be allowed to remain at Jaehwans side.”

 

“I can’t do that,” the False Prince sighed, “You know I can’t. You think the Prince of Lust was dangerous before? Imagine how he would react to having Bound taken away. That’s out of the question.”

 

“Do you have any authority down there at all?! If you can’t even control your own people-”

 

“Enough,” Hakyeon snarled, threats of bodily harm poised on the tip of his tongue in response to the disrespect. But the door to his office opened and he saw Wonshik standing on his threshold. Wonshik, who was like kin to him, and was clearly a step above distraught. “I need to go.”

 

“Find a way to fix this. Now.” The angel huffed, and then the line went dead.

 

Hakyeon groaned inwardly, setting the phone back in its cradle and getting to his feet. “Shik,” he called, beckoning for his friend to come in, “What’s the matter?”

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Notes:

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Curious Cat

Chapter 18

Summary:

have some smut lol

Notes:

happy 1800 to me

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“Sweetling,” Jaehwan hummed, fingers flexing where they were pressed at the base of Hongbin's skull. The downy hairs on the back of his neck were distractingly soft to the touch; almost distracting enough to tear Jaehwans focus away from the feeling of Hongbin's lips on his throat. “I’ve been told that the transition is difficult to bear at first, but how do you feel here with me? Do you feel safe?”

 

Cool shadows framed them where they lay in the center of Jaehwan’s palatial canopy bed. Jaehwan on his back, Hongbin draped halfway on top of him. 

 

He, the Prince of Lust and Duke of Hell, was unaccustomed to asking so many meaningful questions. And he was even less accustomed to caring about the answers he was given. Perhaps tending to his namesake had helped familiarize him with such intimacies. Made them come to him more naturally. 

 

Clutching tight to the fabric of Jaehwans tunic, balling it into his fists, Hongbin nodded. The slope of his nose pressed snugly against the apple of Jaehwan’s cheek. 

 

“Good,” Jaehwan nodded in return, letting out a long breath of air as his sweetling snuggled closer. 

 

Just as his eyes slid shut, Jaehwan felt the touch of skin against his kiss-slick mouth. His lips parted instinctively, allowing Hongbin to press his thumb down against his tongue. Urging his mouth open a touch wider. 

 

When Hongbin leaned in to kiss him, Jaehwan could taste the depth and subtlety of his venom. Spearmint; cool almost, like the sensation of menthol. No sweetness to it at all. It was a flavor Jaehwan found he enjoyed quite a bit, shallowly dipping his tongue into the gentle warmth of Hongbin's mouth. 

 

He pulled back, opening his eyes to discover that Hongbin was watching him.

 

“You’re beautiful,” Jaehwan breathed, as quiet as a prayer. Slightly staggered by the intensity of his sweetling’s attention. 

 

“I’m yours,” Hongbin replied, without hesitation.

 

Jaehwan looked into those eyes that seemed so bottomless. Peering into their emerald depths that seemed to have no end. The green of his family, his kin. A mark of their belonging to one another. 

 

An unnamed fear stirred in Jaehwans stomach, and he nearly began to tremble beneath the hands Hongbin let roam freely over his body. But it melted away as quickly as it had come. He had nothing to fear there, in the bed he knew best. Nothing to fear at all. 

 

The sight of Hongbin's smile, blooming unexpectedly on his perfect face, made Jaehwans black heart swell. 

 

He gathered his sweetling into his arms, holding him with tenderness and care. Kissed him chastely at first so as not to alarm him. Hongbin's fingers ran through his hair like flowing water, deftly undoing the laces holding the halves of Jaehwans tunic together. 

 

The Prince of Lust relaxed for a moment, lost to the touch of his sweetlings hands, mind drifting lazily as he accepted kiss after kiss after kiss. The insistence of Hongbin's kisses made him smile even wider. 

 

His sweetling made a sound, a whine close to agony. Already coming undone as his hands slipped beneath Jaehwans clothing. Gliding down across Jaehwans glistening skin. 

 

He could feel Hongbin's lip tracing the slope of his jaw and the curve of his throat. Felt Hongbin dig pointy teeth into his skin. Felt him press even closer; urging his body against Jaehwans like he couldn’t get close enough. 

 

“You’re doing so well for one so freshly turned, so much better than what I expected,” Jaehwan murmured indulgently, resting a hand on Hongbin's shoulder.

 

His lips tingled as they met once again. Hongbin continued to touch him. Frantic with longing. One hand sliding first up the outside of his thigh, then the inside. 

 

He pressed bruising fingertips into Jaehwans soft flesh like he was trying to leave marks and Jaehwan hummed with the pleasure of it. Tracking Hongbins mouth as it drifted lower over his collarbones. 

 

His sweetling’s every movement displayed a pure and exquisite ferocity. Ferocity that was currently restrained, but the promise of which excited Jaehwan to no end. 

 

Jaehwan lifted the soft cotton shirt over Hongbin's head and tossed it aside, freeing his arms from his tunic so it puddled on the mattress beneath him. 

 

When he took Hongbin's hands, pulling his sweetling close once more, he found himself delighted by the racing thrum of Hongbin's pulse. By the way he trembled when they were pressed together like this; skin to skin. 

 

In truth, Jaehwan didn’t have to do much. He simply lay still and allowed Hongbin to explore him. Luxuriating in the littlest details. Letting Hongbin nibble on the tip of his finger while Hongbin's own fingers began to probe lower. Exploring the inside of him now, rather than his outsides. 

 

The Prince of Lust moaned softly at the sensation of Hongbin pushing into his heat. He tightened against the intrusion at first, and then gradually relaxed. Distracted by the wet warmth of Hongbin's mouth, the sweet way Hongbin began to suck on his fingers. Taking them deeper into his mouth the deeper Jaehwan allowed him to push. 

 

Jaehwan examined every part of his sweetlings face, inch by precious inch. Admiring the way the gentle contours of his sweetlings body were shaped by the dark. Denying Hongbin nothing as his unoccupied hand explored each swathe of Jaehwan’s flushed skin. 

 

A quiet knock on his door drew a groan of displeasure from Jaehwan, a groan that Hongbin was quick to smother. 

 

“What is it?” he called, very distracted by the kisses being pressed to the corner of his lips and the way Hongbin's fingers curled inside him. 

 

The door swung open with a soft squeak of hinges and Jaehwan looked around. He discovered his namesake looking back at him, only his face visible around the edge of the door. Watching them through very wide eyes. 

 

Jaehwan bit back a moan and beckoned the fledgeling inside. There were two fledgelings now, he supposed, but that would be no issue. His sweetling was his sweetling and would be referred to as such. And, speaking cumulatively, his sweetling was even older than Jaehwan himself. His namesake was the true fledgeling in every way that mattered. 

 

“I ju-just came to see…” the fledgeling stuttered, hovering halfway between the bed and the now-closed door, “To see if Hyukkie was allowed to take off his collar. He doesn’t want to ask you and told me not to come, but I know it hu-hurts him to ke-keep it on.”

 

Jaehwan held out a hand for him, the other nested deeply in Hongbin's chestnut hair. Trying not to writhe at the incessant pressure now being put on that most sensitive place in his core. 

 

His namesake stepped closer, twining their hands together. He seemed unable to stop staring, those doe eyes coming to settle where Hongbin's hand disappeared between Jaehwans legs. Transfixed. 

 

“Sanghyuk may do what he likes, I don’t care,” Jaehwan said, urging the fledgeling to sit on the edge of the bed. Suddenly overcome with a rather lovely idea. “But what of you, darling? What would you like? Are you curious?”

 

The fledgeling glanced at Jaehwan, then at Hongbin, then back to Jaehwan again. “A little. I just don’t want Hyukkie to hurt anymore.”

 

“That can be arranged, darling. He may remove the collar as soon as you return and inform him that he may do so.”

 

Gasping at the sudden movement, the abrupt sensation of being empty, Jaehwan looked to his sweetling. Wondering for a moment why he’d stopped, until Hongbin leaned over and roughly shoved the fledgeling down so he lay prone across Jaehwans stomach. 

 

“Play with him,” his sweetling whispered, “I want to watch you.”

 

Blinking the stars from his vision, pulse loud in his ears, Jaehwan looked down into the fledgeling’s eyes. Taking note of his flushed cheeks and dilated pupils. 

 

How refreshing it was to have a Bound that didn’t mind sharing. Jaehwan had never been given such a gift before. 

 

But Jaehwan knew several things at that moment. 

 

First, that his namesake was fostering an attachment to him, a thread of loyalty, that grew stronger by the day. There would be no harm in trying to strengthen that attachment. As far as Jaehwan and his plans were concerned, the more loyal the fledgling was to him, the better.

 

Second, that his namesake was rather fascinated by Hongbin since Hongbin had saved him from his illness. Fascinated by the power Hongbin had once possessed. And they used to be friends upstairs, the two of them. Once upon a time.

 

And third that, while his eldest Bound may play with the fledgeling frequently enough, he did not know how to satisfy the fledgelings craving for rewards. Didn’t know just how much the fledgeling got off on being good. How much the fledgling got off on being teased for bad behavior too. 

 

“Would you like that, darling,” he crooned, curling a hand beneath the fledgeling’s chin, “Would you like me to play with you? You may run along and fetch my pet's collar as soon as you’ve had enough, I promise.”

 

The fledgeling gulped, batting his lashes and widening those gentle eyes of his as he nodded. 

 

Jaehwan smiled. He always did like the coy ones playing innocent like that. There was something so delicious about the degradation of a pure, pretty thing, even if it was only pretend.

 

It took almost no time at all for the Prince of Lust to maneuver his namesake onto all fours. Then up onto his knees, straddling Jaehwan a bit clumsily. Fidgeting restlessly the entire time until Jaehwan snapped his fingers, causing the fledgeling’s clothing to vanish and reappear on the floor beside the bed. Employing none of his persuasion to lure his namesake into bed; allowing the fledgling’s natural hunger and curiosity do the work for him. 

 

Jaehwan only touched him first. Featherlight caresses all over his body, raising goosebumps on his skin. Teasing, taunting, riling him up. Setting his nerves alight. Forcing him to stay up on his knees with his hands folded behind his head. Touching him everywhere; his neck, his chest, his cheeks, his stomach and his thighs. Touching everywhere except the places he knew the fledgeling wanted to be touched. 

 

“Play with him…” the Prince of Lust murmured thoughtfully, “Just how would you like me to play with our little darling here?”

 

The intensity of Hongbin's gaze could have burned holes in Jaehwans head. But he stayed quiet.

 

“Should I, perhaps,” Jaehwan smiled, outlining his namesake’s lips with the tip of a finger, “Train him a bit? Teach him how to suck cock properly? Show him how it feels to have his throat fucked like a good little toy?”

 

Above him, the fledgeling shuddered, fingers flexing where they were still laced together behind his head. 

 

“Not tonight,” Hongbin whispered, so Jaehwan continued to think. 

 

“Hmm, perhaps then,” the Prince of Lust went on, brushing his fingertips up and down his namesake's inner thigh, “You wish for me to do the work, sweetling? Letting him suck me off would be much less strenuous…”

 

His sweetling snickered, tucking the fledgeling’s hair behind his ear. “You may have to do the work,” he whispered, “But this one has to take it.”

 

“True,” Jaehwan conceded with a nod, “Do you have any ideas, darling? Any requests?”

 

The fledgeling swallowed again. Jaehwan could smell the arousal on his skin now, breathing it in like a drug. “Anything,” he replied, “I just want Sirs' attention and Sirs’ sweets, please.”

 

“Anything…” Jaehwan repeated, his voice dropping an octave, “Well, I’ll need to be creative then.”

 

He continued to tease, refusing to touch anywhere sensitive until his namesake began to shake and whine for him, dropped the pretense of innocence and properly begged for him. Begged for his cock, begged to be fucked, begged to be used. Swearing to Lucifer that he would be a good boy, just please Sir, just let me have one little taste of sweets, let me be good for you, Sir, I want to feel you inside- need you now just- please please!

 

“Perhaps a test of endurance, then,” Jaehwan mused, tracing the fledgling's abdomen, “A little competition. Let's see which one of us can last the longest.”

 

He rested his hands on the fledgeling’s bare hips -not so soft and curved as his own, more skinny and lithe- and slowly lowered him down. Murmuring sweet words of praise, guiding with deft movements so the fledgeling sank onto his cock with barely any resistance at all. 

 

The fledgeling mewled when he bottomed out, palms flat on Jaehwans stomach but clearly unsure of what to do. Of where to touch. Like they hadn’t fucked in this very bed a handful of times already.

 

He was so hot, and so tight, Jaehwan thought, brain skipping like a scratched CD as he felt hands brush the inner part of his thigh. His sweetlings hands, no doubt, bending his knees and pushing his legs further apart so they could resume their exploration. 

 

After a moment or two the fledgeling began to wriggle and Jaehwan returned his attention to the matter before him. Helping to guide the fledgeling up, then back down, and then up again until he settled into a rhythm. Taking in the way his namesake’s cheeks glowed an even darker shade of red, the way his eyelids fluttered with pleasure when Jaehwan pressed two venom slicked fingers past his lips. Fucking his mouth in time with the rocking of his hips. 

 

And then Jaehwan nearly choked, freezing in place as he felt Hongbin push into his heat. Into the deepest part of him. Filling Jaehwans hollow insides with warmth and light. 

 

“It’s only fair,” Hongbin whispered, breathless, “You shouldn’t have too much of an advantage.”

 

“You’re right, sweetling, of course.”

 

The Prince of Lust relaxed more quickly this time, using the pace of his sweetlings' smooth thrusts to push up into his namesake's lovely body. Harder and harder until the fledgeling was bouncing up and down on his lap. Hunger gnawing at the lining of Jaehwans stomach. 

 

Jaehwans head was swimming with delirium. So much pleasure from every side. That perfect pleasure that his demonic mind craved more than anything else. Building and building until it reached a fever pitch. 

 

He basked in it, the attention and the pleasure. Luxuriated in the feeling of getting fucked. Fucked properly with very few missteps. Relishing the fledgelings heat around his cock. Delighting in his momentary view; Hongbin watching him with his chin propped on the fledgeling’s shoulder. Smiling a cat's smile, eyelids heavy and lips swollen from their kisses. 

 

“Play with him harder,” his sweetling whispered, and Jaehwan obliged without protest. Sticking his fingers so far down the fledgeling’s throat that the poor thing gagged. 

 

He kept his namesake there for a good long while. Holding his own climax at bay and denying the fledgeling release. Pushing him to the brink over and over again but refusing to let him fall over the edge. Flooding his namesake’s body with the most potent lust he could produce. 

 

“Such a naughty thing, coming here to play when your maker is upset,” Jaehwan panted, smiling darkly, watching a thin string of spit dribble from the corner of his namesake’s mouth, “So selfish. What a naughty boy you are.”

 

Again and again until the fledgeling began to plead. Chest heaving with dry sobs, one of Jaehwan’s hands wrapped around his slender neck, Jaehwans venom-coated fingers held up in front of his eyes. Tantalizingly close but just too far for him to reach no matter how hard he pushed against the grip on his throat. Nearly strangling himself in the attempt to claim his reward. 

 

“Tell me, darling,” Jaehwan hummed pleasantly, dotting a drop of venom on the tip of the fledgeling’s nose. Letting him better smell the flavor that was still being withheld. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

 

The fledgeling trembled harder, his own fingers straying down to touch himself, but Jaehwans swatted them away. Loosening his grip a bit so his namesake could speak.

 

“Ye-yes, Sir, sweets- please!”

 

Jaehwan smiled wider. “What is it exactly that you’re enjoying so much?”

 

Barely formed cries tumbled from the fledgeling, mouth hanging open. Impaling himself on Jaehwans length over and over and over. Such a simple creature. A simple, empty-headed, obedient little thing. Pretty, too. 

 

“It seems as though you’ve forgotten how to speak, darling,” Jaehwan prompted, licking at his own dry lips. Watching Hongbin's hand stray to the fledgeling’s waist and squeeze hard. “And so filthy… you haven’t even had my cock down your throat, yet you can’t keep yourself from drooling for me… clean up your mess,” he added, swiping the saliva from the fledglings chin with his venom-free hand and smearing it across the fledgelings lips. Shoving two fingers back into his mouth. 

 

Spluttering, his namesake’s body tried to work against the intrusion. Jaehwan pinched the bridge of the fledgeling’s nose, forcing his mouth open wider. Wanting to see just how far he could reach. 

 

“Good boys speak when spoken too, darling, do you need a fresh lesson to remember that?”

 

The fledgeling gasped, throat muscles contracting as he shook his head. Obviously unable to breathe like this, let alone form any kind of verbal response.

 

Jaehwan couldn’t stop a soft giggle from escaping him at the sight. “No? You don’t need a lesson? Then use your words, darling. What are you enjoying so much?”

 

He pulled his fingers out and smeared the fresh spit over the fledgeling’s red cheeks.

 

“Sir-” his namesake mewled, coughing and squeezing his large eyes shut, almost back to the peak of his pleasure after the previous peak was denied. “Fucking… being fucked. Sir’s c-c-cock inside me, Sir…”

 

With a groan of contentment, Jaehwan grabbed a fist full of his hair, yanking the fledgeling up and off him just before his namesake could climax. 

 

“Look how desperate you are… Look at him sweetling, isn’t he pretty like this?” Jaehwan giggled, as the fledgeling whined in pain and then sobbed with frustration. Wriggling in Jaehwans grip, body taught and twisting like a fish on a hook as the promise of relief was taken away yet again. 

 

Hongbin snickered under his breath, pinning the fledgeling’s arms behind his back. “Very pretty.”

 

“Very pretty,” the Prince of Lust repeated, raking his nails over the place where fledgeling’s soft tummy bulged out every time he thrust up into him. Pressing against the spot until the poor thing cried out. “Such a pretty toy for us, darling. Do you enjoy being played with?”

 

The fledgling moaned pitifully, stomach muscles clenching beneath Jaehwans hands. Barely managing to stutter a “Ye-ye-yes, S-sir,” before Jaehwan began to choke him again.

 

Jaehwan kept him there, merciless, until the fledgeling’s body had no more strength left. He held the fledgeling in place, head back, toes curling and spine sinfully arched. Held him there as he abused the sensitive bundle of nerves at his core. Too much pleasure for any one creature to handle without breaking. 

 

Jaehwan kept him there until all the fledgeling could do was take his cock. No more trying to steal a taste of sweets, no more flinching, no moving at all. Only kept upright by the arms Hongbin had draped around him to stop him from collapsing. The fledgeling did nothing but let himself be choked and fucked and used; green eyes glassy from an overdose of carnal bliss. That slate grey hair matted to his forehead with glistening sweat, his plush lips bitten red and raw. 

 

“Lovely thing,” Jaehwan purred, “Lovely, lovely darling… how much more can your lovely body take?”

 

The fledgeling mumbled incoherent fragmented pleas, filled to the brim and far past his breaking point. Thoroughly debauched and begging Jaehwan to let him finish, to let him have his sweets, please just one little taste, I’ll be a good boy I promise just let me taste, Sir, please, please let me come, Sir, I won’t be naughty ever again, I’ll do everything you say, just let me taste- let me finish, please…

 

“That’s not what I asked, darling. I asked; how much more of this can you take?”

 

But his namesake didn’t seem to hear him, only repeating, “I’m a good boy for Sir, I am, let me come please!”

 

Glancing over the fledgeling’s shoulder, Jaehwan looked to his sweetling. This show had been for his sweetlings' benefit, and his sweetling was very clearly enjoying it. Jaehwan wouldn’t stop until Hongbin was satisfied. 

 

“What do you think, sweetling? Has he had enough?”

 

“Yes, please please please!” the fledgeling whined, until Jaehwan pushed up into him hard. As deep as he could manage at that angle, causing the fledgeling’s words to crest on a high, wobbly moan.

 

When their eyes met, Hongbin gave a quick nod, so Jaehwan relented. He slipped his venom coated fingers into the fledgeling’s mouth and released the grip on his throat, stroking his cock fast until the poor little exhausted thing spilled himself across Jaehwans bare stomach. Eyes squeezed shut and weeping tearless sobs of relief into the palm of Jaehwan’s hand. 

 

“I win,” Jaehwan murmured, brushing a kiss on the fledgeling’s cheek, “Next time we play, I won’t go so easy on you.”

 

Carefully maneuvering the fledgeling off him with Hongbins help and settling him on the bed, Jaehwan took a moment to simply look at him. Flushed and limp and entirely spent, clutching Jaehwans hand and sucking on Jaehwan's index finger like it was a pacifier, muscles twitching with aftershocks of pleasure. 

 

He’d already begun to heal, though, immortality returning his form to its infernal splendor and rescuing him from the ravages of pleasure too-long denied. The damaged bond in his mind, however, was significantly less stable than it had been when he’d walked into Jaehwans room. 

 

But the Prince of Lust didn’t have long to spend admiring his handiwork. His sweetling was back on him a heartbeat later, back in him, holding Jaehwan down against the mattress and fucking him roughly until his own climax had been achieved. Growling quietly into Jaehwans mouth as their frantic kisses began all over again. 

 

To Jaehwans distinct displeasure, there was another knock on the bedroom door. 

 

“What now?!” he huffed, halfway between irritation and pleading. Wishing everyone would just leave him alone. He barely managed to pry his sweetling off for long enough that he could sit up on his shaking knees. Waving a hand to cover all three of them in grey silk dressing gowns before the newcomer opened the door. 

 

It was Hakyeon. An expression of icy wrath on his face and his hands propped on his hips. He was just as handsome as always, in a black three-piece suit and a violet silk tie.

 

And, rather surprisingly, Wonshik was standing behind the False Prince. Cherry red hair mussed and eyes glued to the floor. 

 

“May I help you with something, highness?” Jaehwan asked, panting slightly, as Hongbin shifted around behind him to peer at their guests over his shoulder. Feeling his sweetling pressed close against his back. 

 

Hakyeon looked from Jaehwan to his namesake and back again, fury growing more palpable by the moment. “Wonshik,” he murmured, and Wonshik finally looked up, “Take your brother somewhere else and don’t come back.”

 

Without missing a beat, Wonshik flit into the room and scooped the fledgeling into his arms. Disappearing back the way he’d come an instant later. 

 

“What, in Lucifer’s unholy name, do you think you’re playing at?!” Hakyeon hissed, kicking the door shut behind him with the heel of his shiny leather shoe. 

 

“What do you think you’re playing at?” Jaehwan huffed, “Barging into my home uninvited and interrupting my playtime? Stealing my namesake away like that? No manners whatsoever.”

 

Hongbin growled softly, his mouth close to Jaehwans left ear. The Prince of Lust reached back and laid a soothing hand on his arm. 

 

Scarlet eyes flashing, Hakyeon took another step closer. “By the look of him, I’d say your namesake was finished with playtime, wouldn't you?”

 

Jaehwan inspected his nails. Lower lip jutting out in a pout as Hongbin nuzzled behind his ear. “Perhaps.”

 

“I’m being serious,” Hakyeon snapped, “Stop playing coy and look at me.”

 

The Prince of Lust raised his eyes to Hakyeon's face. The face of his oldest friend in the universe. He raised his eyes, but not because Hakyeon had ordered him to do so. 

 

The order was there, clear and unmistakable in his tone, however Jaehwan had found that the False Prince's orders did not compel him the way they once had. After spending so long in solitary confinement, cut off from the rest of the universe, away from other demons, something had broken in his mind. The chords binding him to Hell and the demonic hierarchy had frayed and then snapped. Jaehwan had become untethered. 

 

“Explain this,” Hakyeon continued, waving a hand in Hongbin's direction, “What in Hell's name made you believe this was a good idea?”

 

“I wanted him,” Jaehwan replied, feeling Hongbin's fingertips digging into his sides, “I was unaware that any other reason was required.”

 

The False Prince’s glare flicked over Jaehwans shoulder for an instant. “And what of your first Bound? Wonshik told me what you did to him. Is Sanghyuk to be left to fend for himself now?”

 

“He attacked me!” Jaehwan snarled, the indignant rage he’d felt at Sanghyuk’s reaction earlier in the evening surging right back to the surface, “He attacked me and tried to attack my sweetling! All I did was protect us from his barbaric assault! He’s completely out of control!”

 

“It sounded like you did a lot more than protect yourself.”

 

“How I discipline my child is no business of yours, love,” Jaehwan grit out, “No matter how much you’d like it to be. This is my home and he is my Bound and I may do as I please.”

 

“Just how were you expecting him to react to this?” Hakyeon asked, his voice dipping into the dangerous purr Jaehwan knew so well, “To the news that you’ve decided to replace him? I think of him as my kin, Jyani, and you threatened to kill him!”

 

“I was expecting him to react with the decorum and poise I trained him to maintain!” Jaehwan hissed, “I expected him to be able to control himself! But, then again, my pet never fails to disappoint me. I don’t know why I expected anything else.”

 

Taking very quick steps forward, Hakyeon braced both hands on the bed. Leaning into Jaehwans personal space and looking back and forth between Jaehwans eyes. “What’s going on,” he asked, “What game are you playing this time? If you don’t clue me in, I won’t be able to help you.”

 

Tilting his head and smiling his most charming smile, the Prince of Lust replied, “I’m not playing any games, love. What could have possibly given you that impression?”

 

“Don’t lie to me.”

 

“No games, love. None that I’m aware of, anyway.” 

 

Hongbin had begun to growl again at Hakyeon's proximity and Jaehwans smile grew. He leaned back and lay a kiss on Hongbin's cheek, nipping his earlobe and nosing at his temple. His sweetling quieted down and began to play with Jaehwans fingers instead. Such a perfect, perfect child. 

 

When he looked around, Jaehwan found the False Prince watching them closely. Watching with a bit too much interest in Jaehwans opinion. “You’ve never taken a Bound yourself, love,” Jaehwan murmured, “Aren’t you tempted?”

 

“Not in the slightest,” Hakyeon replied, “I’ve had my hands full looking after you and yours for too long. I have less than no inclination towards progeny.”

 

“Then why are you so interested in my sweetling?”

 

The False Prince made a quiet noise of aggravation. “I’m interested because he was an archangel, Jaehwan, a very powerful archangel. And your track record for inciting revolt isn't very good. So I will ask again, what game are you playing this time?”

 

“I haven’t heard anything about a game,” Hongbin whispered, before Jaehwan had a chance, “If you think I’m a part of some sinister plan, False Prince, why don’t you just ask me?”

 

If Hakyeon heard Hongbin speak, he didn’t show it. Holding Jaehwans gaze. 

 

“A good question,” Jaehwan hummed, unable to hide his pleased smile, “Why haven’t you asked my sweetling how he feels about his new status?”

 

“How do you feel about your new status, Hongbin?” Hakyeon asked, still not breaking eye contact, an unmistakable note of sarcasm in his voice. 

 

Hongbin shrugged. “I feel good,” he said quietly, “It’s nice to see the world as it truly is without the heavenly veil clouding my eyes. And I like being able to freely access my power.”

 

“Lovely,” Hakyeon hissed, “And how are you getting along with your brother?”

 

Again, Hongbin shrugged. The corners of his lovely mouth turned down in a serious little frown. “We never got along before. I don’t see why that fact should change now.”

 

“You’re happy with that, are you?” Hakyeon asked, addressing Jaehwan now, “Building a family based on mutual dislike?”

 

“Love,” Jaehwan sighed, idly twisting Hakyeon's silk tie around his hand, “I don’t know how much more plainly I can say this, but please stop sticking your nose into my personal business.” He tugged the False Prince close enough that he could playfully bite Hakyeon's lower lip. “I appreciate the concern, but it really isn’t necessary.”

 

Hakyeon went still, but his gaze was searching. Trying to read Jaehwans intentions from his expression and growing more frustrated the longer he failed. 

 

Jaehwan gave his tie another little tug. “Now, if you’re finished interrogating me, love, you’re welcome to come play with us,” he winked, “I was just getting warmed up.”

 

“No,” the False Prince replied, freeing himself from Jaehwans grasp, “And it may be over for now. But make no mistake, this conversation is very far from over.”

 

“You’re excellent, sweetling,” Jaehwan hummed happily, once Hakyeon had vanished into the shadows. Shifting around to gather Hongbin into his arms. 

 

Hongbin smiled against his cheek. “Thank you.”

 

The Prince of Lust looked at his new Bound. Really looked at him. How had one who’d been such a wretched, boastful angel been rendered so stoic and quiet by his corruption? But that was simply how he appeared on the surface, Jaehwan thought, tracing the bow of Hongbin's lip with his fingertips. Beneath the soft spoken seriousness, lurked something vicious. 

 

“What should we do now?” Hongbin asked in a whisper, already untying the belt of Jaehwan’s dressing gown. 

 

Jaehwan giggled, then giggled louder, chest swelling with indecent delight. “Anything you’d like, sweetling. Anything at all.”

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

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Curious Cat

Chapter 19

Summary:

The Prince of Lust wanted nothing more than to make the fledgling cry ~

Notes:

Pure undiluted filth, but that’s between me and the almighty lol

Unbeta’d

Read the god damn tags lol

I tried to add some plot at the beginning of the chapter but got bored and gave up lol

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Sanghyuk’s Journal:

Volume Three

*Dated Three weeks after Hongbin's corruption*

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

‘Jaehwan has run away from home, and so has my Master. 

 

My Master left first. He took my new brother and abandoned me in the apartment downstairs. They left in the night, without a word of parting or farewell embrace, and went to the surface. As far as I know, my Master and brother have taken up residence in one of my Masters' many human properties. 

 

Having Hongbin as a brother again -our seniority reversed this time around- is not what I hoped. I longed to have him as a brother again. Memories from the first time around, of how much I loved and admired him, still hang in the forefront of my mind. But I am different now. He is different now. We do not synergize the way we did the first time around. I’m incapable of loving anyone or anything that steals my Master's affection. 

 

But I digress. Stopping there before I begin to ramble about sibling rivalry and my own shortcomings. 

 

Only days after my Master left, my little dove and I had an argument. It was a stupid, pointless argument. 

 

He is, as of this moment, still unable to travel through the shadows on his own. And, once Wonshik refused his requests to go up to the surface, my dove came to me for help. He wanted me to take him to the desert where Eden was born, and I should have just done it. I should have taken him. But I didn’t. 

 

I had business to attend to, work to do, souls to corrupt and greed to spread; and I was so intent on my work that I brushed off my doves request. I told him I’d take him another time, that I was too busy right then. I thought it was simply a whim and something else would capture his attention. But I was wrong. 

 

My dove shouted at me, his slate grey wings unfurling from his back as his hands clenched into fists. Accusing me of being withholding. That I never allowed him any freedom, that I treated him like a potted plant, which was an accusation that struck me as odd until he continued to shout. He said that I only corrupted him so I could look at him, that I treated him like a decoration; a moving mural of my Master I could admire if I wished. 

 

It was untrue, every word, but all I managed to say before he ran from my office was that he was being ridiculous. I wish that I could take the sentence back. 

 

That was when he ran away the first time. 

 

When my dove didn’t turn up for dinner that night, I grew frantic. Nearly tearing hell apart as I searched for him. Looking around every corner and behind every door until I found him in the false prince's home. Curled up in a corner of Hakyeon's main room with an ancient book in his hands, a hellhound sleeping at his side, and a lollipop in his mouth. 

 

I lost my temper, then, for more reasons than one. I was furious with Hakyeon for not informing me of my Bound’s location. I was furious with Jaehwan for running off to begin with and making me worry. The thought of everything that could have gone wrong terrified me. What if my little dove hadn’t found his way to Hakyeon? What if he’d ended up in the home of one of my rivals? Or what if he’d gotten lost somewhere in the void, and I’d been unable to find him before the craving drove him mad? He could have been killed or hurt or stolen and I would have been powerless to help. 

 

Jaehwan returned with me to the apartment, so silent that it was genuinely disconcerting. He wouldn’t speak to me, wouldn’t even touch me, and retreated to his plant infested bedroom without so much as meeting my eye. 

 

When I woke the next morning, having sought refuge in my eldests bed, Jaehwan was gone. 

 

I have no proof to back up my theory, but he’s in my Masters house on the surface now. I’m sure of it. My Master has warded the house to keep me out, woven a lock I am unable to pick, so I can’t actually get inside to check, but I know Jaehwan is there. The only way Jaehwan could have left my apartment is if someone else carried him through the shadows, and nobody but my Master would have done so. And even if I can’t prove it to anyone else, the almighties whispers in my mind have confirmed it. 

 

This is all my fault. Again, it’s all my fault. I know my Master is dangerous, I know the truth of that statement better than most, and I’ve driven my sweet dove into his trap. 

 

I don’t know what to do. Sickened with greed as I am, I’m useless to everyone around me. Greedy for the attention my Master has continued to pay my dove. Greedy for my doves physical presence; longing for nothing more than to feel my dove and know that he’s mine. Greedy for the affection my Master always kept from me, but that he’s decided to gift Hongbin so freely. 

 

Again, I’ve failed to be the kind of maker I always wanted to be. I’ve failed my Bound, failed my youngest over and over and over again. It’s my fault that he’s gone. It’s all my fault. 

 

Lucifer, if you’re there, I beg you, help me rescue my youngest and bring him back to safety. I beg you, help me.

 

And, Almighty, mark my words, I will get my dove back. That is a promise.’

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Life in the Prince of Lusts household was different from the life Jaehwan had grown used to downstairs. 

 

Being on the surface, where he belonged, was better. So much better than being in hell. But everything else was unfamiliar to him. 

 

Even the building -the house in which Jaehwan and Hongbin and the Prince of Lust were now living- was strange. The walls were too solid and the floors were too hard. The impure air was filled to bursting with sounds and tastes and emotions leaking in from the metropolis outside and the stimuli it carried was inescapable. 

 

And the Prince of Lust was not as forgiving a caretaker as Sanghyuk. Indulgent, yes, but only when it suited him. Not when Jaehwan needed him.

 

Sanghyuk… 

 

He missed Sanghyuk. Of course he did. 

 

Sanghyuk didn’t truly love Jaehwan, and -because of Jaehwan’s face- he never would. And Sanghyuk could be overprotective to the point of cruelty. And Sanghyuk didn’t understand the depth of Jaehwan’s connection to the surface. 

 

However…

 

Sanghyuk was the ultimate source of comfort in Jaehwans life. He’d lifted the heavenly veil from Jaehwans eyes and gifted him with sight. Given Jaehwan a home and a family and power. Sanghyuk had given Jaehwan life. So, of course, Jaehwan missed him.

 

But Jaehwans craving for his maker, so strong it nearly deafened him for the first few days of being apart, had begun to lessen. The tapping in his mind grew quieter, softer, more easy to ignore. And, surprisingly to Jaehwan, he found himself craving the Prince of Lust now as well. 

 

In the month that had passed since he ran away from home, Jaehwan had learned a lesson about his grand-maker. 

 

The Prince of Lust liked to torment him. 

 

He left Jaehwan alone in the house for days on end, leaving without a trace and taking Hongbin with him. Not locking Jaehwan away to keep Jaehwan safe, no; the Prince of Lust did it because he enjoyed the taste of Jaehwan’s desperation and pain. 

 

And when he was gone, Jaehwan felt an inexorable panic swell inside him. So strong it was debilitating. Terrified at the lack of his sir, hating the silence of the empty house. The silence grew painfully loud without people to speak to- without anyone there to hear Jaehwan scream. 

 

Trapped alone with nothing but his thoughts, there was nothing to stop Jaehwans mind from filling with questions; Had he done something wrong? Done something to deserve this abandonment? Would the Prince of Lust leave Jaehwan locked in the house for millennia in some form of revenge for the time he’d spent trapped in his void prison?

 

Jaehwan would pick at his skin and bite his nails to the quick. Desperate to have the Prince of Lust back, sick with the loss, like a human going through withdrawal. 

 

When the Prince of Lust did return, standing in the doorway swathed in gloom with Hongbin beside him, Jaehwan would fall to his knees and tearlessly cry at the Prince of Lust's feet, shaking and begging for forgiveness. Swearing he would behave so long as they wouldn’t leave him by himself again.

 

The Prince of Lust would draw him up to stand, but only once Jaehwan had sufficiently prostrated himself. Sobbed and cried and pleaded to his satisfaction. Gracing Jaehwan with a patronizing smile and a taste of that addictive venom. 

 

Finally gifting Jaehwan a glimpse of the world outside and the sweet relief he craved. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Admiring the way his new cloak swirled around his body, Jaehwan looked at his reflection in the mirror. 

 

The Prince of Lust had crafted it specially for him, emerald velvet and lined with black silk. Soft black fur traced the top of the collar and tickled his cheeks with a slit on either side through which to poke his hands. It was long enough to drag along the floor when Jaehwan walked. 

 

It made Jaehwan feel beautiful. 

 

The Prince of Lust loved to be surrounded by beautiful things -Jaehwan knew that -and he dressed his family members accordingly. This cloak was one of a pair, the matching garment given Hongbin the night before. 

 

“Darling?”

 

Jaehwan perked up, every cell of his body flickering alert as the Prince of Lust swirled into the room. Into this bedroom that Jaehwan had decided to call his own. 

 

Waiting for the Prince of Lust to collapse in an armchair, Jaehwan took a seat at his feet. Resting his chin on the Prince of Lust's knee, lips parted in anticipation of the venom he would surely taste soon. 

 

The Prince of Lust looked down at him, eyes wide and delighted. “This suits you,” he hummed, gesturing to the cloak that was now puddled around Jaehwan, “You and my sweetling will make quite the charming set.”

 

That dark beauty about him, carved in alabaster and ebony, never failed to steal Jaehwans breath. His confection of black curls… dressed in black satin trimmed in crimson silk. Full mischievous mouth painted the red of freshly spilt blood. 

 

Sometimes, the Prince of Lust allowed Jaehwan to accompany him to demonic gatherings, dressing Jaehwan up and ordering him quiet like he was the pretty consort of a king. The cloaks must have been made for just such an occasion. 

 

“Come, let me have a look at you,“ he murmured, voice as smooth as candle wax. 

 

Hesitating for a heartbeat, reluctant to pull away before tasting the venom he longed for, Jaehwan clambered to his feet. Pacing to the center of the room and standing still. Chin raised and eyes straight ahead, the way he knew the Prince of Lust liked him to stand when modeling a garment. 

 

“Do a little twirl for me.”

 

Jaehwan spun slowly on the spot, feeling the fabric twist around his ankles. Trying his hardest to be beautiful. 

 

“Good,” the Prince of Lust sighed, getting up and stepping to Jaehwans side so he could meet Jaehwans eyes in the mirror. 

 

Jaehwan felt so small standing next to him, even after all this time, and even though their proportions were identical, seeing himself beside this demon always made Jaehwan feel tiny and useless. Like a kitten standing beside a tiger. 

 

“You’ll make me proud at Senior Conclave tomorrow, darling, won’t you?”

 

“Yes,” Jaehwan replied in a whisper. 

 

“You’ll behave yourself? Stay by my side with Hongbin? No running off or losing control of your power?”

 

“Yes,” Jaehwan repeated, “Will- will Hyukkie be there?”

 

“No, darling. This Conclave is only for those of us who fell during the First Wave. My eldest is too young.” The Prince of Lusts mouth curved in a delicate smirk, his hands settling on Jaehwans shoulders before sliding down Jaehwans arms. Circling Jaehwans wrists and gripping them tight. 

 

The tide of the Prince of Lusts temperament had turned. 

 

The room began to spin as Jaehwans body filled with a scorching heat. Taken over by a longing so strong that it nearly smothered him. “Sir-" his voice faltered, barely able to feel the hands now holding his hips, “Sir- sweets puh-puh-please!”

 

“Hmm,” the Prince of Lust hummed, pretending to deliberate, “How long has it been now, darling? Since the last time you had a taste?”

 

“Th-th-three days.” Jaehwans knees buckled for an instant, but the elder didn’t allow him to collapse. Fingers digging into his flesh hard enough to bruise. 

 

“Three days,” the Prince of Lust repeated, grinning like a cat over Jaehwans shoulder, “Perhaps that was a sufficient punishment, hm? Do you feel sufficiently punished?”

 

Punished. 

 

Three days ago, Jaehwan had grown too hungry. He’d failed to control his appetites and pounced on the Prince of Lust before he even knew what he was doing, trying to steal a taste of venom without invitation to do so. 

 

His attempt had been unsuccessful. The Prince of Lust had pushed him away with barely a thought, before pinning Jaehwan on the floor and pressing his razor-sharp talons into the skin on Jaehwans stomach. Cutting him, letting him heal, and then cutting him again. Refusing Jaehwan any respite for hours and paying no attention to Jaehwans tearless sobs of pain. And then, in addition to that torture, he’d forbidden Jaehwan from tasting the venom of any demon until he said otherwise. 

 

“Yes, s-s-sir!” Jaehwan cried, squirming a little in the elder's grip. 

 

The Prince of Lust leaned in and spoke against Jaehwans ear. “We’ll see about that,” he purred, “Once you show me how well you can behave.”

 

Jaehwan made a small miserable sound of defeat, but at the Prince of Lusts urging, he dropped to his knees. Punch-drunk and frantic. Touching the tops of the Prince of Lusts thighs, feeling his fingers thread through his hair. 

 

He raised his chin higher and blinked up at the Prince of Lust. He was a wildfire. Salacious and irresistible. Jaehwan wanted nothing more in that moment then to be torn apart, obliterated, and then sculpted anew by his hands. His mouth began to water at that exquisite perfume; drowning in jasmine and rose. 

 

His suffering was an enticement, Jaehwan knew, whimpering softly as those same fingers gave his hair a sharp yank. The sight of the Prince of Lusts' smile tangling Jaehwans insides into knots as he watched the elder smoothly free himself from his trousers. 

 

“Sir!” Jaehwan gasped, desperate and starving. Head forced up and the tip of the elders cock resting against his bottom lip. 

 

The Prince of Lust didn’t allow him to move until he began to tremble, calling it an exercise in discipline and self control. But finally, he smoothed Jaehwans hair and shushed him. Sighing as Jaehwan took his length into his mouth. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

The fledgling was spread out across the sheets like an enticing buffet. Skin glistening like moonlight atop the dark green fabric of his discarded cloak. Lying on his back with his legs spread apart. One ankle resting against Jaehwans shoulder, the other knee hooked over the crook of Jaehwans elbow. 

 

“Silly thing,” the Prince of Lust murmured, hauling the fledgling a few inches closer, “Silly, silly little thing.”

 

Mewling wordlessly, the fledgling rocked his hips in a pitiful attempt to match Jaehwans thrusts. Toes curling, fingers twitching, stomach muscles clenching. Trying his hardest to please. 

 

Jaehwan smiled. His namesake was behaving so prettily for him tonight.

 

He let himself admire the fledgling for a moment, eyes traveling over the lines of his body before returning to his flushed face. Pondering the way those dark lashes fluttered around his glazed, unfocused eyes. The look of those swollen lips bitten red raw and glistening with a sheen of spit. The dusting of a blush spreading over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. 

 

“Needy thing,” the Prince of Lust continued, groaning softly with pleasure as he felt the fledgling clench around him. Gripping his ass hard enough that the outline of his fingers would remain etched in the flesh there for days. 

 

Movements slow and controlled and methodical, the way he always liked to start, the Prince of Lust fucked his fledgling. 

 

The fledgling whined, his back forming a sinful arch off the bed. Fisting the sheets and covering his mouth with a hand to try and stifle the sounds of pleasure leaking from between his lips. Those soft, eager noises that were like music to Jaehwans ears. 

 

Jaehwan watched his namesake wriggle and squirm, basking in the knowledge of how easy it was to overwhelm his sensitive little body. A ripe bouquet of carnal delight just begging to be plucked. 

 

“Sir, please,” the fledgling groaned, precome beading at his slit and dripping slowly down his length. 

 

Watching the fledglings soft tummy bulge with each buck of his hips, Jaehwan dragged sharp nails up the back of the fledglings left thigh. Slicing shallow lines into his skin and feeling ichor well against his fingertips. Listening to his namesake cry out in pain.

 

“Look at me,” Jaehwan hissed and the fledgling raised his head. Tilting his chin up, showing off his reddened cheeks. Jaehwan smeared the silver ichor across his namesake’s swollen mouth. “No one suffers agony for me as beautifully as you do,” he whispered, patronizing and indulgent, smiling sweetly. 

 

Jaehwan had taken his time that night; spending a few extra seconds to tie the fledgling up once the fledgling had sucked him off. Securing the fledglings' wrists together behind his back with a length of satin chord, winding another length of that same chord around the fledglings neck like a leash. Or a noose. 

 

It was a teachable moment; binding his hands to show his namesake what happened to thieves when they were detained. Leashing his namesake to show him what happened to animals that misbehaved. 

 

The fledgling opened his mouth obediently when Jaehwan tapped, taking two of Jaehwan’s fingers into his mouth until his lips were wrapped around Jaehwans knuckles. Sucking them like the digits were one of the lollipops the fledgling so favored. 

 

Jaehwan pried his namesake's mouth open, pressing down on his tongue. Fucking into him harder and touching his body with determined ferocity. Taking advantage of his heightened sensitivities. Fascinated by the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. 

 

I must handle him carefully now, Jaehwan thought, give him everything he wants for the moment.

 

He stared down at his namesake, at this demon he wanted to ruin irrevocably. The fledgling looked back up at him with reverence. Eyes clouded with the devotion Jaehwan had worked so hard to cultivate. 

 

“Tell me, darling,” Jaehwan crooned, hurting him so sweetly that pain barely registered on the fledgling's face, “Tell me, who do you belong to.”

 

“Sir,” the fledgling replied, speaking around the fingers in his mouth, the pulse at his throat fluttering wildly, “Sir, sir, sir!”

 

Jaehwans smile broadened. “You belong to sir?”

 

His namesake nodded, gasping in relief when Jaehwan began to stroke his neglected cock. 

 

The sight of him made Jaehwans mouth water. Sharp teeth flashing in the darkened room as he ducked down to nip at the fledglings' overheated skin. Lapping at his sweat and sucking marks across his neck and chest. 

 

“You belong to me, darling,” he growled, “Your body and mind, they will do whatever I tell them to. Isn’t that right?”

 

“Yes, s-s-sir…”

 

Jaehwan giggled under his breath. Pulling out and turning the fledgling around so he was lying on his stomach. The Prince of Lust curled his fingers around the chord that bound his namesake's wrists and used it to pull his namesake up on his knees. Fucking into him slowly now, torturously slow and shallow strokes. 

 

“Good boy,” Jaehwan hummed, knowing full well that the fledgling would find his gentleness unbearable, “My sweet, darling doll… how do you feel about your punishment now? Have you thoroughly repented?”

 

The fledgling nodded, burying his face in the folds of his new cloak and twisting to touch the inside of Jaehwan’s wrists. “Yes, sir, I-hnng have repented… I won’t be naughty again, sir, I le-le-learned my lesson!”

 

“Look at you,” Jaehwan cooed, barely moving his hips at all now as he traced the line of the fledgling's spine with one nail, “Panting and moaning for me like a dog in heat… so precious…”

 

Giving no warning, he thrust sharply into the fledgling,  all the way to the hilt. Purring at the sound of the fledgling's cry before pulling out and stilling again. 

 

“And you say you’ve repented, hmm?”

 

“Yes, sir…”

 

“Then,” Jaehwan reached out and took hold of the cord that was secured around the fledgling's throat, giving it a little tug, “Since you’ve repented for your disobedience and have behaved so well tonight, I suppose you deserve a reward, hmm?”

 

“Yes, yes, yes please… yes…”

 

“What would you like?”

 

The fledgling gasped, swallowing against the cord tight around his throat, “Sweets!”

 

“Only sweets?” Jaehwan hummed, “That can be easily arranged, but is that all you want? Is that all your simple little mind can comprehend, darling?”

 

“Sweets and- and- and…” Trailing off, the fledgling tried to rock against him, back arched so much it almost looked painful. 

 

Jaehwan licked his lips a bit, considering all the games they could play. 

 

If his sweetling had joined them, there would be even more games to be played. Games for three rather than only for two. But his sweetling had demurred when Jaehwan offered, saying that he wished to spend the night reading and resting instead. Jaehwan had respected his sweetlings wishes and kissed Hongbin goodnight before entering the fledglings bedroom alone. 

 

“And?” Jaehwan prompted, punctuating the word with another deep thrust. 

 

All he got in response was a garbled little moan. 

 

“Would you, perhaps, like me to take my leave now and let you sleep?”

 

“No!”

 

“No?” Jaehwan repeated, giggling again, “You don’t want me to allow you to rest?”

 

“No, no, don’t leave!” the fledgling squeaked, craning his neck to try and catch a glimpse of Jaehwan’s face, “Don’t leave, don’t!”

 

“Don’t you want to have a bit of alone time?”

 

“No! No more alone time, please!”

 

Jaehwan hummed a thoughtful hum, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the side of the fledglings upper thigh. In their time together, he’d learned that the simplest and most effective way to punish his namesake was by leaving him alone. “You don’t want to rest, you don’t want me to leave, you don’t want to be alone… then what would you like?”

 

“Sir,” the fledgling whined, appearing to be on the verge of frustrated sobs, “Move, please!”

 

“As you wish,” Jaehwan replied softly, pulling out entirely and taking a step away from the bed. Smirking at his small whine of protest.

 

“No!” The sobs came, then, like a spoiled human throwing a tantrum. “Not- not like that! Come back!”

 

Jaehwan clicked his tongue. Making no move to return. Watching with glee as the fledgling lost it. Thrashing pointlessly, cock twitching, sobbing and begging to be touched. To be touched or hurt or fucked or anything Jaehwan wanted to do to him, as long as Jaehwan did something.

 

“You’re so indecisive, darling,” Jaehwan giggled, “And you aren’t using your words properly. Just begging to beg, aren't you? I’ve taught you a lesson about that before, have I not?”

 

“Yes,” mumbled his namesake, a petulant little frown creasing his brow, “I’ll use my words better, I p-promise!”

 

“Then use them. Tell me what exactly it is that you want, or I will make a decision for you.”

 

The fledgling bit his lip, curling and uncurling his fingers. He was thinking very hard, if Jaehwan had to guess, but Jaehwan himself was beginning to grow impatient. The Prince of Lust did not like to be kept waiting. 

 

After he held for a count of ten and the fledgling still hadn’t spoken, Jaehwan approached the bed. Wrapping the cord around his palm once, twice, three times, until the fledgling was forced to try and maneuver himself upright if he wanted to breathe. It was a challenge to be sure, with his face against the mattress and hands tied behind his back, and he only got part of the way before Jaehwan yanked him roughly up to kneel. 

 

“Time’s up,” he whispered, their noses bumping a bit as he licked the ichor off the fledgling's lips. Dipping his tongue into the fledgling's mouth to gift him a taste of the venom he craved. “I’ve decided what your reward will be….”

 

As soon as their tongues touched, the fledgling's body slumped. Melting and softening and sagging with relief. He would have fallen over if Jaehwan hadn’t still had a firm grip on the cord around his neck. 

 

“Seeing as you pleaded to have rest denied… for the rest of the night, you are going to be my doll. And-" he bit sharply at the fledgling lip, “-We will not stop until I’ve grown tired of playing with you. You will not be permitted to rest or relax and if I think you are resting, your punishment will be twice as unpleasant as before. Do you understand me?”

 

The fledgling blinked owlishly at Jaehwan, those round cheeks flushed scarlet, pupils wide and dark with anticipation. “Yeh-yes sir.”

 

“Good. Then, first things first…” Jaehwan traced the fledgling's jaw before slapping him hard across the face. The demonic part of his mind singing at the sound of the fledglings yelp. “My little doll requires something pretty to wear.”

 

Jaehwan pulled away and waved a hand, clothing himself in a simple satin tunic and trousers. He walked towards the closet, bare feet sinking into the thick carpet with each step, dragging his namesake after him by the leash cord. 

 

He flicked on the closet's overhead light and scanned the clothing racks for a moment. None of this would do. He wanted to see his namesake's darling face flushed with arousal and humiliation, and nothing he could see would provoke such a reaction. 

 

“I’ll have to craft you something extra special for our game, darling,” Jaehwan murmured, turning around and looking the fledgling over. His namesake eyes were fixed on the floor, head bowed, hands still behind his back. Standing naked and fully exposed in the bright overhead light. The sight made Jaehwans pulse thrum a bit faster. It excited him. “I think a lovely little dress should do the trick.”

 

The fledgling looked up, confusion and surprise mingling on his face for an instant, until Jaehwan snapped his fingers. 

 

Decadent layers of light pink taffeta floated down around the fledgling’s hips, only reaching his mid-thigh. A princess-cut bodice of baby blue. Matching pink little puffy sleeves. It was a sweet confection of a dress and, on a whim, Jaehwan magicked a pair of pink thigh-high lace socks onto the fledglings feet. 

 

“Precious,” he giggled, pulling a blue silk ribbon from thin air and brushing the fledglings hair back, tying it like a headband with a big wide bow right on the top of the fledglings head. “Absolutely precious. You’re really beginning to look like a doll now, what do you think?” 

 

Jaehwan turned the fledgling to face the mirror and sighed. Watching his face redden and his lower lip start to wobble. Wishing the fledgling was truly able to cry. The only thing that could possibly make the picture better would be tear stained cheeks. 

 

He brushed his mouth against the fledgling’s ear. “Tell me how precious you look, darling.”

 

The fledgling stared down at his socked feet, obviously ashamed but confused by that shame. “Very p-precious.”

 

“You look just like a pretty doll, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“And, do you enjoy looking this way? All dressed up and ready to be played with?”

 

The fledgling squirmed. “I don’t know.”

 

“You don’t know?” Jaehwan asked, with mock concern, slipping a crooked finger in the gap between the cord and the fledgling's throat, using it to tug the fledgling closer. “But this is your reward, darling. How can you not know if you’re enjoying your reward?”

 

“I’ve never pl-played this way before, sir,” the fledgling mumbled, “It’s a pretty dress, but I d-don’t know if I enjoy it yet.”

 

“Ahh,” Jaehwan sighed, laying a kiss on his namesake's cheek, “Then we have quite a bit of testing to do. Thorough and comprehensive testing. Just to be sure that you enjoy it.”

 

Nodding shyly, the fledgling chanced another glance at his reflection. Wriggling his toes and twisting back and forth so the taffeta began to rustle. “Okay, sir.”

 

“Good,” Jaehwan hummed, “Then, let’s begin.”

 

He nudged the fledgling and guided him back into the bedroom. Only stopping once they reached the foot of the bed. 

 

“On your knees, now.”

 

Obediently, the fledgling lowered himself to kneel on the carpet. Chin raised and gaze fixed on the opposite wall, just the way the Prince of Lust liked. 

 

“You’re my doll now, darling,” Jaehwan purred, moving in a slow circle around his namesake, “My plaything. A toy for me to use and abuse as I see fit. I could leave you there on your knees, untouched, for hours if I were so inclined.”

 

The fledgling whimpered. 

 

“But luckily for you,” Jaehwan gave the leash cord a sharp yank that nearly made the fledgling topple over, “I’m not inclined to do so tonight. Tip your head back and look at the ceiling.”

 

The fledgling tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling. Exposing the long sweeping line of his neck, the protrusion at the center of his throat. 

 

“Open your mouth.”

 

The fledgling opened his mouth. 

 

Jaehwan stopped walking, only long enough to slap that pretty face a second time. Listening to his namesake’s breath falter. “Wider.”

 

Those lovely lips parted a bit more. 

 

“Now,” the Prince of Lust continued, “For our first game, if you gag, you’ll receive a punishment. That’s the only rule. And, if you play nicely until the game is over, You will be rewarded with a taste of venom. Do you understand?”

 

The fledgling shifted a bit, as though readying himself for a battle. “Yes sir.”

 

Jaehwan couldn’t help but smile. 

 

He came to stand directly before his namesake and looked down, adjusting the cord around the fledgling’s neck so it sat just on top of his Adam’s apple, and then pulled it taught. Not constricting the fledgling's breath but just enough that the cord wouldn’t slip until he swallowed. Satisfied that it was placed correctly, Jaehwan bent to tie the loose end around the chord binding the fledglings hands, not leaving any slack.

 

“Remember the rule,” Jaehwan whispered, giddy anticipation slightly raising the pitch of his voice. 

 

Starting slowly, to lull his fledgling into a false sense of security, Jaehwan dipped a single finger into the fledgling's open mouth. Prodding at his tongue. Tracing the edges of his shiny white teeth. Not exploring too deeply yet. Tricking his namesake into believing that this game would be easy.

 

“Good,” he murmured, retracting the finger and tapping the tip of his namesake's nose, “Such a good little doll for me.”

 

As he always did when he received praise, the fledgling smiled. Almost seeming to glow with happiness. Even in a situation such as this. 

 

“Let’s try…” Jaehwan slipped three fingers past his lips then, not gentle like he’d been the first time. Shoving them down the fledgling's throat so roughly that his namesake could do nothing to keep from gagging. 

 

Jaehwan shook his head in mock disappointment. “Such a shame,” he sighed, freeing his fingers and smearing the fledgling's saliva across his precious face, “Only two rounds in and you’ve already failed to follow the rules.”

 

“Wait,” the fledgling squeaked, “I can do better!” 

 

“I’m sure you can,” Jaehwan replied, “And I’ll test that assertion in a moment, darling, believe me, but first you’ll need to take your punishment.”

 

Pressing against one of several faded bruises decorating the fledglings neck, Jaehwan looked down intently at him. 

 

Ever since corrupting his sweetling, Jaehwan had felt no desire to slip into the mental fluidity he’d enjoyed during his time in the void. Jaehwan adored Hongbin very much. Adored his new child more than he’d ever adored anyone. 

 

However, there was something about the fledgling… He enjoyed playing with his namesake, just as he enjoyed playing with almost everyone he encountered. But for some reason, he found this miserable excuse for a demon irresistible.  

 

Perhaps it was their physical resemblance that made the fledgling so enticing. A masochistic urge to torment himself rearing its head. Or perhaps, the fact they were identical aside, Jaehwan was fascinated with the fledgling because their personalities were so well suited for each other. Polar opposites in most circumstances but eerily similar when it mattered. 

 

Like that very moment, for example. Because after Jaehwan had slapped him, spit in his mouth, and slapped him again, the fledgling had moaned. There was a handprint on his cheek, a fresh red mark against creamy smooth skin. And while Jaehwan slapped him, the shameless brat was sitting there, moaning, even as he sobbed from the sting. Peering up at Jaehwan with lust-widened eyes. Absolutely infuriating! 

 

“Filthy,” Jaehwan hissed, any reserves of patience he had evaporated in an instant, “You filthy, filthy little creature. Enjoyed your punishment, did you?”

 

“Yes, sir,” his namesake mumbled, licking his lips, “Sweets.”

 

Irritated at himself for momentarily forgetting how much the fledgling liked venom, irritated at the fledgling for liking it in the first place, the Prince of Lust growled. He pushed down the waistband of his trousers and stroked himself with one hand, gripping the fledglings chin with the other. 

 

“You enjoy being called filthy too, don’t you, darling?”

 

The fledgling was watching him with rapt attention. Luscious mouth hanging open, close to drooling, slap-reddened cheeks flushing even darker still. “Yes s-sir.”

 

“I see…” Jaehwan grabbed a fistful of the fledgling's hair and forced his length down his throat, feeling him gag as his muscles worked against the intrusion. “You like being a filthy little slut for me, hmm?”

 

His namesake looked up at him through shiny, damp eyes. Soft and pliant and desperate to please. He whimpered around the cock in his mouth and Jaehwan shivered. 

 

“I asked you a question,” he hissed, pulling out enough to allow the fledgling to speak, “Do you like being a filthy little slut for me, darling?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Jaehwan gave his hair a sharp yank. “Say it.”

 

His namesake hiccuped. Swallowed. “I like being a filthy little slut for s-sir.”

 

The fledgling's shallow breath ghosted over Jaehwans skin and he shivered again. “Is that all a stupid little boy like you is good for? Taking cock and being used like a toy?”

 

Urging his namesake back to him without waiting for a response, the heat of Jaehwans irrational temper increased. Annoyance fueling his carnal lust and the lust fueling his annoyance. He watched as the fledgling’s lips wrapped around him and he began to suckle a little. Felt the fledgling flick his tongue around the shaft. Groaning under his breath as the fledgling’s mouth sank down lower and lower without any prompting. 

 

Jaehwan pulled out again, just because he knew the fledgling was enjoying it. “You do love having something in your mouth, don't you?”

 

His namesake nodded. 

 

Jaehwan backed away a bit farther. “I bet you could come from this alone...”

 

The fledgling whined, pouting like a child who’s toy had been taken away, leaning forward to try and chase his cock. Nearly toppling over in the attempt. 

 

“Greedy,” Jaehwan murmured, banishing an unwelcome thought of his eldest Bound, “Greedy little cockslut. If you want a taste so badly, come and taste me.”

 

He tightened his grip on the fledgling's hair and then released it altogether. Choosing instead to pull the leash chord behind the fledglings back. 

 

Even with the tightening noose around his neck, the fledgling tried. Wriggling toward Jaehwan as much as he could with the chord drawn taught. Effectively choking himself, mouth open and tongue sticking out. Keening like a kicked pup when he failed to reach his prize. 

 

As soon as Jaehwan allowed him to approach, the fledgling fell upon him. Taking Jaehwans length in his mouth the instant it was within reach. Licking him from root to tip and kissing him up and down. 

 

Cock sliding against his namesake’s tongue again, Jaehwan felt a faint hint of satisfaction. After all, this was how he fed. Imbibing the longing others held for him and using it to grow stronger. 

 

He groaned, slowly urging the fledgling to move his head up and down. Watching the fledglings every move. Watching as he laced his fingers together behind his back. Watching the fledgling lap hungrily at him, sucking his cock like candy. 

 

His namesake said something inaudible, voice muffled by the length in his mouth. 

 

“Speak up, darling,” Jaehwan hissed, tugging the cord and dislodging the fledgling for a third time. Pulling him off with a wet pop. 

 

“Opium,” the fledgling mumbled. Sniffling as he tried to catch his breath. “Sir’s skin tastes like opium.”

 

“I don’t remember asking,” Jaehwan replied through gritted teeth, “But that’s interesting, I suppose.”

 

The fledgling had stopped listening. That busy mouth back to working on Jaehwans cock. Taking Jaehwan in so deep that his nose was pressed to Jaehwans groin. 

 

The Prince of Lust let his temper loose, then. Properly fucking the fledglings throat with sharp, smooth thrusts. A hiss of pain tore from his fledgling, tears that would never fall beginning to well in the corners of his eyes. 

 

He lost himself in the moment, lost in the pleasure of it, until the fledgling moaned around him. Sending vibrations through Jaehwan that made his hips jerk and heat coil in the pit of his stomach. 

 

It ended more quickly than Jaehwan would have liked, fast and wet and messy. He’d been planning to fuck the fledglings mouth until his throat was raw, but perhaps...

 

He looked down at his namesake, still trying to catch his breath. The fledgling was utterly disheveled, skin blotchy with heat, Jaehwan’s come streaked across his cheeks and lips. The sleeves of his pretty dress were askew and the bow atop his head had slipped to one side. 

 

“Do you like the way I taste, darling,” Jaehwan panted, sighing as the fledgling licked his lips clean. Lapping up the little bit of come his tongue could reach the way a kitten would lap at a saucer of milk. 

 

This wouldn’t do. It simply would not do. The promised reward had only been a pretense to lure the fledgling into letting Jaehwan feed. His namesake was not actually supposed to be rewarded. 

 

“Naughty, naughty boy,” the Prince of Lust snarled. He hauled the fledgling up by the hair and shoving him toward the bed, “That was just a warmup. The real game starts now.”

 

“Sir-”

 

“Lay down,” Jaehwan interrupted, loosing the chord that bound the fledgling's wrists. 

 

His namesake did as he was ordered and clamored onto the mattress. Lying flat on his stomach with his arms folded like a pillow under his head, his legs dangling over the edge. 

 

Jaehwan moved to stand between his legs, nudging them further apart. Pushing up the taffeta folds of the fledglings dress before running a hand over his bare ass. 

 

“Spread yourself apart for me, darling,” he purred, watching as the fledgling reached back with trembling fingers to spread his cheeks, exposing himself entirely. “That's it... such a filthy doll you are... naughty and shameless and depraved…”

 

Pausing, thinking, Jaehwan shook his head.

 

“Not good enough,” he murmured, ignoring the fledgling’s little mew of discontent, “Turn around and raise your hands above your head.” 

 

Barely a minute later, Jaehwan had maneuvered his fledgling around to a more suitable position. Wrists wrapped tight together and tied to the headboard above him. Slightly propped up on a few pillows, leash cord still hanging about his lovely neck. 

 

“Much better” Jaehwan sighed, fingering the long lace sock still stretched around the fledglings thigh, “All tied up like a pretty little present.”

 

The fledgling whined and buried his face against the inside of his arm, straining against the ropes binding him and keeping him in place.

 

Jaehwan grinned a wicked grin. He pushed the fledglings legs up so they folded against his chest, stuffing a bit of pink taffeta into the fledglings mouth. “Are you ready? There is no stopping once we begin until I’m satisfied. You remember the rule?”

 

His namesake nodded, impatient, trying to get Jaehwan to hurry up. 

 

Jaehwan traced the fledgling's rim with one fingertip and he squealed. Cheeks burning with embarrassment as he realized just how exposed he was. The ring of muscle quivered and twitched beneath Jaehwans touch; the speed of the fledgling's demonic healing rendered him as tight as he’d been before Jaehwan ever walked into the room. 

 

“I think you may have overestimated yourself, darling,” Jaehwan said. 

 

His fledgling mewled as the first finger was pushed inside him, clenching around it and biting his lip. 

 

“A cockhungry little slut, you might be, but I’m not sure you’ll be able to handle all this... by the time I’m done with you, you’ll have forgotten how many times you broke the rules.”

 

A second finger quickly followed the first, curling slightly, searching for that most sensitive spot in the fledgling's core. When Jaehwan finally touched it, the fledgling moaned, head lolling sideways. 

 

Jaehwan pressed the spot again, rubbing tiny circles against the tender bundle of nerves. 

 

The fledglings back arched, trying to push himself closer and pull away at the same time, no doubt fearful of the strength of this particular pleasure. Precome began leaking from him again, but Jaehwan paid that no attention.

 

“This game is for my pleasure, darling,” he scolded, “Not yours. You may not finish until given express permission to do so.”

 

The fledgling tried to squeeze his thighs together, desperate for relief, but Jaehwan shoved them apart. 

 

Applying more pressure, he added, “And if you break the rules, the game will start all over again. Doesn't that sound like fun?”

 

Stretching his fledgling open wider, Jaehwan went to work. coaxing sounds to spill from the fledgling's mouth that were downright obscene. 

 

“Falling apart already, darling?”

 

The fledgling let out a loud, choked moan. 

 

Jaehwan laughed. Fingers buried in his namesake's heat, movements precise, amused by the fledgling's futile struggles. Perfectly willing to drag the pleasure out of him, kicking and screaming if necessary. 

 

Hips jerking up off the bed, mouth open and drooling, the fledgling reached his climax. 

 

“Oh dear,” Jaehwan sighed, “We’ll have to start over.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“Look at you,” Jaehwan snickered, hours later, “You came so hard without having your cock touched once... and you're all dirty now; you’ve stained your dress.”

 

“No more, sir, please, let me rest for just a minute, please!”

 

“Uh-uh” he tutted, “You know the rules; you failed to control yourself, and now we have to start over. And, if you recall, you expressly asked to be denied the opportunity to rest.”

 

Tugging at the cords around his wrists, the fledgling groaned. His nails digging into his own palms.

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Several more failures later, and Jaehwan still wasn’t satisfied. 

 

He had the fledgling pinned beneath him, working three fingers inside his weary trembling body. 

 

His fledgling was too exhausted to properly sob, keening for Jaehwan like a bird with a broken wing. And he was an utter mess; stomach and chest streaked with come, hair matted with sweat, the bedclothes beneath him damp and the folds of his little dress pushed up around his ribs. Overstimulated and overused. 

 

The fledgling came dry that last time, but Jaehwan still wanted more. Wanted to pull every last possible drop of pleasure from the fledgling's body until there was nothing left for him to give. Determined to break him, to push him until he snapped. 

 

“All wet for me, darling, hmm?” Jaehwan laughed, stirring the mess on the fledgling’s stomach so it coated his fingers, “My obedient, lewd little fuckdoll, aren't you? I wonder if I could train you to come on command...”

 

The fledgling twitched and twisted, failing to squirm away. Jaehwan held him still and pressed inside him again, ignoring the frantic shifting of his hips, drawing circles against his prostate more insistantly than before. 

 

He wailed, arching off the mattress until Jaehwan forced him back down. Fingers weaving round and round, unyielding, unrelenting, showing no mercy as he gifted the fledgling this pleasure. 

 

“What's the matter, darling?” Jaehwan cooed, “Aren't you enjoying your reward?”

 

He pressed his thumb against the fledglings slit and lazily spread the precome around. The fledgling made a garbled noise, clenching weakly as his whole body shook with the force of his climax. But Jaehwan didn’t stop. He thrust his fingers into his fledgling over and over again, dragging roughly against his most sensitive spot with every push and pull. Growling low in his throat. 

 

Even then, milked dry and probably feeling a generous helping of pain, the fledgling succumbed to Jaehwan’s less-than-tender ministrations. Trying to take Jaehwan’s fingers deeper, attempting to aid with the gentle rocking of his hips. Cries of distress melting into wanton pleas for more.

 

“I should have given you a sweet little pair of panties to wear, darling. Lace to match these lovely socks. Although I’m sure you’d have ruined such a garment by now...”

 

His namesake let out a breath and was unable to draw a fresh one, helpless and gasping with every thrust until Jaehwan slapped his cheek. Shocking him into a shaky inhale. 

 

“I have not given you permission yet, have I?” Jaehwan hissed, noting the telltale signs of an oncoming climax; the speed of his namesake's breath and the clenching of his stomach muscles. He growled again, as a warning, and the poor thing wailed. 

 

His body went rigid again, still failing to follow the rules. 

 

“If I didn’t know better,” Jaehwan snarled, “I’d think you were trying to lose. But you aren’t, are you darling? You’re simply to stupid to stop impaling yourself on my fingers long enough to form a single logical thought.”

 

Jaehwan dragged a finger through the mess on the fledgling’s stomach. His mouth fell open without needing to be asked and Jaehwan pressed it between his lips. 

 

“Nerm...” the fledgling mumbled, eyes fluttering closed as he obidiently sucked Jaehwan’s finger clean.

 

“We shall start again, darling,” Jaehwan continued, not bothering to try and decipher his namesake’s inane babbling, “I’ve decided that the game will not finish until I bring you to tears.” 

 

Most demons couldn’t cry, the Prince of Lust knew that. And he also knew that the fledgling had never truly shed tears before. But, if anyone in this universe was capable of forcing a demon to cry, it was himself. And he longed to see this fledgling cry. Longed to see his namesake absolutely ruined with tears streaming down his cheeks, covered in spit and come, with rope marks burned around his wrists and throat.

 

His longing for it, the mental picture he’d drawn for himself, seared through Jaehwan. The burning need for it sweeping like a fever through his veins.

 

The fledgling hummed in pleasure, swallowing what sticky residue remained. Nibbling gently as though he enjoyed the taste. 

 

Jaehwan pulled free of that warm, wet mouth, his finger now crooked under the fledgling’s chin. Thinking hard, wondering how he could achieve this overwhelming desire. What tactics he could try... “You would look so precious if you cried for me, darling,” he whispered, staring into the fledgling’s eyes, “You’re such a good boy, won’t you be a good boy and cry for me?”

 

His namesake keened at the small hint of praise, always so happy to be told he was good. He was trying. Jaehwan could see the effort, always so eager to please. But no tears came. 

 

Jaehwan waited for a full count of ten and still no silvery liquid spilled from the fledgling's eyes. 

 

Patience worn very, very thin, Jaehwan snarled at his namesake. Crawling up onto the bed and settling himself astride the fledglings filthy stomach. Softness hadn’t worked; perhaps intimidation would be more effective?

 

“I spoke too soon,” he growled, wrapping the leash cord around his palm and fisting the fledglings hair; bending so low that their noses touched. A curl had fallen loose from the ribbon holding back Jaehwan’s lengthy hair, but he let it stay where it was, tickling the fledgling’s cheek. “This demonstration is nothing. You cannot even begin to imagine, darling, the innumerable ways I could gift you pain. I could slit that pretty throat of yours over and over again until the end of time...”

 

The fledgling let out a small moan, staying very still. Aparently braced for the suffocation he expected to suffer. And suffer it, he did. Mouth open and gasping like a landed fish as Jaehwan pulled the cord tighter and tighter. Wiggling beneath him, heels digging into the mattress until Jaehwan allowed him to breathe.

 

“Gentle,” the fledgling croaked, choking on his own spit when he tried to swallow. 

 

“Gentle,”  Jaehwan purred, his voice a mocking imitation of his namesake’s chirpy lilt. He bit down hard on the fledgling’s tender neck, the freshly-spilt ichor tasting like pure silken malice on his tongue. “You asked for this, darling, you pleaded for me to stay here and not to leave you alone. This is exactly what greedy, filthy little brats like you deserve. You asked for it, and now you’re going to fucking take it.”

 

Intimidation hadn’t produced the desired result either. Maybe Jaehwan simply hadn’t tormented the poor thing enough. Hadn’t found the fledgling’s breaking point.

 

Jaehwan stayed up on the bed, folding the fledgling in half to try a new angle. Pinning the fledgling’s knees down against his chest with one arm and breaching his rim once again. 

 

The fledgling shuddered, rutting back against Jaehwan’s probing fingers. His thighs trembled with the effort of holding them apart for so many hours but Jaehwan didn’t stop. 

 

Ruthless as always, he yanked the leash cord in time with his thrusts. Abusing the fledglings prostate and watching the fledglings eyes roll back in his head. He slackened his grip on the cord for a moment, and the fledgling managed to take a deep breath; that soft pink tongue lolling out of his mouth. 

 

Now, Jaehwan thought, reaching for the unending well of power that smoldered inside his chest. He sent invisible tendrils of undiluted lust outward, able to see them as they snaked their way down the fledgling's throat. Flooding his namesake’s body with desire and heat until the poor thing shook apart. 

 

“Another failure,” Jaehwan whispered, digging his nails into the fledglings fleshy thigh, “I should whip you for such disobedience, you pathetic excuse for a demon. I asked you to perform one simple task and follow one simple rule, but you cannot even properly follow such simple instructions!”

 

He slotted his fingers back into the fledgling's warm heat without giving him time to come down from the rush. The hot slide of it made Jaehwan feel a bit dizzy.

 

The fledgling tried to pull away from the intrusion pressing inexorably into his weary little body, but Jaehwan didn’t allow him to get far. Getting a harsh grip on his hips and fucking into him harder. Dragging those sweet little whimpers out of his mouth by force. 

 

“Tell me how much you’re enjoying yourself, darling,” Jaewhan murmured, speaking the words against the fledgling’s glistening temple. Panting shallowly as he nipped at the fledgling’s earlobe, “Tell me...”

 

“-m enjoying m-m-myself,” the fledgling mumbled. Every muscle in his body was vibrating with tension, and yet he was still opening up for Jaehwan beneath the onslaught of pleasure.

 

“Say thank you, darling.”

 

“Thank you, s-s-sir!”

 

Jaehwan smiled, his teeth growing sharp, “Thank you for what? For turning you into an obedient little fucktoy?”

 

“Yeh-yes, sir!”

 

“For using your poor little body until it breaks?”

 

“Yes, seh-sir!”

 

“For dressing you up so prettily and then turning you into a mess?”

 

“Th-that too!” the fledgling mewled, and Jaehwan squeezed his tender throat, wanting to choke him until he’d never breathe again. 

 

His namesake had been so ignorant, his lust-addled mind making him believe he’d be able to succeed at this game. 

 

Jaehwan flexed his fingers, stretching the fledgling open. Forcing him to clench up and tighten involuntarily. Steadily stroking him towards his next failure, until the fledgling bucked against him. Moaning and choking as Jaehwan pushed him to the edge and forced a weak dribble of come to spurt onto his stomach. 

 

The fledgling cried out and Jaehwan idly began to lap the salty sweat off his skin. Sobbing from hyper-sensitivity until his climax began to subside; trembling and twitching with aftershocks of pleasure.

 

“I don’t know what you-know-who intended your purpose to be in this world, darling, but if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say that you were created to be nothing more than a plaything.”

 

Still no tears...

 

Jaehwan traced the point of his elongated talon lightly along the fledgling's cheek, twisting it slowly under the line of the fledgling’s jaw, down over the swell of the fledgling’s adam's apple. His thrumming pulse, his collarbones, all the way to his chest. The talon’s sharp edge circled his right nipple, applying more and more pressure until the fledgling shrieked. Hot ichor beginning to well from the cut and dribble down the fledgling's front. 

 

“I do so enjoy making you bleed, little one,” Jaehwan whispered, kissing his red cheek and continuing to trace a weeping path over the fledglings soft tummy. Ignoring his muffled squeals of pain. “Will bleeding help convince you to cry?”

 

The fledgling shook his head back and forth, but Jaehwan waited. Disappointed when his namesake still failed to produce any tears. 

 

“Perhaps not. I wonder what else I can try...”

 

Peering at him through those large emerald eyes, mooning at Jaehwan like a lovesick calf, the fledgling tried to snuggle closer. Submitting, as always, to whatever pain or humiliation Jaehwan chose to inflict upon him. So desperate for validation and praise and affection that it made Jaehwan queasy.  

 

Jaehwan sat up straight and tucked his stray curl behind his ear. Softness, intimidation, overdosing him on pleasure and slicing his skin; none of it had worked. The fledgling liked being humiliated too much for that to have any effect. Jaehwan liked to be creative with his torments, but perhaps a more traditional form of punishment would finally force the fledglings' tears to fall. 

 

“Get up,” he snapped, waving his hand so the rope securing the fledgling's wrists to the bed came free. He was up and off the bed in a moment, striding across the room to sit on a chair he’d conjured up the instant before. It was a simple wooden chair, but strong enough to support them both without buckling. 

 

The fledgling rolled around, trying to follow. When he finally did manage to get off the bed, he promptly collapsed in a heap on the floor. Body too weak and drained from all the abuse for him to walk yet. 

 

“Can't even stand up properly,” Jaehwan hissed, “Crawl to me on your hands and knees, little bitch. Hurry up!”

 

He watched, arms crossed, as the fledgling crawled towards him. Pink skirt fabric swishing with each movement, the blue bow flopping against his forehead. 

 

When the fledgling finally came to kneel beside his chair, Jaehwan patted his knee. “Up. Get on my lap- not like that, stupid boy, like this!” 

 

His namesake had tried to straddle him and Jaehwan shoved him off, roughly manhandling him around until his namesake was lying sideways across his thighs, face down and ass up.

 

“You’ve consistently failed to obey my rules, darling,” he murmured, folding the dress up so the swathe of flesh he desired to see was exposed, “And now, you will be punished. Because that is what happens to disobedient toys.”

 

“Sir-”

 

“Shut your filthy mouth before I gag you,” Jaehwan snapped, and his namesake fell silent. 

 

He raised one hand and struck him quickly, a loud slap echoing through the room. At the sudden, unexpected strike, the fledgling squeaked. 

 

“Count,” Jaehwan instructed, idly stroking the fledglings back for a moment, “Outloud. I’ll start over.”

 

His hand came down against the fledgling's bare ass again, brisk and sharp, stinging his already sore, red flesh. The fledgling sucked in a ragged breath. “One.”

 

At some point, Jaehwan had realized that his desire for the fledgling's tears was not purely his own. In his weakened state, the fledgling was projecting his hunger outwards. Hunger that manifested in determination; the fledgling's hatred of being alone had tricked Jaehwan into pursuing a futile goal. But at this point, Jaehwan was long past caring.

 

Jaehwan rubbed his open palm over the place where he slapped and paused, before smacking that same spot again. 

 

“T-two.”

 

Three more times in rapid succession, hitting him hard, low across the crease above the fledgling’s thighs. 

 

“Five.”

 

A keening cry welled up in the fledgling's throat as Jaehwan struck him for the tenth time. 

 

Still no tears… 

 

“Begin again,” Jaehwan said sharply, switching his target to the fledgling's other cheek and starting the cycle all over.

 

One after another, the next always more painful than the last. Jaehwan spanked him mercilessly, wanting to leave the fledglings skin raw and stinging. 

 

By the time he realized that this effort too had been futile, his namesake’s breath was coming shallow and ragged, on the verge of screaming. And only once he’d been reduced to a bruised, sniffling, drool-covered little mess, did inspiration finally strike. 

 

Once, long ago, Jaehwans pet had accused him of ‘getting off on being withholding’, which Jaehwan couldn't exactly deny at this particular moment. Although, he’d staunchly protested at the time.

 

With a few pokes and prods, Jaehwan urged the fledgling off of him and hauled him back over to the bed. But not onto it. He tied the fledglings hands to the bedpost, the leash cord too, making sure his namesake would be unable to slip free of the restraints. 

 

“I’ve grown tired of you,” he murmured, in a voice most people would use for confessions of love, “The game is over. I shall take my leave. Perhaps I’ll return in a week or two to play with you again. Or, perhaps I won’t.”

 

He saw the panic. An instant surge of it rising inside the fledgling at his words. 

 

“It’s a shame,” Jaehwan continued, taking slow steps backward, “I thought we’d have a lovely time together…”

 

Another step.

 

“You are my namesake, after all, no one should have been better suited to play with me than you…”

 

Another.

 

“And I was so looking forward to rewarding you, darling, but alas…”

 

Those eyes were so wide; that plush lip began to wobble. “Sir?”

 

“I have no time for a playmate that disobeys me, darling, surely you understand that much at least. No time for playmates that cannot follow the rules…”

 

Another step.

 

“No more of my time shall be wasted on you, darling, don’t worry…”

 

And another.

 

“It’s simply unfortunate it took me so long to realize…”

 

The fledgling began to tug at his bonds. “Sir? Sir!”

 

Jaehwan put on a small, sad smile. Shaking his head. “I thought you were such a good boy. I thought you would behave for me, but it turns out that I was incorrect…”

 

“No- wait, sir, I’ll be better! I’ll do better!”

 

Another step. More than halfway towards the door now. “That's what they all say when the end comes, darling, it’s not your fault. You can’t help that you’re a failure.”

 

Finally, Jaehwan turned his back on the fledgling. The smile playing on his lips grew wider by the moment. 

 

He heard the fledgling begin to sob, heard the creaking of the bed post as the fledgling tried to wriggle free, heard the pleas for forgiveness and a second chance; promises that the fledgling would do anything Jaehwan wanted if Jaehwan would only stay. 

 

“I’m sorry, darling,” Jaehwan called over his shoulder, resting a hand on the doorknob, “I suppose it was fun while it lasted.”

 

The sound of a fresh sob made Jaehwan hesitate. It didn’t sound quite like all the others. 

 

And when he turned on the spot to look back, Jaehwan saw a tear. A fat silver tear, sparkling where it perched on the long dark lashes of the fledglings left eye. Ready to fall at last.

 

Then another, rolling slowly down his namesakes flushed round cheek. 

 

Jaehwan forgot to breathe.

 

He watched, still clinging to the doorknob, as the tears began to fall thick and fast. Silver trails staining his namesake’s face, pooling at the corners of his mouth and dripping from the point of his chin. 

 

The Prince of Lust had never seen a more precious sight in his seven thousand years of life. 

 

He bolted back across the room and vanished the fledgling’s bonds. Banishing the sticky mess from the fledglings body with barely a thought and replacing the stained dress with a pair of the fledglings favorite oversized cotton pajamas.

 

Success at long last. Jaehwan was so overjoyed that his stomach filled with butterflies. 

 

“Darling,” he sighed, gathering his namesake into his arms and sinking gracefully to the floor, “You did it, my good boy, you’ve done so well!”

 

The fledgling’s tears hadn’t ceased yet; Jaehwan could feel them. Cradling the fledgling close as he buried his face in the crook of Jaehwan’s neck. 

 

He stroked the fledglings back, pet his hair and rocked him gently back and forth. The fledgling's breath tickled a little but, for once, Jaehwan didn’t mind. He hummed words of encouragement and praise while the fledgling inhaled deep lungfuls of Jaehwans perfume, lapping venom off the tips of Jaehwans fingers. 

 

Jaehwan lost track of how long he sat there. Simmering with a bone-deep sense of contentment. 

 

“Precious darling… clever darling,” he cooed, tilting the fledglings face up and placing a chaste, gentle kiss on his swollen lips and nosing at his sweet-smelling skin, “Would you like to sleep in my bed with me? You’ve been so perfect for me, would you like that?”

 

The fledgling nodded, already half asleep in Jaehwans embrace; his arms wound snuggly around Jaehwans neck. 

 

Jaehwan nodded in return. He felt for the nearest shadow and pulled the fledgling into it, carrying him through the dark and into Jaehwans own bedroom. It wasn’t as luxurious as his bedroom in his home downstairs, but it would do for now. 

 

“Come along darling, just one moment more and you may sleep,” he hummed, carefully untangling himself from the fledgling’s arms and tucking him under the blankets. 

 

And, once he’d cleaned himself up and changed into fresh clothes, Jaehwan caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror. He looked so much like the fledgling squirming drowsily in his bed... coloring aside, they were so nearly identical. 

 

Jaehwan loosed the ribbon tying back his hair and his long black curls fell around him. Framing his face like a dark halo. It was time, he thought, pulling a pair of scissors from thin air; time to cut away the final reminder of his time spent in the void. With every snip, Jaehwan felt lighter. Black curls littered the floor around him like fallen corpses. The Prince of Lust smiled. 

 

When he was finally left with only a short crop of dark hair, Jaehwan climbed into bed as well. 

 

“Sir…” his namesake mumbled, reaching out and clinging onto Jaehwan as soon as he was within reach. 

 

“Hmm?”

 

But his namesake had already fallen asleep. Tucked against Jaehwans chest with Jaehwans thumb in his mouth. Their heads resting on the same pillow.

 

Jaehwan sighed a contented sigh and closed his eyes. 

 

It had been an evening well spent. 

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Notes:

Normal plot will resume next chapter lollolol
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Chapter 20

Summary:

mischief abounds~

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The Prince of Lust swept into the Conclave hall like a rising tide. Beautiful and unyielding; capable of drowning a continent with barely a thought. 

 

He was dressed from head to toe in emerald. The color of his family. Rich damask accentuating the dips and swells of his supple curves. A silk ribbon tied in a soft knot at the base of his throat. Newly cropped curls combed carefully away from his face, tiny jewels nestled within the ebony stands. 

 

Behind him walked his sweetling and his namesake. Order and Chaos. Both were swathed in the matching cloaks Jaehwan had crafted specially for this occasion; emerald velvet and lined with black silk. Soft black fur edging their collars, long trains dragging along the floor with each step they took.  

 

They made a striking set, his two little favorites, and Jaehwan heard murmurs ripple out from the other demons in the hall. No doubt taking notice of the newcomers. Wondering who the little ones were. Looking at the pair with appreciative eyes. Until, of course, those appreciative eyes settled on Jaehwan himself, at which point any appreciation was quickly smothered by shock and awe. 

 

Hakyeon had been trying to keep Jaehwan’s return to the world a secret from the others. As had the angels, and Jaehwan himself. There had been whispers about him, but there were always whispers, and it seemed that none of his old friends had believed those whispers until they beheld the truth with their own eyes. 

 

And behold him, they most certainly did. 

 

Nearly half of the demons here at Senior Conclave had been Jaehwan’s co-conspirators, once upon a time. They had collaborated with him to overthrow Heaven. Were accessories to his treason. And the other half had no stomach for rebellion. They’d been intending to hunt him down and capture him, acting under orders from Hakyeon, until the fateful day that Jaehwan was tricked into his prison. 

 

“Lust,” said a voice that was deceptively sweet, like sugar laced with arsenic, “It’s been a long while since you last graced us with your presence.”

 

Jaehwan turned to face the demon with a dazzling smile. “Doubt,” he replied, with equal sweetness, bending to kiss the woman’s cheek and feeling her lips brush his own, “A long while indeed.”

 

The Princess of Doubt was small and fair, with a delicate bone structure and red hair that tumbled down past her hips. Her flock of nymph-like daughters were gathered in a giggling clump behind her. Looking at Jaehwan and murmuring with their hands hiding their smiles.

 

Despite her diminutive stature, she was capable of bringing even the strongest to their knees, and Jaehwan had always admired her skill. He hadn’t been fool enough to trust her, but that was neither here nor there. He admired her all the same.

 

She glanced around Jaehwan, peering at the young ones; her startling canary yellow eyes wide with delighted fascination. “Who might these lovely creatures be? And where is Sanghyuk?”

 

“These…” Jaehwan held out a hand, his sweetling approaching first with his namesake a step behind, “Are my roses.” 

 

Another familiar voice spoke up from Jaehwan’s left. It was a high, haughty voice, and Jaehwan had never been too fond of its owner. “Not that one,” the demon said in a know-it-all tone, pointing a boney finger at Jaehwan’s namesake, “That one is Bound to Greed. He’s the new Prince of Gluttony.”

 

“Order,” Jaehwan corrected, “Not Gluttony. That title was mistakenly bestowed upon him due to my eldest’s haste.”

 

The Prince of Pride only hummed in response. 

 

“Noticed him often, have you, Pride?” Jaehwan asked, feeling Hongbin pressed against his back. Hongbin's fingertips settled on his shoulders. He reached out and held his namesake's chin, tilting the fledgeling’s face gently from side to side. Showing him off. “I’m not surprised. My namesake is quite beautiful, don’t you agree? You’ve always had an eye for beautiful things, Pride. Do you covet him?”

 

The Prince of Pride hummed a second time, conveying more annoyance than agreement. “If you gifted him to me, I wouldn’t refuse. But alas, he is not yours to give away, is he?”

 

Jaehwan felt tiny bubbles of pleasure fizzing in the pit of his stomach. Inhaling a shallow lungful of longing that rose from the Prince of Pride’s skin. Enjoying the knowledge that his namesake had inspired such strong desire in such a powerful demon. 

 

The Princess of Doubt let out a little tinkling laugh. “So, he’s Sanghyuk’s child?”

 

Jaehwan nodded. He couldn’t pass the fledgling off as his own Bound here, with these demons, a good portion of whom were already aware of his namesake's parentage and corruption. 

 

“He is, as you say, quite beautiful, Lust; like your portrait in miniature. Perhaps even more beautiful than you,” she continued, absently tucking her hair behind her ear, “I’m sure my daughters would enjoy a chance to entertain him. He’d be a perfect fixture in their gardens.”

 

‘Of course, they would,’ Jaehwan thought, ‘the fledgling would fit right in with the so-called Queen of the faeries and her innumerable offspring. The fledgling, with his love of flowers and fresh air, would surely feel at home in her domain. Frolicking in the pretty places of the world and tempting even the most pious humans into a pit of doubt and despair.’ 

 

Jaehwan’s smile only grew, even as he bristled at the idea that his namesake could be considered more beautiful than he was. Such a concept was almost laughably absurd.

 

“And who might you be?” she asked sweetly, as her gaze shifted to Hongbin, “Are you Sanghyuk’s Bound as well?”

 

“My name is Hongbin,” said Hongbin, his warm breath fanning gently across the column of Jaehwan’s neck, “Prince of Chaos, and Duke of Hell. And no, I am not Sanghyuk’s Bound. I’m his brother.”

 

“Order and Chaos,” she sighed, returning to meet Jaehwans eye and giving him a cheeky wink, “You have been busy.”

 

“Why did you bring them along instead of Greed? We’ll need him in the days to come,” said a third voice, as the Prince of Pride excused himself and scurried away. 

 

Jaehwan looked at the speaker, unsurprised to see the Princess of Wrath glaring back at him. 

 

Six feet tall, give or take an inch, she stood with her shoulders back and arms crossed. Her mane of flaxen hair was woven in intricate war braids, dressed in a deep blue jerkin and leather trousers with a short sword belted around her waist. Her sapphire blue eyes sharp and alert. 

 

“It’s a pleasure to see you too, Wrath,” Jaehwan replied, petting Hongbin's cheek with one hand and allowing the fledgling to cling to the other. 

 

This prestigious demon had always been close to Sanghyuk, becoming friends quite soon after Sanghyuk’s fall. They’d always run off to play games of mischief together and Jaehwan couldn’t help but recall how upset he’d been on each of those occasions. It had frustrated him so much. Seeing his pet enjoying the company of anyone other than himself. 

 

“Where is Greed,” she snapped, unrelenting and undaunted by Jaehwans growing displeasure. Impatient when Jaehwan didn’t speak right away. 

 

Jaehwans eyelids fluttered. “A good question, I suppose, but not one I have an answer for. My pet and I have had a falling out.”

 

Doubt gave a little mew of sympathy, petting Jaehwan’s shoulder. Before he had a chance to say anything else, a bell at the center of the hall began to ring. Calling the meeting to order. 

 

“Come along,” Jaehwan murmured, gathering the young ones up and leading them away from Wrath. Over to the raised dais and the large round table that crouched atop it. 

 

He found his seat easily enough; he would have done so even without the small place card with his name written on it. It was the place he’d always occupied at Senior Conclave. Doubt to his left and Pride to his right. The insufferable demon was all that kept him from his rightful place at Hakyeon's side. But, to his surprise, Hakyeon's throne was unoccupied and the Lord of the Void was nowhere to be seen. 

 

A burst of giggling caught Jaehwan’s attention and he turned in his chair, just in time to see one of Doubt’s lovely daughters stand on tiptoe to whisper in his namesake’s ear. 

 

The fledgling smiled shyly at her. And then he laughed at something she said, drawing a little pink flower from thin air and wrapping its stem around a lock of her red hair. 

 

Displeasure bit sharply inside the Prince of Lust, firmly lodged somewhere near his navel. 

 

He snatched the fledgling's wrist and yanked until his namesake was bent down enough to hear his rebuke. “Keep your hands to yourself, darling,” he growled, low in the fledgling's ear, “I brought you here to be admired, not to make friends.” 

 

“So-sorry, sir,” the fledgling mumbled; bottom lip wobbling and cheeks flushed, no doubt embarrassed at being chastised in front of so many strangers. 

 

Jaehwan squeezed his wrist a bit tighter, but he parted his lips, offering the fledgling a taste of venom as a reward for the prompt apology. Pleased that his old friends could see how well he’d trained his namesake. The fledgling was proof that Jaehwan was not at fault for the behavior of his wayward eldest. How could he be, when he had two obedient children at his side, proof of his prowess and authority? Jaehwan couldn’t have been the problem; Sanghyuk had simply gone wrong.  

 

The fledgling’s lashes fluttered with relief as he accepted Jaehwan’s gift. Accepted the Prince of Lust’s kiss. His pink tongue dipping shallowly past Jaehwan’s lips to taste Jaehwan’s venom, humming into Jaehwan’s mouth. 

 

“Stay with Hongbin,” Jaehwan said, once the fledgling had claimed his reward, flush-cheeked and breathless and still bent at the waist, “And speak to no one else.”

 

With a mumbled “Yes, sir,” the fledgling straightened up and tucked himself closer to Hongbin. Jaehwan could sense their proximity at his back. Hongbin’s fingers were tangled in his hair and the fledgling fisted the fabric of Jaehwan’s cloak. 

 

“Let the young ones have fun, you don’t need to be so strict,” Doubt whispered, giving Jaehwan a mischievous smile and bumping his shoulder with her own.

 

Privately, Jaehwan disagreed. But he said nothing. 

 

“Demons of the First Wave, Lords and Ladies of Hell,” said Pride, standing to address the room in Hakyeon’s absence, “As you are all aware, this Conclave was called on short notice. Thank you for making time to be here. ”

 

“Presumptuous,” Jaehwan breathed, just loud enough for the demon’s closest to him to hear. It was presumptuous; for Pride to assume the role of leader without a vote. They all knew it. 

 

Pretending he hadn’t heard, Pride continued, “The reason we are gathered today is simple; it has come to our attention that the horsemen have begun to prepare their mounts. Their ride across the surface of the world will begin very soon. And, once they reach their destination, it is paramount that we are ready for war.”

 

Jaehwan sat up, alert, tension drawing his spine straight. 

 

“If this is true, where is Hakyeon? Why is our lord not here?” called a demon across the table. 

 

Pride’s lips were pressed together in a tight line of annoyance. “It was decided, by those of us who called for Conclave, that it would be prudent for the Lord of the Void to be left out of our discussions for now.”

 

“For what reason?”

 

“There are concerns that he has grown too friendly with angels,” Wrath replied, answering the question before Pride had a chance, “Hakyeon will be brought in only once our plans and preparations are made.”

 

Murmurs erupted from every side; both from the archdemons and their Bound. Some shocked, some angry, and some suspicious. 

 

As far as Hell’s law was concerned, this was treason. Jaehwan understood that truth better than most. Simply proposing a meeting like this without Hakyeon’s consent would be considered a breach of the law, let alone attending it. And yet, here they all were; and even though everyone was now aware of the circumstances, not a single demon rose to leave. 

 

Hakyeon’s grip on his throne had slipped during Jaehwan’s time away. The Prince of Lust wondered if Hakyeon was aware of that, or if his friend was somehow ignorant of the changing tides. 

 

Jaehwan cleared his throat; not loudly, but every face in the room turned in his direction.

 

“What plans are you proposing?” he asked, voice low and smooth like molasses, holding Wrath’s gaze across the table, “And, with our Lord absent, who do you propose to lead the charge?”

 

Wrath watched him. Calculating and cold. She and Pride had called this Conclave together; perhaps they intended to lead the troops in tandem. Although, if she truly believed that Pride would share power with anyone, she was deluding herself. He’d want the throne for himself and himself alone. 

 

The silence that rang in the aftermath of his question was charged. Tension vibrating the particles in the air. Dread curling around their heads like smoke. Because, as was made clearer with every second that passed, Wrath did not have an answer. 

 

“You hoped to lead us, Lust, once upon a time,” said Doubt, her voice shattering the silence like the tinkling of bells.

 

The smile curving Jaehwan’s mouth was tentative. “Once upon a time,” he nodded, sitting back in his chair with an air of nonchalance, “But that was many millennia ago, and the price I paid for my disloyalty was steep. Do you expect me to lay my head on the chopping block a second time?”

 

He could see where this was going, but had no wish to rush. Looking too eager would be counterproductive. 

 

Doubt turned to blink at him and Jaehwan blinked back, Hongbin giving his hair a playful little tug. 

 

“Our Lord aside, no other archdemon alive has more experience with leadership than you,” she replied, flashing Pride a warning glare when he made a noise of protest, “And perhaps you didn’t succeed all those millenia ago because the time wasn’t right. Now, all of us have something to fight for. It isn’t a matter of factions or alliances or petty politics. We will be going to war, and we will be fighting to defeat Heaven. Angels against demons. So, if the mantle of leadership were laid before you, would you take it up once more?”

 

Jaehwan hesitated, allowing his gaze to drift across the room. Resting the tips of his fingers against his lip. Pretending to deliberate. 

 

“If the vote were in my favor, then perhaps, yes. But I will not take the risk of assuming power without a vote again. If I am to lead you all in the war to come, it will only be with the Fallen’s unconditional support.”

 

“A vote then,” said Wrath, motioning for a hellspawn to fetch the jar and tokens, “Will anyone else put themself forward?”

 

Pride did, giving a pompous little speech full of flowery words and empty promises. Deception did as well, but she gave no speech; only raising her hand and nodding to Wrath. 

 

Jaehwan sat and watched, listening as Wrath outlined the rules for the vote. Each demon would be given three tokens, and they would place one token in the collection jar. Purple for Pride, magenta for Deception, and emerald for Lust. Whoever received the most votes would lead them in the war to come. 

 

It took a bit of time, as votes at Senior Conclave always did. Some chose to deliberate with their Bound, some deliberated with each other. Only those who’d fallen in the First Wave could vote. Twelve voters total. All that remained of that legendary rebellion. The twelve survivors of Heaven’s justice. 

 

Once all the votes had been collected and the room was quiet once more, Wrath began to count. Laying the tokens out before her like pieces on a chessboard. 

 

“Deception,” she said, placing the first token, “Lust. Lust. Pride. Lust. Lust. Lust. Lust. Deception. Lust. Lust,” and then, placing her own vote last, “Lust.”

 

Every nerve in Jaehwan’s body was alight. He simmered with silent pleasure, looking at the nine emerald tokens on the tabletop through narrowed eyes, feeling the fledgling’s grip on him tighten. 

 

“One vote for Pride, two votes for Deception, nine votes for Lust. The Conclave has given its answer.”

 

With a soft sigh, Jaehwan flicked an errant curl from his eyes. “Your faith in me is appreciated,” he hummed, smiling around the table, “And now, let us get to work.”

 

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Notes:

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Chapter 21

Summary:

Hyukkie makes a move lol

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A hum shaped against the shell of an ear… “You were perfect today, darling…”

 

A flash of sharp white teeth…

 

Crimson lips turned up in a smile…

 

A sea of emerald; damask and velvet and silk…

 

Three figures walking down a night-dark street, arm in arm in arm…

 

“And you as well, sweetling… I couldn’t be more pleased…”

 

The ornate facade of a large and familiar building in the distance…

 

A swish of a cloak… a twitch of nervous fingers…

 

“Did you already know, sir? About- the war?”

 

Bright, bone chilling laughter…

 

“Of course I did, darling. I’ve known for quite a while now…”

 

A baritone whisper… “We can finally start having some real fun…”

 

“What's happening, Shik?”

 

Wonshik’s consciousness returned to his body with a jolt. For a moment, he couldn’t remember where he was or what he was doing there.

 

He’d been indulging his gifts again. Indulging his envy. Specifically, the envy he felt toward his little brother. 

 

Sanghyuk had asked him to try it weeks ago, to try and see if he could gather any information on what Jaehwan and Hongbin and the Prince of Lust were doing locked up inside that mansion on the surface. And after Wonshik agreed that first time, the requests just kept coming. If he tried to say no, asking would turn to begging, and he’d be rendered powerless in the face of his creator’s desperation. 

 

So, he kept indulging. Kept spying. Kept using his power to pry into the affairs of his relatives, hoping each time that would be the last. 

 

Envy has side effects. It makes one feel sick to their stomach, teetering on the edge of nausea for hours at a time. It causes their fingers to shake and their heart to pound and their head to spin. Experiencing such a strong concentration of envy would certainly kill a human; it might even kill a hellspawn or a lesser fallen. But for Wonshik, it only made him sick. 

 

The contents of his vision would have sickened Wonshik all on their own. He’d watched the little games the Prince of Lust played, watched Jaehwan succumb to attacks of fierce panic when left alone, watched Jaehwan and Hongbin curl up like cats on an unfamiliar bed when the Prince of Lust was out running mysterious errands. 

 

And after he’d watched, Wonshik had to relay all of what he’d seen to Sanghyuk. He’d have to see how his own words struck Sanghyuk like physical blows. How Sanghyuk’s expression would crumble for an instant until it hardened with anger. 

 

“It’s bad,” Wonshik whispered, grip tight around Sanghyuk’s wrist as he regained his bearings, trying to force his eyes to focus, “Treason… he’s going to use Jaehwan and Hongbin as weapons against the angels… we need to tell-“

 

Hakyeon, is what Wonshik had been about to say. They needed to tell Hakyeon. Senior Conclave was planning to start a war behind his back and had elected the Prince of Lust to lead them. It was treason of the highest order and Hakyeon needed to know.

 

But he was not given an opportunity to finish his sentence. 

 

Sanghyuk sprang to his feet, rage silently screaming from every inch of his body, emerald eyes aglow with crimson-tinged flame. So similar to the Prince of Lust’s eyes…

 

“Jaehwan is not a weapon,” Sanghyuk spat, his lips pulling back from his teeth. 

 

“I know he’s not, Hyuk, I know, but Hakyeon-”

 

“No! No more but! I listened to your advice, I waited, I gave him time to come home on his own,” Sanghyuk interrupted, already undoing the top buttons on his shirt, “But this is too much. I will not allow him to be used as a weapon, Wonshik, I will not!”

 

Yes, Wonshik had advised his creator against removing Jaehwan from the Prince of Lust’s house by force. And no, he had not done so because he was jealous of his brother and it would be a simple way to get rid of Jaehwan. To even suggest such an accusation would be tantamount to admitting that the accuser does not understand Wonshiks character at all. 

 

Wonshik had suggested it for two reasons. 

 

Firstly, because doing so would make the Prince of Lust very angry with Sanghyuk, and he was already angry enough. 

 

And secondly, Wonshik had been alive for a very long time. He’d seen rebellion; seen it in angels, in demons, and even in humans. Wonshik understood that if they were to break in and bring Jaehwan home against his will, it would only make Jaehwan wish to run even further away. 

 

The sensible thing to do was wait. Wait and be ready, and when the time came and Jaehwan finally woke up and realized that he wanted to leave, Sanghyuk and Wonshik would be there to welcome him home with open arms.

 

He’d been spying on his brother for long enough by that point to know Jaehwan wasn’t a hostage. Jaehwan had not been kidnapped, nor had he been forbidden to leave. Something was keeping Jaehwan there, making him want to stay, but whatever that thing was couldn’t hold him forever. 

 

Wonshik swallowed, trying to push down the bile surging in the back of his throat. “What are you doing?”

 

His creator began forming patterns in the air with his fingers, each movement lightning fast, until Wonshik felt an aura of magic taking shape around him. Around the apartment. New and stronger wards, Wonshik guessed. But they weren’t in place yet. It was like the magic was hanging in the atmosphere, not quite real, ready and waiting for Sanghyuk to place the final piece of the puzzle.

 

“What I should have done weeks ago,” Sanghyuk replied, “Jaehwan is not a weapon. He’s a beautiful being of magic and light and he is mine! I will get him back if it fucking kills me!”

 

“Hyuk…”

 

He turned back to face Wonshik, reaching up to the open neck of his shirt as his nails began to lengthen. “When my Master calls for me, and he will, you stay here and keep Jaehwan safe. I don’t care how you do it, but don’t let him run away again. That is an order. Now, check on him again, do it.”

 

Unable to disobey a direct order like that, and not inclined to argue the point when Sanghyuk was so furious, Wonshik tumbled back into his well of envy. 

 

A faint susurration of satin sheets…

 

A bubble of laughter smothered against bear skin…

 

A fingertip caressing a smooth round cheek…

 

“You both deserve a treat, I suppose, for behaving so well…”

 

“Sweets? Sweets please…”

 

“Outside time? This house is starting to induce claustrophobia…”

 

Ripples of pleasure, tinged with a patronizing air of pride…

 

So proud of the little ones for playing their parts so perfectly…

 

And hunger from elsewhere in the room… hunger for that approval… a hunger that was sated so rarely… but it was being sated now… 

 

Hunger for approval and praise, but there was more, so much more… the power… the life force… the need to feed… 

 

“Anything you’d like, my loves, you’ve surely earned it…”

 

Order drinking from Chaos and Lust…

 

Sating itself on the frenetic energy that beats at the center of their hearts… 

 

Drawing their power out and drinking it like wine… 

 

So subtly and so automatically that its prey would not notice until it was too late… 

 

“Sweets please, sir… I’m so hungry…”

 

And then he was ripped halfway from his vision with a ragged gasp. Pain bloomed at the base of Wonshik’s neck, bright red and scorching. Sanghyuk had dug his claw into the flesh above his own collarbone and broken the skin. 

 

Wonshik saw rivulets of silver ichor begin to drip from the wound. The wound he felt as surely as if it was his own skin that had broken. Sanghyuk’s pain took over the entirety of his consciousness, and if he hadn’t already been in the room with Sanghyuk, Wonshik would have moved heaven and earth to get to his creator. 

 

It was enough to momentarily distract him from the sensation of world-shattering dread that had settled over him as he watched. But not for long. Realization crashed into his mind like a tidal wave; Jaehwan had been feeding. Feeding on the Prince of Lust. And the Prince of Lust was unaware of it. Perhaps Jaehwan was unaware of it too. Perhaps Jaehwan didn’t know what he was doing or how he was doing it or why. 

 

Wave after wave after wave crashed into Wonshik, but the vision still hung halfway across his eyes, and he saw a flash of Jaehwan’s terrified face, heard a split second of agonized shrieking. Caught a glimpse of Jaehwan scrambling off the foot of a large bed. 

 

Because Wonshik had felt Sanghyuk’s pain. And so, of course, Jaehwan had felt the pain too. 

 

“No, wait- Hyuk!” Wonshik choked, reaching for his creator again. Sanghyuk didn’t know about this newest revelation and he needed to know but it was already too late-

 

The air in the room grew tight. Wonshik and Sanghyuk had been in Sanghyuk’s study with both doors shut, and something else was there now too. It appeared too suddenly for the air pressure to adjust. It was Jaehwan. 

 

Seeing double, Wonshik stared, wide-eyed, as his little brother materialized right in front of the armchair he was seated on. So much like the brother he remembered but so strange as well. In slim black trousers with an emerald silk shirt hanging loose around his torso, a few buttons undone and the cuffs of his sleeves slipping down over his fingers. 

 

Jaehwan whirled on the spot, those large green eyes rounded with panic. Full lips parted in a little O. His slate colored hair had grown a bit, Wonshik noticed; it curled at the edges and around the nape of his neck.

 

“Hyukkie?!” he squeaked, frozen there with his hands hovering a few inches away from his sides like a tightrope walker, “You- are you hurt?! I fe-felt you hurt!” 

 

A heartbeat later, Sanghyuk was on him. Their creator crossed the room so fast it made Wonshiks head spin. He caught Jaehwan up in his arms, so pleased he was practically purring, carefully tracing the planes of Jaehwan’s face with ichor-stained fingers. 

 

“Dove,” he sighed, a faint groan slipping out between breaths as Jaehwan latched on tight; hopping up to wrap his legs around Sanghyuk’s torso and clasping his hands around Sanghyuk’s neck. Their foreheads touching, lashes fluttering, nosing gently at each other. Like two very strange dogs getting reacquainted after a prolonged separation. And then they finally kissed. 

 

Wonshik flinched. He couldn’t help it. After what he’d just seen- just realized- for all they knew, Jaehwan could be feeding off Sanghyuk now and none of them would be any the wiser. Wonshik was also trying his best not to feel hurt about being ignored. It was only natural that Jaehwan should look straight through him when called by their creator's pain. It wasn’t personal. 

 

Sanghyuk’s hands found Jaehwans hips and he hugged the fledgling even closer. “I’ve missed you dove,” he said in a whisper, “I’ve missed you so, so much.”

 

“Hyukkie,” Jaehwan repeated, mumbling against Sanghyuks mouth, “I missed you t-too…”

 

More kissing. Wonshik averted his eyes, choosing to stare at the floor rather than at his creator and brother. If he’d looked, he wouldn’t have been able to keep from searching the air for signs that Jaehwan had started feeding again. It would have been uncharitable, given the circumstances. 

 

But, he thought as he listened to their low hums of pleased contentment, perhaps there was nothing for Jaehwan to feed off of here. Sanghyuk was the furthest thing from chaotic that Wonshik could imagine. He was a passionate person, yes, and he could be irrational and quick to anger if his greed got the best of him, sure, but those things didn’t make up who he was. At his core, Sanghyuk was calm. 

 

They’d given up any attempt to have a conversation. Sanghyuk was half-sitting, half-leaning against the side of his desk with Jaehwan still clinging onto him like a koala. He kept alternating between kissing Jaehwans temple and burying his face in Jaehwans hair. Two of his fingers were pressed into Jaehwans mouth and the fledgling was licking kittenishly at the blend of silver ichor and venom that coated them. 

 

“Sanghyuk,” Wonshik tried, injecting his tone with a note of urgency. But again, neither his creator nor his brother paid him any attention. 

 

Jaw clenched in frustration, Wonshik shut his eyes and focused. 

 

Not on Jaehwan this time. He focused on the Prince of Lust. 

 

The deep and unrelenting jealousy he’d always felt toward the Prince of Lusts portrait that was still locked up in Sanghyuk’s desk… The way Sanghyuk looked at that portrait; the way he looked at the Prince of Lust in general… The fact that Sanghyuk had literally gone to the ends of the earth to rescue the Prince of Lust from his prison in the void… the knowledge that, deep down, both Sanghyuk and Jaehwan cared more for the Prince of Lust than they did for Wonshik… 

 

The lovie-dovie reunion was all well and good but it had gone on for too long already. There had been too much of a lull, no instant reaction or retaliation like Wonshik had expected. Everything was too quiet for his liking. Something must be wrong. 

 

He didn’t have time to fully descend into the vision. 

 

Breaking porcelain...

 

Talons shredding bedclothes... 

 

Screaming so loud that it hurt to hear...

 

All Wonshik saw were a handful of flashes before Sanghyuk startled so violently that he nearly dropped Jaehwan on the floor. 

 

“Remember my order, Shik,” Sanghyuk whispered, holding back a groan of pain. And then he kissed Jaehwan on the forehead. “I love you, Dove. So much.”

 

Sanghyuk disappeared a split second later. He’d answered his Master’s call. And, as he’d vanished, the new wards he’d formed slammed down around the apartment like a steel cage. 

 

Not knowing what else he could do, still sick with envy, terrified on his creator's behalf, Wonshik forced himself to stand up. He hugged Jaehwan with all his strength in the faint hope it would be enough to keep his brother calm. 

 

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“Pet,” the Prince of Lust growled, glaring at Sanghyuk across the bedroom in which Sanghyuk had materialized. Bright ichor was splattered over the inside of his forearm and there was a silver dagger in his other hand. “You’ve made an extremely grave error.”

 

Sanghyuk swallowed hard, but he did not argue. 

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Notes:

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Chapter 22

Summary:

Hyuken are actually interacting for a change lol how delightful

Notes:

I know y'all want The House sequel, and I'm working on it, but I had this finished already lol please enjoy

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“Pet,” the Prince of Lust repeated, when Sanghyuk failed to respond, sliding the dagger into a sheath at his hip that Sanghyuk was positive hadn’t been there a second ago, “Explain yourself.”

 

Hongbin was pressed against their master’s back, and he glared at Sanghyuk over the Prince of Lust’s shoulder. Emerald eyes dark with anger. The air surrounding his body seemed to vibrate, like the molecules were being disturbed by an unseen electrical current. Sanghyuk couldn’t help but stare back. 

 

It was still so wrong; Hongbin being a demon. Not because Sanghyuk had liked him when he was an angel. Certainly not. The angelic Hongbin had been as disdainful and conceited and unbearable as the rest of them. But seeing Hongbin this way, now, with the memories of his beloved brother still clear in his mind, was wrong. 

 

The brother Sanghyuk had cherished and adored had not behaved this way. He’d never had such a sinister aura about him. He’d never seemed so full of hatred and violence and anger. 

 

It was true that Sanghyuk hadn’t known Hongbin in his younger years -so many lifetimes ago- but from the stories their family had told, he didn’t believe Hongbin had ever been this way. And now, looking at this dreadful incarnation of a being he’d once loved so much, the very sight of him made Sanghyuk feel sick. 

 

The Hongbin of his memories -the true Hongbin, as far as Sanghyuk was concerned- deserved so much better than this. He didn’t deserve to be relegated to nothing more than a caricature of evil. 

 

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Sanghyuk whispered, tearing his eyes away from his brother and turning them on his master. The anger in Hongbin’s eyes burned ten times brighter in the eyes of his master. It took a great effort to stop from flinching. 

 

He’d landed himself in a den of vipers now, sure and true. 

 

Without breaking their gaze -his master would sooner lose an arm than lose a battle of will- the Prince of Lust reached back and stroked Hongbin’s hair. “Run along, my sweetling,” he said, tone dripping with sacerin softness, “Your brother is in need of some attention.”

 

“No. I don’t like him.” A low growl slipped from between Hongbin’s bared teeth. “I don’t trust him.”

 

The Prince of Lust laughed, that indulgent bedroom laugh made of molasses and whisky. Sanghyuk couldn’t help but shudder at the sound of it. “That may be so,” he replied, petting Hongbin’’s cheek, “But you will do as I say nonetheless.”

 

Hongbin still made no move to leave.

 

Behind them, the bedclothes burst into spontaneous flames. The Prince of Lust extinguished them a second later without even bothering to look. 

 

“I’ll come to your room later, sweetling,” their master prompted, “Go.”

 

After another moment and a final hateful glare for Sanghyuk, Hongbin backed away. Slinking out into the hallway and shutting the bedroom door quietly behind him. 

 

He may as well have gone to another planet. The house around them descended into silence. The tension in the tepid air fizzled to life. Sanghyuk and his master were alone. 

 

“I’m not bringing Jaehwan back here,” Sanghyuk said, when the stillness became too much for him to handle, “So if that’s what you’re after, save your breath.”

 

His master took a single step forward…

 

Such a beautiful creature, Sanghyuk thought, alert for every twist of sinew and twitch of muscle in his master’s body. It was a truth he was unable to deny even with so much fear curdling in the pit of his stomach. His master was beautiful. Swathed in yards and yards of emerald damask; it was remarkable that -even covered in so much fabric- he seemed so undressed. 

 

The turn of his ankle above one bear foot, left clavicle peeking through the loose neckline of his tunic, the milk-pale skin of his inner wrist stained with silver ichor. Short crop of black curls in artful disarray. Lips and cheeks flushed. Chin tipped up and head held high. 

 

So beautiful. Such a temptation.  

 

… away from the large canopy bed, towards the place where Sanghyuk stood beside the fireplace. 

 

“Do you understand the significance, pet, of what you’ve done?” he asked, taking another step closer. The softness of his voice was deceptive, nothing but an illusion, and it put Sanghyuk's guard up at once. 

 

Sanghyuk cleared his throat. “Yes,” he replied, steady and cool, “I’ve rescued my Bound from the torments you gift to him daily. I’ve done what any responsible creator should.”

 

The Prince of Lust smiled and Sanghyuk tensed. Bracing himself for the blow that would surely come. 

 

“Is that so?” His master tapped his lower lip in a parody of thoughtfulness. “Then, why didn’t you come for him sooner? If you believe I was torturing the poor little thing against his will?”

 

In moments like this, Sanghyuk knew, it was prudent to be as honest as possible. His master was not a mind reader, but he was a natural manipulator, and he could smell a lie from miles away. Speaking mostly truth would make the few falsehoods Sanghyuk needed harder for him to pick out. 

 

“Wonshik advised against it,” Sanghyuk said, slipping one hand into his pocket in an effort to appear more relaxed, “He believed I should give Jaehwan the freedom to make mistakes, and that my dove would come home when he was ready.”

 

“I see,” his master replied, “Your eldest speaks wisdom, pet. Why did you suddenly decide to deviate from that wise course of action?”

 

This conversation was meant to soothe him, Sanghyuk reminded himself. The questions were not genuine ones, nor was his master’s even tone. It was all meant to lull him into a false sense of security. An attempt to trick him into dropping his guard. 

 

Sanghyuk flicked a strand of hair from his eyes; pretending that he was calming down just the way his master wanted. Pretending that he was unaware of the ruse. “You changed my mind. What you and the senior conclave are doing. I won’t let my kin be wrapped up in affairs of treason again, love, I learned my lesson the first time.”

 

His words had the effect Sanghyuk had been hoping for. The Prince of Lust stopped walking, the serine expression on his face cracking for a heartbeat and revealing the fury beneath. Sanghyuk was not supposed to know about the conclave's plans. Nobody was. And the Prince of Lust was unaware of Wonshik’s envious talent. He was only aware of the glamour magic. Sanghyuk had spoken danger. 

 

“Treason is only called treason if the treasonous lose,” his master said, moving closer again, “When the treasonous win, they call it revolution.”

 

It was a true statement, but it also wasn’t the point. 

 

“And you’ve already lost once, love. I won’t have my Bound caught in the crossfire when you lose a second time.”

 

“So little faith,” the Prince of Lust hummed, only a handful of feet away now, sweeping up the voluminous folds of his coat so the folded in a swirl around his body, “You’ve never understood the true breadth of my power, pet, I should have taught you better.”

 

Sanghyuk shrugged. “There is no better teacher than experience.”

 

His master smiled. “Yes, pet, that is correct…”

 

Sanghyuk startled at the feeling of fingers in his hair. Sharp nails scratching gently at his scalp. Petting the way his master had always enjoyed petting him in the past.

 

“And, what has experience taught you about me, pet? What have you learned-“ the Prince of Lust's hand suddenly clenched into a fist, using the grip on his hair to yank Sanghyuk down so that their eyes were level, “-About the consequences of taking things away from me?”

 

“Jaehwan is not a thing,” Sanghyuk grit out, fighting off the confusion of feelings his master brought up, “He is not a toy. He is an infernal being, dark royalty just as you yourself are.”

 

“Of course, he’s a toy,” his master snarled, each word laced with poison, “You’re all toys. Every last one of you. Why do you still refuse to understand?!”

 

The pronouncement hurt Sanghyuk more than he would have liked to admit. But he loved his master, even now, unconditionally. Such was the way of the demonic bond. And hearing that his master considered him to be nothing more than a plaything hurt him somewhere deep inside. 

 

“Then use me,” he replied, repeating what he’d told his master the day of his rescue, “Play your games with me if you must, or Hongbin, or anyone else, I don’t care. But don’t ever come near my Bound again, love, or-“

 

“Or what?” his master sneered, derisive, daring Sanghyuk to talk back. 

 

They were so close now that the Prince of Lusts floral perfume began to claw at Sanghyuk. He could almost taste it. Dripping over his tongue and cascading down his throat. Slipping into his veins. Cutting through his blood like hot oil. Settling over his field of vision like heat haze. 

 

“Or I’ll tell Hakyeon what you and the conclave are planning.”

 

“You haven’t told him already? What a surprise…”

 

“And not just Hakyeon,” Sanghyuk continued, the overwhelming force of his master's magic sending him down to his knees, “I’ll tell the angels.”

 

The Prince of Lust laughed again, not taking Sanghyuk’s threat seriously. A mistake. Sanghyuk chose not to correct it.

 

“What is it, my pet?” he crooned, gripping Sanghyuk’s chin to tilt his face up. One long nail scraped lightly against Sanghyuks bottom lip. “You look feverish…”

 

Sanghyuk felt how hard he was breathing, felt the heat burning at the high points of his cheeks. Side effects of the lust his master inspired in all the living creatures of the world. It took hold of him, invisible fingers gripping his throat and refusing to release him until his own release was found. 

 

He had never been strong enough to fight that lust off. Not in this lifetime or any other. In truth, Sanghyuk had always craved it too much to ever earnestly try. 

 

“I told you, I don’t care if you play your games with me love,” he panted, one hand drifting across the fine material of his masters trousers before coming to rest on his masters hip, “Do your worst.”

 

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Notes:

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Chapter 23

Summary:

hyuken are hyukening

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Wincing. Gasping. Finally succumbing to the waves of lust crashing over him and letting them drag him down. 

 

“Was that so hard?” his master hummed, a breath of laughter hanging on the final word, “Why must you always fight me, pet?”

 

Looking up at him, the Prince of Greed was struck again by his master’s beauty. Pale as bone, ageless, with eyes that flashed like daggers in the dark. His master possessed an aura that demanded attention; his very presence in the room felt like a gravitational pull.

 

“It's the principle of the thing,” Sanghyuk panted, resting his forehead against his master’s hip. Wrapping his arms around his master’s legs. Choking on the tightness in his throat as he breathed in the nearness of his master’s body. Inhaled deep lungfuls of that distinctive and intoxicating floral perfume.

 

The Prince of Lust’s smile was full and rich. Indulgent in the best way. And he looked down at Sanghyuk with genuine fondness. A rare display in of itself. His master almost never showed fondness for Sanghyuk anymore. Only disappointment and disdain. 

 

But this was a game they were playing, and Sanghyuk didn’t protest. 

 

He didn’t point out the fact that his master had changed tactics, probably thinking that kindness would break Sanghyuk more easily than cruelty, because Sanghyuk was simply not used to being treated that way. Because Sanghyuk had less internal defenses to protect himself against love. 

 

Rather than pointing that out, Sanghyuk pretended he didn’t know the act was false. In truth, he was so starved for his master's attention that even this game filled his black heart with joy. So he said nothing. Burying his face against his master's abdomen. Allowing himself to bask in the feigned affection for as long as he could.. 

 

“Silly pet,” his master hummed, combing gentle fingers through Sanghyuk’s hair, “Haven't you grown tired of your new place in life?”

 

Sanghyuk sighed as his eyes fluttered shut. He parted the folds of emerald damask and pressed his lips to the top of his master's thigh, forming his reply against his master’s skin. “What new place would that be?”

 

“Head of the household,” the Prince of Lust stroked Sanghyuk's cheek with the pads of his fingers, “All of that responsibility... such a burden, pet. A burden that you have no need to carry.”

 

His master sank gracefully to kneel before him, their gazes level, and the serine expression on his face nearly made Sanghyuk cry. So reassuring. So calm. So steadfast and yet so gentle. It was false, Sanghyuk was certain of that. But the parody of paternal comfort his master displayed was frighteningly convincing. 

 

The Prince of Lust moved like poetry and spoke like he was spinning silk. “Come home to me, pet. Come home and let me take care of you again.”

 

Those words stung more than Sanghyuk cared to admit, but he didn’t protest aloud. So tired of fighting. And, at long last, he allowed his master's web of carnal frenzy to take him over completely.

 

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Wonshik held Jaehwan tight in the crook of his arm, unsure of what his next move should be. 

 

A large part of him wanted to lock Jaehwan in his disused bedroom and then fly to the surface; break into the mansion somehow and drag Sanghyuk out by the hair. That part of him was furious with his creator, furious with the stupid half-formed plan Sanghyuk had embarked upon based on nothing but anger. 

 

Another part of him wanted to lock Jaehwan in his disused bedroom for a different reason. The terror of his revelation was still fresh and, looking down at his brother's silvery head, Wonshik couldn’t help but be afraid. He knew what it felt like to be fed upon; the Prince of Lust had fed from him several times. But what if Jaehwan was different? What if Jaehwan was consuming his life force right in that very moment and he just couldn’t feel it?

 

But a third part of Wonshik, the part that won, wanted to simply sit there and do nothing. He was exhausted and scared and too drained to try and do anything at all. 

 

So he stayed seated on the floor of Sanghyuk’s office with Jaehwan snug under his arm. Four of Jaehwan’s fingers curled around two of his own. Listening intently to the sound of Jaehwan’s shallow breathing and staring at the wall. 

 

It would have been peaceful if Jaehwan wasn’t in shock. The abrupt descent into hell, the hasty reunion with their creator followed immediately by Sanghyuk’s departure... they’d overwhelmed Jaehwan. Stunned his system like a tropical fish that had been dropped in arctic water. The fact that his time spent in the Prince of Lust’s company had most likely traumatized him didn’t help matters either. 

 

A knock came from somewhere nearby. 

 

The sound hit Wonshik with the force of a physical blow. He jumped, every muscle in his body going tense, every nerve alert. A growl wrenched itself from deep inside his chest and he moved on instinct, rolling sideways so Jaehwan was pressed against his back. 

 

“It’s only me,” called the person who’d knocked, the office door swinging slowly open on silent hinges.

 

Wonshik growled again, louder, barely clinging to his precarious composure as dread curled like smoke in the marrow of his bones. 

 

It was Hongbin. 

 

Somehow -Wonshik didn’t know how because it shouldn’t be fucking possible- Hongbin was standing on the threshold of Sanghyuk’s office. Hands in the pockets of trousers that were identical to the ones Jaehwan was wearing. Identical shirt of emerald silk hugging the curves of his torso, tight across his broad shoulders and tapering around his narrow waist. Cuffs rolled up to his elbows. 

 

“No need for all that,” he said in response to Wonshik’s growl, voice low and as smooth as molasses. 

 

Unlike the angel he had once been, this incarnation of Hongbin was an unknown quantity. Wonshik had never seen him use his gift, the one exception being that horrible family dinner, and that had only been a bit of spontaneous fire. Wonshik didn’t know exactly what Hongbin could do, what he was capable of. Uncertainty was something Wonshik did not like. 

 

Hongbin was handsome; that much had remained constant after his corruption. But it wasn’t an easy sort of handsome. As a demon, Hongbin’s physical perfection was frightening. The charming little dimples creasing his cheeks did nothing to warm his cold quartz smile. The large shiny eyes and the silky dark hair couldn’t disguise the palpable menace that hung around him like fog. 

 

“How did you get in here?” Wonshik asked, because he felt like he should, “Sanghyuk put up wards...”

 

Laughing under his breath, Hongbin came further into the room. Steps a relaxed, almost arrogant saunter. “Wards,” he repeated, raising one delicate hand to pluck at the air, “Wards are nothing to me.”

 

As he spoke, Wonshik watched the empty space around his fingertips begin to smolder. The bright web of magic became visible, charring and blackening, curling like the edges of a sheet of burning paper. And when he lowered his hand, the damaged patch of wards didn’t mend itself or disappear. 

 

That's not possible, Wonshik wanted to say, but he couldn’t. None of this should be possible. 

 

“Anyway, I only came to bring this for Hwannie,” Hongbin continued, pulling a black handkerchief from his trouser pocket and holding it out for them to inspect. Hidden in its folds was a tiny flower; white petals and a bright yellow center. “It still has its roots, see? I thought you could plant it down here.”

 

Jaehwan squirmed, wriggling out from behind Wonshik and darting across the room. Staring at the flower with big moony eyes. “Thank you, bunny,” he mumbled, wobbling slightly on his unsteady legs as he carefully took the flower and stored it safely in his own pocket, “I didn’t think he’d let you out of the house now, what with- with what Hyukkie’s done.”

 

“On the contrary,” Hongbin grinned, “He sent me away. Apparently Sanghyuk is in need of some special attention.”

 

Jaehwan gave a small shiver. 

 

They reached for each other as they talked, seemingly without realizing it. Fingers laced together, hands hanging at their sides. And they kept inching nearer and nearer; shifting their weight and shuffling feet. Some magnetic force pulling them together. 

 

Wonshik stared, mouth hanging open, at a loss for words. 

 

The air around Hongbin and Jaehwan had started to blur. Rippling like a heathaze. It wasn’t obvious. He probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been looking at them so hard. But as it was, Wonshik could see how the fabric of the world was vibrating. Disturbed down to a molecular level. Trying to tear itself apart and put itself back together at the same time. The universe did not like these two being so close together, that was for certain. 

 

He’d seen them together when he’d indulged his gift, but Wonshik had never seen this. All he ever saw was the cuddly, kittenish affection they shared when the Prince of Lust was gone. They behaved much in the way most demonic siblings did, actually. 

 

However, with the fresh knowledge he’d gained from his moment of revelation, Wonshik couldn’t care about their easy familiarity. He wasn’t even listening to their quiet chatter. No, Wonshik was looking for signs. And to his dismay, he found them. 

 

He could see the tiny translucent tendrils of energy peeling away from Hongbin’s lips. 

 

He could see those tendrils drift lazily through the air between them until Jaehwan inhaled. 

 

He could see Jaehwan’s lashes flutter with each little convulsive swallow. 

 

Not the way the Prince of Lust had fed. Not even close. Nothing flashy, not putting on a show. Jaehwan didn't know what he was doing; Wonshik was sure of that now. And Hongbin clearly didn’t know either. He didn’t seem to be able to feel it. 

 

Wonshik tried to gather himself as he watched the two talk. 

 

Matching clothes. Same height. Identical green eyes. One with dark hair and one with light. Two entirely different types of pretty but both pretty all the same. Mirror images in a way that Jaehwan and the Prince of Lust had never been. They were inverse pictures of one another and Wonshik couldn’t help but hate it. 

 

“You need to go,” he managed, finally finding the words he’d lost when the demon entered the room, “Now.”

 

Hongbin rolled his eyes as Wonshik got to his feet. “Fine. but please do inform Sanghyuk that if he keeps Hwannie trapped down here, he’ll get sick again. Hwannie needs to be on the surface.”

 

The Prince of Envy narrowed his eyes. “How do you know?”

 

“Call it a healer's intuition,” Hongbin shrugged. He leaned in and dropped a quick kiss on Jaehwan’s cheek. Smiled when Jaehwan kissed his cheek in return. “I’ll see you later, Hwannie.”

 

No you won't, Wonshik thought to himself, if Sanghyuk has anything to say on the matter, you’ll never see him again. 

 

“See you,” Jaehwan chirped, “And be good! Don’t make him angry; I won't be there to distract him anymore!”

 

“He can never be angry with me,” Hongbin laughed, backing away toward the door. He turned from Jaehwan and flashed the Prince of Envy a sharp smile. “See you around, Wonshik.”

 

Wonshik swallowed a snarl and smiled back. “I’d say it was a pleasure if I wanted to lie.”

 

And then, just like that, Hongbin was gone. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Sanghyuk stretched languidly atop the large bed, his head pillowed on his master's stomach. 

 

He’d lost all sense of how long he’d been there. His master had that effect on him, always did. Able to make an eternity pass in the blink of an eye. Sanghyuk could have been lying in that room for days for all he knew, but it was long enough that he realized he should leave. 

 

“I’m going now,” he whispered as he raised himself up on one elbow, voice surprisingly gruff to his own ear.

 

His master blinked up at him, flushed and hazy in the warmth of his afterglow. 

 

The Prince of Lust had cut his hair since the last time Sanghyuk saw him, leaving it the length it had been before his imprisonment. It gave him a shabby, princely look. More cherubic than the thick mane of long curls had been. More soft. More youthful. A fallen angel if Sanghyuk had ever seen one. 

 

“Are you?” his master hummed, slim fingers curling around the back of Sanghyuk’s neck, “Why?”

 

“Because I need to attend to my family, love. It’s been long enough-"

 

Cutting the words off with a breathy huff, the Prince of Lust tugged Sanghyuk back down and kissed him hard. “I am your family.”

 

Sanghyuk kissed him back, smothering a groan against his pillow soft lips. 

 

It was so dangerous, these hours they’d spent together. His master was dangerous. Both irresistible and profoundly harmful to Sanghyuk at the same time. 

 

“You know what I mean, love. My Bound need me, and you have Hongbin to torment now.”

 

The Prince of Lust took Sanghyuk’s face in his hands, cupping it with a possessive sort of reverence. Glaring at Sanghyuk through those emerald green eyes. Alight with a ruby gleam once again, like they were reflecting firelight. “That may be so, but it does not change the fact that you are mine.”

 

“It doesn't,” Sanghyuk nodded, adding in his head, no matter how much I wish it could.

 

“Then bring your Bound up here and live with us. You know what is to come; the war will begin sooner rather than later. And when it does begin, I want you in your rightful place at my side. You are my eldest and it is your duty.”

 

“No.”

 

His master's fingers twitched, jaw tight, but Sanghyuk could see how hard he was trying to hide his anger. Not snapping at Sanghyuk for talking back the way he normally would. “You will be at my side, pet.”

 

“No,” Sanghyuk repeated, fighting off the pull of his master's magnetism urging him to comply, “I can’t keep trying to stop you, love; all you ever do is run headlong into danger.”

 

“Nonsense.”

 

“You do! You started plotting as soon as I freed you from the temple! Five millennia of punishment taught you nothing!”

 

“Careful, pet. Watch your tone.” It was a dangerous purr but Sanghyuk couldn’t stop himself from talking now. 

 

“I won’t be a part of this, love. I won’t let you weaponize me or my Bound just so you can test the limits of your own power.”

 

“The only limit to one's power is the power of others,” replied the Prince of Lust. Sanghyuk could practically have mouthed the words along with him. It was one of his master's favorite sayings. 

 

All at once, Sanghyuk suddenly felt very exhausted. Looking down into the Prince of Lusts' beautiful, petulant face. His whole body ached from their session, and his internal well of power had been severely drained by his master's feeding. 

 

“I can’t- can’t keep chasing you, love,” he sighed, “I’m like a dog trying to chase birds. I won’t catch them if I can’t fly.”

 

“You can fly.”

 

“You know what I mean. I cannot give you- I can’t be the kind of Bound you want.” Sanghyuk looked away. “I love you so much, Jyani, but I can’t. It hurts too much.”

 

He snapped his fingers, magicking a clean cotton shirt and black trousers onto his body. As he leavered himself up off the bed, he recalled a passage from the first of his three diaries: 

 

‘He was porcelain. So fragile. So precious. So unfathomably old. And I had been given the gift of shepherding him from one life into the next.’

 

It wasn’t in reference to the Prince of Lust currently sitting up on the edge of the mattress, but rather a Prince of Lust that was long dead. Lost to time and a far-forgotten universe. 

 

That was Sanghyuk’s personal theory about his personal talent; he didn’t rewrite time, didn’t turn back the clock and restart it at will. He never had. 

 

Perhaps it was his love of science fiction that directed his intuition, but Sanghyuk believed he could jump to a parallel universe. That he’d already done so twice. First, attempting to spare his love from the pain of loss. Second, to run from the pain of his love’s death. And now he was here, inhabiting a universe where the roles of the people he cared about were reversed. 

 

“Don’t lie to me, pet,” the Prince of Lust murmured, the slightly frantic tone of his voice tugging at Sanghyuk’s heart, “You don’t love me. I know you don’t.”

 

‘Take me back, take me back to him, he's lying! He loves me! I know he does!’ Jaehwan sobbed, standing on wobbly legs and trying to run to the roofs edge the moment Sanghyuk set him down.

 

‘No, love, he’s gone!’ the young demon replied, managing to catch his maker before Jaehwan could jump to the next roof.

 

‘Good, we can be gone together just take me to him Sanghyukkie please!’

 

‘No. I could have tried to catch him but I’m here with you. He left you Jae, he used you.’

 

Jaehwan was sopping wet and looked akin to a drowned rat, but Sanghyuk held him anyway. Warming him and trying to soak up the sadness drenching him as the water had just done. His maker would never be free now. Wonshik would never let them get that close again. He would never be imprisoned in the void. His Jaehwan would never come back.

 

‘Puppy please! Please!’ Jaehwan was crying, weakly beating at the younger's chest and trying to squirm away.

 

Sanghyuk didn’t let him. Hugging him and pressing kisses to the top of his head. Wonshik didn’t love Jaehwan, but Sanghyuk surely did.

 

Vision blurred with sudden tears, Sanghyuk swallowed a gasp. The flash of memory pulverized him. It stole whatever composure he had left. 

 

“I do love you,” he whispered, voice cracking, staring down at his bare feet. “I’ve always loved you. I can never love another being the way that I love you.”

 

His master fisted the bedclothes and when Sanghyuk glanced up, he saw thin silver trails running down from the corners of his master's eyes. “You lie. I’m nothing more than a tool for you to wield on the almighty’s behalf. The love you claim is false.”

 

“Believe what you wish,” Sanghyuk replied quietly, “Nothing I say will convince you otherwise. You never listen. Why should you start listening now?”

 

And then the Prince of Greed stepped back into a pool of shadow and fell down into Hell. The sound of his master's pitiful cries ringing in his ears. Materializing in his office where he remembered leaving his Bound. 

 

But his Bound were no longer there. Just how long had he been gone?

 

“Wonshik?” Sanghyuk called, swallowing the tears that threatened to choke him, “Jaehwan? Where are you?”

 

He made his way down the hall, into his bedroom. It was empty. 

 

He checked Wonshiks room next but that was empty as well. 

 

A cursory search of the library yielded the same result. 

 

Finally, his steps lead him down to Jaehwans disused bedroom. There they were. The two most precious beings in his life. Sitting on the floor with a small clay pot between them, a tiny flower poked up from freshly packed dirt. 

 

“What’s all this?” Sanghyuk asked, glancing around at the room's interior. 

 

It had changed since the last time Sanghyuk ventured inside. No more roots protruding from the walls, no more clumps of earth scattered across the floor. Now as neat and tidy as a picture in a furniture catalog. 

 

At the sound of his voice, Jaehwan leapt to his feet and bounded across the room. His unsteady legs sending him careening into Sanghyuk’s front. “You’re back! He let you go!”

 

“Of course,” Sanghyuk smiled, hugging his dove tight. Jaehwans touch was a ray of daylight in this darkest place. His precious dove. His treasure. “I intended to return to you both; I simply needed to calm my Master down so he didn’t do anything rash.”

 

He clutched Jaehwans waist, kissed his round cheeks, nuzzled his temple. Wanting to coat Jaehwan in the scent of his own skin. Because Jaehwan, this Jaehwan, was the closest Sanghyuk would get to a chance at redemption. Not his master; the Prince of Lust was a fiction that should have remained locked in the past. This Jaehwan was Sanghyuk’s chance to do things right this time around. 

 

“You came into my life like a falling star,” he whispered, listening to the gentle pitter-patter of his dove's beautiful heart, “The answer to all my prayers.”

 

Wonshik cleared his throat, finally breaking his silence as he rose from his spot on the floor. “The two of you can get reacquainted later. Now, we need to speak to Hakyeon. All of us. I’ve already told him we’re coming.”

 

Sensing the urgency in his eldest’s voice, Sanghyuk nodded. Reaching out and taking Wonshiks hand. “As you wish. Let’s go.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

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Chapter 24

Summary:

I just wrote this on an airplane lolol

Notes:

don't ask lol

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Jaehwan peered down at the fledgling in his bed. 

 

It was his bed downstairs, the large canopy bed in his apartments. The bed that Jaehwan knew best. Its blue damask coverlet cradling the fledglings lithe, drowsy body. 

 

Reaching out, he stroked the fledgeling’s quicksilver hair. Now curls rather than waves to better match Jaehwans own. Cotton-soft under his hand. 

 

The fledgling's large green eyes fluttered open. Looking sleepily up at Jaehwan as he twisted in a stretch. 

 

“Sir,” the fledgling mumbled, as he pressed Jaehwans hand against his own chest, letting Jaehwan feel the warm skin beneath his fingers; the fast beating of his immortal heart.

 

Closing his eyes again when he felt the Prince of Lusts hand on him, the fledgling sighed. So drowsy and sleepsoft in the aftermath of his pleasure. So needy still, even after a nap. 

 

The V of the fledgling’s hips was only half way covered. His most sensitive parts hidden beneath satin and lace. His top half bare so Jaehwan could see the trail of bruises he’d pressed into the fledglings tender skin. 

 

“You're so pretty like this, darling,” Jaehwan murmured, gaze skating across every inch of the fledgling available for him to peruse, “Such a temptation… all my own.”

 

Biting his swollen lip, wriggling under the weight of Jaehwan’s attention, the fledgling moaned. A delicate little mewl of a moan as Jaehwans fingers drifted down from his chest. Tracing a path along his soft stomach. 

 

The Prince of Lust felt his own mouth quirk up in a pleased smile. His fledgling was always so receptive… so pliant and willing… 

 

He bent down to mouth at the slight protrusion of the fledgling’s hipbone. Nipping at him, pressing his tongue flat against the fledglings still-sensitive flesh. Needing to taste what perfection felt like, to claim it as his own and leave marks behind.

 

Then the fledgling whimpered, beautiful and needy. Jaehwan laughed. 

 

“Still so desperate for me, darling?” he hummed, digging his fingertips into the fledglings waist, “You depraved little thing… always so desperate no matter how much I fuck you, hmm?”

 

The fledgling's long lean legs started to tremble and Jaehwan raised his head to look. But, when he looked, it wasn’t the fledgling in his bed anymore. 

 

His puppy blinked at Jaehwan, one strong arm folded behind his sable head, sharp eyes narrowed the way they always got when he was deep in his pleasure. His puppy. His pet. His eldest. His Sanghyuk.

 

Sanghyuk reached for Jaehwan, his large hands circling Jaehwans wrists, drawing Jaehwan onto his lap. Body hard, muscles pulled taught beneath Jaehwans parted thighs. 

 

“Puppy,” the Prince of Lust sighed, heart full of poisonous longing as he shifted up and then sank slowly down on Sanghyuk’s length. Silently delighted by the possessive hands that circled his waist. Cupped the curve of his cheek. Tangled in his hair. 

 

Jaehwan let himself relax, let Sanghyuk maneuver him the way he wanted, only rolling his hips when Sanghyuk’s thrusts stuttered. “My precious pet… all mine.”

 

He drank down the low groans that spilled from his pets lips like nectar. Listening to Sanghyuk’s breathing grow louder and heavier. Watching Sanghyuk’s chest rise and fall, the way the muscles of his abdomen tightened each time he bottomed out. As deep inside the Prince of Lust's body as it was possible to be. 

 

And then Jaehwan took control. Took control of the pace away from his pet and began riding him hard. Hands flat on Sanghyuk’s stomach, nails etching little crescent moons into his skin. Eager to draw out every moan and groan that his pet could produce. 

 

“Speak, pet,” Jaehwan whispered, feeling the bruising press of his pet's warm hands grip him even tighter. Eyeing the flush that was blooming on Sanghyuk’s chest and neck. “Speak to me. Tell me how much you love me, puppy.”

 

Sanghyuk’s brow creased, his eyes closed and mouth open the smallest bit. Visibly focused, visibly struggling to keep his climax at bay because he knew that finishing before Jaehwan allowed him too was not permitted. Trying so hard to control himself, even while drowning in the potent cocktail of friction and lust that Jaehwan was feeding him.  

 

“I love you,” he breathed, barely above a whisper, palm sliding around to the nape of Jaehwan’s neck, “Jyani, I love you. I’ve missed you. I need you, only you, don’t leave me again. Let me stay with you… please, I love you so much… only you… my master, how could I love anyone else when I belong only to you…”

 

The Prince of Lust purred, every nerve inside him singing. Sanghyuk was a heavy, unrelenting pressure inside him. Such a treasure, this one. The only Bound he’d ever wanted, the only creature he’d ever longed for. The only thing Jaehwan had ever coveted, ever craved. He’d drowned in desperate dreams about Sanghyuk before his pet ever tasted his venom.

 

“Mine… my puppy, you’re all mine at last,” he panted, stroking Sanghyuk’s beautiful black hair, “Mine for eternity.”

 

Sanghyuk growled low. “I’m yours.”

 

Jaehwan felt himself beam. Arching his back as he folded down to claim Sanghyuk with a kiss. Open-mouthed and hot. Inhaling the delicious perfume of his pet's devotion. Biting Sanghyuk’s lip so he could paint his own mouth silver with Sanghyuk’s blood. His ichor. The liquid energy that ran through Sanghyuk’s veins like-

 

Body heaving, so hot that it nearly made him feel sick, Jaehwan woke to the sensation of wetness spurting over his thigh. 

 

He gasped, slapping a hand over his mouth as the waking world claimed him. The sudden emptiness inside him forced a sob of pain from his trembling mouth. Still panting even as he came down from the unexpected climax. 

 

The Prince of Lust wasn’t in his four-poster bed. His fledgling wasn’t there, nor was his pet. The coverlet tangled around the lower half of Jaehwan’s body was simple and black. Not the sapphire blue damask that decorated his bed downstairs. 

 

It had been a dream. Only a dream. 

 

“Good morning.”

 

The Prince of Lust hissed, already halfway to his feet when Hongbin's small hand clamped around his wrist. Holding on tight and tugging him back down. Lying beside him, a shade too close. Those pretty fingers oddly sticky.

 

Jaehwan stared at his sweetling, internal alarms screaming with panic for a few terror-filled seconds. But he had no reason to feel so afraid, no reason to panic like this. It was only his sweetling. His perfect child…

 

“You had a wet dream,” Hongbin whispered, pushing Jaehwan down onto his back, folding his arms across Jaehwans chest and resting his perfect chin atop them. Blinking innocently into Jaehwans eyes. 

 

“Yes-” the Prince of Lust shuddered, clearing his throat, “Yes, my sweetling. I suppose I did.”

 

Hongbin smiled, eyelids fluttering with amusement. 

 

“The inside of your head is a very funny place,” he said, deep voice soft and quiet, “A fun place to play.”

 

Jaehwan swallowed hard. Breath hitching as Hongbin lightly tapped the tip of his nose. Not taking his eyes off Hongbin even as Hongbin rolled away. Got out of bed. Crossed the room and disappeared through the door. 

 

Utterly saturated with the unfamiliar sensation of fear. 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

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Chapter 25

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Sanghyuk, Prince of Greed and Duke of Hell, was more anxious than he’d been in a very long while. Longer than he could remember without his journals for reference. 

 

Not to say that he hadn’t felt this way when his youngest ran off; certainly not. He’d felt something quite similar. The same prickle beneath his skin, the same itch in the center of his palms, the same need to constantly keep his body in motion. But Sanghyuk wouldn't have called the way he’d felt when Jaehwan was gone ‘anxious’. He’d been terrified. Furious. Frantic. Desperate. A whole host of different emotions trying to pulverize him simultaneously.

 

Now, with the knowledge of what must be done, with the imminent treachery that he and his family must undertake, the only thing Sanghyuk could feel was anxiety. His damask suit jacket was perfectly fitted to his torso but it felt too tight. His black turtleneck felt far too constrictive for comfort, like it was impeding the rhythm of his breath. 

 

“Dove,” he called, locking the top drawer of his desk. 

 

His Hwannie, his youngest, popped up from behind the chair opposite Sanghyuk. Slate gray hair pushed off his face in disorderly waves, peering at Sanghyuk so that all Sanghyuk could see was the tip of his pointy nose and those big green eyes.

 

“Hyukkie,” Jaehwan parroted, making his voice higher and more nasal. 

 

Sanghyuk pursed his lips to stop himself from smiling. “Come here, dove, you need to put this on.”

 

Jaehwan ducked back out of sight and Sanghyuk sighed. 

 

“Please, dove? It won't hurt you, I promise.”

 

“It's going to take my tastes away.”

 

“I don't believe so,” Sanghyuk replied, remembering the first time around. 

 

That first life, so short compared to this one, only maybe six or seven years. That life he’d lived with the collar around his neck. His maker's chain of sapphires. ‘Now we each have a necklace from the other.’

 

“I spent a great deal of time with it on, dove. You know that strength is my special ability. The wards etched into the leather never dampened my strength. They only subdued my-” a hasty pause, swallowing the word ‘fantasy’ before he could say it, “Greed. The collar made it so that the greed didn't surge up of its own accord.”

 

His youngest gave a small squeak, appearing over the edge of the chair a second time. “Why are you so insistent that I wear it all of a sudden?” Jaehwan asked, “To stop me from hurting myself or others? Or, is it so that you don't have to feel my energy when I'm in your presence?”

 

The words took a few seconds to process. And when they did process, Sanghyuk blanched. Feeling his face drain of color and his eyes narrow to knife-cuts. Clutching the collar in one trembling hand. They were words he’d written. Words that he never intended anyone else to read.

 

“You looked at my journals,” he said. Flat. No inflection. No question mark. Why bother phrasing it like a question when he already knew the answer?

 

Jaehwan sank down an inch, his nose disappearing behind the backrest. “Maybe.”

 

“When? How long ago?” And that was phrased like a question, because the private thoughts in those journals contained a great deal of dangerous information. Had the potential for danger at the very least, depending on who learned it. 

 

“Back when you were st-still looking for the temple,” Jaehwan mumbled, that precious little stutter making an appearance as it always did when he was nervous, “Shikkie told me not to, but I wanted to have s-something just for us.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well-” Sanghyuk heard the soft click as Jaehwan switched his candy from the inside of one cheek to the other, “You and Shikkie are so… you had more time together. You two share more secrets. When I realized that even he hadn’t read them, I thought they could be a secret that only you and I share.”

 

Sanghyuk took a breath. Pausing before replying so that he has a moment to check his temper. To school his tone into a neutral register. The Prince of Greed always hated himself when he got angry. 

 

He came around the desk and sank into one of the chairs closer to the door. Beckoning his youngest out of his hiding spot. Laying the collar atop the armrest. 

 

He watched Jaehwan stand and approach him; his emerald cardigan fashionably oversized, black button down fastened neatly, charcoal colored slacks tapered perfectly to just about his ankles. Hasty steps wobbly like his Bound was fighting a strong breeze. Sanghyuk pushed down the urge to smile. 

 

“I understand your motivations, dove. Really, I do. I understand the wish to be closer with your creator, especially in the early years of your eternal life,” he said, taking Jaehwans hand and helping him onto his lap. Comforted by the warm weight of his youngest in his arms. “But I- those journals were private. They were my safe space, dove. A place for me to keep secrets that were all my own. They were never meant to be shared with anyone. Do you understand?”

 

Jaehwan nodded; one finger prodding distractedly at Sanghyuks lower lip. Asking for venom. 

 

The Prince of Greed acquiesced, and let his mouth fall open. Noting the gentle flutter of his dove’s lashes. The sweep of pink that spread from cheek to cheek and over the bridge of his nose. The way the furrow on his brow was smoothed away as soon as he got a taste of the venom he always craved. 

 

As he sat admiring each precious feature of his precious dove’s face, Sanghyuk couldn't help but recall the events of the previous day. Or- was it the previous week? Having lived as long of a life as Sanghyuk had, sometimes days felt like a silly way to track time. Far too small of a unit of measure.  

 

Whether it took place yesterday or last week, Sanghyuk remembered it clearly. The way it felt to hold his dove again after finally getting Jaehwan back. The burn of a phantom dagger slicing across his forearm and his vision flaring red. Allowing himself to fall into his master’s bed and the sound of his master’s sobs when he left. 

 

And then, the way his youngest had leapt into his arms when he came back home. The hasty walk to the False Prince’s apartments. The serious expression on Hakyeon’s face as Wonshik explained all of his fresh revelations. 

 

That Jaehwan was feeding almost constantly and none of them had noticed. That Hongbin could melt through webs of magic like they were nothing more than tissue paper. That the Prince of Lust was working with Senior Conclave to start a war behind Hakyeon’s back. 

 

‘That last part,’ Hakyeon said, recrossing his legs, ‘Is not something you need to concern yourself with. I’m perfectly aware of the plots being hatched at Senior Conclave.’

 

‘No, you weren’t there, you don’t understand the magnitude of-’

 

‘Wasn’t I?’ Hakyeon interrupted, cutting off Wonshik’s frantic stream of rambling.

 

Wonshik hesitated, confused. ‘I didn’t see you. And nobody else did either. Your absence was the first thing they discussed.’

 

‘Hyukkie, please cover the little one’s eyes for a moment.’

 

Sanghyuk was just as confused as Wonshik, but he did as instructed. Hiding his youngest’s face against the crook of his neck, gently holding the back of his head so that Jaehwan couldn’t peek. 

 

Hakyeon formed a quick series of wards and then snapped his fingers. 

 

Magic settled over him like he’d stepped under a waterfall. It ran down his face, rivulettes streaming along his limbs. An illusion distorting him until he no longer looked like himself. 

 

The Princess of Deception now sat in Hakyeon’s place. As darkly mysterious as ever in her diaphanous black robes, her harshly chopped black hair drifting across her bright magenta eyes. 

 

‘Trust me,’ she said, speaking with Hakyeon’s voice, ‘I’m fully aware of what had been taking place behind my back.’

 

Sanghyuk was speechless for the first time in a very long while. 

 

How had he never guessed? 

 

How had he never noticed the similarities? 

 

It was an illusion, sure, but not a full illusion. Details sculpted onto Hakyeon’s normal, familiar face. The illusion looked how Sanghyuk imagined Hakyeon’s sister would look if he had one. 

 

‘And now,’ Hakyeon continued, banishing the illusion and nodding when it was safe for the youngest to look at him again, ‘The question is; what can be done to stop them?’

 

“Did you speak about what you read to anyone?” Sanghyuk asked, his focus returning to the present, to the matter of his journals and his youngest Bound’s curiosity.

 

Jaehwan shook his head, nosing at the underside of Sanghyuk’s jaw. 

 

“No. I only read Wonshik the part where you mentioned that sir was alive, and I only did that because I was so confused. It didn’t end up mattering, though, because you came home a minute later and told us both the story yourself. That was the day you found the temple.”

 

Another memory popped into his head... returning below and finding his Bound fighting about something in his bed. 

 

Sanghyuk nodded. He’d thought the scene was a bit strange at the time, but the excitement of his discovery blotted out any suspicions he may have had. “And that was the only time? You never told Shik anything else you read? Or Hongbin? Or my Master?”

 

“That was all,” Jaehwan wriggled around so he could bump the tip of his nose against Sanghyuk’s temple, “Telling other people would have spoiled it. I wanted them to be a secret just for us, remember?”

 

Exhaling a slow breath, Sanghyuk nodded. Rhythmically running his open palm up and down along Jaehwan’s side. From hip to chest and back again. Soothing himself as much as Jaehwan. 

 

“That’s good.”

 

Jaehwan gently prodded the collar's leather band, tentative, a petulant little frown on his perfect face. 

 

“I don’t want it,” he mumbled, raising his gaze to meet Sanghyuk’s. Blinking at the Prince of Greed with those large emerald doe eyes. 

 

Sanghyuk gave his youngest a soft, encouraging smile. “Just try it for me, dove. Wear it for a few minutes so you can test how it feels. Then you’ll see that it’s not so frightening.”

 

After a few more moments of blinking, Jaehwan gave a minuscule nod. 

 

“Thank you,” Sanghyuk hummed. 

 

He took up the collar and briskly fastened it around Jaehwans slender neck. Tight, but not so tight that it would cause his Bound pain. Only tight enough that all of the wards could touch his skin. Loose enough that Sanghyuk could still slip two fingers beneath the band. 

 

His Bound twitched when the buckle locked into place. “Is- is it-t-t on?”

 

That stutter, so charming, so honest... “Yes, my dove, it’s on.”

 

Jaehwan wriggled a bit. Traced the lapel of Sanghyuk’s jacket. Touched Sanghyuk’s hair. “It- it... it...”

 

Stroking his round cheek, Sanghyuk asked, “It what?”

 

And that frown, that pouty precious little frown...

 

“I can’t fe-feel anything.”

 

“What do you mean, dove?”

 

“I can feel with my fingers, buh but- not really.”

 

Sanghyuk returned the frown. “You can’t feel anything really?”

 

Jaehwan shook his head. “Nor-normally I cah-can feel life in th-things, but not anymuh-more.”

 

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, dove,” Sanghyuk took Jaehwans hands in his own, “You can feel me, yes?”

 

His youngest nodded.

 

“And now?” He brushed the pale hair back off Jaehwans forehead, deliberately pausing to comb his fingers through the silky strands. 

 

Jaehwan nodded again. He was looking at Sanghyuk but his eyes were clouded. Distant. Like he couldn’t truly see the Prince of Greed at all. 

 

“Give it another moment,” Sanghyuk continued, folding Jaehwan up between his arms, cradling his darling body close, “It’s a new sensation, I know, but allow yourself the time to adjust.”

 

Jaehwans fingertips dug into Sanghyuk’s shoulders. Pressing Sanghyuk to his body like he might disappear if Jaehwan didn’t hold onto him tight enough.

 

“Numb,” Jaehwan mumbled, chewing his lip, “I don’t feel real…”

 

“My dove,” Sanghyuk whispered, indulgent.

 

“Make me feel real.”

 

“My dove, we must go in a short while. There isn’t time for all that-”

 

“Please!”

 

When he lifted his head, Sanghyuk saw that silver, improbable tears had welled in Jaehwans eyes. His bottom lip wobbled and stifled sobs bobbed the collar fastened around his neck. 

 

“Oh,” Sanghyuk sighed, heart ratcheting inside his chest as he brushed the tears away with the pads of his thumbs, “Oh, my dove, don’t cry.”

 

Jaehwan hiccuped. “Am I stupid?”

 

He rose on shaky knees, straddling Sanghyuk’s lap, stomach pressed to Sanghyuk’s chest. Swept his hands over Sanghyuk’s cheeks. 

 

“Of course not,” Sanghyuk replied, reeling from the sudden question, “Why would you think that?”

 

“Sir told me so,” Jaehwan buried his face in Sanghyuk’s hair, “He liked to tell me that I’m stupid. A stupid little boy who's good for nothing but play time.”

 

The Prince of Greed bit back a growl. Hunger began to gnaw at him like a starved animal lived in the lining of his stomach. But the animal was weak. Caged. Close to dying. Its power dulled by the wards embedded on the leather collar. 

 

Sanghyuk wound his arm around Jaehwans waist, panting, listening to the steady thrum of his youngest heart. “You are not stupid, dove. Thinking differently doesn’t make you stupid no matter what my Master says. He has never been as creative as you, has never been able to appreciate the beauty of this world the way you can. Being different from him does not make you less.”

 

Jaehwan hiccuped again, trying to mold himself to Sanghyuk, tangling his legs around Sanghyuk’s middle and clinging on tight. 

 

The all consuming love Sanghyuk felt for his youngest hit him hard, all at once. So hard that stole his breath away. If he were a human, Sanghyuk thought, the weight of that love would surely have killed him.

 

“Do not take off the collar,” Sanghyuk said quietly, infusing his words with order. 

 

Jaehwan whined a protest but the Prince of Greed shook his head. Holding his Bound secure against him with one arm as he rose to his feet. 

 

It was time. 

 

“Do not take it off with your own hands. Do not allow another to take it off for you unless I say otherwise. Keep it on at all times, even while you sleep. And, if someone tries to take it from you, call for me inside your mind.”

 

Sanghyuk carried his youngest out into the corridor and whispered his eldest’s name. 

 

Wonshik appeared beside him an instant later. Cherry hair neatly combed. Strong body hidden beneath immaculate black velvet; a three piece suit that fit him like a second skin. 

 

All three of them were dressed in their best, needing to be impressive as well as presentable, and Sanghyuk looked Wonshik over with appreciative eyes. Extending a hand that Wonshik took at once. 

 

“Are you ready, my darling?”

 

Wonshik nodded. Gave Sanghyuk’s hand a squeeze. 

 

“Good,” the Prince of Greed sighed. 

 

And then he stepped back into the shadows; guiding his Bound into the dark and up to the surface. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Rather than trying to force entry into the palatial manor he knew was his Masters favorite earthly residence, Sanghyuk led his Bound through the front gate and along the garden path. Walking at a casual pace. Giving his Master plenty of time to sense their approach. 

 

“Easy,” Sanghyuk murmured, shifting Jaehwans weight a little so he could ring the ancient looking doorbell. 

 

He was still carrying his youngest; Jaehwan had refused to be put down and Wonshik had a death grip on his elbow. They were both nervous. Sanghyuk couldn’t blame them. He was nervous himself. 

 

Maybe thirty seconds later, the front door swung open of its own accord, revealing his Master and brother artfully arranged in the foyer. 

 

His master was draped in yards of scarlet silk, feet bare, a thin length of velvet ribbon secured around slender throat. And Hongbin -hateful, vicious Hongbin- was standing behind the Prince of Lust. His chin resting on the Prince of Lusts shoulder and his small hand circling the Prince of Lusts left wrist. 

 

“Pet,” his Master hummed, raising his free hand so his expansive sleeve unfurled like the wing of a songbird, “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

 

Sanghyuk managed to tear his eyes away from his brother and looked at his Master. Taking note of the falsely pleasant tone. But he said nothing. 

 

“You’re welcome here, of course, as my eldest, but I must say that it’s quite a surprise to see you…”

 

Hongbin moved out from behind their Master, just half a step into the open. 

 

To Sanghyuk’s surprise, he saw the Prince of Lust flinch at the motion. The tiniest flinch, so subtle that, to someone who didn’t know his Master well, it would have gone unnoticed. But Sanghyuk noticed. 

 

“May I speak to you in private?” he asked, not bothering to hope that he’d actually get privacy but needing to ask for it anyway. The Prince of Lust did so love a public spectacle. 

 

But again, to his complete surprise, his Master nodded. 

 

“Of course, pet,” he hummed, in a strange, fluttery voice, “Come with me. We shall- go to my office. Or take a stroll through the garden? Hongbin can entertain the little ones in our absence.”

 

Jaehwan clung to him when Sanghyuk tried to set him down, ducking his head to whisper in Sanghyuk’s ear, “Sir smells scared.”

 

That confirmed the theory that was steadily taking shape in Sanghyuk’s mind. The hints were very subtle, and his Master wasn’t usually easy to frighten, but he looked frightened all the same. 

 

“Stay with Shikkie,” Sanghyuk whispered back, laying a kiss on Jaehwans temple as he finally set his youngest back on his own feet. Then he murmured to Wonshik, “Don’t let him out of your sight.”

 

From the corner of his eye, he saw Hongbin tug on their Master's hand. And he saw the Prince of Lust flinch a second time. 

 

“I’m not leaving you alone with him. He can’t be trusted.”

 

“You will do as you are told, sweetling,” was the snapped retort, half an octave too high.

 

“No.”

 

“Yes!”

 

A growl. “No.”

 

Then the order finally came. “Take Wonshik and the little darling to the parlor upstairs, sit with them, and do not leave that room until I come and fetch you. Go now.”

 

Hongbin clenched his hands into fists, arms hanging at his sides, and Sanghyuk could see what Wonshik had described during their conversation with Hakyeon. The way the air around Hongbin seemed to curl and blacken like it was being burned. 

 

However, Hongbin couldn’t refuse a direct order like that anymore that Sanghyuk could. 

 

He only glared at Sanghyuk for a few seconds before turning on his heel and stomping up the stairs. Perhaps he’d inherited a touch of their Master's petulance...

 

“Come here, puppy,” the Prince of Lust beckoned, making his wide sleeve rustle, “Come along.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

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Curious Cat

Chapter 26

Summary:

hyukenhyukenhyuken

Notes:

hyuken lol

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Giving his Bound a final glance over his shoulder, disliking how small they looked in the capacious foyer, Sanghyuk crossed to his master's side. Took his master's outstretched arm. Allowed himself to be led down a corridor and into a room that was clearly an office. 

 

The walls were paneled with dark wood and heavy curtains hung over a pair of floor to ceiling windows. An ornately carved desk crouched in the center of the room. Rugs patterned in jewel tones were scattered about, as were a handful of spindly legged chairs. Some redecorating had taken place since his master's swift departure from the Beneath.

 

“My pet,” the Prince of Lust sighed, urging Sanghyuk down to sit on the office's single sofa -a rounded velvet thing that reminded Sanghyuk of the Rococo period- and perched beside him. Stroking his arm and leaning into his personal space. “What brings you back to me so soon? After you declared that attending to your Bound took priority over spending time with me... I didn’t expect to see you for quite a long while.”

 

Sanghyuk sat back, forcing himself to appear relaxed. The perfume of lilac and rose slipped past his lips and began to trickle down his throat. “Things have changed. I feel like the ground has shifted under my feet.”

 

The expression of concern on his master's face was a pantomime. So exaggerated… 

 

“What has changed, pet? Tell me,” he hummed, scooting closer. Wrapping an arm around Sanghyuk’s shoulders. Cradling Sanghyuk despite his smaller stature. “There is no problem that I cannot fix, puppy. All you need do is tell me and the situation will be handled. Have no doubt of that.”

 

Sanghyuk took a deep breath.

 

“Hakyeon has betrayed my trust,” he replied, curling and uncurling his fist, “He’s been lying to me for a very long time -as long as I’ve known him really- and it only came to light now.”

 

The Prince of Lusts brow furrowed. “Lying to you about what?”

 

“His identity, I suppose. The scope of his reach. I-” a pause, “I cannot live in his domain any longer. I can’t stay there and act like I trust him when I don’t.”

 

The Prince of Lust’s mouth contorted into a pouty little frown, but he wasn’t actually listening. Sanghyuk could tell. He was far too focused on maintaining his unbothered facade to hear what Sanghyuk was saying. 

 

“I understand you,” he wound his fingers through Sanghyuk’s hair, petting him, soothing him, “You and the little ones are welcome to stay here with me. I’m glad to see you still know that you’re safest at my side, puppy,” a little smile, “Even if that knowledge irritates you.”

 

“I don’t think you do understand,” Sanghyuk said, relaxing into his master's embrace despite his better judgment, “Hakyeon already knows about the conclave's plans for Armageddon.”

 

“How would he know such a thing? Did you tell him?”

 

Sanghyuk huffed a humorless laugh. “You should watch yourself around the Princess of Doubt. She isn’t as trustworthy as you think.”

 

“I’ve never thought her to be trustworthy, pet,” his master frowned, “But I do consider her a friend.”

 

“You shouldn’t.”

 

His master should have found this tidbit of information deeply alarming. It should have been enough to give him pause at the very least. But it didn’t, because again, he wasn’t actually listening. 

 

“I see... Well, thank you for sharing this with me. As for your Hakyeon problem, how can I make it better?”

 

“You can’t.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yes. I just needed to get away from him.”

 

The Prince of Lust hummed a soft hum. “If you insist, pet. I could always venture downstairs and use that special sword of yours to slit his pretty throat...”

 

Sanghyuk’s whole body tensed, just for a second, before he forced himself to relax again. “That’s not necessary, but thanks for the offer.”

 

“Any time,” the Prince of Lust leaned in and kissed Sanghyuk’s temple in a strange parody of the way Sanghyuk had kissed his youngest only moments ago, “Anything you need, remember? All you have to do is ask.”

 

“So, we can stay here then? The three of us?”

 

“I already said so, did I not?”

 

“Okay then... good. I should go tell them-”

 

Sanghyuk made to stand up -knowing somehow that an abrupt departure would jostle something loose- but his master grabbed his arm and yanked him back down. A frantic little yank that had a bit too much power behind it. Not as careful or controlled as he usually was. 

 

“Not yet,” he hummed, trying to play it off like it was normal, stretching his legs across Sanghyuk’s lap, “Don’t you wish for some alone time together? Some special time, just for us?”

 

Sanghyuk gaped at him. 

 

“Recharge your mojo?” his master prompted, “Isn’t that what you like to call it? Such an unusual word; mojo.”

 

“What’s the matter with you?” Sanghyuk snapped, aware of the danger that his tone presented but not bothering to modulate it.

 

His master narrowed those lovely green eyes. Pursed those perfect scarlet lips. “Nothing is the matter with me, pet, I'm simply trying to accommodate you. Your needs.”

 

“Accommodating is quite possibly the last thing I would ever call you.”

 

“Careful, puppy...”

 

“No, tell me what’s going on. There is something going on, I know it. Jaehwan noticed as well. He could smell it on you.”

 

The Prince of Lust brushed back an errant curl, making a valiant attempt at behaving in the arrogant careless way that Sanghyuk was used to. “Smell what exactly?”

 

Sanghyuk met his master's stare and stared right back. “Fear.”

 

“What a preposterous thing to say.”

 

“It isn’t preposterous! I can tell by the way you’re moving- the way you’re acting. You’re scared of something and I want to know what it is.”

 

“Have you ever known me to be scared of anything, pet?” his master asked, the words chiming with airy laughter. 

 

But Sanghyuk wouldn’t allow the conversation to be swept away so easily. “No,” he replied, “Which only makes me more concerned. Because whatever has managed to frighten you must be very frightening indeed.”

 

Something broke then. 

 

Just for a split second, the Prince of Lust's carefree mask slipped. Beneath it, Sanghyuk could finally see the truth of the matter.

 

His master wasn’t simply scared; he was absolutely terrified. 

 

“It’s nothing of consequence, puppy. Nothing you need concern yourself with,” the Prince of Lust hummed, resuming the hair petting of a moment ago, lightly scratching Sanghyuk’s scalp with his nails, “Just a small matter with your new brother, that’s all-”

 

“That very much sounds like something I should be concerned about,” Sanghyuk interrupted, “Considering I’ve just brought my family here and he’s alone with them right now.”

 

A pouty little frown. “I am your family.”

 

Sanghyuk ignored that. “What’s he done?”

 

“Oh, you know,” vague hand waving, “I’m not sure, exactly. My sweetling is so gifted, you know, I think he was just experimenting with his power...”

 

Getting frustrated now, Sanghyuk’s hands found his master's middle and he plucked him off the sofa, setting his master securely on his lap and looking at him head on. “Jyani, what did he do?”

 

The Prince of Lust squirmed. Restless and fidgety. Pointedly not making eye contact, which only made Sanghyuk’s worry increase. His master never looked away from a challenge. 

 

When the answer came, it was only a whisper. “He went into my mind, I think. While I was sleeping. Conjured up a dream... Built it from fragments of my memory. He was just playing, you know, he likes to play with me. I suppose he likes to play with me when I'm asleep as well as when I’m awake, but I never noticed until this time. This time I could feel what he was doing inside me- he kept me asleep until the dream reached its- natural conclusion. Until he’d played enough.”

 

That caught Sanghyuk off guard. He didn’t know how to react at first, didn’t know how to even begin processing the information or understanding what he heard. Couldn’t draw any conclusions out of the words or make them make sense. 

 

“Hongbin went into your mind and constructed a dream,” he repeated, speaking very slowly and very carefully, feeling his master's fingertips drift down to the nape of his neck.

 

“Yes, pet. It’s not so strange; he was the angel of nightmares, after all. Playing with dreams would be as natural to him as breathing.”

 

At Sanghyuk’s silence, the Prince of Lust wriggled closer, tipping Sanghyuk’s face up and laying a light peck on his lips. Cooing softly to him. Bumping the tips of their noses together. Smoothing the furrow from Sanghyuk’s brow with the pad of his thumb. 

 

“My lovely pet,” he whispered, flattening himself against Sanghyuk so their bodies were flush and sighing into Sanghyuk’s hair, “Think, now that you’ve returned to me it will be just like old times. The way it was when we began. Us against the world. Nothing can ever come between us again.”  

 

His master had liked him best back then. At the start. When he’d still been malleable and fresh, still so dependent. 

 

Back when the only star in Sanghyuk’s sky was the Prince of Lust. 

 

Back when, if he was in one of his rare good moods, he’d called Sanghyuk his dark joy... his sweetest pleasure... his Enamouria. 

 

A memory rushed up to the surface of Sanghyuk’s befuddled mind. Something he only remembered but had never truly experienced. Maybe a few weeks after his corruption this time around. A few weeks at most.

 

‘Look at you,’ his master hummed, giggling where he sat on the divan inside his enormous closet, ‘So pretty, so precious! Black suits you, pet!’

 

Sanghyuk was kneeling on the carpet in front of him, chin resting on his master's knee. Still befuddled from the rigors of his corruption and his jump between realities. The single fact he was sure of at that point was that Jaehwan was safe. Jaehwan was the only safe thing in the universe because Jaehwan was Jaehwan. And Jaehwan had always cared for him more than anyone else. 

 

He blinked up into his master's smiling face and Jaehwan gave a squeak of delight. 

 

‘So precious,’ Jaehwan repeated, squishing Sanghyuk’s cheeks, kissing the tip of Sanghyuk’s nose, ‘Let’s try another, hm?’

 

The black fabric that had been covering Sanghyuk’s body melted away. An expansive robe of polished cotton, emerald green and cool to the touch, unfurled around him like lotus petals in its place. 

 

‘Handsome,’ his master purred, stroking Sanghyuk’s dark hair. He raised Sanghyuk’s face and tilted it slightly from one side to the other. ‘The same shade as your eyes, puppy. Emerald suits you just as well.’

 

And your eyes, Sanghyuk wanted to say, but he couldn’t. He hadn’t found his voice yet. 

 

Sanghyuk wrapped his arms around Jaehwans legs and lay his head in Jaehwans lap, humming to himself as Jaehwan scratched gently behind his ear. 

 

And then, another memory came, giving Sanghyuk no respite or time to recover from the first.

 

‘Where have you been?!’ his master shrieked, dragging him through the doorway by the hair. Phantom pain still burning the inside of his forearm and his vision still slightly tinged with red. 

 

‘With my friend!’ Sanghyuk gasped, barely a year old then, ‘The Lord of Lies- Vice’s Bound, he invited me up to the surface, I told you about it!’

 

His master pulled him down, shoving him so he was lying on the floor, flat on his back. 

 

‘No, you most certainly did not!’ Jaehwan screamed, pouncing on him. Straddling his stomach. Gripping Sanghyuk’s chin so hard that it hurt. ‘If you’d told me, I would have forbidden you to go, and you knew that, didn’t you?!’

 

‘I did tell you,’ Sanghyuk insisted

 

His master slapped him across the cheek and he winced. ‘Do not lie to me, pet. I gave you life, created you from the very essence of myself; do not presume to insult me with lies.’

 

‘I’m not lying!’

 

And he hadn’t been lying. He’d told Jaehwan about the invitation the previous day, told Jaehwan how he was planning to go and how excited he was. After all, it was going to be his first time venturing out into the world on his own since his corruption. Sanghyuk had told Jaehwan while he sat at his vanity, applying his strange cosmetics, and Jaehwan had hummed encouragement in response to his words. 

 

His master slapped him again and bent over him. Kissing his lips, his brow, the curve of his jaw. Unable to settle on one spot. Hasty and frantic. 

 

‘You’ll never be in the company of Vice’s children again,’ he growled, now talking to himself more than to Sanghyuk. Petting Sanghyuk even as his nails elongated into talons so the caresses hurt just as much as they comforted. ‘Their influence has already taken root in you… Making you lie to me… To me; your own creator… How dare they try to turn you against me, I won’t allow it.’

 

Still too young and too naive to see the futility of it, Sanghyuk tried, ‘I was only gone for an hour, love, only an hour! And I came home early because I missed you! You don’t have to be so upset!’

 

And of course, the attempt at placating was unsuccessful. Jaehwan wasn’t listening. 

 

‘Don’t have to be upset?! I don’t have to be upset that my only child abandoned me in favor of someone he barely knows?! I don’t have to be upset that my Enamouria would rather spend his time in the company of strangers than with me?!’

 

‘Love, you’re being silly, overreacting- you know that’s not true! I love you more than anyone else!’

 

The frantic little kisses that had broken up Jaehwans words abruptly stopped. 

 

Sanghyuk watched Jaehwans emerald eyes cloud over. Taken aback by his master's sudden silence. 

 

He watched Jaehwan pull away from him. 

 

Watched Jaehwan clamber to his feet and drift across to the other side of the room. 

 

Watched Jaehwan lean against the frame of one of the false windows and stare unseeingly at the mottled light that pooled behind the glass. 

 

Sanghyuk sat up, alarmed. His master seemed so distant that they might as well be on different planes of existence. 

 

‘Love?’ he called, wiping away the beads of ichor that welled up in the wake of his master's talons. He stood on shaky legs and moved to Jaehwans side, hugging Jaehwan, kissing the soft line of Jaehwan’s hair. ‘Don’t be so sad, Jyani.’

 

‘You do not need me…’

 

‘Of course, I do!’

 

‘You do not want me…’

 

‘I do!’

 

‘You do not love me… You will never love me the way that I love you…’

 

‘I do love you,’ Sanghyuk murmured, squeezing Jaehwan tight. Cuddling him so close that he accidentally lifted his master an inch off the floor. ‘I love you like the night loves the day.’

 

But Jaehwan had stopped listening. Stopped responding. Gone slack and cold in Sanghyuk’s arms. He didn’t even blink when Sanghyuk began to panic, nor when Sanghyuk began to cry. 

 

That was the first time he experienced his master being gone.

 

“You’re still as beautiful as you were the day I claimed you, pet. So beautiful that each glimpse of you I caught from the shadows robbed me of my breath.”

 

“Sentimentality doesn’t suit you, love,” Sanghyuk murmured, tangling a hand loosely in his master's curls. Jaehwans curls. The crop of dark curls he’d fallen in love with so many lifetimes ago. 

 

Jaehwan smiled and leaned into the touch. Letting Sanghyuk support his lolling head. “But you enjoy it, pet, I know that.”

 

“I enjoy what?”

 

“Sentimentality.”

 

Sanghyuk shrugged, watching the sable strands wind between his fingers. “Not particularly.”

 

“No?” Jaehwans perfect ruby mouth contorted in a small frown, “What is the point of your precious diaries if not to look back at them and reminisce?”

 

“Record keeping.”

 

“Always so practical, pet. You need to relax.”

 

“Relax?” Sanghyuk scoffed, incredulous, “Around you? You and my rabid little brother? You must be joking.”

 

Jaehwans eyes narrowed. “He is not rabid. Watch your mouth.”

 

“He’s not? Really?”

 

His master would have looked cherubic if he weren’t so flushed with anger. He snarled. “No he is not, he-”

 

“Tell me,” Sanghyuk interrupted, with a low, deep growl, “Tell me then, what is he?”

 

All at once, Jaehwan seemed to shrink. In place of his usual transformation, the way he took up all the space in a room, it was startling to behold. How small he looked. Like a mouse that had been backed into a corner by a very hungry cat. 

 

“I don’t know,” he replied, in all but a whisper, staring at Sanghyuk with wide eyes, and something black bloomed in the blackest part of Sanghyuk’s chest, “I don’t know.”

 

Part of it was his greed. The possessive, needy creature that lived beneath his skin and demanded everything, wanted everything, grew furious when anything was out of his reach. Part of it was greed, but-

 

“You don’t know?” Sanghyuk’s hand slipped down to circle his master's neck, velvet ribbon tickling his palm.

 

Pressed so close, Sanghyuk could feel the racing pitter-patter of Jaehwans heart, and he relished it. Found a dark delight in the soft gasp that slipped from Jaehwans lips when he tightened his grip... The subtle way Jaehwan began to tremble. Remembered how his master had chastised him, ruthless, even while they kissed. 

 

“No,” Jaehwan whispered, as still as a statue, “Help me.”

 

He kissed his master then, holding Jaehwan by the throat, grip strong enough to strangle if he’d wanted to. And even now, even as scared as he was, Sanghyuk could taste the pure, exquisite violence beneath the kiss. Taste Jaehwans desire to devour the world. 

 

Perhaps Sanghyuk had inherited a bit of his master's cruelty after all. 

 

“You don’t get to call the shots anymore,” he murmured, slipping two fingers beneath the ribbon and pulling it taught, “If you want me to protect you from Hongbin's little experiments, if you want me to guard you from a demon who’s corruption was entirely your fault, keep you safe from your own catastrophic mistake, I will only do so as your equal.”

 

“Equal?” Jaehwan gasped, making a valiant effort to secure his carefree mask back into place, “You are not my equal, pet, you will protect me because I made you. Because you are purpose built to do as I say-”

 

“No-” Sanghyuk growled, employing his infernal speed and strength to reverse their positions. Spinning them so Jaehwan sat down hard on the sofa and Sanghyuk was leaning over him, bent at the waist, caging him in with an arm braced on either side.

 

Speaking to Jaehwan in the language that Jaehwan knew best. 

 

“We will go forth from this moment as equals, love. I am just as powerful as you, more powerful than you’ve ever given me credit for. I am your equal, and if you deny it once more, I will walk away and never return. No matter how loudly you call for me, no matter how deeply you slice your own flesh, I will never come back.”

 

A quiet snarl hissed from between Jaehwans pointy teeth but Sanghyuk leaned in closer. Matching the pitch of that snarl and standing his ground. 

 

“You’ve changed, puppy,” the corner of Jaehwan’s mouth quirked up in a mischievous smile, always so easily distracted. He grazed his sharp nails along Sanghyuk’s cheekbone, “Matured... Perhaps you aren’t a lost cause after all.”

 

“I’ve never been a lost cause, love,” Sanghyuk felt himself smiling too, but not kindly, “You’re just fucking blind.”

 

Jaehwan bolted upright, trying to knock Sanghyuk off balance, his movement almost too quick for Sanghyuk to catch. 

 

Almost. 

 

They tussled for a fraction of a second before the Prince of Greed had his master pinned flat on the rug covered floor. Holding Jaehwans wrists over his head even as Jaehwan began to laugh. That delicious bedroom laugh that made Sanghyuk’s skin tingle and the hair rise on the back of his neck. 

 

Another memory hit him out of nowhere, dragging Sanghyuk out of time and space. Another recollection of his master's cruelty. 

 

Sanghyuk had been on the surface, still young then, but old enough to start making his own way. He’d wanted to learn more about the humans. Learn what made them tick. Learn the easiest ways to corrupt them, to bring them onto the winning team, you know. 

 

So Sanghyuk had gone to the surface. Found a group of humans, happy humans, drinking and laughing around a bonfire beside the sea. They looked his age, looked like him as much as any human can look like a fallen angel, enough that he could blend into the crowd. 

 

And there had been a human girl. A sweet human girl, ringed in holy light, so bright that she was nearly blinding to look at. She approached Sanghyuk. Touched his arm. Said that he looked like he could use a friend. 

 

They talked for a long while. Hours, maybe. Drifted away from the crowd at some point to recline in a pool of shadow. Whispered to each other and shared soft laughter. It was the most pleasant, peaceful few hours that Sanghyuk had experienced since the day he fell. 

 

Until, of course, Jaehwan came to shatter that peace. 

 

His master stepped into their pool of shadow and broke the girl's neck. Grabbed her by the throat with one hand and flicked his wrist, that was all it took.

 

He killed her in front of Sanghyuk; didn’t spare the young demon from the sound of breaking bones or the sight of an empty body crumpling to the sand. Didn’t hesitate. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t even seem to realize that he’d just ended a precious little mortal life, didn’t comprehend the magnitude of his actions. How her death would ripple out in a wave that would affect the entire world in some way or another. 

 

And then he took Sanghyuk’s hand without a word and led him back down to the Beneath. 

 

Sanghyuk had looked for the soul of the human girl in Hell. He looked for her in Purgatory. But he’d never found her. In the most secret part of his heart, Sanghyuk had hoped that she went to Heaven. 

 

“I could kill you,” Sanghyuk breathed, looking back and forth between his master's emerald eyes.

 

“Oh puppy, don’t be silly.”

 

“But I could.” The corners of his vision went fuzzy for a moment. “Physically, I'm stronger than you, love, you know I am. I could break your neck and rip your head off before your body had time to heal.”

 

He could do it. Sanghyuk was sure of it. Blame it on the heat of passion, a minor loss of control caused by his master's toxic energy that pulsed in his veins even now. He could kill this monster and stop their imminent demise before it ever had a chance to damage him.

 

Jaehwan writhed beneath him, sinuous and sensual, “I suppose you could. But you will not.”

 

“What makes you so sure?”

 

Slipping free, Jaehwan tried to sit up but Sanghyuk shoved him back down with a hand in the center of his chest. Hard enough to bring a groan from him. “Because you’re loyal. My loyal pet. And, more importantly, if you killed me then you couldn’t have me. We both know how much you dislike not getting what you want.”

 

Fair point, Sanghyuk supposed, considering that the mere suggestion of losing his master made the fuzziness at the edge of Sanghyuk’s vision burn red. 

 

“You desire me, pet, don't you?” Jaehwan crooned, bending one long leg so Sanghyuk could feel his knee brush the center of his back, “Always and forever? You liked to tell me so, once upon a time. That you’d desire me always and forever.”

 

That stung to hear. Not because his master remembered a sweet nothing that Sanghyuk had whispered in his ear several millennia ago. It stung because that wasn't the word Sanghyuk had used. 

 

“I told you that I love you, always and forever,” Sanghyuk corrected, one finger finding its way beneath the velvet ribbon still secured around his master's throat, “You heard what you wanted to hear.”

 

“Love... Desire... I don't see much of a difference, pet.”

 

“No, of course you don't.”

 

Sanghyuk paused for a moment. Letting that sentence sink in. Thinking back to all the times he was chastised for his gift, for the power he had inherited entirely against his will and entirely by chance. Thought back to all the times the effect of his greed would infuriate Jaehwan. Realizing now just how hypocritical that reaction had been. 

 

Jaehwan was a creature of need. A being of want. It boiled at the core of him like a pool of vicious magma, the same way it boiled inside Sanghyuk.

 

“You know,” Sanghyuk sighed, letting his energy begin to build, “We two aren't so different.”

 

The power was slow to come. Not a sudden eruption the way it had come in the first years after his corruption. His master had trained that out of him for the most part, whether he was wearing his collar or not. But Sanghyuk focused on it. Focused on feeding kindling to the fire inside him. Stoking the flames as he inspected each and every precious feature on his master's face.

 

“Oh, my puppy, I disagree,” Jaehwan giggled, not yet able to sense the wave of greed gathering strength and speed above him, “We are night and day.”

 

Sanghyuk smiled down at his master. Shook his head. “No, love. We are more like the sun and the moon.”

 

“Why do you say so?”

 

“Because, when everything is said and done, I am a reflection of you, love. I reflect your light the way the moon reflects the light of the sun. I am what you made me.” 

 

His master wiggled a bit more, an oddly pleased expression on his face, even as Sanghyuk pulled the ribbon taught. “Yes, my sweetest pleasure, that is true. You are what I made you and you are mine.”

 

At the final word of that declaration, as he heard Jaehwan say ‘mine,’ Sanghyuk let go. 

 

Not physically; his grip on his master remained secure as ever, but he let go of the lid that kept his energy inside. Let the dam break and the greed come spilling out. 

 

Jaehwan's whole body jolted beneath him. The shallow rhythm of his breath stuttered. Scarlet flame bloomed in his emerald eyes. 

 

“Control yourself,” he grit out. Voice a touch deeper and a touch more rough. Unable to hide how affected he was. 

 

Hesitating for another moment, giving the illusion that he was considering the matter, Sanghyuk shook his head a second time. “No, love. No, I don't think I will.”

 

“Stop it,” Jaehwan snarled, “This instant!”

 

Every muscle in him was tensed, Sanghyuk could feel it; pulled tight by greed like he was made of marionette strings. 

 

“No,” Sanghyuk snarled right back. 

 

The blackest part of his demonic heart deeply enjoyed the view. The site of such a mighty being- a fallen angel, an archdemon, and a Duke of Hell- caught in the grip of his power. His master's unsteady breath had turned ragged, color flushed on the high points of his bloodless cheeks and swept across the bridge of his nose.

 

“What does it feel like?” Sanghyuk asked, his tone right on the border of conversational.

 

Jaehwan twisted but Sanghyuk forced him still. 

 

“Like I am dying,” he hissed, as though the words had been pulled from him against his will, “Like I am going to die.”

 

Sanghyuk nodded, thoughtful, “That's unusual. I don't think anyone has reacted to my gift that way before.”

 

“Stop projecting, pet, or I swear to Lucifer-”

 

“Swear all you want,” Sanghyuk interrupted, “It won't do you any good.”

 

The fire in Jaehwan's eyes burned brighter the harder he pushed his energy outward. “Why are you behaving this way? I taught you better... I taught you to be obedient...”

 

Sanghyuk shrugged. “Consider it a rebellious phase if that will make my conditions easier for you to rationalize.”

 

The nails on his master's hands had elongated into talons. If Jaehwan were in the position to do so, Sanghyuk knew, those talons would've been buried in the younger’s gut by now. Jaehwan did always love to stab things. 

 

But he was not in a position to do so.

 

Even when he tried to catch Sanghyuk off guard and roll them over -which he did successfully- and then pounce, Sanghyuk was already on his feet. Employing his demonic strength and plucking his master off the floor before slamming him against the office wall. Holding him so they were face to face. One hand on his narrow waist and the other hand around his neck. If Jaehwan had needed to breathe, the force would've knocked the wind out of him.

 

“Conditions?” Jaehwan growled, so low that Sanghyuk could feel the vibration of it in his own chest. Between his legs. 

 

“Yes, love. Conditions. You want my protection, my companionship, my attention. In exchange, I would like you to acknowledge that we are equals. And I would like you to promise that you will leave my Bound alone.”

 

Sanghyuk could feel his energy now, lust stirred up by greed, but he made himself keep talking. 

 

“They are my Bound, and you will not lay a finger on them without my permission again. The same way you would behave toward the Bound of another Fallen. My protection, my attention, is conditional. Understand?”

 

His master's adam’s apple bobbed against his palm, lips parted, but no words came. 

 

“I don't ever remember seeing you speechless before, love.” Sanghyuk smiled a smile that was all sharp teeth, the demon that lived beneath his skin taking the reins. “What's the matter?” 

 

He felt Jaehwan swallow again. “Turn it down. Now.”

 

Sanghyuk’s sharp smile grew wider. “No, that's not how this is going to go. Not anymore.”

 

“Turn it down, pet!”

 

There was an order there. Sanghyuk felt it. Felt his masters will slam against his psyche like a wrecking ball. 

 

And yet, somehow, miraculously, a tiny shred of him managed to resist. Clung to control and didn't let go. 

 

“No.”

 

“You've had your fun, now stop projecting.”

 

“No.”

 

“Sanghyuk, do as I say!”

 

“No,” the Prince of Greed snarled, his master's flushed face only an inch away, “I am an archdemon and a Duke of Hell. I lost my creator the day you were locked in the void. I am a Duke of Hell, and I bow to no one but Lucifer. I certainly do not bow to the likes of you.”

 

The truth of what he’d said would have shocked Sanghyuk if he'd had the capacity for shock at that moment. But he did not. Shock, surprise, disbelief; none of it mattered. None of it could penetrate the haze in his mind. His demon was the one in control, and his demon cared for nothing but greed.

 

Jaehwan made a soft noise and it was almost like defeat. Sanghyuk growled with pleasure at the sound. 

 

“Tell me,” he whispered, splaying his fingers across the column of Jaehwan's neck, the hand on Jaehwan's hip slipping down to part the folds of scarlet silk, “Why does it feel like you're going to die?”

 

Lucifer, but he was absolutely breathtaking in red. 

 

“Because- you’re mine...” Jaehwan gasped, squeezing his eyes shut, “You are mine, and the little ones dare to try and claim you as their own, but you’re mine!”

 

The thrum of his pulse had a desperate, frantic feeling to it. Like the flapping wings of a bird that had flown through a window and didn’t know how to get back out. 

 

“You want me to be yours so badly that it feels like death?” Sanghyuk breathed, gently nibbling Jaehwan’s earlobe. Fingertips brushing the inside of his thigh. Making his master gasp.

 

He was so thirsty. The lust in the air was making Sanghyuk so thirsty that he’d surely drown from it. Lose himself to it. Jaehwan was hot against him, almost too hot, and that lovely flush had spread to the tips of his pointy ears.  

 

“Yes,” it was barely more than a whisper, “I’ve never craved anything as badly as I craved to call you mine.”

 

Sanghyuk nearly purred at that, letting his fingers trip across his master's length. He was already hard, and he bucked, back arching as he rolled his hips automatically, rutting against Sanghyuk's palm. Wriggling there like a fish on a hook.

 

“If I’m yours, then you’re mine, love. That's what it means to be equals.”

 

“I’m yours,” his master repeated, “I’m yours, I’m yours, I’m yours...”

 

Sanghyuk let out a low, approving hum. “Good start.”

 

He wrapped a hand around his master’s cock, still holding him by the throat, carefully stroking him until the chanting of “I’m yours,” trailed off. Voice high and quavery each time Sanghyuk tightened his grip. Moans stuck behind his clenched teeth. Those moans that sounded like poison and honey to Sanghyuk's ear. 

 

Jaehwan came fast the first time, which visibly surprised him, and Sanghyuk couldn’t suppress a soft, low chuckle. His hand didn’t stop moving, stroking his master through the surge of pleasure and back to rigidity and he growled, “Not done.”

 

He kept going until Jaehwan was entirely spent. Throat muscles straining beneath Sanghyuk’s fingers, gasping from overstimulation, bucking his hips in a broken, needy rhythm. That doll mouth turning down at the corners, a furrow creasing between his brows. The silk ribbon lay abandoned on the floor at their feet.

 

Only when the monster inside him was satisfied by the display of submission did Sanghyuk relent. 

 

He moved back to the sofa and draped his drowsy master across his lap. Cupped Jaehwan’s cheek in his hand. Lightly running his thumb over the bow of Jaehwan’s upper lip. It was swollen and red from the press of his teeth. 

 

“When we walk out of this room, it will be as equals, love. Do you agree?”

 

Jaehwan hummed wordlessly. Movement so slow it was almost like he was dreaming, he wrapped his arms around Sanghyuk’s neck. Kissing first one corner of Sanghyuk’s mouth, then the other. Then the tip of Sanghyuk’s nose. “Will you help me? Keep me safe?”

 

“Yes,” Sanghyuk lied. 

 

“Then, yes, puppy. When we walk out of this room, it will be as equals. But let’s stay here for a little while longer.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because,” Jaehwan lay a delicate, lingering kiss on Sanghyuk’s cheek, “I’ve missed you.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

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Curious Cat

Chapter 27

Summary:

pure filth lol
but there is plot within the smut for those who wish to see it lol

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

‘The best way to learn how to win is by losing.’

 

His master’s favorite mantra rang in Sanghyuk's head for days after his arrival at the mansion. It was like an earworm. He couldn’t stop hearing it. 

 

No matter what he was doing, no matter what he was saying...

 

No matter what game he was playing, no matter what room he was in...

 

No matter which pair of green eyes he was peering into, no matter who’s unnatural voice was aimed in his direction... 

 

All the Prince of Greed could hear was ‘The best way to learn how to win is by losing.’

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“Sweetling?” Jaehwan called, caught halfway between sleeping and waking, “What’s the matter? Where are you going?”

 

In the dimness of his bedroom, the Prince of Lust could make out Hongbin’s silhouette a few yards away. The warm place he’d occupied between the sheets conspicuously empty. 

 

“Away.”

 

“No, sweetling, come back to bed.”

 

A low growl cut through the air and Jaehwan’s drowsy eyes snapped open. He hadn’t even noticed them beginning to close. It was so late... He didn’t have energy for a fight right then. But, unfortunately for the Prince of Lust, it seemed that a fight was exactly what Hongbin was looking for.

 

“I want to see what he’s doing.”

 

“I’m sure he’s sleeping, my sweet, just as you should be,” Jaehwan replied, knowing which ‘he’ Hongbin was referencing without needing to ask, “He has been nothing but cordial since they arrived. You have no need to worry so much. Now, come back here.”

 

Hongbin fought the order in Jaehwan’s voice, but only for a moment. He slunk toward the bed with a mutinous look on his handsome face and sparks flaring like pinprick stars in his wake. “You need to worry more,” was the petulant retort, “He’s a filthy liar.”

 

As loath as he was to admit it, Jaehwan did feel safer with his pet in the house. Having his pet nearby in case... In case. He loved Hongbin, of course. Very, very much. However, love and fear were not mutually exclusive. He was frightened of his sweetling too, especially in moments like this. When he couldn’t read exactly what Hongbin was thinking. 

 

But, as had been proven many times over the span of his long life, the safest place for dangerous things was at his side. Best to keep them close so he could see the moves they made. So they couldn’t catch him off guard. That was why Hongbin was the one sleeping beside him rather than his eldest. 

 

“Sanghyuk is many things, sweetling, but a liar isn’t one of them. It doesn’t come naturally to him. Every thought he has is written clear across his face.”

 

Climbing onto the bed and slipping back between the sheets, Hongbin took Jaehwan’s hand in his own. Holding it up to his eyes and lightly pressing the tips of each of Jaehwan’s fingers. “You’re blind if you think he’s being honest with you about why he’s here.”

 

“Then, pray tell, why is he really here?”

 

“I don’t know. I don’t like not knowing. And he keeps my brother locked in there all night, every night. He never leaves us alone together... Just hulks in the corner glaring at me like an overgrown bat...”

 

This was a night of painful truths, it seemed. 

 

“The fledgling isn’t your brother, my sweet. No matter how much we would like it to be so,” Jaehwan winced as he spoke, miniscule sparks singeing the light dusting of pale hair on his forearm, “Sanghyuk is your brother, not my namesake. My namesake is your,” he waved an airy hand, “Cousin, I suppose. Something of that nature.”

 

“Sanghyuk is no brother of mine,” Hongbin hissed, holding the elders hand tight as if to emphasize his point, “Apart from you, little Hwannie is the only creature I care about. Sanghyuk can rot in the void.”

 

The Prince of Lust exhaled a slow breath, too exhausted to argue the point. “What of Wonshik, then?”

 

“Wonshik is harmless. I liked him before he fell- I like him now, a bit. But he doesn’t like me.”

 

“He’s quite charming, quite a gentleman. You should try and befriend him again, sweetling,” the Prince of Lust murmured, already drifting off, “We need allies in the war to come.” 

 

“No, we don’t,” Jaehwan heard Hongbin reply as sleep finally claimed him, the words slipping into his dreams with an echo of prophecy, “Little Hwannie and I... We can tear the clouds out from under heaven without help from anyone else. The two of us are all you need to win; the angels don’t have a prayer.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

A rare moment of freedom...

 

This was a rare moment of freedom and the Prince of Lust couldn’t help but laugh with delight. 

 

He and Hongbin had gotten into another small shouting match, yes, but that was all. Tempers were running hot. Being the responsible, mature creator he was, Jaehwan had removed himself from his sweetling’s presence. Leaving Hongbin to commiserate with Wonshik. He didn’t want to do anything rash or inadvertently cause his sweetling harm, and perhaps Wonshik’s calm demeanor would rub off on Hongbin. 

 

As he paced along the upstairs corridor, the sound of another laugh caught Jaehwan’s attention. Two doors down... On the left...

 

When he cracked the door open, the Prince of Lust saw his eldest and his namesake had secreted themselves away in his namesake’s bedroom. They were twined together, flopped sideways on the foot of the large bed, exchanging quick kisses that were broken up by bursts of laughter. 

 

And they were both wearing sweatpants. 

 

“I’m glad to see that you’re finally making yourself at home, pet,” the Prince of Lust hummed, slipping into the room. Letting the door close behind him and pressing his back against it. 

 

They looked over at him with mingled surprise and anticipation. Well, anticipation on the fledgling’s face. Sanghyuk’s expression leaned more toward suspicion. 

 

The Prince of Lust widened his eyes and let them sparkle, feigning pleasure and faint excitement. “You’re enjoying yourselves, I trust?”

 

With a little wordless chirp, the fledgling extended a hand in Jaehwan’s direction.

 

Sanghyuk glanced at him, quick, and then at Jaehwan, then down at the fledgling once more. A rush of conflicting emotions fluttering across his face. 

 

“You still want to play, darling?” Jaehwan cocked his head like a curious vulture, stepping away from the wall and crossing the room in slow, sweeping strides. 

 

The fledgling gave a careful little nod. 

 

“Really? When you abandoned us, I assumed you had failed me. That you were nothing more than another lost cause…”

 

His namesake squeaked in protest, mumbling something about never disappointing his sir.  

 

Jaehwan cut him off; voice as gentle as velvet.. “But perhaps not. Perhaps you can prove me wrong.”

 

“Love,” Sanghyuk drew Jaehwan's focus away from the fledgling like his words were magnetic, “Where’s Hongbin? Do you need to feed?”

 

“Need? No, pet, I don’t need it, but I won't say no if you’re offering...” He took his eldest’s free hand, remembering their deal, doing his best not to let it frustrate him. Doing his best to treat his eldest like an equal. “And our darling wants to play... I won’t touch him if you refuse his request. But, my puppy, I am still allowed to touch you.”

 

“Where’s bunny?” The fledgling asked, so innocent and sweet. 

 

Jaehwan's gaze didn’t stray from his eldest, but he did answer. “My sweetling -your bunny- is downstairs in the parlor. He’s in a timeout.”

 

A soft ‘oh’ was his namesake's only reply. 

 

At least the fledgling was wearing Sanghyuk’s own collar. The unregulated outpoor of his energy was one less factor Jaehwan would need to worry about. His namesake was still so dreadful at controlling himself. 

 

“Can we?” The fledgling turned to Sanghyuk as well, batting his eyelashes and sticking out his lip. 

 

Sanghyuk buckled beneath the combined weight of their gazes and dropped his head back on the mattress with a sigh. “Anything for you, dove.”

 

Smearing a crimson grin across his lips, the Prince of Lust moved away and settled on a well placed armchair. “Come here, darling, come here and kneel for me,” he crooned, crooking his finger, inviting.

 

The fledgling rolled off the bed and Jaehwan could hear his heart begin to race. The pitter patter of his unsteady steps carried him along until he sank down before the Prince of Lust. Keeping his eyes on the floor when Jaehwan spoke again. 

 

“You will be on your best behavior, my darling, yes?”

 

“Yes, sir,” was the whispered reply.

 

With a deft snap of his fingers, Jaehwan vanished the vile sweatpants along with the rest of his namesake’s clothing, leaving him naked and bare on his knees. 

 

Sanghyuk coughed a pointed cough and Jaehwan glanced at him. His pet was still on the bed, but sitting up now. Alert. Jaehwan graced him with a demure smile and half a shrug. As if to say ‘I am simply following the fledgling’s lead. He wanted to play; I am only doing what he wanted me to do.’

 

“You've fantasized about this, about us, have you not?” he asked, as he stroked the fledgling’s hair, grinning at the faint silver flush dusting his pet’s cheeks.

 

“Yes,” Sanghyuk huffed, like the answer had been pulled from him against his will. 

 

Gentle...

 

Calm...

 

Restraint... 

 

No point in risking a test of Sanghyuk’s patience when their arrangement was already so tenuous. He could not be allowed to escape and leave Jaehwan here alone...

 

Jaehwan nodded, pleased. Slowly, he bent at the waist. Folding himself in half so that he and the fledgling were on a level. “Look at me, darling.”

 

His namesake did as he was told, his breath coming in short little anxious gasps. “Sweets?”

 

“Sweets,” Jaehwan nodded again, luxuriating in the persistent heat of the fledgling’s proximity. It warmed his ancient skin. Warmed his body; inside and out.

 

Humming, the fledgling relaxed into the kiss, running his fingers through the Prince of Lust’s ebony hair. He licked into Jaehwan's mouth. Deepening their embrace. Pulling the Prince of Lust closer. Wanton and hungry. 

 

“Your enthusiasm flatters me,” Jaehwan sighed when they broke apart, watching his namesake with predatory focus. 

 

The fledgling panted softly, his slate grey fringe falling over his eyes before he looked up to meet Jaehwan's gaze. “I missed you, sir.”

 

“And I, you.”

 

Tipping the fledgling’s chin up, he traced the bow of his namesake’s lips with a fingertip. A soundless instruction to open his mouth an inch. 

 

The Prince of Lust made his voice lovely and thick. “Suck.”

 

His namesake obeyed, taking two of Jaehwan’s fingers into his mouth and sucking on them like the raspberry candies he favored. His tongue felt so wet and so soft against Jaehwan’s fingertips...

 

“I know you can do better than that, darling...”

 

The prompting urged the fledgling to open his mouth wider and, of course, the fledgling complied. Jaehwan pushed down his throat until his namesake gagged and coughed.

 

“Good boy...” He pulled back, ready to accept the fledgling's eager kiss when it came. 

 

His namesake licked his lips with the tip of his tongue, eyes hooded with pleasure at the taste of venom. 

 

The Prince of Lust glanced toward the bed once more, smiling a drowsy smile as the fledgling’s kisses drifted lower. Feeling the fledgling’s lips on the underside of his jaw, the fledgling's hot breath on the column of his throat. Snaring Sanghyuk's narrow gaze and holding it. He could sense his eldest’s greed beginning to well to the surface even from the other side of the room. “Won’t you join us, pet?” 

 

“This is your playtime, love. I didn’t think an interruption would be welcome.”

 

So petulant... So jealous...

 

Jaehwan gripped the fledgling’s silvery grey hair and bodily turned him toward the bed so Sanghyuk could see. Showing Sanghyuk how hard his namesake was, how heavily he was panting already. The fledgling squeaked and tried to squirm away from the sudden sting, but it proved useless. Jaehwan did not release him. 

 

“You are always welcome, puppy,” he crooned, using his free hand to undo the fastener that held his own tunic shut. The folds of ruby damask fell apart, baring his shoulders, sliding down to pool in the crook of his elbows. 

 

He bid his eldest come and, thank Lucifer, Sanghyuk came; sitting on the arm of Jaehwan’s chair rather than kneeling like the fledgling. Those perfect green eyes skating down the Prince of Lust’s chest. “You’re very beautiful tonight, love.”

 

“Am I not beautiful every-” Jaehwan’s protest broke off before he had a chance to voice it fully. Sanghyuk bent and claimed his mouth with the heat of a brand. 

 

The Prince of Lust arched his back, an automatic and instinctual move to bring himself nearer to his precious puppy; a soft moan escaping from low in his throat.

 

Sanghyuk despised him, distrusted him, refused him at every turn, and it didn’t matter. Even after all the millenia that passed between them, it still didn’t matter. Jaehwan loved his puppy beyond all reason and it made him feel sick. As though his love for Sanghyuk turned to poison in his veins.

 

“And you, dove,” Sanghyuk added sweetly, dropping a kiss on the top of the fledglings head and patting his round cheek, “Are beautiful too.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

In Sanghyuk’s absence, Wonshik should have been keeping an eye on Hongbin. His creator had charged him with that duty; shadow Hongbin around the mansion so he couldn't get up to any mischief. Watch twice as closely if Hongbin was with Jaehwan and Sanghyuk couldn’t be there, since their strange bond bothered Sanghyuk to no end. Wonshik agreed to do it, because Hongbin was an unquantifiable danger and couldn’t be trusted, but this evening was an exception to the rule.  

 

Sanghyuk was with Jaehwan. They were both hidden away somewhere with the Prince of Lust. Hongbin was throwing a silent temper tantrum because of it; forbidden to leave the parlor downstairs, busy shredding the Prince of Lust’s book collection one page at a time and burning the fragments to ash. He was too occupied by his own jealousy and anger to do anything nefarious. 

 

So, Wonshik took the opportunity to sneak away -opportunities like that were rare- and slipped through the mansion’s front door. He hurried down the garden path and waited until he passed the front gate before stepping through the shadows. Not wanting to disturb the mansion’s wards and alert the Prince of Lust that he was going downstairs. That would bring up several inconvenient questions that Wonshik had no interest in answering. 

 

The warmth of Hell wrapped around his body, embracing him like a long lost lover. 

 

He was home at last...

 

But, he couldn’t stay for long. He needed to report to Hakyeon and then get back to the surface before anyone noticed his absence. 

 

Wonshik aimed his steps toward the False Prince’s apartments, smiling for the first time in a week.

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“Will you let me taste you, pet?”

 

By that point, once all the soft kisses were dispensed and the soft petting was done, his master was kneeling on the carpet at Jaehwans side. Pointy chin propped on Sanghyuk’s knee. 

 

Sanghyuk had not been prepared to hear that question. He forced himself not to shift where he sat on the armchair. “Don’t the two of you want to play together?”

 

His master gave him a knowing look; a look that saw right through the words and zeroed in on Sanghyuks unspoken meaning. “I know how much you want to see us play together, pet, but first I wish to taste you. I wish to taste you the way you let my namesake taste you.”

 

Sanghyuk licked his lips and swallowed. 

 

“You’ve taken me the way you take him once before,” the Prince of Lust added, tilting his chin in Jaehwan’s direction, “Don’t you remember? When sweet Wonshik glamoured me so I looked like your lovely fledge? You took me so differently then, pet… It was quite a novel sensation.”

 

Of course, Sanghyuk remembered. He remembered every second of that interaction, and the memory of it raised a fire of white hot longing in the pit of his stomach. At present, the shameful memory of his shouted ‘I hate you’ after the fact wasn’t strong enough to quench the flames. 

 

The Prince of Lust turned to Jaehwan. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, darling? You’d like to see me suck your maker's cock?”

 

Jaehwan nodded, hard. "Yes, p-please...”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Yes,” he repeated in a whisper, tugging at the collar he wore with anxious fingers. 

 

Sanghyuk peered between them. Between these two creatures that he so adored. So many similarities, and yet, they were so different. How could two members of one species be so utterly, entirely different? It was like seeing a tabby cat sitting next to a tiger and calling them the same.

 

“Good,” his master smiled, reaching out and deftly untying the drawstring of the sweatpants Sanghyuk knew he hated, “Then, little darling, you may watch,” he pulled the waistband down and freed Sanghyuk’s length, taking it in one slender hand, “And you, pet, will you show him? Show him how he looks after he begs for a taste of you?”

 

It was only through sheer will power that Sanghyuk nodded. The demon that lived in his heart was gnashing its teeth; greedy for both of them, urgently needing to somehow split himself in two so that he could secret them both away to separate, dark corners and keep them for himself. The rational aspect of his being reminded him that their current position was a sign of good progress; that keeping his master distracted and happy -lowering his master's guard- was the whole reason he and his Bound were there. Using logic to disguise the guilt that continuously throbbed at the base of his skull. 

 

“Watch him, darling, watch closely... The demon that sired you only shows his true self in moments of passion...”

 

‘Every word he speaks is merely a note in the song of his seduction,’ the logic reminded Sanghyuk, ‘It is nothing but artifice, it's how he hunts. How he snares his prey.’

 

And Jaehwan watched, intent. Gulping when the Prince of Lust began to stroke Sanghyuk’s cock to full hardness. It didn’t take long. 

 

Unable to help himself, Sanghyuk ducked his head and pressed his tingling mouth to that of his master, insides alight and aching for a kiss. The ferocity of his own need frightened him. 

 

Without warning, the Prince of Lust broke their kiss and whipped around. Emerald gaze alight with scarlet flame, he grabbed Jaehwan by the hair and slapped him with his other hand. 

 

And, to Sanghyuks surprise, Jaehwan smiled. His goal must have been achieved, Sanghyuk thought, noticing that Jaehwan's touch had strayed. Fingers curling around the Prince of Lust’s forearm and clinging on tight. His dove must have wanted attention and, no matter how rough, irritating the Prince of Lust counted as gaining attention. Even so, Sanghyuk felt his own temper spike. 

 

“Don’t,” he snapped, gripping his master’s wrist so he couldn’t slap Jaehwan again. His master was always coiled tight, poised to lash out at any chance, every opportunity. “I’ll take Jaehwan away and leave you here if you can't control yourself.”

 

The Prince of Lust gaped at him. Stared into his face, almost like he was seeing Sanghyuk for the first time. Initially angry. Then, for some unfathomable reason, proud.

 

“So stern...” he purred, and his voice sent strange yet pleasing pangs zipping through Sanghyuk's body, “So forceful, pet. I’ll make a master of you yet.”

 

Sanghyuk pressed his lips tight together, doing his best to hide how he basked in the Prince of Lust’s approval. The demon inside him purring when it was affirmed by the creature that created it. 

 

“You wanted me to treat you like I treat him,” he inclined his head at Jaehwan, who still clung to the Prince of Lust’s arm, “I am stern with him on occasion, aren't I, dove?”

 

“On occasion,” Jaehwan parroted, wriggling closer so he could poke Sanghyuk’s knee, grinning the grin of a mischievous cat, “But I’m much more well b-behaved than sir. He needs a firmer h-hand than I do.”

 

Gracing his youngest with a fond little wink, Sanghyuk returned his attention to the Prince of Lust. “You need a firm hand, love?” His master’s hair had grown a few inches since it was first cut, and Sanghyuk pushed the longer locks aside, exposing the pale flesh of his neck. Tracing one of the veins that thrummed there. “Get to it, then. I’ll be as stern as you are with me.”

 

The Prince of Lust’s eyes flashed dangerously but Sanghyuk ignored it. Sitting back in the armchair and shifting his legs apart. Letting his master take him into his hand once more. Leaning into the touch like a cat being stroked.

 

It was true that he’d dreamed about scenes like this. He’d dreamed about them for as long as he could remember. Having the balance of their power dynamic reversed. A dream, though, was starkly different from reality. His dreams never conjured up an image of his master’s slick lips parting. Nor had they produced the sensation of his master’s forearms resting atop Sanghyuk’s thighs as he knelt at Sanghyuk’s feet.

 

Sanghyuk pushed his cock down his master's throat in one go and groaned, his eyes fluttering closed for a heartbeat. Expecting a cough or a whine or a protest. But none came. Instead, the Prince of Lust opened up for him. Blooming like a dark flower as he forced himself further. All the way down until the tip of his master’s nose touched his groin. 

 

The feeling -the sweet, wet warmth- obliterated any thought of a life lived apart from him. Nothing in the universe mattered more to Sanghyuk than his master. His master’s love. His master’s pleasure. 

 

He bucked his hips, an unconscious motion, rutting up into his master’s mouth. Groaning under his breath as he felt throat muscles tighten; working to swallow around his length. 

 

A single silver tear ran down his master’s cheek. Sanghyuk’s conscience told him to pull back; that his master’s jaw must ache and his throat must be feeling raw by now. The demon disagreed. And the demon took control. Moaning as he forced himself even further into that delicious heat for a moment before yanking his master off him by the hair. 

 

“Is that firm enough?” he asked, so quiet that he almost couldn’t hear himself speak. 

 

His master hiccuped, looking so terrifyingly soft; his chest rising and falling again in quick succession. As precious and fragile as a cracked teacup. So close to breaking if it was handled without care. 

 

The demon in Sanghyuk growled, clawing furiously at the muscle surrounding his ribcage until he drew the Prince of Lust back down. 

 

He wanted to penetrate his scalded heart. Wanted to see through his eyes, wanted to know what it was like to look out at the world through those glints of scarlet flame. And, above all else, he wanted the Prince of Lust to feel this. Sanghyuk wanted him to feel every ridge and every inch of his cock as it slid down his throat. 

 

Saliva glistened at the corners of the Prince of Lust’s mouth, thin streams of it running down his face so his chin glistened in the ambient light. 

 

“Are you enjoying yourself, love?” he murmured, groaning in response to the artful graze of his master’s teeth. From the corner of his eye, Sanghyuk saw Jaehwan swipe up a bit of his master’s spit and lick it off his fingers. Lashes fluttering as the venom sang to his taste buds. “My dove is enjoying himself. Are you? Do you enjoy the feeling of my weight on your tongue?”

 

He didn’t give the Prince of Lust an opportunity to answer right away. Keeping his master's mouth occupied for a while longer. Sanghyuk wasn't thrusting, not truly, but he did press on the back of his master's head for a count of ten before he let him up for air again.

 

“Yes, pet,” the Prince of Lust replied, sultry and low, his fingers digging into Sanghyuk’s thigh. 

 

The enticing darkness beneath his master’s emerald eyes stole all the words that had been poised on Sanghyuk's lips. He could say nothing, do nothing, as his master resumed the task at hand. At one point, he tried to press his legs together, but of course he couldn't. His master was still situated between them. All Sanghyuk could do was keep a tight grip on his master's hair and think about the fact that the outline of his cock must be clearly visible beneath the skin of his master’s supple throat.

 

His master took his sweet time. Tasting Sanghyuk; savoring him. On and on until a haze of pleasure had settled over the Prince of Lust like a wedding veil and the  familiar pressure of climax began to build in Sanghyuk’s stomach. 

 

He managed to stop it then, barely. Not wanting to finish yet. Some cruel part of him not wanting to give the Prince of Lust the satisfaction of taking this first victory. 

 

His master gave a delicate cough, swallowing thickly, breathing heavy as he was pulled off his prize. And then he looked up at Sanghyuk. Looked up at him with eyes full of the lust he was named for. Blown pupils and damp lashes. Being on the receiving end of that look now -after everything, and with everything that was still to come- felt like a dagger through the heart. 

 

‘I love you,’ Sanghyuk thought, frozen in place, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you...’

 

Dainty hands pawed at the Prince of Lust’s chest. His cheeks. His parted lips. It was Jaehwan, of course; eager to make his presence known. To remind them both that he was there. 

 

“Your little one needs tending to, pet,” his master hummed. Each word shaped by that swollen mouth sounded as exquisite as a struck piano key. 

 

Jaehwan tried to steal another taste of venom but the Prince of Lust snatched at him before he had the chance. Holding his wrist with one hand and gripping Jaehwan’s chin with the other. Pinching it between thumb and forefinger. 

 

“Haven't I taught you better?” he asked, getting in Jaehwan’s personal space, “You can't have forgotten all of our lessons so soon, darling. Or, are you simply emboldened by your sire’s presence? Does having my pet here make you feel safe?”

 

“Yes. S-sweets,” Jaehwan wriggled one of his hands free and slipped it in the Prince of Lust’s mouth. 

 

“Sweets,” the Prince of Lust repeated, his tone caught somewhere between irritation and the mockery of a plea, “Sweets, sweets, sweets, all you ever want is sweets.”

 

His master pushed himself up off the floor with a huff, moving away, and Sanghyuk was on his feet before he realized it. 

 

“Pet, please drag our little darling to the bed and keep him there. The feeling of the carpet is making me sick.”

 

Sanghyuk inwardly shook himself, forcing himself to action. He ducked down and carefully caught Jaehwan's hands. Helping his youngest to stand. Kissing him quickly before leading him over to the bed. It was a sumptuous bed, and Jaehwan had explained when they arrived that this was his bedroom. The Prince of Lust must not have explained that it had been Sanghyuk’s bedroom first; several lifetimes ago when the mansion was not a mansion, but rather a palace. 

 

When he sat his dove on the edge of the mattress, Sanghyuk felt Jaehwan’s thighs tremble against his palm. He held him tight. Wanting to make sure that his dove knew how much he was adored. 

 

“On your hands and knees, darling,” the Prince of Lust called, lazy but commanding.

 

Jaehwan did as he was bid and turned around, situating himself so his bare feet dangled over the side. And he continued to quiver; from the anticipation, Sanghyuk assumed. Soft, breathy little moans slipping from him with every exhale.

 

“Are you ready?” the Prince of Lust reappeared, setting down a shallow bowl of lavender oil so it waited on the nightstand, “You must be, since you’re so desperate for attention.”

 

Jaehwan keened prettily and the Prince of Lust smiled. 

 

His master was so intently focused on Jaehwan that he didn’t protest when Sanghyuk slung his arms around his waist. Pressing his chest to his master's back and resting his chin on his master’s shoulder. Clinging onto him tighter than his master would normally allow. Laying distracted kisses on his master's cheek every few seconds. 

 

The Prince of Lust ignored Sanghyuk and dipped a finger in the oil. Spreading Jaehwan apart and pushing past his rim, only up to the first knuckle. It entered without resistance, but that was no surprise. After all, even Sanghyuk knew that Jaehwan was used to much more than a single finger. 

 

A second digit joined the first; his master slowly working them into Jaehwan’s body. So slowly that Sanghyuk guessed it must be a punishment. The Prince of Lust only went slow when he wanted to torture. 

 

“I’ve played with so many lovely things, darling, but none so entertaining as you…”

 

His master cooed, teasing Jaehwan a bit; pushing, pulling, rotating, just to earn a few more moans and a few twitches of muscle. And then, once Jaehwan was close to begging for more, the Prince of Lust paused. Slicking up another two fingers. 

 

Giving no warning, he pushed back in very slowly, inch by punishing inch, so that the pressure inside Jaehwan was now twice as strong as it had been a moment ago. Giggling when Jaehwan gasped.

 

“No one keens as loudly for me,” the Prince of Lust continued, appreciative in his condescension, “No one whines so pitifully for me…”

 

Sanghyuk couldn’t swallow down his jealousy fast enough. 

 

Jaehwan didn't protest, only whimpered. And the Prince of Lust’s movements never ceased, not letting Jaehwan relax around the intrusion. He curled his fingers until Jaehwan tensed, whimpering almost constantly, every muscle visibly taught beneath his blemishless skin. And then he pulled them halfway out and twisted his wrist, smiling an indulgent smile as Jaehwan arched up from the bed. Laughed as Jaehwan tried to wiggle away from the unrelenting pressure when he pressed back in again. 

 

On and on, more and more... In and out, side to side, until Jaehwan was a mute and shaking mess. The Prince of Lust teased him with one hand, and stroked Jaehwan's side with the other. 

 

Sanghyuk tried to appear disaffected, but it was difficult. Difficult to hide the way his eyes followed each and every one of his master’s movements. Faint growls tainting the sound of his breath. 

 

His master slapped the fleshy part of Jaehwan’s thigh and Jaehwan hissed through clenched teeth. Biting his bottom lip to keep from crying out. 

 

"Look at you, darling... Acting like you've never taken so much before..." The Prince of Lust’s torturous slow, languid movements grew even slower. So slow that he was practically still. “Playing the coquette for your sire, hm?”

 

Jaehwan writhed and mewled in response, wriggling like a fish on a hook. 

 

‘I want to see you like this,’ Sanghyuk thought, possessive hands clinging tight to his master’s hips, nipping at the side of his master's throat, ‘I love you so much, and you have never been this willing for me, never as willing for me as he is for you. Won’t you submit this way for me? I love you so much, won’t you let me take you apart?’  

 

He squeezed his master’s waist, stealing a kiss, and to Sanghyuk's delight, his master made a delicious little sound. Something between a giggle and a gasp. It made every nerve in Sanghyuk’s body startle up alert. But-

 

“Not now, my sweet puppy; it's the little one’s turn.”

 

His master refocused on Jaehwan. Thrusting in and out in earnest for a few more minutes, loosening Jaehwan up. 

 

Jaehwan’s chest rose and fell, a few wisps of his fringe stuck to his forehead. He choked on a sob when the Prince of Lust’s fingers pressed hard against his prostate. He cried with relief when the Prince of Lust finally began to move faster, pumping in and out at a steady, punishing pace. 

 

Sanghyuk saw his orgasm building, heard it in the way Jaehwan gasped and groaned. In the way Jaehwan convulsed and cried out. The Prince of Lust didn’t stop and the dam finally broke. Jaehwan came with his bruise-bitten mouth hanging open. And even then, shuddering still, coming down from the rush of his climax, Jaehwan wasn’t satisfied. He gently rocked his hips, trying to fuck himself on the Prince of Lust’s slender fingers. The expression on his face remained as soft and happy as it had been before they began. 

 

“Look at the pretty little thing...” the Prince of Lust sighed, “So open and inviting... And so greedy.”

 

His master yanked Jaehwan up by the hair, pulled his back close to his chest. Circling his neck with one hand to keep him upright. 

 

“Still not enough, hm?” he strummed his slick fingers up and down the soft plane of Jaehwan’s stomach until Jaehwan began to squirm, “That's too bad for you, darling.”

 

He shoved Jaehwan away from him and spun in the circle of Sanghyuk’s arms. Not seeming to hear how Jaehwan cried out in dismay. All of his attention was once again on Sanghyuk, and the ferocity of it banished any rationality that remained in Sanghyuk’s mind. 

 

Sanghyuk moved so fast that the room blurred around them. Pushing his master’s back to the nearest wall, feeling his master's legs wrap around his middle. Frenzy stole the air that Sanghyuk did not need to breathe. 

 

He pressed himself into his master’s body with as much care as he could, and the Prince of Lust’s breath hitched. The rest of his length followed smooth and steady. When he finally rolled his hips, his master took him in without any resistance. 

 

Ecstasy made him blind. Blind to everything but his master. Sanghyuk couldn’t even remember what color the wallpaper was. He couldn’t see it. He could only see the way his master’s loose fists clenched and unclenched above his head. The pulse thrumming like hummingbird wings at the base of his throat. The sharp white edges of teeth when his master’s mouth fell open. 

 

Sanghyuk kissed him hard, tasting peaches and a dash of sugar. Pinning his master there with almost no effort; he gripped his master’s thigh hard enough to bruise. Threaded his fingers through his master’s hair and yanked his head back; biting gently at the column of his neck and then soothing the newborn marks with kisses. All the while, Sanghyuk fucked into him. 

 

His master let out a high-pitched whine, and that only made Sanghyuk push into him deeper. Wanting to hear the sound again. And hear it again, he did. He fucked the Prince of Lust with all of the desire he had; the carnal ache that filled him to the brim, the longing and love that never seemed to fade. Sanghyuk couldn’t help but enjoy every whimper, every sob. 

 

When his master came the first time, Sanghyuk didn’t stop. Fucking him still. He rested his free hand on his master’s bare stomach to feel his muscles work. 

 

So intent on his master was he that Sanghyuk failed to notice the whining that was coming from over on the bed. Only realizing that it was Jaehwan calling out to him when his master spoke. 

 

“Your little one is crying for you, pet,” his master crooned, the words high and light like the cooing of a dove, “He’s as bad at sharing as you are...”

 

Paying the taunt no attention, Sanghyuk buried his face in the juncture of his master’s shoulder and neck. 

 

“I know that he appears frail compared to me, but I’m confident in my darling's ability, pet. Aren’t you? Or- do you doubt him? Are you concerned that he won’t be able to take it?”

 

“I can take it, sir, I can, I want it,” Jaehwan protested, his tone nearing petulance, “P-please...”

 

Sanghyuk closed his eyes and ignored them. 

 

"Look at the little darling," his master laughed, “So earnest. You believe him, pet, don’t you?”

 

The rhythm of Sanghyuk's thrusts was fast, shallow; barely pulling out before he was pushing back in again. He opened his eyes, but he didn’t look at the bed. Nor did he speak. An errant lock of black hair fell across his master’s face and Sanghyuk tucked it behind his ear with a distracted flick.

 

“Nervous that you’ll break him?”

 

“You won’t, you won’t, Hyukkie, please...”

 

“Oh, I know he won’t, darling. You perform so well for me... I'm curious to see if your performance changes when your sire takes control of you...”

 

‘I love you,’ Sanghyuk thought, holding his master so tight that -if he were a human- his master's bones would have snapped, ‘I would kill the kings of heaven and lay their holy bodies at your feet if you asked it of me. All I've ever wanted was to be at your side. To crawl inside your skin and hide safely in the curve of your heart. To breathe in the sound of your voice and drink the smell of your hair... Why do you always try to push me away? Even now, you claimed me and now you are pushing me away...’

 

The demon within him took over without Sanghyuk’s notice. And, when his master attempted to slip free, Sanghyuk snared him again before he got very far. Shoving the Prince of Lust against the wall with monstrous hands that didn’t look like hands. Digging his claws into the carpeted floor. Extending the wings that unfurled from his back so his master could see nothing but him. 

 

“Not yet,” he growled, the words barely recognizable as human speech. In that moment, Sanghyuk might as well have been a newborn again; freshly fallen and desperate for someone to show him the way. His craving for the Prince of Lust was an incandescent thing. A longing so unrelenting and inconsolable that it sang to him like death. “Not yet...”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“You need to prepare yourself, angel. Armageddon is getting closer by the day.”

 

“I can't help but feel insulted,” Taekwoon sniffed, disinterested, his golden eyes drifting across the wall behind where Hakyeon sat, “We are prepared. Have been prepared for quite a long time now.”

 

The pen in the False Prince’s hand snapped in half and Hakyeon tossed it aside, mentally chastising himself for the momentary loss of control. It was growing harder and harder to keep his temper in check while in this angel’s presence. “Fine. But you haven’t forgotten our plan, correct? You need to have your forces ready, so it appears that heaven will act, but no action will be needed. You just need to be there so we can trick-”

 

“I heard your suggestion, False Prince, but the heavenly infantry will not stand by and let you make your move unmatched. We will force you back down into the flames as the almighty commands.”

 

Hakyeon bit back a curse. It wouldn’t do any good. Taekwoon did not know how to listen. “And you can do that. Fight to your heart's content if it comes to that,” he said, enunciating each word clearly in hopes they would penetrate the angel’s hateful skull, “But it won’t come to that. The plan is going as expected; Wonshik just reported to me that everything is on track. You remember the plan, yes? I’ve already explained that Sanghyuk-”

 

“Your trust in Sanghyuk is admirable,” Taekwoon cut in, “But unfortunately, I don’t feel the same way. My trust lies with the almighty, not a wayward child. When he fails, and he will fail, I will cut his master down myself.”

 

Frustrated as he was, Hakyeon couldn’t help but wish that interrupting was a sin. If it was, Taekwoon would have drowned in hellfire centuries ago.

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

The room smelled of sex and night-blooming flowers. 

 

“A mirror isn’t good enough,” whispered Jaehwan, Prince of Lust and Duke of Hell, “I want to see how you touch me... How you taste me... How you admire me...”

 

He prowled around the bed like a jaguar, gaze fixed immovably on his eldest. His puppy. His pet. Even though he was human shaped once more -as human shaped as a demon could be- Sanghyuk was no less beautiful. No creature alive was more beautiful than his pet; not even Lucifer. Jaehwan could stare at him for centuries and never grow bored. 

 

“But the little darling needs you, pet... Will you show me? Will you treat him the way you treat me?” Jaehwan asked, scraping his nails up the length of his namesakes bare back. 

 

Sanghyuk blinked back at him, visibly disoriented by his own passions, but he nodded. 

 

“Good.” The Prince of Lust rested a hand flat across the back of the fledgling’s neck -as clear a warning as they come- and the fledgling stilled. “You will speak only when I allow it, moan only when I allow it, breathe only when I allow it; yes, darling? You understand?”

 

His namesake keened. “Yes, sir.”

 

Jaehwan pushed the fledge's head down, so that rather than staying on his hands and knees, he was leaning on his elbows. “Then, pet,” he swept away to perch on the armchair and crossed his legs, propping his chin in the palm of his hand, “You may begin.”

 

He watched as Sanghyuk rested his hands on the fledgling's waist. Then shifted his grip lower, holding the fledgling’s hips tight so he couldn’t wriggle closer. 

 

The first stroke was smooth and slow. A warmup. When Sanghyuk pulled out, leaving only the tip of his cock inside for a moment before ramming back in, Jaehwan couldn’t help the spark of pride he felt. He’d trained his pet to be a lover. To love and love hard. 

 

Sanghyuk held his namesake down as he fucked him. Each of his thrust seemed more vigorous than the one that came before. The fledgling’s large eyes were wide with bliss.

 

“I know my darling very well; he may whine and plead and cry, but that simply translates to ‘more,’ doesn’t it, darling?” Jaehwan called, voice airy and light. 

 

His namesake gave a hasty nod. 

 

Jaehwan nodded in approval. “See, pet? Nothing to fear. He only grows more wanton the more he’s fucked.”

 

He could practically see the tremors of pleasure that spread through his namesake’s body. And when Sanghyuk offered a venom-slicked finger to the fledge, he could practically taste the raspberry and mint when his namesake pressed it to his lips. Lapping at the venom with little kitten licks. 

 

Lowering his gaze, Jaehwan admired the bouquet of violet and cerulean bruises that bloomed on his skin. His pet had wanted to mark him and Jaehwan had allowed it. Enjoying the sensation of being so claimed. He could see the bruises that shined on his thighs and wrists, could only feel those on his hips and ass. The lovebites on his neck still tingled pleasantly. 

 

When he looked up again, Jaehwan saw that Sanghyuk was grinning boyishly; a grin of pure fondness. He rubbed a smooth, flat hand up the fledgling’s back and he slowed his thrusts into languid rolls. Their fingers brushed together at the base of the fledglings skull. It was so playful and sweet...

 

Jaehwan’s heart gave a single beat of dread. 

 

His pet tangled a hand in the fledgling's hair and gave a sharp tug, drawing a moan from him.

 

His pet urged the fledgling over so that he was lying on his back, bending to place a kiss on his lips. Lips bitten red from failed attempts to keep quiet.

 

His pet pushed the fledgling’s legs apart with no visible effort when the fledgling tried to squeeze his thighs shut. 

 

So carefree... So joyful... So simple...

 

The sight of them sent a shard of ice shearing through Jaehwan’s gut.

 

This wasn’t what he wanted to see. He did not want to see the way they loved each other. He did not want to see how tightly they were bound together.

 

He did not want to see-

 

He didn’t want- 

 

Revelation struck Jaehwan. He’d understood it before, or- he believed he’d understood. But all previous understanding paled in comparison to the truth that screamed inside his mind at that moment. 

 

Sanghyuk belonged to him. Only him. And the idea of Sanghyuk with someone else angered Jaehwan so much that it frightened him.

 

Rising from the chair, Jaehwan glided across the room, steps as silent as the night. Coming around the bed. Pausing behind Sanghyuk. He glared at the fledgling with all the flame he could produce, feeling himself flush with hatred. Heart so full of jealousy that it had grown as black as a starless night. 

 

“You’re mine,” Jaehwan crooned, going up on tiptoe so he could press his mouth to the shell of Sanghyuk’s ear as he spoke, “You’re all mine, and I am all yours. Forever.” 

 

At his words, Sanghyuk froze. Turned to steel in his grasp. Still inside the fledgling but not moving an inch. 

 

Jaehwan wrapped his hands around Sanghyuk’s upper arm, only vaguely aware that his nails had elongated and sharpened into talons. Stroked Sanghyuk’s hair back so he could admire that precious, angular face. Lay a chaste kiss on the cusp of Sanghyuk’s jaw. “My Enamouria, my dark joy... Oh, how I love you so...”

 

The fledgling’s impatient squeak seemed to startle Sanghyuk from his daze, but it didn’t have the intended effect. 

 

Rather than continuing their amorous entanglement, Sanghyuk was up and off the bed in a heartbeat. He caught Jaehwan up and bolted from the room. Down the corridor. Into Jaehwan’s private chamber. In the time it took the Prince of Lust to blink, the door was already locked behind him. 

 

Sanghyuk wasn’t quite human shaped anymore, but neither was Jaehwan. Sharp claws sheared through skin when he seized Jaehwan by the throat, but all Jaehwan could do was beam; a beam that showed pearly fangs and a flash of forked tongue. He couldn’t speak; all he did was tremble. 

 

The untouched bed went ignored. Sanghyuk dragged him down to the floor, rutting against him with inelegant, uncontrolled force. If Jaehwan were a human, he would surely have died there and then. His pet would have torn him to bloody shreds. But Jaehwan was not human. He was an archdemon and a Duke of Hell, and he let Sanghyuk's contagious greed swell up inside him. Wrapping his wings around them both, taking no chances, allowing no eyes but his own to catch a glimpse of his puppy. 

 

His puppy, his pet, his Sanghyuk... Resplendent and monstrous in all his demonic glory. 

 

Silver tears spilled down Jaehwan's cheeks as he laughed, and Sanghyuk kissed them away. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

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Curious Cat

Chapter 28

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Jaehwan sat on the kitchen floor, warming his hand in front of the wide hearth. 

 

It was an old-fashioned kitchen; a long room designed to resemble the kitchen in a French chateau, with a long farmhouse table and enormous gas range. Pots and pans hung from a rack on the ceiling, upside down bundles of herbs were perpetually drying on hooks above the bay window, and a thickly woven rug was spread out before the fireplace. 

 

It was an entirely unnecessary room to have in the home of a demon, considering that none of them needed to eat, but the prince of lust claimed to enjoy cooking. Jaehwan had never seen him do it -food normally just appeared whenever he wanted something- but he had no reason to disbelieve the prince of lust. His sir was unconventional to say the least. 

 

While the room was unnecessary function-wise, it was one of Jaehwan’s favorite places in the mansion. He adored the smells and the gentle sounds and the constant warmth. It felt the way he imagined a home was supposed to feel. 

 

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Jaehwan rolled over to see who was coming. When he did, his gaze snagged on the contour of Wonshik’s back, and Jaehwan startled. His brother had been so quiet for so long that he’d forgotten Wonshik was there. 

 

Wonshik was always nearby nowadays. Watchful and close if sanghyuk wasn’t there. It annoyed Jaehwan at first, but now that he’d grown used to it, Jaehwan found his brother's presence comforting. Even when Wonshik wasn’t paying attention to him, had his nose buried in a book the way he did now, it reassured him. He would have felt much less safe in the kitchen if -when he rolled over- Wonshik hadn’t been sitting at the table. 

 

“Hwannie,” Hongbin called, darting through the kitchen door. He was moving so fast that, by the time Jaehwan registered who’d said his name, Hongbin was already collapsing beside him. “What are you doing?”

 

“Nothing special, bunny,” Jaehwan replied, as Hongbin sat beside him, “Just thinking.”

 

“About what?”

 

“Why aren’t you with your creator?” asked Wonshik, his deep voice cutting through the warm atmosphere like a spear of ice. 

 

Hongbin shot him a look over his shoulder, gaze just as frigid as Wonshik’s tone. “Why aren’t you with yours?”

 

Wonshik held up his book. “Because I’m reading. And I'm looking after my brother. What’s your excuse?”

 

“Jaehwan senior sent me away,” Hongbin snapped, “Not that it’s any of your business.” He dismissed Wonshik with a swift turn of his head, glaring at the fire and giving Jaehwan’s hand a gentle squeeze, “What were you thinking about, Hwannie?”

 

Looking back and forth between the two of them, Jaehwan wiggled where he sat. Uncomfortable in the face of their obvious animosity. “I was just-” he began, chewing his lip, trying to catch the loose thread of thought he’d been following, “I don’t quite know who I am yet.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean that I don’t feel like I have much of a personality,” he explained, “I knew who I was before I fell. I was the second best singer in Heavenly Choir and I was one of Taekwoon’s favorites. I was training to be one of his deputy messengers so I could bring the Almighty’s word to humanity. I had a plan for my life. And now that I’ve fallen, everyone here calls me a baby, and we thought I was the Prince of Indulgence but now I'm the Prince of Order, and I have no idea what I’m doing.”

 

“First things first, you aren’t a baby no matter what anyone says,” Hongbin replied, soothing, “You were fully grown and fully matured for a long while before you fell. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have been allowed to sing in the choir. Taekwoon wouldn’t have known about you, let alone know you well enough to allow you to train to become a messenger.”

 

“I know,” Jaehwan nodded, “I know that, but it feels like I lost most of myself when I fell. Especially compared to you...”

 

“Compared to me?”

 

“Yes. You still act like yourself, even though you’re a bit different. And you can still be angry. I never understood what it meant to be angry when we were angels, and I understand it now, but I still don’t feel anger myself. I don’t feel much of anything other than- hunger, I suppose. But ‘being hungry’ isn’t a personality.”

 

“You do have a personality, Jaehwan,” Wonshik called from his seat at the table, “You’re very sweet and very silly, and you’re very caring. A bit of a brat too. You’re far more than just the hunger you feel.”

 

Hongbin hummed in agreement. “Being able to be angry doesn’t define one's personality either. I could feel anger as an angel, but not the kind of anger I feel now. I felt anger in the face of injustice. It wasn’t even anger, not exactly. More like indignant outrage.”

 

That made sense, Jaehwan thought, weaving his and Hongbin’s fingers together. Their words reassured him, he couldn’t deny it. However, what Hongbin said ignited a spark of curiosity within him. 

 

“You called Sir ‘forsaken’, remember?”

 

“I do.”

 

“Why was that? I’ve wondered for a while.”

 

Hongbin hummed again, staring down at their clasped hands. “All those who fell in the first wave are called forsaken. They rebelled against the Almighty and followed Lucifer down to hell, hoping for a leader they could work alongside of, and what did they get? Did Lucifer welcome them with open arms? No. He refused to interact, hid himself in the immaterial and sent them his son instead. Their new king was no more communicative than the old. Thus; forsaken.” 

 

“I see,” Jaehwan replied, although he found it hard to fathom. He hadn’t yearned for the presence of either Lucifer nor the Almighty. They’d both always been so far removed from him that he’d never expected anything else. But perhaps the older demons were different. “Were you an angel when Sir was an angel?”

 

“Yes, of course. I was an archangel, Hwannie, I’ve seen the birth of all the angels in heaven. Well, almost all of them.”

 

“Is that why your feelings present more strongly than mine?”

 

“Perhaps,” Hongbin shrugged, “You have to remember how much I lost when I fell. I was an archangel. I was a miracle worker, the Almighty’s best healer, a powerful being in my own right. And now I am nothing more than a demon. The lowest rank of the Fallen. Considered nothing more than a fledgling, bound to obey the will of my creator. A lot more was taken from me than it was from you.”

 

There was no malice in Hongbin’s voice but an undercurrent of discontent was there. Jaehwan could sense it even if nobody else could. He bumped his nose against Hongbin’s shoulder and Hongbin grinned fondly at him. 

 

“How old are you now, Hwannie?”

 

“One hundred and thirty,” the young demon answered Hongbin’s question with as much surety as he could. Tracking the years, the passage of time, had become tricky after his fall. “I think my birthday was a few weeks ago.”

 

The tapping in Jaehwan’s head -a sensation that had dulled during his time spent alone here with Hongbin and the prince of lust- had come back in full force the moment he and sanghyuk were reunited. 

 

His maker had explained to him that the craving they felt for one another would not fade for a long while. Perhaps for a millennia. When it was gone, Jaehwan hadn’t missed it. It was an unpleasant, omnipresent song of agitation in his mind. 

 

He could hear it then. Feel it. Like a small pixie knocking on an invisible door that was carved into his skull. It echoed with the sound of his maker’s name. Sanghyuk… Sanghyuk… Sanghyuk…

 

Peering around for his brother, Jaehwan couldn’t help but ask, “Shikkie? Where did you say Hyukkie is?”

 

“He’s working,” replied Wonshik, still giving Hongbin a very suspicious look.

 

“Working on what?”

 

“We’re in the business of corrupting humans. That business doesn’t stop no matter the schemes our family members may or may not be concocting. He has responsibilities that need to be fulfilled.”

 

Hongbin reached out for the young demon, stroking Jaehwan’s hair with his free hand. Urging Jaehwan down, so the pair of them ended up curled on the hearth rug. Knees touching and foreheads pressed together. 

 

“Are you craving?”

 

Jaehwan nodded. “Are you?”

 

Hongbin nodded in turn. “I crave my creator the same as you do. It’s just another thing we can’t control.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

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Curious Cat

Chapter 29

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“Puppy,” Jaehwan hummed, looking so closely at his pet that the tips of their noses brushed, “What are you thinking about?”

 

The Prince of Lust had found himself suddenly stricken with a sickening sense of sadness. Perhaps sadness wasn’t the right word. He knew that he’d become unmoored after his time locked in the void, it was true. And the detachment he’d experienced immediately after being rescued was confusing but -he felt- also incredibly justified. 

 

Now, with a handful of years of freedom under his belt, he’d thought he’d found balance. Found a hint of safety in this house, secreted away with his sweetling and his namesake. But no. With the arrival of his pet had come turbulence. No creature living or dead could tip his emotional scales off balance quite as sharply as Sanghyuk. Even so, he was unable to leave his pet alone. Unable to allow his precious puppy out of his sight. So long as he kept Sanghyuk close, nothing could hurt him. 

 

“Nothing in particular,” Sanghyuk replied, touching Jaehwan’s cheek, “I’m just happy.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I love you”

 

The Prince of Lust smiled. Beamed, really. Overcome with sheer delight at the sight of his pet’s soft expression. “Do you really?”

 

“Of course. I call you my love for a reason.”

 

“But how do you know?” Jaehwan prompted, “How can you be sure?”

 

Sanghyuk peered at him, a small frown curing down the corners of his mouth. A furrow formed between his eyebrows that Jaehwan immediately smoothed away with the pad of his thumb. 

 

“I’m not sure how to explain it,” his pet replied, “I simply know. In the same way that I know I’m alive. I am alive, my heart is beating, and I love you.”

 

“How romantic, puppy,” the Prince of Lust hummed, shifting where he sat with his legs splayed, bracketing Sanghyuk’s hips. Feeling his robe slip and bare his left shoulder. A small part of him, in that moment, missed his long hair. It would have been so lovely to see his ebony curls pool on the pillow beneath Sanghyuk’s head. “You’ve always been such an ardent romantic.”

 

The soft smile returned to Sanghyuk’s face. “Without romance, the world would have no color. No flavor,” he pursed his lips, tracing the line of Jaehwan’s jaw, “And besides, I’ve grown up bound to lust. Lust and romance go hand in hand.”

 

“But I am Lust,” argued Jaehwan, playfully, “And I’m not nearly so romantic as you.”

 

“I disagree. You’re far more romantic than you think-“

 

Sanghyuk’s words cut off abruptly, and there was only a few seconds of stillness before his pet was ripped from his grasp. Falling back into the shadows that rippled over the bedspread. 

 

Jaehwan employed his diabolical speed and darted forward. Gripping Sanghyuk’s wrist tight and falling with him. Moving through the shadows with him, so they ended up tangled together on the floor of Hakyeon’s office.

 

“What?” Sanghyuk snapped, sitting up and wrapping a protective arm around the small of Jaehwan’s back, “Summoning people without warning this way isn’t very polite.”

 

Behind his desk, Hakyeon crossed his legs. Looking at them with an imperious tilt to his chin. “I need to speak to you, Sanghyuk. Only you. Jyani, please leave us.”

 

Jaehwan twisted around to gift the antichrist his most vicious smile. Sensing the sudden tension drawing Sanghyuk's muscles taught. “Don’t be silly, highness. Anything you wish to say to my Bound can be said to me.”

 

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Chapter 30

Summary:

Poor little mad thing...

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“How is it, being back in his home this way?” Hakyeon asked, settling onto the sofa beside Sanghyuk, “Wonshik mentioned that you’ve done a very convincing job so far.”

 

The Prince of Greed sat straight-backed and stiff. Far stiffer than he normally sat around Hakyeon. Hakyeon was like a maker to him, one of the few people that Sanghyuk truly trusted in this world, and so naturally, Sanghyuk was comfortable around him. Knew it was safe to lower his guard when Hakyeon was near. 

 

The previous half hour, though, was still fresh in Sanghyuk's mind, and the tension of it had not yet left him. 

 

His master had refused to leave when the False Prince told him to. Hadn’t left even when the False Prince ordered him away. His master had thrown a full scale tantrum until Sanghyuk had managed to talk him down. 

 

Witnessing his master’s loss of control had alarmed Sanghyuk more than he could express. The Prince of Lust’s temper was legendary, as was his propensity for lashing out. But those reactions were always the result of irritation or anger. Not fear. 

 

This particular tantrum had stemmed from a fear so noxious that Sanghyuk had practicaly tasted it in the air. He thought he could still taste it now; his master's terror lingering on his tongue like algae. 

 

“I wouldn’t say it’s fantastic,” Sanghyuk replied, willing his muscles to relax, “He isn’t the easiest person to live with on his best days. But- he is genuinely making an effort. He wants us to stay. It would be more alarming if it wasn’t such a nice change of pace.”

 

“Hyukkie, I was asking about you. Not him.”

 

“About me,” Sanghyuk repeated blankly.

 

“Yes, you. I know how strong willed you are, how determined, but Jyani is still your creator. Doing this to him cannot be easy.”

 

Sanghyuk swallowed, pursing his lips to stop from frowning. “Not easy, no. But it must be done.”

 

Hakyeon squeezed his shoulder gently. “Will you be able to see it through? Do we need to change plans?”

 

The Prince of Greed was silent. 

 

“Now would be the time,” Hakyeon prodded, “Much longer and there won’t be any turning back.”

 

“I’ll be fine. You have nothing to worry about.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Jaehwan, true spouse to Adam of the First Men, Prince of Lust, and Duke of Hell, lay on his back. Cradled in goose down and satin, staring up at the canopy above his bed through unseeing eyes. This was the bed in his apartment downstairs. The bed he knew best. 

 

He wasn’t dreaming on this occasion, Jaehwan had pinched himself several times to be sure. 

 

His pet had not accompanied him there. As it happened, his pet was currently sequestered away with the False Prince and Jaehwan had been sent away. Barred entry like he was some common servant prone to eavesdropping. 

 

At times like this, the world in which they live failed to feel real. It was so easy to believe he was still imprisoned in the void, that all of this was nothing but a pantomime concocted by his lonely imagination. 

 

Why else would Hakyeon -Jaehwan’s oldest friend- hold Sanghyuk in higher regard than Jaehwan himself? Why else would Jaehwan be rendered secondary in the eyes of all those he cared for? Or, in Sanghyuk’s case, tertiary, when Jaehwan’s fledgling understudy was taken into consideration. 

 

It was so much easier to believe that he was dreaming...

 

Jaehwan rolled over and buried his face in the covers. Memories of the time before swam across his field of vision no matter how hard he squeezed his eyes shut. 

 

Millennia ago...

 

So, so many millennia ago...

 

Not long after he had corrupted his pet, perhaps a year at most...

 

Jaehwan peered at his Bound, caressing Sanghyuk with his gaze alone. 

 

Finely built. Solid but not overly muscular, with an angular face that could bring empires to their knees. His emerald eyes were rounded and alert, dark hair in disarray, already flushed at the high points of his cheeks. Sweetly drenched in fresh arousal. 

 

“My pet,” Jaehwan crawled across the wide bed, feeling Sanghyuk’s hands grip his thighs when he settled on his lap, “My enamoria, have you changed your mind?”

 

“No,” Sanghyuk inhaled a tremulous breath and licked his lips. Jaehwan touched the underside of his chin and he stilled. “I want to know what it feels like. And you certainly seem to enjoy it, so...”

 

“That I certainly do,” Jaehwan replied, “But we shall take things slow. No need to rush. You may try my fingers first and if you like that, then we can explore further. Yes?”

 

“Yes.”

 

With a faint nod, the Prince of Lust shifted off his pet and retrieved the bowl of lavender oil he’d set on the nightstand. Indigo silk swirling around him as he turned back to look. Admiring the pretty picture of his pet reclining on the pillows. 

 

“How would you like it?” Jaehwan asked in a soft voice, once again kneeling atop the mattress.

 

Sanghyuk’s breath quickened. 

 

“Against the wall? Hands and knees? Or, on your back?”

 

“On my- like this,” Sanghyuk knotted a fist in Jaehwan’s dressing gown, “I want to be able to see you.”

 

Beaming, Jaehwan kissed his pet’s sweet lips. No creature living or dead had ever kissed him more delectably than his puppy. “As you like.”

 

They found a suitable position after a few minutes of shuffling. Sanghyuk on his back with a pillow beneath him to help prop up his hips. Jaehwan kneeling beside him rather than below him, so that he could keep Jaehwan within easy reach. 

 

“Spread your legs for me, pet,” the Prince of Lust instructed, stroking Sanghyuk’s dark hair in approval when his Bound complied, “And breathe. Slow and steady. You may copy me if that will help.”

 

He marshalled the rhythm of his own breath until it was almost meditative. Petting the side of Sanghyuk’s thigh until their tempos matched. And then, with one hand splayed across Sanghyuk’s taught stomach, Jaehwan breached him gently. Oh so gently. As gentle a touch as Jaehwan was capable of gifting. 

 

Sanghyuk gasped and his whole body twitched. Groaning at the sudden stretch. 

 

The Prince of Lust closed his eyes and bent down. Nosed at Sanghyuk’s temple. “How does that feel, puppy?”

 

“Weird- not bad, just weird,” the fingers that had been holding onto Jaehwan’s dressing gown rose to tangle in Jaehwan’s hair, like Sanghyuk thought Jaehwan would vanish if he didn’t cling to him tightly enough, “How much is that?”

 

“Only one,” Jaehwan sighed, curling slightly as he pulled back, another slipping in beside the first when he breached his Bound again, “And two...”

 

“Fuck-”

 

“Breathe for me, puppy,” Jaehwan pressed further, deeper, inhaling the tendrils of lust that dripped from his Bound like fresh honey, “Does it hurt?”

 

“No- no, it doesn’t hurt, it just-” 

 

The Prince of Lust effectively bottomed out, his fingers as far as they could reach. And, rather than retreating, he kept them there. Allowing his pet to grow accustomed to the spread of them. 

 

Sanghyuk groaned and arched his back. Jaehwan felt the mattress dip in response to the movement, and he blinked. Lashes fluttering as he raised his head to look. Sanghyuk looked up at him in turn, wide-eyed and panting heavily, blushing in the most endearing way. 

 

“Beautiful,” Jaehwan sighed, curling his fingers to caress the place of his pet's most sensitive pleasure. Aching to see every reaction, to catalog each miniscule response. “My dark joy, my beautiful enamoria...”

 

Hesitant, trembling, Sanghyuk rolled his hips down and back with a low moan. Only a slight rock, but enough to signal that Jaehwan should continue. 

 

The Prince of Lust smiled and smoothed his free hand across Sanghyuk’s forehead in an attempt to soothe his overheated skin. “You’re doing very well, pet. Very well...”

 

Jaehwan jolted upright, employing every drop of infernal speed at his disposal to fling himself from the bed and dart across the room. 

 

He couldn’t be there any longer. Couldn’t bear to feel the mattress shift beneath him as it had done countless times before. 

 

Because now, he was alone. His pet wasn’t there, not his sweetling nor his namesake. Hakyeon wasn’t there either. Not even Wonshik, who always behaved so perfectly for him, was at his side now. 

 

The bed he knew best was far too expansive to accommodate Jaehwan alone. It made him feel so sickeningly small. So insignificant, so helpless, so useless-

 

“Love?” called Sanghyuk’s voice, “Are you in here? I felt the wards trip when we parted ways, but I thought you would have left by now?”

 

From the spot where he’d huddled in the corner, Jaehwan was just barely able to see Sanghyuk over the backrest of one of his armchairs. His pet’s expression was quizzical. One hand braced on the frame. So large that he blocked out almost all the light that was trying to spill in from the hallway. 

 

Sanghyuk’s searching gaze landed on him after a moment. Weighty and serious. As filled with joy as it was filled with sorrow. 

 

The Prince of Lust tried to stand and, only then did he realize that his legs had gone entirely numb. Neck stiff. Hands curled and cramped. How long had he been there, crouched like a gargoyle? How long had he been alone?

 

Alone, alone, alone, you poor little mad thing. 

 

You have always been alone. You will always be alone. You were forsaken by Heaven and then forsaken by Hell. 

 

Poor little mad thing, poor, poor you... 

 

“Love,” Sanghyuk advanced into the room. Steps swift and sure. He circled the nearest armchair and came to kneel at Jaehwan's side. 

 

Poor little mad thing, a set of armchairs? Two matching perches you placed before your hearth? 

 

You expected that others would come sit with you, no? You hoped for warm conversations around crackling flame, no? You long so deeply for connection, for affection, you want so badly to be understood, don’t you? 

 

Poor little mad thing. Nobody cares enough about you to even try. 

 

You don’t need a set of armchairs. All you require is one. 

 

“Puppy?” Jaehwan whispered, voice hoarse and rough with gravel, raking his eyes back and forth across the plains of Sanghyuk’s face, “Is it really you? Or, am I dreaming again?”

 

Poor little mad thing. You think any of this is real? You think the people, the objects, the space around you is real? 

 

No such thing as ‘real,’ poor little mad thing. It's all in your head. 

 

No one is there, nobody’s home. 

 

The only one in the world, poor little mad thing, is you. 

 

“I’m here, love,” Sanghyuk gave him a wry smile, “We are both very much awake.”

 

“That’s exactly what you always say in my dreams,” replied Jaehwan. 

 

He scanned the boundaries of the room, the outline of Sanghyuk’s body, searching for spots of ambiguity. Looking for clues that could give the dream away.

 

“Do you really dream about me?”

 

“Always...” Jaehwan murmured, distracted, “Every time I close my eyes, you’re waiting for me there. I dreamt of you when you were an angel, I dreamt of you after I took you as my Bound, I've dreamt of you every night since... My precious pet... My dark joy...”

 

Sanghyuk tilted his head to the side. Curiosity. A sort of amused disbelief. “You’ve never told me that before.”

 

“Have I not?”

 

“No. I’d have remembered it, I’m sure.”

 

The Prince of Lust was failing to uncover the seams of the dream, but that didn’t mean he was awake. The dream could have simply grown more adept at tricking him. 

 

“You’re mine,” he continued, quiet, wrapping his arms around Sanghyuk’s neck and melting against his body like candle wax, “You have occupied my heart for millennia, pet; so, so many millennia. Who else would I dream of?”

 

Sanghyuk’s only reply was a wordless hum, but his grip on the Prince of Lust tightened a bit. 

 

Jaehwan buried his face in Sanghyuk’s hair. Then the crook of Sanghyuk’s neck. Inhaling the blend of bergamot and rosemary and vetiver that bloomed on his warm skin. When he pressed his ear to Sanghyuk's chest, Jaehwan heard the gentle beating of his pet’s immortal heart. The dream almost always forgot to make Sanghyuk's heart beat. 

 

“Do not leave me,” the Prince of Lust said, infusing his words with order. But that wasn’t good enough. “Swear it, puppy. Swear that you’ll never leave me.”

 

Sanghyuk nosed at his temple. “That’s not a promise I can make, love. I would if I could-”

 

“Why not?!” Jaehwan flinched. His talons tangled in Sanghyuk's hair, refusing to let go, “Why?!”

 

“Because,” Sanghyuk sighed, “We cannot control everything. I don’t want to make a promise that might be broken without my consent.” 

 

The Prince of Lust arched closer to him, pressed closer to him, wrapped his legs around Sanghyuk’s waist and clung to him tight. And, to his relief, Sanghyuk did not push him away. Sanghyuk held him still and safe there in the corner of the room. 

 

“Stay with me, then, to the best of your ability. Can you promise me that?”

 

Sanghyuk brushed a few errant curls back off Jaehwan’s forehead, granting the Prince of Lust the smallest of smiles. “I will stay with you, to the best of my ability. I promise you that.”

 

“Good.” 

 

Mind beginning to settle, feeling less tumultuous inside with that promise lodged in the soft part of his heart, Jaehwan stuck out his lip. Pouting hard enough that it made Sanghyuk laugh. 

 

“Take me home, puppy. I do not wish to be here any longer.”

 

His pet nodded. But, rather than standing and carrying Jaehwan away, Sanghyuk rolled backward into what should have been the bedroom wall. 

 

The wall itself was ignored entirely. They tumbled through the shadow that had been cast upon it, and when they rolled to a stop, Jaehwan saw that they’d ended up in the mansion. Inside his bedroom on the surface. Not so ornate as his bedroom downstairs but far more comforting. 

 

Poor little mad thing, you really think you’re safe?

 

“Puppy?”

 

“Yes, love?”

 

Jaehwan ignored the taunts in his mind and finally let himself relax. Let his body go slack so he sprawled on the carpet with his hands above his head. Legs still encircling Sanghyuk’s waist. “Won’t you ravish me? Please?”

 

Poor little mad thing, he will never ever love you for true. He will be your downfall and he will be your demise. 

 

The Prince of Lust’s lashes fluttered closed as Sanghyuk bent over to kiss him. 

 

“Always.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

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Chapter 31

Summary:

When order and chaos moved in concert, they rivaled the Almighty themself...

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Sanghyuk stood beside his master’s chair in the Senior Conclave hall, behind it and a little to the right. The traditional place he always stood when accompanying his master to these meetings. The place of Lust’s eldest Bound. 

 

To his immense displeasure, Hongbin was there as well. Waiting on their master’s left with his hands folded behind his back. 

 

Their master. Not just his anymore. Theirs. Even thinking the word, thinking about the implication that the Prince of Lust was shared between them, frustrated Sanghyuk beyond words. 

 

Every few minutes, his brother sent suspicious glares his way. Sent small sparks as well, which threatened to light Sanghyuk's cloak on fire. It was making the Prince of Greed itch with irritation. 

 

“If we’ve covered all the talking points in regards to strategy,” his master said, slumping deliberately back in his chair and smoothing down the front of his shirt. Putting on an air of cocky casualness, “Shall we all go and view the little demonstration I've prepared?”

 

Sanghyuk tensed. He’d tried in vain to talk his master out of this plan. To turn his master’s attention in another direction. But the Prince of Lust refused to be swayed. Determined to go through with it, because ‘Nothing the angels can do will defend against it, pet. Only the Almighty themself can spare Heaven now, and, with that circumstance, we all know how this story is going to end.’

 

His master’s ambitions aside, Sanghyuk simply had to give in. for the sake of Hakyeon’s plan, he could do nothing. He had to go along with it all and pray that any residual damage to his youngest would be easily cured. 

 

To his left, Hongbin stretched. Arms over his head like a drowsy cat. Sanghyuk saw both Pride and Doubt glance at his brother at the movement. They seemed uneasy. 

 

“If it is indeed ready to be viewed, then I suppose we shall,” replied Sloth. An ancient looking male demon that perpetually dozed during conversations and seemed to slowly roll from place to place. 

 

“It certainly is ready!” Their master reached back and clasped one of Hongbin’s small hands in both of his, “You will not be disappointed.”

 

“Let's be about it, then,” Wrath snapped, rising from her seat with customary impatience. She and Sanghyuk had always gotten along quite well. He didn’t think he’d ever met a being more efficient than her.  

 

The Prince of Lust rose from where he’d been sitting as well. Not his normal spot between Doubt and Pride; rather from the Lord of the Void’s own throne. The place that was normally reserved for Hakyeon alone. As the Fallen’s elected temporary leader, sitting on the throne was his right, and the Prince of Lust visibly enjoyed exercising that right at every opportunity. 

 

Hakyeon was there, several seats away. Cloaked in his illusion. Masquerading as the princess of deception. He’d pointedly refused to meet Sanghyuk's eye the few times Sanghyuk had glanced at him. 

 

“Go and fetch your Bound, puppy,” his master hummed, emerald gaze gleaming as he stroked Sanghyuk's cheek, “You know where to bring them.”

 

Sanghyuk didn’t argue. 

 

He stepped back into a pool of shadow and materialised on the surface. In the kitchen of his master’s favorite earthly residence. 

 

Both his Bound were ready and waiting. Not being directly tied to a Fallen of the First Wave, they were not allowed to attend Senior Conclave. His master had bent the rules before -bringing Jaehwan along in Sanghyuk’s place- but he couldn’t take that risk now. Everything, every discussion and every procedure, had to be done by the book, lest they incur Hell’s retribution. 

 

Hell has its own rules. Preparing for a battle without informing the antichrist could be done if the intention was to bring the antichrist on board as quickly as was reasonable. The conclave simply didn’t wish to bother him with such trivialities. They didn’t wish to burden him with tasks that could be easily handled by his lessers. And, of course, they were planning to tell Hakyeon everything as soon as the plans were set. 

 

None of them even dared to think the word treason.  

 

“Are you ready, dove?” Sanghyuk asked, crossing the kitchen and catching Jaehwan's face up. Peering intently back and forth between Jaehwan’s eyes. 

 

His youngest Bound pouted. Lower lip beginning to wobble. “I suppose I must be. Are bunny and Sir already waiting?”

 

“Yes,” Sanghyuk nodded, doing his utmost to stop himself from shaking, “It will all be over soon, dove, I promise.”

 

Wonshik grabbed his arm. Voice full of anger and expression grave. “This is a terrible idea.”

 

“I know,” Sanghyuk replied.

 

“He’s never killed anything before, let alone anyone.”

 

“I know.”

 

“And you think showcasing his first kill, making a spectacle of it, is a smart thing to do?!” 

 

“Of course not,” Sanghyuk hissed, hating himself, as he glared at his eldest, “But there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I tried, Shik, you know that i tried, but it's out of my hands. Save your outrage for Hakyeon.”

 

Wonshik glared right back but, mercifully, he didn’t argue any further. Perhaps understanding as Sanghyuk understood that it would do no good. 

 

The Prince of Greed returned his attention to Jaehwan. To that precious pouty face. So much like his master’s pout. They really were so, so similar. 

 

‘A cosmic mistake,’ Sanghyuk thought, knowing it was the truth even as he vehemently denied it to himself. 

 

‘Two of them were never meant to live at the same time. The Almighty never told you to corrupt this little dove that flew into your office by chance. This little dove that flapped so frantically, flying in panicked circles as it failed to find an escape. You should have carried him to the window and set him free.’

 

‘I know,’ Sanghyuk pleaded with himself, ‘I know I shouldn’t, but I needed to have him. He is the personification of hope. A living reminder of all that has changed. Proof that my future will not end in the same tragedy as my past.’

 

‘Then why did you continue with the Almighty’s plan? You knew it was wrong, and yet you woke your master anyway. You dragged the past back anyway. You brought your own pain to life anyway. Greed won its battle with logic, and you just could not let sleeping dogs lie. You should have left your master in the void and moved on.’

 

‘But he’s mine,’ Sanghyuk insisted, ‘He’s mine and I love him and I couldn’t bear to let him suffer that way.’

 

‘He was not suffering. He did not exist anywhere but your memories until you forced open the temple door. He is suffering now, and it is entirely your fault.’

 

‘That is a lie,’ Sanghyuk accused, fully aware that he was arguing with no one. 

 

With a great effort of will, he shut the voice of his conscience down and pushed it to the very back of his mind. This wasn’t the time. He had more urgent things to be focusing on than existential guilt. 

 

“Lets go,” Sanghyuk said aloud, pressing a firm kiss to Jaehwan’s forehead, then to Wonshik’s, “The sooner we start, the sooner it will be over. And we shouldn’t keep my master waiting.”

 

The three demons moved through shadow: Sanghyuk in the lead with Wonshik on his heels, each holding Jaehwan securely between them. His youngest was still unable to shadow-step on his own. Sanghyuk knew that it was long past time to teach him, but the urge to keep his youngest nearby took precedence on that matter. Jaehwan running off again would be nothing short of disastrous. 

 

His master’s demonstration was taking place downstairs rather than on the surface. Safely hidden away so the eyes of heaven couldn’t spy down upon them. 

 

“There you are, pet,” the Prince of Lust hummed, sweeping up to them with a sharp smile and a swirl of scarlet brocade, “I worried you’d gotten lost.” 

 

Glancing around, Sanghyuk suppressed a shudder. They were in a room that strongly resembled a human operating theater. Black tiles shined on the floor, rows up plush seats ringed the walls at higher and higher intervals, up and up until they met the ceiling. A single spotlight beamed down from a large alchemical bulb and illuminated what could only be called the stage, casting the rest of the space in shadow. 

 

In the place usually occupied by an operating table -if this were a human hospital, of course- three bound creatures knelt. A newborn hellspawn, a living human, and an uncorrupted angel of the rank and file. 

 

None of them appeared to be conscious, thank Lucifer. It was the single mercy that Sanghyuk had successfully begged for; that Jaehwan wouldn’t have to hear any sounds of pain. 

 

“Hwannie?”

 

Hongbin’s low voice very close to his left ear made Sanghyuk flinch. His brother had slunk up to them without making a sound. 

 

Jaehwan gave a little start as well, but he pulled free of the Prince of Greed's grip and drifted to Hongbin. They reached for each other without seeming aware of it. They did so often, and it drove Sanghyuk slightly mad. 

 

“You’re scared, bunny,” Jaehwan whispered, peering down at their intertwined fingers and smacking his lips, “Or, no... apprehensive?”

 

“The overwhelming thing I feel at this moment is distaste,” Hongbin corrected. He glanced at Sanghyuk, then he glared at the demons assembled in the audience. “I don’t like the idea of them all knowing what we’re capable of. It will put us in danger.”

 

Sanghyuk couldn’t disagree with that sentiment. 

 

His master, however, didn’t seem to have heard the short conversation at all. “Sweetling,” he took Hongbin gently by the arm, “And you, my darling. Please begin.”

 

The world around Sanghyuk went still. Time seemed to slow and a faint buzz filled his ears. Worry and anger fought a battle for the forefront of his mind and, temporarily at least, worry was winning. 

 

He watched, clutching tight to Wonshik’s hand, as Jaehwan and Hongbin stepped to the center of the stage hand-in-hand. 

 

He watched his master murmur something in their ears before moving a pace away. So proud that it painted each of his features, leaving no room for concern.  

 

He watched Hongbin mouth what looked like a silent countdown, Jaehwan squeezing their hands so hard that both their knuckles went white, the air around them beginning to tremble like heathaze. 

 

“The human first,” his master urged, honey sweet and cloying, “Next, the hellspawn, and finally, the angel. Easiest to hardest.”

 

Sanghyuk watched the two fledglings -his brother and his Bound- turn their attention to the unconscious human. Identical eyes completely filmed over with emerald. Energy and magic blending together where it rolled off their bodies in waves. 

 

And he watched as the human’s figure began to roil and distort. The fabric that made up its form fell apart. The very particles of its being dissipated into nothing. 

 

Not even a residue remained. No pile of ash or scrap of skin. Nothing. They had simply ceased to exist. 

 

Such a thing was thought to be impossible. So far as the demonic royals were aware, such power was possessed by no one but the Almighty. No one else could snap something out of reality entirely; there was always a piece left behind, no matter how small. 

 

But not with these two. Not here. Not now. When order and chaos moved in concert, they rivaled the Almighty themself. 

 

The Prince of Greed watched their attention shift to the hellspawn, then the angel. Repeating the process twice more. Opposing forces tugging at them until they were ripped out of existence. 

 

Sanghyuk could do nothing but stand there and watch. Struck with horror and awe in equal measure. 

 

He hadn’t been able to hear the gasps of shock from the audience. Hadn’t been able to hear his master’s giggles of delight. Hadn’t been able to hear Wonshik's shallow but labored breathing beside him...

 

He hadn’t been able to hear anything over his own mental buzz until Jaehwan began to cry. 

 

The truth of what they’d just done must have sunk in and knocked Jaehwan out of his focused trance. He clung to Hongbin at first, frantic hands unable to settle on any one spot. And, while Hongbin made a visible effort to comfort him, it clearly wasn’t working. 

 

At a sharp jab in the ribs from Wonshik, Sanghyuk returned to himself. The battle taking place at the forefront of his mind was raging again. This time, anger was victorious. 

 

The Prince of Greed stepped forward and Jaehwan whipped around. Startled by the small motion in this frightening room. His wide eyes found Sanghyuk and then he flew at him. Every drop of infernal speed at his disposal rendering him nothing more than a slate-green blur. 

 

“Dove,” Sanghyuk opened his arms, grunting under his breath when his youngest collided, “It’s alright, it’s over now. Everything is alright.”

 

Jaehwan was shaking so hard that he could barely stand, and he clambered up Sanghyuk’s body, as close to Sanghyuk as it was physically possible to be. Legs around Sanghyuk’s hips and arms around Sanghyuk’s neck. Sobbing silver, improbable tears into Sanghyuk’s neatly styled hair. 

 

“It’s alright,” Sanghyuk repeated, nuzzling Jaehwan's cheek. Dotting kisses to his soft skin. “You’re safe, dove, I’ve got you.”

 

The sensation of his master’s proximity forced Sanghyuk to look around. 

 

His master stood so his body was angled between them and their audience. An ineffectual gesture to shield them from view. The expression on his face was serine. Only a ruby glimmer in his eyes gave away a hint of real emotion; a hint of just how pleased he was.

 

“You did very well, darling,” he hummed, gracious, stroking Jaehwan's hair, “Very well. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

 

With a faint little squeak, Jaehwan flung an arm out for him. Knotting fingers in the Prince of Lust’s voluminous sleeve. “Sw-sweets p-p-please,” he stuttered through his tears, “Swe-sweets...”

 

Indulgent, far more merciful than usual, the Prince of Lust smiled when Jaehwan lolled halfway back in Sanghyuk’s arms. He didn’t stop smiling even as he went up on tiptoe to return the kiss Jaehwan gave him; their identical heights imbalanced with Jaehwan still being carried. He even smiled when Jaehwan licked a stray drop of venom from the corner of his mouth. 

 

Jealousy flared in Sanghyuk at the sight of them -the sight of his master adoring someone other than him- but he forced it down. This was not the time to lose his head.  

 

“Best take your little ones home,” the Prince of Lust said, once Jaehwan was safely encircled in Sanghyuk’s arms again, “They have performed admirably. My sweetling and I can handle what formalities remain.”

 

Sanghyuk hadn’t noticed when, but again, Hongbin had approached. Lurking there where he leaned against their master’s back. Emerald eyes fury bright beneath the dark fringe of his hair. That delicate mouth pinched with frustration. 

 

“I want to go,” he hissed, in that lovely voice, “I want to go home with Little Hwannie.”

 

Their master’s hand circled Hongbin's wrist lightning quick. Anger searing across his face and his grip painfully tight. Sanghyuk knew the strength of that particular grip from personal experience. 

 

“You will stay by my side and do your duty,” the Prince of Lust growled, glaring at Hongbin, leaning in so their faces were nearly close enough to touch, “And you will be silent until I tell you otherwise.”

 

‘Risky,’ Sanghyuk thought to himself, ‘Treating a demon like a dog when they possessed the kind of power Hongbin had just displayed.’

 

When his brother failed to reply -quiet as he was ordered to be, although the rage in his eyes was reply enough- the Prince of Lust turned back to Sanghyuk. That unnerving, placid smile once again in place. 

 

“Go home now, pet,” a possessive hand strayed to Sanghyuk's elbow, “We will join you in a short while.”

 

His demonic programming made leaving his master’s side right then difficult, but not impossible. 

 

Sanghyuk nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He clutched Jaehwan tight with one arm, reached for Wonshik with the other, and stepped back into the shadows. Taking his Bound home. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“That was an appalling spectacle,” Wonshik hissed, pacing back and forth across Hakyeon’s office. 

 

He was so disgusted with his maker that it was making him feel sick. Staying in the mansion on the surface with Sanghyuk for even a few minutes had been intolerable. 

 

Sanghyuk knew Wonshik was upset. Wonshik knew that Sanghyuk knew he was upset. And Sanghyuk knew that Wonshik knew that he knew-

 

Nobody had bothered to conceal their emotions. There was no point in even trying. Everyone in that house had been rendered raw in the wake of the fledgling’s demonstration. And despite the fact that he knew Wonshik was upset, Sanghyuk had chosen to prioritize Jaehwan over him. Again. 

 

Wonshik had left without a word, going back downstairs and waiting in the False Prince’s apartments until the Senior Conclave had dispersed and Hakyeon had joined him. 

 

Hakyeon had banished his illusion of the Princess of Deception and swept Wonshik up in a gentle embrace. Dispensing the comfort his maker had failed to give. 

 

“They never let me in while they practised. All I heard were small hints that Jaehwan gave; that they had to kill something, that they had to be together to kill it-” Wonshik ran shaking hands through his hair, unable to stop moving. Fast steps carrying him back and forth across the room. “But that wasn’t killing. I don’t know what the fuck that was, but killing is far too simple a word! How did- What did they even do?!”

 

From his place on the sofa, Hakyeon cleared his throat. A noise of discomfort if ever he’d heard one. 

 

“They ate them,” the False Prince replied, forced calm tinting his words a deep green, “The fledglings tore their victims apart and then ate them.” 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

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Chapter 32

Summary:

“I don’t wanna hear another word from you, bunny,” the elder hummed, derision dripping from the borrowed nickname, “I’ve listened to you talk more than enough today. So stay quiet.”

Notes:

rabin is a thing lol

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“Your distrust of the False Prince,” Jaehwan hummed, wrapping the lapels of Sanghyuk’s jacket around his fists, “Is it still a feeling you harbor?”

 

His pet blinked down at him. As bad at concealing his emotions from the Prince of Lust as ever. Confusion, apprehension, and guilt danced across his face in that order, before his expression settled into something akin to stoic blankness. “Of course. Why do you ask, love?”

 

Jaehwan hummed again. Wordless at first, until his lips formed a reply. “Because you visit him so regularly. Obey his commands without complaint. Spend time with him one-on-one...”

 

“I know better than to actively incur the False Prince’s wrath,” Sanghyuk sighed, stroking Jaehwan’s hair with a distracted hand, “I learned from your actions on that count. No point in angering him by disregarding his requests.”

 

The Prince of Lust frowned, staring hard into his pet’s emerald eyes. Searching for a hint of deception there but finding none. Perhaps he wasn’t searching quite as hard as he should have been. If Sanghyuk was hiding something from him, Jaehwan had no wish to see it. 

 

“How is little Hwannie? He was alright while I was out?”

 

Jaehwan backed away. He released Sanghyuk’s lapels and spun on his heel, pacing out of the entry hall. Hasty steps aimed toward his office. “Fine,” he replied, uninterested, “I don’t see what about him has you so concerned, puppy. The little darling is perfectly fine.”

 

He could hear his pet following close behind, could feel his pet’s warmth against his back. The urge to smile in response to that unspoken obedience was there, but Jaehwan suppressed it.  

 

Sanghyuk closed the office door after them with a soft click. Hovering in the middle of the room with his hands in his pockets when the Prince of Lust turned to look. Gaze fixed on his pet as he draped himself along the spindly-legged sofa. 

 

“His temperament has changed. Ever since your demonstration, he’s been- colder. More cynical, I don’t know.”

 

“It matured him, pet,” Jaehwan replied, beckoning Sanghyuk forward, “He’s finally begun to settle into his demonic mind. You should have let him kill something ages ago. Perhaps... delaying such a maturation is what led to his strange illness...”

 

“I had no wish to rob him of his innocence, love. Forcing a mantle of maturity upon him this way was the last thing I wanted to happen.”

 

“And why is that?”

 

“Because I love him. I love him for who he is. For his bright sweetness and gentle hands. Watching his heart be altered by influences out of my control is infuriating.”

 

The Prince of Lust scoffed. Arms crossed and his legs crossed too. One bare foot bouncing in mid air. “Such a feeling is part of parenthood, puppy. You are not the first to suffer it and you will not be the last.”

 

Sanghyuk looked at him; sharp, focused. But Jaehwan made a show of inspecting his nails. Pretending not to notice. 

 

“I doubt that.”

 

“You should not. Even I-” Jaehwan gave a little sniff, “As unsuitable of a parent as everyone considers me to be- have suffered that particular torment.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Wonshik was once again seated at the kitchen table in the mansion upstairs, observing the two fledglings where they played before the hearth. 

 

In reality, what Wonshik was doing was babysitting. Despite his own ever-weakening resolve when it came to his master, Sanghyuk still insisted that Hongbin and Jaehwan should never be left alone. And, as a result of Sanghyuk’s ever-weakening resolve, Sanghyuk himself was rarely free to supervise them. So the job of babysitting fell on Wonshik’s shoulders. 

 

He would be lying if he said that his little brother’s mood didn’t concern him. The little Hwan’s disposition had cooled. That innocent sweetness was barbed now. A rose with freshly grown thorns. Jaehwans’ fuse was shorter, temper hotter, smiles now as vicious as they were charming. 

 

That afternoon, the fledglings were not simply chattering together as they often did. They were caught up in the midst of an amorous little tussle. Each trying to exert authority over the other and neither succeeding with any consistency. 

 

Hongbin had just regained control; dislodging Jaehwan’s fingers from inside him and shoving Jaehwan onto his back. Pinning Jaehwan’s hips down to the stone floor and lightly lapping at the length of Jaehwan’s cock. Taking in more and more until his nose was pressed to Jaehwan’s navel. And, when his squealing and squirming failed to make Hongbin relent, Jaehwan fisted Hongbin’s hair and yanked his head back hard. 

 

In a show of what looked like impatience, Hongbin grabbed Jaehwan’s wrist and twisted his arm in an unnatural angle. A cruel grin crossing that indecently handsome face at the yelp of pain that escaped Jaehwan in response. 

 

“Have you given up yet?” he asked, running the tip of his tongue along the seam of flesh where Jaehwan’s torso and thigh met, “You know you want to... we all know you want to... you know your place, Hwannie, don’t you?”

 

“Fuck you,” Jaehwan mumbled, brow furrowed and eyes squeezed shut. Frustrated, even as he fed. Feeding on Hongbin the way he’d been for the last half hour. Inhaling intangible tendrils of energy that flowed off Hongbin’s body and into his open mouth. 

 

Hongbin laughed, deep and honey sweet, and took Jaehwan back in his mouth. Bobbing his head up and down. Rhythmic and slow.  

 

Jaehwan did something -kicked, maybe- and they burst into motion. Both moving with the infernal speed gifted to them by their corruption so, to Wonshik’s eye, they were nothing more than a blur. He thought that Jaehwan was on top for a moment and Hongbin was lying on his stomach, but then they were kissing. The energy in the air rippling around them like heathaze. And then Jaehwan was down on all fours with Hongbin kneeling in front of him. 

 

Wonshik’s breath quickened and his gaze clouded over as he watched. Sitting so still that he looked like he was posing for a portrait .

 

“You aren’t in charge of me, Hwannie, I’ve tried to tell you,” Hongbin laughed, even as Jaehwan pawed at him, “What- you wanna suck me off too?”

 

Jaehwan nodded furiously, his slate grey hair fluttering over his eyes. Wonshik was positive he couldn’t see like that. 

 

“Fine, fine, but pretend like you don't.”

 

“Hm?” Jaehwan cocked his head to one side like a curious puppy and Wonshik couldn’t keep from smiling. 

 

Hongbin grabbed his hands, tugging Jaehwan down presumably to get him to start. “You can, but pretend like you don’t want to. I want you to-” he faltered when Jaehwan’s lips parted around his tip, “Fight me.”

 

For all intents and purposes, Jaehwan ignored that instruction. Thoroughly indulging his oral fixation until something made his whole body jolt. Pain, Wonshik realized, now able to make out the small round scorch marks on his brother's upper arms. Hongbin had burned him. 

 

They were already beginning to heal, but Jaehwan recoiled all the same. He tried to push himself away, whining loudly, but Hongbin didn't let him go. Only pulled him back to thrust into his mouth. Roughly enough that Jaehwan choked on his cock. In less than a minute, tears and saliva were dripping down Jaehwan’s chin. His whines had given way to faint gasps of air whenever Hongbin let him up.

 

From where he sat, Wonshik could see the outline of Hongbin’s cock where it pulsed in Jaehwan’s throat.

 

“As fun as this is, I’m sure the pair of you have played enough for now,” Wonshik said, finally shifting in his seat. His leg had fallen asleep. “You look a mess. It's nearly time for dinner, and you know how much your master detests messes. Better go wash up.”

 

At the word master, Hongbin’s green eyes flashed. A sure sign of oncoming danger. But he gave Wonshik a disarmingly sweet smile all the same. “Oh, you’re still here? I hadn’t noticed.”

 

A lie if Wonshik had ever heard one. 

 

“Make yourself useful and join us. I’m sure it’ll be more enjoyable than crouching over there like a gargoyle.”

 

Now freed from his task, Jaehwan snorted with laughter and buried his face against Hongbin’s neck. “It’s fine, bunny. He likes to watch.”

 

The smile dropped and Hongbin’s focus shifted off Wonshik. Snarling as he yanked sharply at Jaehwan’s hair, and then snarling louder when Jaehwan tackled him and slapped him across the cheek. 

 

“Easy, little ones.” Rolling his eyes, Wonshik got to his feet and padded over to them. He was only halfway hard somehow, which felt like a miracle considering what he’d been watching. “Cat-fights exhaust me.

 

He imagined how differently they would feel around him. Jaehwan; small, fragile, tight, and hungry. Hongbin; a mystery, but very hot and very alive. 

 

“Here,” Hongbin snapped, shoving the kneeling Jaehwan halfway onto his lap the moment Wonshik sat down on the floor, “Keep him still.”

 

Since it truly was more enjoyable than crouching over there like a gargoyle, Wonshik obliged. He caught up Jaehwan’s hands and held them gently, making a cursory check to be sure that all the little burns were gone before gifting Jaehwan a grin. “Are you having fun, little brother?”

 

Jaehwan nodded. Practically vibrating with want when Wonshik leaned in to kiss him and give him a taste of venom. 

 

Behind him, Hongbin was paying their small interaction no attention. He spread Jaehwan’s backside apart and -while Jaehwan whined in protest- he didn't make any move to push Hongbin away.

 

It started with kitten licks against his rim, and Jaehwan’s back arched in response. When he thumbed Jaehwan open, teasing him, and then switched the thumb for a finger to tease him some more, Hongbin hummed in pleasure at the shrill sound of Jaehwan’s cries. At the way Jaehwan’s toes curled as he buried his face against the inside of his arm to stifle the sound of them. 

 

‘He takes after his maker,’ Wonshik thought, eyeing Hongbin and stroking Jaehwan’s silver hair, ‘or, at the very least, he’s mocking his behavior after his maker on purpose.’ The whole scenario reminded him of the night Jaehwan was corrupted. He, Jaehwan, and Sanghyuk all lying together in Sanghyuk’s bed. But Hongbin was nothing like Sanghyuk. Nothing like Sanghyuk at all.   

 

“That’s it, pretty Hwannie,” Hongbin cooed, licking a stripe across Jaehwan’s ass again. He pressed his tongue beside that finger and gently eased in a second. 

 

Wonshik wove their fingers together and nuzzled Jaehwan’s forehead. Dotting kisses to Jaehwan’s temples. Dispensing the affection that both Hongbin and his master consistently withheld. 

 

Hongbin took his sweet time; lapping lightly, prodding with his tongue, tasting him and pulling out. Deliberately making those wet noises that -Wonshik knew from personal experience- Jaehwan hated. 

 

Jaehwan sobbed when he came, licking venom from Wonshik’s mouth with their hands still intertwined, but Hongbin didn’t stop. He buried two fingers inside him and began to thrust.

 

“I love you when you’re like this, Hwannie. You’re so pretty...”

 

His delicate fingers must have brushed Jaehwan’s prostate because Jaehwan keened. Moaning brokenly, trying to hold still and failing spectacularly. Hongbin only laughed, abusing that tenderest spot, driving Jaehwan to oversensitivity and making him writhe.

 

He pressed in hard and did not relent until the sensation of having a second orgasm forced out of him in such a short time made Jaehwan cry from shock.

 

“Pretty,” Hongbin sighed, pleased, as he watched Jaehwan come apart underneath him. Pulling his fingers free and earning a gasp from Jaehwan, followed by a disapproving whimper.

 

Barely pausing long enough to catch his breath, Hongbin crawled across the floor and got in Wonshik's face. Glaring back and forth between Wonshik’s eyes. He’d been intense as an angel, but corruption had made that stare downright ferocious. 

 

“I want you,” he said, the barest hint of a growl concealed in his voice. 

 

Wonshik grinned at him. The grin he knew frustrated Jaehwan to no end. Hopefully its effect on Hongbin would be the same. “Since when?”

 

“Since now.”

 

“If this is an attempt to make your master jealous, may I suggest you attempt to seduce the False Prince instead? That would be far more effective.”

 

“I’m not trying to make him jealous,” Hongbin replied, “In fact, he wants me to befriend you. He thinks that having you around will have a positive influence on me.” He flashed a wicked smile that -if Wonshik weren't so old- would have frightened the Prince of Envy something fierce. “However, your maker is a different story. I have no doubt he’d be quite jealous indeed.”

 

That statement was true; Wonshik would be a fool to deny it. Normally, he tried to avoid things that would upset Sanghyuk. But Sanghyuk’s happiness was not high on Wonshik’s list of priorities at the moment. Not when Sanghyuk had all but abandoned him and his little brother to the Prince of Lust’s whims. Perhaps making Sanghyuk a bit jealous would help get his maker back on track. 

 

“I’m not going to fuck you in the kitchen,” Wonshik said, tone measured and soft. 

 

Without another word, Hongbin grabbed his arm, then Jaehwan’s, and pulled them all back through the shadows. Ending up in the bedroom that Hongbin had claimed for himself. 

 

It was a simple room. The simplest room that Wonshik had seen in this awfully gaudy mansion. Clean lines and rich fabrics in dark shades of grey, with small pops of crimson here and there. 

 

After giving him another kiss and his bottom lip a light nip, Jaehwan pushed himself out from between Wonshik’s arms. Toddling away to collapse on Hongbin’s bed with a satisfied smile on his face.

 

“There,” Hongbin snickered, yanking Wonshik’s hair, “Let him have a break for a minute.”

 

Wonshik hissed at the slight sting. Sliding his hands up under the shirt he’d forgotten that Hongbin was wearing and shoving him back against the bedroom wall. 

 

He growled quietly, placing one large hand against that broad, perfect chest. Holding him there, but keeping one arm braced firmly against the wall so Hongbin didn't hit his head. It may come as a shock, but the Prince of Envy did not enjoy causing his bed partners real pain. 

 

Hongbin’s legs wrapped tight around Wonshik's middle. Hongbin’s fingers wove through the short strands of Wonshik’s cherry hair. They might have kissed, but Wonshik didn’t remember. 

 

“I don’t wanna hear another word from you, bunny,” the elder hummed, derision dripping from the borrowed nickname, “I’ve listened to you talk more than enough today. So stay quiet.”

 

When Wonshik’s palm slipped up to rest over Hongbin’s mouth, he felt Hongbin smile. Smiling wider even as he arched his back in invitation. But, as requested, the younger said nothing. 

 

The elder pushed into him. Started to move. Slow and deep, to avoid causing any unnecessary discomfort, but the little gasp Hongbin sucked in didn't escape his notice.

 

Hongbin went quiet again for at least a minute, lashes fluttering prettily and breath hot against Wonshik’s palm, but a single well-angled thrust had him moaning instead of gasping. It was good, but not good enough. 

 

Moving demon fast, Wonshik dropping Hongbin to his feet and spun him around, holding that narrow waist with both hands and fucking into him hard. Where he’d expected a whine or a sob, Hongbin only laughed. That laugh was lovely and rich to Wonshik's ear, even though the younger’s unsteady breath caused the sound of it to hitch.

 

Grasping one of Wonshik’s wrists -not pulling at him, only holding on- Hongbin matched his tempo. Keeping rhythm with the slow, deep thrusts. His body twitched and trembled as he let his head fall back against Wonshik’s shoulder, but he didn’t relent. Even when the pace Wonshik set was harsh, selfish and impatient, Hongbin matched him. 

 

“I like you better quiet,” Wonshik breathed softly in his ear, “But not this quiet.”

 

He uncovered Hongbin’s mouth and dropped his hand to Hongbin’s hip. Gripping hard, and then harder when the younger’s loud gasp was followed by a wanton moan. A moan that was cut off by a squeak as Wonshik thrust into him. The elder held his own climax at bay, always in favor of gifting pleasure before taking it for oneself. 

 

“Fuck,” Hongbin chanted, so low that Wonshik almost couldn’t hear it, his soft hair rustling against Wonshik’s cheek, “Fuck, fuck...”

 

But he still took it. He took the punishing rhythm, biting his lower lip, almost standing on tiptoe until he came with Wonshik’s fingers wrapped around his cock.

 

“Stop, wait,” the younger sighed, reaching back to weakly push at Wonshik, “Wait-”

 

The Prince of Envy stopped at once. Modulating his own unsteady breath as he carefully pulled out. Holding Hongbin's pleasure-soft body up so the younger wouldn’t collapse to the floor. “What?”

 

“You have someone else to take care of. After that, I might-” and that smile was back, as clear in Hongbin’s voice as it undoubtedly was on his face, even if Wonshik couldn’t see it, “Might let you fuck me again. If you behave.”

 

‘He takes after his maker,’ Wonshik thought for the second time, unsure if he meant it as a compliment or not, ‘Far more than Sanghyuk ever did.’ 

 

Wonshik gave him a shove, just over the edge of gentle. “I might agree to fuck you again,” he replied, growling against the shell of Hongbin’s ear, “If you behave. But I doubt it.”

 

When he backed off and turned halfway around, he saw Jaehwan. Sitting up on the center of the bed with his fingers knotted in the sheets. As flushed and lovely and strangely human looking as ever. 

 

“That's quite a fierce pout, sugar,” he hummed, crossing the room and sitting on the edge of the mattress. He could feel Hongbin shadowing him but tried to ignore it. 

 

Jaehwan practically flung himself at Wonshik, squeaking when the elder caught him up and moved them both. Pushing Jaehwan down onto his back with a few pillows beneath his head and settling between Jaehwan’s legs. 

 

When Jaehwan squirmed underneath him and those plump red lips fell open, Wonshik kissed him. Wanton and possessive and hungry. The way he always felt when Jaehwan’s energy spiked. 

 

As their kiss deepened, Wonshik allowed his hand to stray lower. Fingertips brushing tentatively over Jaehwan’s most intimate place. Testing to see whether or not Jaehwan’s body had rejuvenated enough that further play would be welcome. 

 

Jaehwan gave a little squirm, but nothing more. And he made such a soft sound of pleasure at the touch that Wonshik couldn’t help but smile. 

 

“Do you want more, sugar?” he asked, breaking away from their kiss. Watching Jaehwan fall back against the pillows, breathing heavily.

 

All the same, Jaehwan nodded frantically, rubbing against him. Pulling at Wonshik so needily, nuzzling into his neck. Making a valiant attempt to spread his legs open wider despite the fact that he was already already splayed out as much as he could. 

 

Wonshik pressed down. And pressed in. He thrust in hard, just once, pulling a breathless noise of pleasure from him, panting hard. The second thrust made Jaehwan arch off the bed with a sharp cry. 

 

“Breathe,” the elder reminded, and Jaehwan exhaled a little whimper. His body falling lax and pliant as he relaxed into the stretch. 

 

One of Hongbin’s delicate hands snaked out from where he’d perched at Jaehwan’s side and pressed down on Jaehwan’s lower stomach. Jaehwan keened and Wonshik slapped him away. He hitched Jaehwan’s leg up over the crook of his arm and bent over him, using his free hand to stroke the side of Jaehwan’s face. 

 

Jaehwan shifted, adjusting to better meet Wonshik’s movements. Or, trying to. His determined little wriggles weren't very effective.

 

“I love you like this as well,” Hongbin sighed, locking his and Jaehwan’s fingers together and pinning Jaehwan’s hand to the pillow above his head, “Isn’t it pretty, shikkie? The way he cries out so sweetly?”

 

“Yes,” Wonshik agreed, hesitant. Slowing his thrusts when Jaehwan blinked up at him, rosy-faced and suddenly shy. “Is that alright, sugar? You aren't hurting?”

 

The younger’s lip began to wobble, and his voice was small when he asked, “More, please? Hit me?”

 

“You know i don’t play like that,” the elder replied, confused, one thumb still stroking along his jaw. Jaehwan was a baby when it came to physical pain, everyone knew that, and so the question had caught him off guard. 

 

Jaehwan turned his face up to Hongbin, big eyes rounded and glistening with unshed tears. “Please, bunny? Hit me?”

 

“Hm?”

 

Playing coy, Wonshik thought, shooting a glare in Hongbin’s direction. 

 

“Hit me,” Jaehwan insisted, “Please...”

 

When Hongbin relented, striking Jaehwan sharply across the cheek, Jaehwan’s shaky moan of pleasure-pain raised a pang of mild concern in Wonshik’s gut. 

 

“Do you like that, Hwannie?”

 

And, when Hongbin only got a choked moan in response, he hit Jaehwan again. 

 

“Use your words, Hwannie. Be a good boy.”

 

Before he could do it a third time, Wonshik grabbed Hongbin’s wrist and shoved him back. Greedy fingers digging into the soft flesh of Jaehwan’s hip. 

 

“Don’t touch him again,” he snarled, hating the wicked curve of Hongbin’s smile. But Jaehwan had seemed to like it. He pressed against Wonshik, mewling, those pretty hands searching for Wonshik’s hips now that Hongbin no longer held them. Tugging at Wonshik, trying to get as close as possible. 

 

He practically purred when Wonshik ducked to give him a taste of the venom he always craved. Rocking his hips. Squirming and trying to clench his legs together around Wonshik’s body. 

 

It could have been minutes or hours later, Wonshik wasn’t sure. Tracking time when one was as old as he was became a tricky thing. But he opened his eyes and found Jaehwan’s darling face slack with pleasure and exhaustion. The sight of it stirred something violent inside of him. Or, perhaps it was the effect of Hongbin’s still unpredictable energy. 

 

“So sweet,” he praised, stroking the younger’s side with one hand and fucking into him faster until the pace he maintained was unrelenting and brutal. 

 

Jaehwan didn’t seem to care. He was far too preoccupied with those wanton little moans, only begging for Wonshik to fuck him harder. Spurring Wonshik to oblige him; thrusting in a little deeper too. 

 

"Good boy." The purr came with a subtly patronising tone, and it took a moment for Wonshik to register that Hongbin had said it, not himself. He didn’t know if it was meant for Jaehwan or for himself. 

 

Jaehwan’s expression was serine. Each breath came in a little huff or pant, if not a whispered moan. And then, more, until his quiet sighs of pleasure had turned desperate, raised both in volume and pitch.

 

Wonshik took him ruthlessly. Fucking him until Jaehwan gave nothing but soft whimpers and heavy breaths as he was pounded into. Jaehwan let himself be manhandled easily, even overstimulated and shivering. Unable to stop the pained sounds that escaped his parted lips as Wonshik split his insides.

 

The elders' thrusts stuttered and they lost their cadence. Heat bloomed in his stomach and pulsed out of him, practically blinding him with the intensity of it. 

 

When he finally managed to push himself off and sit up somewhat, Wonshik was greeted by the sight of Jaehwan, glistening and flushed. Silver hair in disarray, silver tear tracks on his cheeks. And Hongbin, whispering happily in Jaehwan’s ear as he idly swiped at the come that was dripping down between Jaehwan’s bruised, trembling thighs. 

 

Perhaps the fledgling was more disturbed -in the aftermath of that horrifying demonstration- than he and Hakyeon had first thought. Jaehwan hated physical pain. So, why would he have asked for it?

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Notes:

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Chapter 33

Summary:

His dove was his master in miniature.

 

* Filth lol and also some head-fuckery lol *

Notes:

TW: this chapter contains descriptions of discipline/spanking, somno, and brief flashbacks to an abusive relationship (this archangel Michael sucks). Just wanted to give a heads up for that, so read at your own discretion

 

(happy b-day hyukkie lol im so sorry)

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≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Jaehwan had run away. For the third time now, Jaehwan had run away without a single word or hint of where he was going. 

 

Jaehwan was gone for 45 hours. The whole family searched for him for 45 hours. Panicked. Frantic. Unable to find a trace of him until one of Doubt’s messengers arrived. 

 

Jaehwan had run off to visit Doubt’s garden of wonders. He’d spent a full day and night with the so-called Queen of the faeries and her flock of nymph-like daughters, frolicking around the prettiest place in the world. Breathing fresh air and weaving flower chains into the strands of his hair. 

 

His master was the one to bring Jaehwan home; back to the mansion on the surface. 

 

The Prince of Lust making a deal with the Princess of Doubt to secure his precious fledgling's safe return. 

 

“Naughty,” his master chided, breezing into the mansion's fanciest parlor. Going right past Wonshik and Hongbin who stood watchful with their backs against the wall. All the way across the room to where Sanghyuk had collapsed on the divan. Nudging Jaehwan down so he knelt on the carpet. “So naughty, little darling.”

 

Jaehwan snarled, snapping his jaws at the Prince of Lust’s fingers. “They invited me to visit and I wanted to go! The Princess of Doubt is your friend! I was safe! Why am I in trouble!?”

 

“You didn’t mention this invitation,” Sanghyuk murmured, inwardly furious.

 

“Yes, I did! I told you last week!”

 

“No,” the Prince of Greed slammed his hand flat against the armrest so hard that Jaehwan jumped, “You did not! Doubt cannot be trusted, you could have been trapped there for the rest of eternity and we’d have been none the wiser!”

 

His master clicked his tongue and Sanghyuk blinked up at him. Feeling his master begin to pet him, soothing him in the sweetest way. 

 

“You misbehaved, little darling,” said the Prince of Lust, caressing Sanghyuks shoulder with his fingertips, “And so you must be punished. Gone for 45 hours. Made us worry and search for 45 hours. I’d say that 45 is a fair amount of punishment to dispense. If he’d come home sooner, he’d have earned a bit of mercy, but alas... It's long past time that my pet gifts you a taste of discipline.”

 

Sanghyuk grabbed Jaehwan’s wrist and gave a firm tug, tipping the fledgling over his lap. 

 

Jaehwan squirmed, but Sanghyuk held him in place with one arm. 

 

“You cannot run away like that, dove, never again. You’ve done so three times now. Your reckless behavior endangers all of us,” Sanghyuk added, his voice edged with cool impatience, “I hope this teaches you that lesson and helps you remember it.”  

 

Resting his other hand on the back of the fledgling’s thigh, Sanghyuk began. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Sanghyuk was spanking him. His maker was spanking him like he was a disobedient child, Jaehwan thought, equal parts frustrated and afraid. 

 

The sharp slap against his backside stung something fierce. Stinging even though the spanks were -for the moment- being dispensed over his clothing. 

 

Jaehwan tried to wriggle away on instinct but Sanghyuk held him still. Each smack was unyielding and crisp. The knowledge that the sound of his cries bothered Sanghyuk provided Jaehwan some consolation, but not much. 

 

All at once, Sanghyuk jostled Jaehwan off him. Standing him up only long enough to tug down the young demon’s well-fitting trousers. The waistband of the trousers was tight around Jaehwan’s thighs, forcing Jaehwan’s legs closed like a clamp and digging into his flesh. 

 

His maker took him by the hips and set Jaehwan right back over his knee. Pinning Jaehwan’s hands at the small of his back.

 

Jaehwan mewled when the spanks resumed. Significantly worse without the thin barrier of fabric. Sharper and harder and louder to his ear. 

 

He didn’t know when he’d started to cry. Silver tears bloomed in his eyes and Jaehwan made no attempt to stifle them. Let Sanghyuk see. Let them drip from the tip of his chin and stain Sanghyuk's slacks. 

 

“My precious pet,” the Prince of Lust sighed, and Jaehwan flinched. The sound of his musical voice was just as frightening as everything else, “You’ll need to go a bit harder, pet. Too gentle, and he won't understand the gravity of his actions.”

 

Jaehwan turned his face away, looking as far from his maker as was physically possible, watery eyes skimming the thickly woven carpet without really seeing it. Staring at Wonshik and Hongbin's shoes. And, when Sanghyuk spanked him again, proper tears spilled across Jaehwan's flushed cheeks. Wriggling desperately to escape the pain. 

 

Sanghyuk spanked him until Jaehwan went slack over his maker’s lap. On and on, and Jaehwan only had enough energy left to weep until it stopped.  

 

“Almost done,” his maker whispered, rubbing small circles between Jaehwan’s shoulders, “That was thirty. Can you take the rest?”

 

The young demon slumped, trying to catch his breath during the short respite, but at Sanghyuk’s question he merely nodded. Accepting his punishment, even if for no other reason than that punishing him hurt Sanghyuk about as much as it hurt Jaehwan to be punished. 

 

“You must ensure that the message sticks, pet,” the Prince of Lust continued, “Such behavior will not be tolerated. You must make absolutely certain that the little darling doesn’t forget.”

 

Someone snapped their fingers and Jaehwan looked around. Trying to riddle out what the Prince of Lust was talking about. It didn’t take him very long to understand. A belt waited atop the cushion beside them, now only a few inches from Jaehwan’s eyes, and the young demon whimpered at the sight of it. Swallowing hard.

 

With visible hesitation, Sanghyuk took the belt up. Holding it folded in one hand and resting it across the young demon’s backside. Adjusting his grip on Jaehwan’s arm so that Jaehwan had no chance of tearing free. 

 

“Count.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Count,” the Prince of Lust repeated, stepping around the divan to kneel on the carpet so he could peer into Jaehwan’s eyes. Gifting Jaehwan a luscious, poisonous smile. “Begin at one, all the way to fifteen. I have taught you to count out your lashes in a respectful manner, have I not?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“Then,” waving at Sanghyuk, “Show me. This one is simply for practice. It does not count towards your total. Hit him once, pet.”

 

The belt came down and jostled Jaehwan forward with a yelp, stinging his bruised skin like a whip crack, but Jaehwan managed to squeak, “One, sir. Tha-tha-thank yuh-yuh-you.”

 

“Very good, darling. Now, begin again.”

 

“One, sir. Tha-tha-thank yuh-yuh-you... Two, sir. Thank yuh-you... Ther-ther-three, sir. Tha-tha-thank you...”

 

Hiding his face in the crook of his own arm, Jaehwan tried to smother his pitiful cries. Hating Sanghyuk. Hating himself. Swelling with regret that he’d ever believed his spontaneous adventure was a good idea. Forcing the correct number out at each lick of the belt. 

 

“Four, sir. Thank yuh-yuh-you... Fi-five, sir. Tha-tha-thank you... Six, suh-suh-suh-sir. Tha-thank yuh-you...”

 

It continued. It felt like the pain would never end. Jaehwan’s sobs grew louder. The lashes came down on him harder. The pauses between them stretched longer, which only served to increase the next lashes sting. 

 

“Sev-seven, sir. Tha-thank yuh-you... Eight, sir. Thank yuh-you... Nine, sir. Tha-tha-thank yuh-yuh-you...”

 

Jaehwan’s cries pitched higher and higher, more and more desperate, and he began blubbering apologies into the divan’s cushion. Cursing his impulsive behavior. Cursing his stutter. Feeling so wrecked and vulnerable there, bent over his maker’s knee with his whole family watching. All of their eyes on him, witnessing his punishment.

 

“Teh-ten, sir. I-I-I’m so-sorry, tha-thank you... Elev-el-el-elev-en, sir. Thank yuh-you, I wuh-wuh-won’t d-do it aga-gain... Twel-el-ve, suh-sir. Thank yuh-you, I sw-swear I’ll beha-behave...”

 

“Are you ready to be our good little boy again, darling?”

 

“Yeh-yes, sir!”

 

“Are you sure? You won't disobey either your creator or I?”

 

“Yes- nuh-no, sir, I wuh-wont!”

 

The belt rose and slammed down against his aching flesh with proper impact. So hard that Jaehwan let out a strangled scream. But he took it. He had done wrong, and this was his punishment, and he accepted that, so he had to take it. Could do nothing but take the pain and count, his garbled words only pausing every now and then so that he could suck down a ragged breath. 

 

“Three more,” cooed the Prince of Lust, beaming. He brushed Jaehwan's tears away with the back of his hand. “My darling little mess. Only three more. Sanghyuk is going to ensure these last three are worth his while, aren't you, puppy? Make them count?”

 

If Sanghyuk answered, Jaehwan didn’t hear. 

 

His voice failed him as he took the final three lashes. Devolving from words into hysterical cries. Jaehwan had melted into a penitent puddle in Sanghyuk’s lap by the time it was over. And he could feel the harsh lines of pain that marked his skin. Bright red stripes that ran horizontal from the cleft of his ass down the backs of his thighs. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Sanghyuk lay on his side in the dark, holding the covers up so he could stare down at his sleeping youngest. 

 

He imagined how Jaehwan would look with his arms trapped above his head by invisible cuffs. Imagined how Jaehwan would look with his hands bound, legs spread wide, standing on his tiptoes and struggling against the restraints. Imagined how a rope would leave visible marks on Jaehwan’s skin. Imagined how Jaehwan would mewl and keen for him, would beg for his attention, would only be soothed when he finally felt Sanghyuk’s cock inside him. Imagined how Jaehwan’s lips would stretch around a gag in his mouth; forcing him open and muffling his attempts at stuttered speech.

 

It was long after midnight now. Hours had passed since they’d found his youngest and brought him home. 

 

Jaehwan had fallen asleep with his face hidden against the Prince of Greed’s hip, cheeks still stained with tears, marks of punishment still vibrant and throbbing; forced to heal at human speed by one of his master’s special tricks. 

 

His dove had done so well. Had apologized and repented and clung to Sanghyuk when it was finished. Begging for Sanghyuk’s forgiveness. Begging for Sanghyuk’s venom. Begging for Sanghyuk’s affection over and over and over again. Refusing to unwind his arms from around Sanghyuk's neck until the pair of them were safely tucked into bed. And then his dove had curled into a sweet, contrite little ball beneath the blankets and fell asleep with Sanghyuk’s fingers in his mouth. 

 

Surely, Sanghyuk thought, still half drunk on the greedy pleasure that had flooded him when he had his dove over his knee, Jaehwan deserved a reward. Jaehwan had been punished, Jaehwan promised he would never run away again, and so now Jaehwan deserved a reward. 

 

Silently shifting around to peer down at his youngest, Sanghyuk marveled at how soft Jaehwan looked in slumber. He looked soft when he was awake as well, but now... So much softer; so much easier to take. The kind of look that spurred his monstrous greed to life. 

 

His eyes wandered across the length of his dove’s exposed body. Those bare legs, the patch of stomach visible where his shirt rode up, the curve of his delicate throat... Sanghyuk was greedy for him. So incredibly greedy for him. 

 

This was a reward. He wouldn’t restrain his dove too much, no matter how pretty the pictures his imagination painted were. Although... variation was the spice of life. A little wouldn't go amiss.

 

Sanghyuk untied the soft belt of his dressing gown and gently, carefully, secured one end of it over Jaehwan’s eyes like a blindfold. Raising Jaehwan’s limp hands and using the other end to bind them together. Fingering the collar around Jaehwans neck for a moment, fighting the urge to pull the leather band taught. Imagining how pretty he would look as he gasped and pawed at his throat; with that darling mouth open wide and willing to receive whatever Sanghyuk gave him.  

 

His Bound was so beautiful, exhausted and irresistible where he lay in the center of their bed. Breath even and slow, lithe body heavy with sleep. 

 

The Prince of Greed rolled Jaehwan onto his back and straightened his right leg. Kissed the arch of his foot, the turn of his ankle, the swell of muscle at his calf. He brushed his nose against the crook of Jaehwan’s knee. Touch as light as a summer breeze. Relishing the soft noises that the contact brought from his Bound.  

 

He kissed a line up the inside of Jaehwan’s thigh. Higher and higher until Jaehwan’s leg was draped over his shoulder, and the path of his mouth could continue its steady march. 

 

Sanghyuk kissed the v of Jaehwan’s hip. Unbuttoning his dove’s oversized pajama shirt as he went, he kissed the plane of Jaehwan’s soft stomach. He kissed the visible protrusions of Jaehwan’s ribs. He let his tongue flick across the bud of Jaehwan’s nipple and then kissed Jaehwan’s chest. Collar bones. Throat. earlobe. 

 

His youngest stirred, but only slightly; turning his face toward Sanghyuk's warmth. Sighing a soft sigh and smacking his lips. 

 

“Good dream?” Sanghyuk whispered, grinning, far too quiet to rouse Jaehwan from his deep slumber. 

 

After waiting a moment, just in case, he shifted again. Bracing himself on either side of Jaehwan’s head. Not quite on top of him but close enough. He tipped Jaehwan's jaw up with his fingers. Kissing Jaehwan carefully. A chaste, barely-there kiss if Sanghyuk had ever given one. 

 

To his delight, Jaehwan’s mouth fell open for him at once; reacting instinctively. Those plump red lips parting around a whispered moan. Sanghyuk imagined how, when he inevitably woke, Jaehwan’s large eyes would flutter open too. Rounded with longing and surprise when he realized he was unable to see what Sanghyuk was doing to him. 

 

He shallowly dipped his tongue into Jaehwan’s mouth, coating his pallet with venom. No reward would be complete for Jaehwan without a taste of venom. And when he pulled back, Sanghyuk watched Jaehwan lick his own lips. Instinct prompting him to search out every last drop of flavor. 

 

“Are you hungry, dove?” Sanghyuk hummed, grinning when Jaehwan mewled in response. Clumsy hands searching blindly for the flavor’s source. Still unaware that they were tied at the wrist. 

 

Nodding to himself, the Prince of Greed sat up. He watched goosebumps rise on Jaehwan's skin as he lightly dragged his nails down Jaehwan's torso. Watched Jaehwan squirm underneath him. Watched Jaehwan wriggle his narrow hips like he was asking for friction. 

 

“My perfect little dove,” he continued, grazing a knuckle across Jaehwan’s cheekbone, running his thumb along Jaehwan’s bottom lip, “You’re so good for me. Even when you misbehave, you’re good for me. Do you like being good for me, dove?”

 

The digit slipped between Jaehwan’s lips and found its way into his mouth. Pressing down against his tongue until Jaehwan gave a sleepy little whine. And that sweet little tongue was so warm and wet, lapping at him with little kitten licks.

 

His dove made such a pretty picture; bound and blindfolded. Docile in slumber. Disoriented and vulnerable. Body loose and muscles slack. But that mouth...

 

“You do, don’t you,” he pulled his thumb free and slipped his finger in its place, caressing the inside of Jaehwan’s cheek. Admiring the way his dove’s lips wrapped obediently around his knuckle. 

 

Jaehwan hummed something that sounded affirmative, but it was difficult to tell. Shame and arousal bled from him in equal parts. Sanghyuk could smell their intoxicating blend on his skin. And he felt the quickening of Jaehwan’s pulse when he touched his dove’s throat. 

 

Slow, careful, Sanghyuk pushed up the leg of Jaehwan’s darling cotton shorts and rested his fingertips against the back of his thigh. Against the lingering bruises, those patches of his dove’s skin that were still crisscrossed with deep red welts. 

 

Jaehwan made a soft startled sound. Sanghyuk felt the little catch in his dove’s breath. Enjoying the sight of him as his precious dove made a half hearted attempt to move away. 

 

The Prince of Greed knew the pressure must hurt. But, rather than pulling back, Sanghyuk pressed against them harder. Half hoping the pain would wake his dove and half hoping it wouldn't. Tracing the lines of devotion, he smiled at the incoherent sweetness of Jaehwan’s sleepy, wordless voice. Crying out for Sanghyuk as his body tensed. 

 

“I didn’t enjoy giving you these,” Sanghyuk said, contemplative, tapping one of the stripes, “But that's why you let me do it, isn't it?”

 

Rather than giving a verbal response, Jaehwan panted. Mouth open, breathing fast and shallow until Sanghyuk relented. Smoothing a hand over his dove’s stomach instead. 

 

The panting stopped, but Jaehwan didn’t relax. Still tensed up and whimpering almost constantly.

 

“Hush, dove,” Sanghyuk cupped his Boun’s face in one hand, thumb stroking the arc of his Bound’s eyebrow, “Nothing to be scared of. Nothing to worry about. This is your reward.”

 

Keening, Jaehwan fumbled to grip the front of Sanghyuk’s shirt, giving anxious little tugs until the Prince of Greed bent to kiss him again. Kissing him over and over until Jaehwan was panting for an entirely different reason. And Jaehwan was fractionally more awake. 

 

“I wish to gift you pleasure, dove. May I?”

 

“Mmhm,” Jaehwan mumbled, arching up into Sanghyuk's touch, “Hyukkie...”

 

“Yes, dove?”

 

“Mm, Hyukkie- ngh!”

 

The pet name cut off with a cry when Sanghyuk palmed Jaehwan’s length. Tracing the outline of it over the cotton of his shorts. Lazily jerking him off. He worked Jaehwan nearly to the edge like that, quickly and efficiently. Slower... Steady strokes that he knew must be torturous. And then, faster. Slower. Faster. Slower. 

 

Sanghyuk kept Jaehwan suspended like that, riding right at the edge of his climax. Closer... closer... so close to the crest of his pleasure, and then... Sanghyuk stopped all together.

 

“Hyukkie!” Jaehwan whined, voice raw with poorly restrained desire. Bucking his hips against nothing in a broken, needy rhythm. 

 

“Good boy,” Sanghyuk hummed, ignoring the complaints and briskly stripping the clothes off his dove’s body. 

 

Jaehwan’s flush spread from his ears and cheeks all the way down his chest. He tried to squirm around and cover himself, tried to preserve his modesty, and the Prince of Greed only smiled. Fondness swelling inside him at the sight. His dove was so nervous, still so fragile in his nudity. It was an utterly charming spectacle. 

 

He began to massage the muscles at the base of Jaehwan’s neck, applying slight pressure when he felt a knot of tension. Ignoring how heavy Jaehwan's breathing had grown. Ignoring the way Jaehwan bloomed in the light of his attention. 

 

“Please?” his dove asked, in a small voice, his throat vibrating against the flat of Sanghyuk’s palm when he spoke. 

 

Ignoring that question as well, Sanghyuk murmured, “Are you having a pleasant dream, my dove?”

 

“Mmhm,” Jaehwan replied, squeaking when Sanghyuk thumbed the spot where his thigh and hip met. 

 

“Good, good. Now, first...” Sanghyuk settled before him, nudging Jaehwan’s legs apart and slotting his own between them, watching Jaehwan visibly resist the urge to grind on his thigh and promptly fail, “And slick these up for me, hm?”

 

He raised his right hand to the fledgling’s lips and pushed two fingers into that delightful, silken warmth.  And then one more for good measure. Fucking the digits in and out as his dove groaned around him. 

 

“Pretty dove... Are you enjoying yourself?”

 

Jaehwan nodded. Sanghyuks fingers pressed in a bit too deep and his dove gagged around them pitifully. The frantic rocking of his narrow hips, however, barely paused. 

 

“Where do you want my cock, Hwannie dove? Up your ass or down your throat?”

 

The tone of the question was neutral, but his dove made a soft startled sound. In fairness, Sanghyuk wasn’t usually so vulgar. Special occasion. 

 

His dove’s response was muffled so Sanghyuk urged his lovely mouth open. “What was that?”

 

“B-both.”

 

Pursing his lips, the Prince of Greed shook his head. “Pick one, or I am afraid you’ll get nothing.”

 

Jaehwan’s pout was obvious, even with his mouth open; only accentuated by the blindfold hiding his eyes. “Ass,” he mumbled, bound hands twisting and his flush growing darker. He tried to turn away and hide his face, but Sanghyuk forestalled that effort easily. Gently spreading Jaehwan’s thighs and pinning them down flat like the wings of a butterfly. 

 

He drew his slick fingers out of Jaehwan’s mouth, reaching down between his dove’s legs. Sighing at the small, helpless sound that escaped him. Humming in thought for a moment as he drew circles around Jaehwan’s rim.

 

His dove gasped, sputtering with drowsy panic. No doubt caught off guard by the unexpected touch. 

 

“So... You don’t want to have my cock down your throat? Even in as sweet a dream as this?” Sanghyuk asked, teasing, curiosity and hunger dripping from his voice.

 

Jaehwan let out a small mew of discontent, blindly reaching out for Sanghyuk. “No, no, no- I d-do, but you said to ch-ch-choose!”

 

“I don’t know about that... Are you sure, dove?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“What are you so sure of?”

 

His dove stopped and bit his lip, overcome with sudden shyness and hiding his face in his hands. Shy, even as he rolled his hips down into Sanghyuk's touch. Trying in vane to fuck himself on Sanghyuk’s fingers.

 

“Tell me, my perfect little dove,” the Prince of Greed urged, “I want to hear you say the words. What were your two choices?”

 

“To... to-to have you up m-my ass or d-down my thr-throat.”

 

“Have my what?”

 

“Your c-cock.”

 

“Have my cock where? Take your time, dove, and try your best not to stutter.”

 

Jaehwan sucked in a breath. Being caught between sleep and arousal must make it a struggle to focus. But, at last, he managed, “To have your cock up my ass or your cock down my throat.”

 

“Good, dove, good. And which did you choose?”

 

“To have your cock up my- ahh!”

 

When he worked the first finger in, Jaehwan keened. Loud and filthy. 

 

The second followed swiftly, and the third as well. In and out, circling around, crooking back and forth as his dove sobbed softly underneath him. Pinning Jaehwan down with one knee, Sanghyuk's free hand found purchase in his doves' lovely slate grey hair. 

 

Only when Jaehwan started to writhe in earnest, no longer able to control his reactions and his skin slick with sweat, did Sanghyuk pause. 

 

He had teased and teased until his darling dove cried, staining the makeshift blindfold with silver tears. Dragging him far passed the point of overstimulation, over and over and over again. Teased until his dove trembled and shook. Until his dove began to tug at the binding around his wrists. Until the angle produced by the sinful arch of his dove’s spine made penetrating him difficult. Using only his fingers to reduce Jaehwan to a drooling, babbling mess. His own come pooling on his flat stomach. Sobbing and begging and pleading for Sanghyuk to fuck him.

 

Sanghyuk hitched his Bound’s slender legs up onto his shoulders, smiling as he watched Jaehwan scrabble at the blankets in an unsuccessful attempt to anchor himself. He nudged down his boxers and free’d his cock, and Jaehwan shook when he felt it press against him. 

 

When he finally entered his dove properly, Jaehwan nearly screamed

 

Sanghyuk laid a kiss to the crook of his dove’s knee, thrusting in and out slowly, almost gently. 

 

“Is that better, Hwannie?” he crooned, even as he felt his dove’s thigh muscles protesting after being parted for so long. That delicious body was so tight and wet where he fluttered around Sanghyuk. “Is this what you wanted?”

 

“Yes, yes!”

 

“You want it like this? But... I know how much you like it from behind...”

 

When the Prince of Greed reached down to press a hand over the lower part of the fledgling’s stomach, wanting to feel how his muscles worked, Jaehwan squirmed. Turning his head back and forth like he was trying to look around the room. He was putting on such a beautiful show for Sanghyuk... With those rolling hips and those sweet, open-mouthed moans. 

 

“Do you want me to fuck you from behind, Hwannie? Tell me.”

 

His dove was fully awake by that point. Visibly oversensitive, so that the reactions to each of Sanghyuk's movements were amplified. The slightest of motions made his dove cry out. A debased, debauched, and desperate mess; all Sanghyuk’s own. 

 

“Tell me, dove.”

 

“Yes,” Jaehwan whined, nodding vigorously. 

 

Sanghyuk slapped his bruised ass, just because he could, and Jaehwan keened as he tried to shy away from the fresh pain. But he let himself be manhandled easily. Positioned on his knees and elbows. Ass up and legs spread. An undeniably inviting sight with Sanghyuk's hand on the small of his back. Shaking like a needy little leaf. 

 

His dove buried his face in the sheets, even as Sanghyuk fucked into him. Nudging him further up the bed with each rough thrust. Nothing but soft whimpers and heavy breaths as he was pounded into. 

 

“Such a good boy, my dove, I love you so very much,” the Prince of Greed murmured, and Jaehwan arched to take him deeper. Always indulgent in the aftermath of a compliment. 

 

“Love you, Hyukkie- fuck-” his dove whined, sticking his fingers back in his mouth where sanghyuk’s had rested in his dove’s sweet slumber. Mumbling around it still, “Love you, love you, love you...”

 

The Prince of Greed smiled. Delighting in Jaehwan’s helplessness. In Jaehwan’s wantonness. In the completeness of Jaehwan’s submission. 

 

Truely, his dove was his master in miniature.  

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Sanghyuk was angrier than he’d ever been in all his living memory. Angrier than he’d been at any point in all of his three lifetimes. 

 

Angrier than he’d been the first time around when Hongbin trapped and silenced him and tricked his maker into thinking him a traitor. Angrier than he'd been the second time around when Taekwoon had stood over his maker with murder in his eyes and thrown his favorite brother against a wall. Angrier than he’d been when his master had killed that sweet human girl who had welcomed him at the bonfire. 

 

He had certainly been angry on those occasions, without a shadow of a doubt. But Sanghyuk had not been personally responsible for the abhorrent actions carried out. This time was different. 

 

Sanghyuk had startled awake that morning with his heart in his throat. Mind swirling with panic. Mind swirling with memories of doing reprehensible things to his youngest Bound. He had carried them out with his own hand, but not of his own volition. His master's influence had been hard at work within him. Urging him onward. Forcing him to action the way a puppeteer tugged on the strings of a marionette. 

 

“Jaehwan!” he shouted, stomping down the stairs, the open folds of his dressing gown billowing out behind him. Calling for his master, not his Bound. 

 

When he entered the kitchen, Sanghyuk saw Hongbin and his youngest peering at him over the edge of the counter. Frightened, perhaps, by the uncustomary outrage in his voice. Wonshik must have still been asleep, because he was nowhere to be seen. And the Prince of Lust was reclining at the head of the long farmhouse table; sipping black coffee from a spindly glass mug. Legs crossed and draped in several layers of dark blue satin. 

 

“Puppy?” he crooned, glancing around and gifting Sanghyuk a disarmingly sweet smile, “What has you so wound up at such an early hour?”

 

Sanghyuk’s first instinct was to go to his youngest. To search his youngest for any lingering injuries and reassure himself that his youngest wasn’t too badly harmed. But he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until he figured out how to apologize for what he’d done. 

 

Unable to bear the sight of his youngest’s no-doubt accusing eyes, Sanghyuk stalked to the table, fisted his master's hair, and dragged him to his feet. Hauling him bodily out of the room. Away from the kitchen, down the hall, steps aimed in the direction of his master’s office. 

 

If the Prince of Lust voiced any protest at being dragged that way, Sanghyuk didn’t hear it. The static buzz of outrage inside his head was so loud that it drowned out everything else. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“You did this,” Sanghyuk hissed, shoving the Prince of Lust into the office and slamming the door shut behind them. 

 

“I’m afraid you’ll need to be more specific, pet.”

 

His puppy whirled around to glare down at Jaehwan, fury curling the corner of his mouth. “It took me all night to sweat out your poison- your persuasion. You tricked me into hurting Hwannie, didn’t you!?” 

 

“I have no earthly idea what youre talking about. The little darling looked just fine when he and bunny woke me this morning.”

 

“You forced me to hurt him! I love him and you made me hurt him, you made me feel what I did to him and see it through his fucking eyes- how could you!?” 

 

Jaehwan grit his teeth, hackles rising at the accusation. “Did you have a nightmare, pet?” he hissed, in a tone that was as provocative as it was insolent, “Or a wet dream? Having trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality?”

 

That was rich coming from him, the Prince of Lust knew, but what else could he say? He had not done whatever it was that had upset his puppy so thoroughly. Had no earthly idea what that thing could even be. 

 

“I am supposed to have carried out this dreadful deed yesterday?” he continued, standing half on tiptoe so he could get in Sanghyuk's face, “I did not see you at all yesterday. Wonshik said that you were in bed and shouldn’t be disturbed. That you have little emotional episodes every now and then and need to work through them alone. So I let you be. Besides, my meeting for the Conclave took up the majority of my day.”

 

He was trying his utmost to be reasonable. Not letting his anger at being dragged around like a doll get the better of him. Wishing to get to the bottom of this mess that had ruined what promised to be a calm, relaxing morning. 

 

However, his pet did not appear to have any interest in being reasonable. 

 

“A meeting for Conclave?” he snarled, mouth only an inch from Jaehwan’s now, “With Doubt?”

 

“Of course! She is an integral part of- pet!”

 

Rather than allowing him to finish his sentence, Sanghyuk grabbed the Prince of Lust a second time. Spinning them both around before forcefully shoving Jaehwan so he had no choice but to brace himself against his own desk. 

 

“Oh, pet,” Jaehwan simpered, deliberately mocking even as he tried to twist free of his puppy’s strong grip, “Woke up needy, hm? You should have said so; it would have saved us so much time.”

 

“I hate you,” Sanghyuk hissed, for the second time in Jaehwan’s memory. The Prince of Lust pretended he didn’t hear it. “You enjoyed watching me punish him, huh? You liked that? So jealous that you manipulated me into hurting him on your behalf? I can’t believe- You are sick for this. Do you even know what it’s like? Want me to show you what it’s like to be disciplined so harshly?”

 

The Prince of Lust stretched, curling and then uncurling his fingers. It was a little trick that Hakyeon had taught him not long after his fall; a way to ground himself inside his own body so that his mind wouldn’t float away. “Fine,” he replied, “Get whatever this is out of your system so I can eat my breakfast before it gets cold.”

 

“You are a monster,” said Sanghyuk. 

 

And a crack formed at the center of Jaehwan’s ancient heart. 

 

His pet’s hand on him forced Jaehwan forward, bending over until his stomach rested on the desktop. The touch so impersonal. Touching him like he was nothing more than an object. Something to be used and then thrown away. 

 

Jaehwan was offered no final chance to repent or plead for mercy. To try and convince Sanghyuk that he really, truely, did not know what was going on. He glanced around at the snap of Sanghyuk’s fingers and, defiant expression wavering, noticed one of his own leather belts. Folded where Sanghyuk held it at his side. 

 

“You mean business,” he tried, aiming for a snarky tone slightly missing the mark, “Go on, do as you wish, I-”

 

Sanghyuk raised the belt and struck him without warning, and Jaehwan closed his eyes. Choked out a gasp. Flinching forward as much as he physically could. 

 

The sting of it hurt, no mistake. But Jaehwan was the Prince of Lust. For him, pain and pleasure were inextricably linked. Wound together in his mind, so that in moments like this, his body registered not only the sting, but the sensation of Sanghyuk’s hand around his wrist. Sanghyuk’s knuckles resting at the small of his back. The heat of Sanghyuk standing so close behind him... 

 

He tried to turn away, to hide his face against the desk, but Sanghyuk didn’t let him. Fisting his hair with his free hand and yanking Jaehwan’s head back up.

 

“Do you enjoy that?”

 

Sanghyuk hit him again, and a quiet groan escaped from Jaehwan, even as he tried to swallow the noise down. 

 

“Do you think it’s funny?”

 

And again, making him hiss.

 

“Still so funny when it’s happening to you, and not my dove?”

 

And again, forcing a choked little whimper from him.

 

“You’re lucky I’m not cruel enough to make you count.”

 

And again, pushing a muffled sob from between his teeth.

 

The Prince of Lust felt himself start to shake. Tensed and trembling in anticipation of the next burst of pain.

 

When his puppy pulled back to hit him again, he writhed. Wriggling in a mindless frenzy, unsure whether he was attempting to escape the pain or lean into it. Seeking more pleasure even as he tried to get away. 

 

“Or, thank me. Did you like that? Hearing him thank me every time I hit him?”

 

Jaehwan bit the inside of his cheek. Tasting ichor. 

 

Each lash struck hard enough that he was jolted bodily forward against the edge of the desk. So hard that his front was surely becoming as bruised as his back. 

 

And, to the Prince of Lust's mild horror, he could hear himself gasping, half-sobbing, whining a word that sounded like ‘please.’ Being degraded and disrespected in such a manner -by his pet of all people- was driving him wild. 

 

“No need to act so coy,” his pet murmured, pausing for a few seconds to stroke jaehwan’s hair back off his face, “You’re far from innocent, and we’ve played harder than this before.”

 

The sheer vulnerability of the situation was emptying Jaehwan's head of everything but memories. And, flushed in an agony of confusion and longing and despair, Jaehwan remembered Eden. 

 

He remembered the way Michael held him down in the meadows where they lived and hurt him over and over and over again. 

 

Michael, who was utterly indifferent to him; who only bothered with him because Jaehwan was critical for the fulfillment of his duty as the first human. 

 

Michael, who struck him for simply speaking his mind. 

 

Michael, who made him bleed and didn’t even care enough to bother cleaning him up afterward. 

 

Michael, who had chastised him when he cried from the pain and told him he should be grateful, should be honored, should praise the Almighty for giving a low-ranked angel like him a role in the creation of humanity. 

 

Michael, who refused to call Jaehwan husband because his real spouse was waiting in the wings, and so damned Jaehwan to his inevitable fall from grace. 

 

Michael, who had gone off somewhere to carry out some task for You-Know-Who. 

 

Michael, who wasn’t even around for Jaehwan to hate anymore. 

 

He remembered begging his jaguars to teach him the ways of child-bearing, desperate to fulfill his divine purpose on earth, only to be told that he was physically incapable of doing so. 

 

He remembered Hongbin as an angel, forcing him under water in the pond beside their home until he drowned. Killing him to correct the error of his birth. Killing him so his spirit was free to return to his angelic form. Casting him from the garden without his consent because of a mistake he had no intention of making. 

 

He remembered crying into the shoulder of a rather bewildered Taekwoon when he returned to Heaven; the first seeds of distrust for the Almighty taking root deep in his gut, but not yet brave enough to speak those doubts aloud. 

 

And, most of all, he remembered his fall. Remembered slipping through the gaps in the clouds and plummeting to the earth below. Remembered choking on sand and dust, furious and weakened with fatigue, staring at the Garden’s western wall for what could have been weeks until his jaguars found him; Mignonette carrying him on her back while Bijou sliced through the shadows to guide him down to Hell. 

 

The Prince of lust did not know how long his punishment went on for. He lost count after ten. But it did end eventually. 

 

"I know you aren't so fragile as that,” Sanghyuk chided, still holding him by the hair. Dragging the elder up so his back was pressed all along the younger's front. 

 

Jaehwan held still, his eyes closed and his head bowed, until his pet's other hand gripped his jaw. Forcing him to look up and back so their gazes met. 

 

“If you ever, ever pull a stunt like that again, love, I will kill you,” he said, calm and cold. 

 

And Jaehwan believed him.

 

Only after his puppy left the office and the door clicked shut did the Prince of Lust let himself go. Collapsing to his knees on the carpet. Fists clenched in his lap. Body aching, flesh throbbing, trying to keep from screaming. 

 

He did not know what wrong he had done, and so he could do nothing to right it. Again, he was alone. Alone in Eden, alone in Heaven, alone in Hell, and alone in his prison. Despised by his friends and his loved ones and his children most of all. Forsaken in every sense of the word. 

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

“What’s wrong with them?” Little Jaehwan asked, following Hongbin out from behind the kitchen island once Sanghyuk and the Prince of Lust were a safe distance away. 

 

Smiling to himself, more pleased than he’d been in a very long while, Hongbin shook his head. “I have no idea,” he lied, enjoying the far-off sounds of shouting. 

 

They were so fond of eachother... His creator and his dreadful brother. Treating him like a child and leaving him behind all the time...

 

Not so fond of eachother anymore, he thought to himself, holding Little Jaehwan’s hand beneath the table as they resumed their breakfast. Not with his brother's new nightmare added to the mix. Hopefully, his brother would never regard their creator the same way again. 

 

Really, it should have been harder to drive a wedge between them. Not that Hongbin was complaining, of course. This was for the best. It would be much easier to rid them of the plague that was Sanghyuk if he and the Prince of Lust were not on speaking terms.  

 

A handful of minutes later, the Prince of Greed swirled back into the kitchen. As visibly heated as he was visibly upset. Crossing to where they sat in a few long strides and sweeping Little Jaehwan up in his arms. 

 

“I am so sorry, dove,” he murmured, stroking Little Jaehwan’s cheeks and dotting kisses on his forehead, “I didn’t mean to hurt you or scare you, I’m so sorry. If you can't forgive me, I understand-”

 

Head cocked to one side, Little Jaehwan gave a small squeak of surprise. “You didn’t! I’m fine!” he replied, confused, even as he bumped his nose against Sanghyuk’s, “You have nothing to apologize for!”

 

Hongbin slid off his seat and padded out of the kitchen. Listening to Sanghyuk’s continued stream of apologies, asking forgiveness for something he had not done. 

 

The Prince of Chaos wound his way through the mansion’s lower floor until he reached his creator’s office, the sound of his creator crying reaching him from behind the closed door. And, when he opened it and stepped inside, he found his creator in a puddle on the carpet. Dark curls in disarray and pretty face streaked with silver tears. 

 

“Oh, sweetling,” he gasped, turning away and frantically wiping his cheeks with the cuff of his sleeve, “All is well. Go finish your breakfast; I’ll join you in a moment.”

 

Ignoring the instruction, Hongbin moved inside. Leaving the door ajar and going to sit at his creator's side. 

 

“Don’t cry,” he hummed, wrapping his arms around the Prince of Lust and hugging on tight, “I’m here. I don’t like seeing you so sad.”

 

His creator slumped against him then, face buried in the juncture of Hongbin’s shoulder and neck, fists knotted in the front of Hongbin’s shirt as he struggled to draw breath. 

 

And Hongbin soothed him. Smiling all the while. Hongbin kissed his forehead and stroked his hair and rubbed his back until the Prince of Lust had regained some of his usual composure. 

 

“Thank you, sweetling,” his creator whispered, pausing to clear his throat as he pet Hongbin’s cheek, “I am lucky to have you.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Hongbin replied, leaning in to steal a kiss, to taste the chaos that lingered on his creator's lovely lips, “I’m always here for you, don’t forget that.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

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Chapter 34

Summary:

"You are what I made you and you must repent.”

 

 

* Some more filth lol and also a bit more head-fuckery lol *

Notes:

note from author: this chapter contains descriptions of/fantasies involving the prince of lust's time in eden. so that's a general warning for those who aren't comfortable with insinuations of a characters imposed femininity. in addition, this archangel Michael still sucks, but its complicated. and the feelings being worked through in this chapter are being worked through in a dream. please read at your own discretion.

 

(we are reaching close to the end, at long last.)

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

 

Within his mansion on the surface, the Prince of Lust was stewing. Equal parts outraged and furious. 

 

“What’s the matter?” Hongbin asked, watching Jaehwan pace back and forth across the kitchen, “You’re going to wear down the floor if you carry on like that.”

 

“He won't speak to me! Still! Months now, and he is still refusing to speak to me! Is refusing to explain what I did to upset him so much! I’ve even tried ordering him, and he just started to ramble and stared over my shoulder! It is infuriating!”

 

His sweetling sighed, exasperated, and Jaehwan flinched. He couldn’t have both of his children upset with him at once. He wouldn’t be able to bear that.

 

“That’s not what’s actually bothering you, is it?”

 

“What?!”

 

“That-” Hongbin waved an idle hand around in the air, “-Sanghyuk’s petulance. That isn't what’s actually bothering you.”

 

The Prince of Lust ceased his pacing and glared at his Bound, eyes narrowed and hands on hips. “Is it not?”

 

His snarled sarcasm was thoroughly ignored. “No, it’s not. He’s doing it on purpose. Getting you all hot and bothered to keep you distracted from the real issue here, which is carrying out our plans for armageddon. Some part of your subconscious is aware of that.”

 

“Sweetling, please- what in Lucifer's unholy name are you talking about?”

 

“You had one goal, Jae. Before he pulled you from your prison, you had one single goal. And ever since you regained your freedom, he is all you can think about. Him and Little Hwannie. He’s abusing your love for him and your infatuation with the fledgling to distract you.”

 

“I am not infatuated with my namesake. He’s a pathetic excuse for a demon and he should have never been born!”

 

“You’re lying to yourself. And it is all Sanghyuk’s fault. He is using Little Hwannie against you and you need to come to an accord with that fact. Swiftly.”

 

Jaehwan growled under his breath. Defending Sanghyuk even though Sanghyuk would never again defend him the same way. Defending Sanghyuk out of some twisted sense of fated affection that had flowered inside him thousands of years ago and still refused to die.

 

“My pet is many things, sweetling,” the Prince of Lust resumed his pacing, “But a lover of Heaven is not one of them. And do not condescend to me like that again.”

 

A delicate hand closed around his elbow. Hongbin had moved to stand beside him without a whisper of sound and Jaehwan nearly startled. 

 

“Come with me. I’ll prove it to you.”

 

Not in the mood to start a proper fight -because, again, the idea of angering Hongbin as well as Sanghyuk made Jaehwan want to crawl out of his skin- the Prince of Lust acquiesced. 

 

He allowed Hongbin to pull him away. 

 

Out of the kitchen. Up the central stairs. Past the closed door of his pet’s bedroom, behind which Jaehwan could distinctly make out the sound of the fledgling's hateful high pitched laughter. Past the parlor that leaked the notes of Wonshik’s soothing piano music. 

 

All the way into his own bedroom; up onto his bed and under the covers. 

 

“Sleep,” Hongbin instructed, snuggling next to the Prince of Lust and lying on his side. “Go to sleep and I’ll show you.”

 

A knock on his door woke him from his doze and Jaehwan sat up in the center of his bed. The canopy bed in his apartment downstairs. 

 

Jaehwan flicked his hand and the door swung inward, revealing his visitor. 

 

It was the fledgling. His fledgling. Fidgety, unsure, cheeks already pinked with a blush. 

 

“Darling...” the Prince of Lust purred, crawling across the mattress until he could lower his feet to the floor. Holding the fledgling’s gaze. Grinning wickedly and approaching him slow.

 

“Can I help you with something?” he asked, pausing just far enough that the fledgling wouldn’t be able to reach out and touch him.

 

“Sir, I-”

 

“Does my pet know you’ve come to pay me a visit?”

 

“N-no,” the fledgling shook his head and shuffled his feet. Sock-covered toes digging into the plush purple hallway carpet. “He left. And Shikkie le-left too. And I need to fee-feel suh-someth-thing, sir. I need help.”

 

Jaehwan clicked his tongue. Equal parts fond and amused. He left his namesake on the threshold and settled on one of his armchairs. “Here, darling. Come here.”

 

The fledgling came, crossing the room and sitting politely at the Prince of Lust’s feet without needing any further instruction. Head bowed and hands in his lap. Lower lip wobbling when the Prince of Lust carded his slate grey hair.

 

“Feel anything you’d like; I am at your disposal,” the elder prompted, “You may begin.”

 

Taking a deep breath, hands trembling with clear anticipation, the fledgling spurred himself into motion. Pawing apart the folds of Jaehwan’s voluminous robe of vermillion brocade. Hands wrapping around the Prince of Lust’s length. Giving him slow strokes to start, speeding up gradually. Working the elder to full hardness. Raising himself so he stood on his knees for easier access and resting his elbows on Jaehwan’s knees. All the while, he kept his gaze fixed on the floor. 

 

The Prince of Lust briefly bent to kiss beneath his jaw. Distracting him. Wanting the fledgling to stumble. Wanting the fledgling to lose his composure. And, when he pulled back, he saw that the fledgling’s neck was flushed under his attentions already. The fledgling’s breath had grown heavy too.

 

“Quite diligent tonight, darling,” said Jaehwan, humming at the pleasant feeling of faint jerks around his cock, “Attentive little thing. You must be truly desperate, hmm?”

 

“Yes, sir,” he mumbled, brows knitting in what could have either been concentration or consternation. Perhaps a bit of both. “Hyukkie won’t touch me. He hasn’t touched m-me since he was upset during that breh-breakfast. He looks at me like he’s fr-frightened of me.”

 

Jaehwan hummed again; looking his namesake over with a more critical eye. “Stand for me, let me see you.”

 

His namesake clamoured to his feet, using Jaehwan's thighs for balance. 

 

Now that he was paying attention, the Prince of Lust found that his fledgling appeared visibly diminished. His wrists were thin and his previously round cheeks were almost gaunt. The muscle lining his arms had melted away. His soft stomach had flattened and his supple thighs had narrowed. 

 

“Twirl for me, darling. Slowly now.”

 

Even with the vile sweatpants slung low across those boney hips, he could tell that the fledgling's ample backside was still round and pronounced just like his own. But he could also see that the cut of the fledgling's jaw was sharper, his chin seemed pointier, and his eyes looked wider. Like a human that had finally rid themself of their last ounce of baby fat. 

 

“Down,” Jaehwan murmured, caressing the fledgling’s slender throat in the midst of his descent. Smiling when the fledgling was settled before him once more. “I believe you’ve grown even prettier since last I saw you, darling. Now how would that be possible?”

 

Blushing, his namesake trained his gaze back on the floor. Deferential and chaste. “I don’t know, sir.”

 

“But, you do know that you want to feel something?”

 

“Yes, sir, very much. Very very much.”

 

“As you wish, darling. Open for me... That's it...”

 

The fledgling opened, allowing one of Jaehwan’s fingers into the silk-warm cavity of his mouth. Tipping his head back and nearly purring when Jaehwan pressed another past his lips quite soon thereafter. 

 

“Sweet little darling,” he sighed, pushing them down his throat only so far that the fledgling coughed. Gently caressing his namesake’s tongue with the pads of his fingers; urging the fledgling to suck. 

 

And suck, he did. Hollowing his cheeks. Teeth grazing knuckles. Swallowing him down and lapping at him so eagerly. 

 

“This is still your favorite game, hmm?” Jaehwan asked, imagining how his namesake’s newly-taut skin would look once he'd embellished it with bruises, “Enjoy the challenge of it?”

 

The words were muffled, but Jaehwan heard enough to know that the fledgling had responded with a prompt, “Yes, sir.”

 

“Would you like some more?”

 

“Yes, suh-sir, please!”

 

Jaehwan obliged, shoving the digits down the fledgling’s throat so hard that he could do nothing but shut his eyes and gag. When the sweet clamp of that mouth refused to loosen, he pinched the fledgling’s nose shut until instinct forced his lips to part and forced a third finger in. Playing with him like that; adding more and then removing them just as quickly. Spitting in that pretty mouth to gift him venom and rubbing him raw each time he started to moan. Smiling fondly down at the fledgling’s scrunched, pleasure-stained little face.

 

“Is this helping you? Are you feeling the way you wanted?” he asked, drawing his dripping fingers out of the fledgling's mouth and reaching down between his legs. Dipping inside those vile sweatpants and stroking the younger’s cock. So smooth and hot... Exactly identical to his own. 

 

His namesake moaned, nodding hard, and the way his body moved was too delicious to ignore. The Prince of Lust wanted -needed- to see him. 

 

Once the hateful sweatpants nudged down only far enough that the waistband perched at the very tippy tops of his thighs, Jaehwan smiled. Pressing the fingers of his other hand in and out of his namesake’s mouth. Giggling as his namesake groaned against him and rutted into his fist. 

 

“You didn’t answer, darling. Is it making you feel how you wanted?”

 

“No-”

 

“No?”

 

“Sir-” The fledgling clung to Jaehwan’s wrist, lashes fluttering, holding Jaehwan’s hand still so his speech wouldn’t be impeded by Jaehwan’s probing fingers, “More, I- embarrassed... I like when you make me emba-bah-rrassed. Like that one time with the bows...”

 

“Ah,” Jaehwan nodded to himself. Remembering the time his namesake was referencing. 

 

The game they’d played as the fledgling’s ‘reward’ for good behavior.

 

The first time the fledgling had cried. 

 

Jaehwan snapped his fingers. 

 

He didn’t have the patience it would take to move them into the closet. Far easier to make a tall, wide mirror materialize so it was standing beside them. Resting on the floor and leaning over top of the unlit fireplace. Easier to simply vanish the fledgling's clothes and magically redress him too.

 

“There you are,” said the Prince of Lust, his words accompanied by the rustle of pink taffeta, “A bodice of baby blue, matching pink sleeves, white lace socks, and... A blue silk ribbon with a big bow right on top of your pretty head. Just like last time.”

 

He tipped his namesake’s face sideways so they looked at each other in the mirror. 

 

“Pretty little doll... My darling, filthy little doll...”

 

When he drew his fingers free of that delightful mouth a second time, his fledgling clung to Jaehwan still. Equally as reluctant to let Jaehwan go as he was reluctant to look away from his own reflection. But Jaehwan forced him to do the latter; raising the kneeling fledgling’s head up, up, up to his own so they were nearly close enough to kiss.

 

“Seduce me,” he cooed, cupping the fledgling's spit-slicked chin, “Show me how enticing you can be.”

 

The fledgling whined forlornly. Licking a drop of venom off Jaehwan’s lip. “I don't know how!”

 

“You do. Use your own fingers...” the Prince of Lust paused, reassuring his fledgling with a gentle kiss, “Touch yourself for me. Show me how willing you are, darling. I want to see you try.”

 

Cheeks bright with the humiliation he’d asked for, the fledgling touched himself. Presumably taking the dress as a cue for how to act, he sucked on a finger, reaching back and inserting it the way he no-doubt imagined a woman would. Dropping his head so it lolled in Jaehwan’s palm. Opening his mouth. Gasping as he added a second finger… Putting on quite a pretty show.

 

“There you are. Doesn’t it feel good? Playing with your own darling body?” Jaehwan asked, pleased, enjoying the blissed out look on his namesake’s face. The way that chin-length hair felt as it brushed against his hand. 

 

A soft little keen was all he received in response, but Jaehwan didn’t mind much. The fledgling had already forgotten the instruction, attention entirely overtaken by the pleasure he was gifting himself, but Jaehwan didn’t mind that much either. Whispering honeyed praise against the shell of his namesake’s ear, the Prince of Lust told the fledgling exactly how he was going to be fucked. Exactly what acts Jaehwan was going to perform on him. Exactly what sensations Jaehwan was going to force him to experience. 

 

The fledgling tried to say something, but it came out wordless and wanton. Excruciatingly sweet when his green eyes opened, gaze fixed on Jaehwan’s mouth. Silently asking for another kiss. 

 

Somehow, in spite of everything, the fledgling still gave off an impression of innocence. And Jaehwan couldn’t help but wish to ruin him. 

 

A small, helpless sound escaped the younger’s lips when Jaehwan pushed him down onto the unoccupied armchair. Positioning him so he was kneeling on the cushion, top half bent over the backrest. His natural state of constant physical imbalance combined with the unsteady position sent the younger flailing for something to cling to. Squirming and squeaking as Jaehwan’s fingers fucked into him deeply. 

 

“No, no...” said a voice, a low voice, Hongbin’s voice, and Jaehwan startled, “You can't even be honest with yourself inside your own head. Not even inside your own dream... I wasn’t going to intervene, but really, this won’t do.”

 

The Prince of Lust whipped around, trying to find the source of the voice, but the room was empty. Not even the fledgling was there when he turned back to check. 

 

“Lilith? Can’t you see me?”

 

Jaehwan spun on his heel a second time, the folds of his vermillion robe clutched close around his body. Snarling when his eyes finally snagged on his sweetling. 

 

Somehow, in some sort of twisted infernal miracle, Hongbin was sitting in the chair that Jaehwan himself had vacated. Wearing a deep burgundy suit that must be a copy of one of Sanghyuk’s, because Jaehwan was almost certain that he’d crafted an identical ensemble for his pet. Expression an even mixture of amused and smug. 

 

“What are you-”

 

He’d taken two steps forward, intending to scruff his youngest and scold him for his impertinence, but a snap of Hongbin's fingers made Jaehwan stumble. 

 

The vermillion brocade of his robe was replaced with taffeta and silk. Not in pastel shades of pink and blue, but rather black and dark green. The band of lace that secured his socks around his thighs and the ribbon in his hair were the exact crimson color of Jaehwan’s lips. 

 

“Sweetling,” he snarled, hands curling into fists as he stared down at the dress his youngest had just magicked him into. An exact copy of the fledgling’s outfit apart from the color. Growing more irritated with each passing moment. “What do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Helping you,” was the cheerful reply. Served up with a wide smile. 

 

That tone was grating and it significantly drained the Prince of Lusts well of patience. 

 

“Give me my robe back, sweetling, now.”

 

“No.”

 

Jaehwan grit his teeth. “Why not!?”

 

“You,” Hongbin hummed, pleasant, “Are still pushing all your wishes and insecurities on Little Hwannie. Even in your dreams. I’ve decided it’s time for that to stop.”

 

“Have you now?”

 

There was a threat clear in his voice but Hongbin gave no sign that he’d noticed. “I have. He isn’t you, Lilith, he simply looks like you. It’s long past time that you come to an accord with yourself.”

 

Lilith. What the humans called him. What Adam called him in Eden. What Michael called him. 

 

It was a name that Jaehwan had found so lovely, once upon a time. He’d loved how the tip of his tongue tapped the edge of his teeth when he said it, loved how its singsong syllables rolled in his ears when he heard it. But now, Jaehwan hated it. Hated the memories it conjured and the part of his life it represented. Hate wasn’t a strong enough word. 

 

“Do not call me that,” he growled, moving again. Slow and menacing. 

 

“Look,” Hongbin prompted, “Look in the mirror. Going on a hunger strike and refusing to feed because Sanghyuk threw a temper tantrum is draining you. And even that problem was thrust upon Little Hwannie.”

 

Shooting a hasty look in the mirror, Jaehwan tensed. 

 

Now that it had been pointed out, he could see it. The gaunt face and thin wrists and narrowed thighs. Even his black curls had grown to hang just past his chin. The fledgling wasn’t the one whose figure had slimmed; it was Jaehwan’s.

 

“You need to be reminded, Lilith. Reminded of everything that was done to you. Because you are losing sight of your goals and letting Sanghyuk derail your plans right under your nose.”

 

Jaehwan sprang. Pouncing on his youngest, gripping Hongbin's hair and straddling him. Forcing Hongbin's head back and snarling in his face. “Call me that one more time, and I will fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk, impertinent little brat.”

 

His sweetling hummed with a light smile, touching Jaehwan’s hips. “I’m sure you will,” he replied, with a cocky tilt of his head.

 

Even as his growl deepened, Hongbin reached up and tugged the ribbon in Jaehwan’s hair loose. Undoing the bow. Running the crimson fabric through his fingers before tying it around Jaehwan's neck. “You had Little Hwannie on a leash during this game, remember?”

 

“How would you know that? You declined my offer to join us.”

 

The grin on his sweetlings face made Jaehwan want to chew glass. The insolence of it-

 

“Your mind is an open book. I can see it in here,” Hongbin gave Jaehwan's temple a light tap, laughing when Jaehwan snapped at him with his teeth, “This is your dream, but I'm in charge. No power for you. No magic. And no pleasure either. No satisfaction until I say so.”

 

“I beg your pardon?!”

 

“This game is for my pleasure, darling,” his sweetling scolded, “Not yours. You may not finish until given express permission to do so. That’s the only rule.”

 

Words echoing in Jaehwan’s mind like a bell chime. Spoken in his own voice. 

 

“But, unlike your treatment of Little Hwannie, I’ve decided to be merciful and remove the possibility of failure from you. Doesn't that sound like fun?”

 

And then Jaehwan blinked. He blinked, and what felt like an eternity passed. An eternity, or a split second. It was always so difficult to tell.

 

When his eyes drifted open, the Prince of Lust felt his own breath stutter. Struggling to swallow around the dryness on his tongue. Gasping at the heat spreading up the length of his body.

 

“Such a lovely, supple figure my master has…”

 

It was his puppy. His pet. His Sanghyuk. Jaehwan would know that delicious voice anywhere. 

 

He was sitting sideways on Sanghyuk’s lap, with his shoulder to Sanghyuk’s chest and legs squeezed shut. His socked feet dangled in the air, unable to touch the floor, while one of Sanghyuk’s hands burned hot on the back of his thigh, dragging up the skirt of his disarrayed dress.

 

“Hold that up for me, love, behind your back, that's it...” Sanghyuk hummed, nodding a little as Jaehwan gathered the taffeta up in his arms and folded them perpendicular to his spine, “Keep your eyes straight ahead for me.”

 

The fluttery touches against his backside and the warmth of Sanghyuk's breath on his temple made him twitch, but he did as he was told. Unusually receptive to following orders. More relaxed and calm than he’d felt in millenia. 

 

“I want you, love…”

 

Sanghyuk found the tenderest place on Jaehwan’s body and slid his middle finger inside. Thrusting slowly in and out. Gently rubbing Jaehwan’s walls each time he came and went. The sensation made Jaehwan’s muscle clench, prompted by instinct to expel the solid thing that flooded his gut with fluid heat, but all that earned him was a nip to the earlobe.

 

“I want to use you the way the Almighty intended for you to be used, love…”

 

Before he realised that the sound had formed, a moan slipped from the Prince of Lust’s lips. Lips that were already parted around a different set of fingers. A tremble running through him in response to the low chuckle against his ear.

 

“You’d like that, love?”

 

Jaehwan’s lashes fluttered, lapping at the warm weight in his mouth. 

 

“My pretty master... Brought into this world to be a fuckdoll for the first human. Did you enjoy that, love? Want to be treated like that again?”

 

Jaehwan moaned again at those words. Rocking down onto the digits filling him up, humming with pleasure at the duel intrusions. 

 

One more finger forced its way inside him. Probing him until it pressed against the place that made him shudder and cry out.

 

"Is our little doll sensitive?

 

Hakyeon? That was Hakyeon’s voice. Rolling through his mind like hot honey. His oldest friend in the world. And it was Hakyeon, the touch delving in and out of his mouth. That was Hakyeon without a doubt. 

 

Jaehwan was sensitive, extraordinarily sensitive. But he could barely breathe long enough to let out a gasp, much less manage to form an actual answer. Not while Hakyeon was there. Smiling close and choking Jaehwan on his fingers. 

 

Sanghyuk hummed a wordless hum, unbothered when Hakyeon ducked his head to suck harshly at the side of Jaehwan’s neck. The fingers that rubbed and tugged on his tongue not relenting for an instant, even when Jaehwan began to squirm.

 

And the fingers inside his body too, three of them, spreading him open. Making Jaehwan whine at the stretch. Good, but not enough. Not nearly enough. He needed more. He needed to be able to indulge in the pleasure of it. 

 

“Unfortunately,” said Hongbin, who was sitting in the opposite armchair, fully dressed, watching the proceedings through impassive eyes, “They aren’t exactly real. Made of your memories and given sentience by me.”

 

The Prince of Lust blinked at him, confused. 

 

“They can't hear you unless I allow them to, Lilith. And I won't allow them to until I think you actually mean what you’re saying. So, if you want anything more, you’d better start asking.”

 

It made sense, there, in the shared dreamspace they were inhabiting. Jaehwan didn’t have nearly as many questions as he normally would have. 

 

“Pet,” he gasped, struggling to speak around Hakyeon’s fingers, “Highness...”

 

 Hongbin shook his head. 

 

“Sanghyuk, puppy,” he gave Hakyeon a gentle nip so the fingers retreated but they did not go far; winding through the crimson ribbon so the Prince of Lust was still halfway choked, “Hakyeon, love, I need you-”

 

From the other armchair, his sweetling tsk’d. 

 

And his sweetling did not relent until the Prince of Lust properly begged for it. Begged for cock, begged to be fucked, begged to be used. Swearing to Lucifer that he would be a good boy, just please pet, just let me have one little taste of you, let me be good for you, highness, I want to feel you inside- need you now just- please please!

 

“You need us?” Hakyeon laughed, leaning in to speak against Jaehwan's ear. “We’ll see about that. Once you show us how well you can behave, we’ll see.”

 

The touch inside him drew back and Jaehwan groaned, even as he was pushed up to stand. It was a tricky thing. He felt unbalanced, body trembling with anticipation. And he couldn’t see where his best friend had gone. Where had Hakyeon gone?

 

Jaehwan cried out as he was grabbed; as Sanghyuk guided him forward with haste until he could push the Prince of Lust against the wall. Wrapping a strong arm around him and leaning down to finish the job of marking Jaehwan’s neck. Fingers already back inside him. 

 

He already felt like a mess. Already so desperate and hot. Only slightly calmed by the stretch in his backside, speared through with need each time Sanghyuk's touch found his prostate. Hitting it over and over and over again until the elders legs nearly gave out. Head dropped back, lost in the pleasurable sensations coursing through his body. 

 

“Falling apart so soon, love?” Sanghyuk pressed a kiss against his collarbone, smiling against him. Holding him by the waist, both stopping him from toppling over and stopping him squirming away. “You look so pretty in your little dress.”

 

The Prince of Lust gave a little moan at the complement, thoroughly enjoying the way his pet licked and lapped and bit his skin, littering it with bruises. “Puppy, please...”

 

“Like it when I call you pretty?”

 

“Yes, puppy-” 

 

Sanghyuk pushed up into him hard, making Jaehwan’s words crest on a high, wobbly moan.

 

As he stood there, a throbbing ache in his gut and heart aflame, a heavy blanket of desire descended upon Jaehwan. So heavy that he was barely able to keep his eyes open. Perched on the edge of climax for far too long. 

 

Perched there, waiting for the fall...

 

Waiting for it...

 

Shaking for it... 

 

But it didn’t- 

 

Was this what his sweetling had meant? What he meant by ‘removing the possibility of failure?’ 

 

Oh, Lucifer-

 

Sanghyuk held him so tight, finally claiming Jaehwan's lips in a fierce, hungry kiss. And, succumbing to his instincts, Jaehwan reciprocated; slinging arms around his pet's neck and returning the kiss with vigor. Pressing closer and harder until he felt Sanghyuk stiffen, the slight way Sanghyuk’s hips stuttered against the pressure of Jaehwan’s hip. 

 

He’d missed his pet so much. Missed Sanghyuk so terribly much. Sanghyuk had not spoken to him -refused to even occupy the same room as him- ever since that disastrous morning. When he’d chastised Jaehwan for a crime that Jaehwan had not committed and did not understand. 

 

But Sanghyuk was there with him, hard and lean and strong and hot and perfect and the word passion made manifest, and those possessive hands were on his body, that delicious mouth on Jaehwan’s own, and it was so good, so-

 

A wheel of bright pain lashed at Jaehwan, burning the side of his exposed thigh so suddenly that he cried out. 

 

“Getting carried away, Lilith,” Hongbin called, balancing a bud of blue flame between his forefinger and thumb, “You’re forgetting your place again. Dolls don’t have feelings, and if they do, they certainly would not express them.”

 

Somehow Sanghyuk hadn’t noticed Jaehwan’s startled sound, nor had he noticed the burn rising like a welt on Jaehwan’s skin. 

 

He backed away, removed his hands from Jaehwan and backed away. Further and further until he could brace his back against one of the bed posts. 

 

“Crawl to him on your hands and knees, little bitch. Go on.”

 

Brain clouded with too much lust to form words, Jaehwan scrambled to do as he was told. Sinking to the floor with infernal grace. Fabric swishing around him with each movement, the crimson ribbon tied around his neck trailing its tails on the floor. Falling into his role as easily as he fell between Sanghyuk’s legs. 

 

The Prince of Lust looked up as Sanghyuk loomed above him

 

“My pretty master,” Sanghyuk sighed, dragging fingers through Jaehwan's curls, “My pretty master. All mine, and no one else's.”

 

For a split second, Jaehwan felt an overpowering urge to grab him. To drag his pet onto the floor and bare his fangs and claim his pet again and again until those startlingly lovely mottled tears of silver and gold spilled down his sharp cheekbones. To fuck him until he cried and then ride him until his body was milked utterly dry. To leave bitemarks on his chest and scratches on his back and drink the potent cocktail of arousal the would spill from his flushed skin-

 

Another flame flicked at him, scorching his wrist, and Jaehwan was jolted out of his fantasy. He’d begun to grip Sanghyuk's thighs without realizing. 

 

“Pretty love,” his pet continued, pressing a thumb between his teeth. Jaehwan wrapped his lips around it, but he couldn’t keep from shifting on his knees, helplessly aroused. Reluctant to let go when Sanghyuk took it away again. 

 

“Sir,” someone murmured in his ear, the deepest voice he’d heard that day. A baritone that reminded him of cigar smoke and chocolate. Wonshik’s voice. 

 

His pet’s eldest, who was always so well mannered and polite, who was always so receptive when Jaehwan asked to taste him, who always played music for Jaehwan so beautifully. 

 

Hands on his shoulders held Jaehwan still. Petting his arms and the back of his neck as he watched Sanghyuk unbutton his suitpants. Lower the zipper. Free his cock from his neat black boxer-briefs and begin to stroke himself. 

 

A flash of cherry hair bloomed in Jaehwan's peripheral, but he couldn’t make himself turn away. So filled with unspendable pleasure that he could do nothing but stare. Wetting his lips. Fixating on the pearl of precome that swelled from the slit.

 

“You always demand that the rest of us obey you,” said Wonshik, getting a grip on Jaehwan’s hair and baring his throat, lips brushing Jaehwan’s ear, “Seeing you like this is almost funny.”

 

The Prince of Lust reached for his pet, but Wonshik stopped that effort. Pinning Jaehwan’s arms behind his back so he was thoroughly restrained. 

 

Jaehwan was unable to use his magic. Unable to spike his energy. Unable to access his infernal strength. He was as helpless as a human in this dream, and he knelt there. Whimpering softly with want. His insides tangled in knots. Desperate and starving. Head forced up and the tip of the Sanghyuk’s cock resting against his bottom lip. 

 

“This, as I’m sure you’re aware, is an exercise in discipline and self control,” said Hongbin, his smile changing, “You used to be such a controlled person, Lilith. So gentle and quiet. You sat in The Garden for hours and hours until Michael came to take you. Never complaining once… Imagine that... The Prince of Lust submitting to an archangel…”

 

Hongbin didn’t give the Prince of Lust permission to move until he truly began to tremble. 

 

"Lick it… Slow, easy.”

 

Eager to obey, hungry for Sanghyuk, hoping it would earn him relief from his edge, Jaehwan leaned in and licked Sanghyuk from base to tip. Taking him into his mouth and humming around him. Tonguing the sweet spot just under the crown.

 

Sanghyuk cursed, and the Prince of Lust smiled. Mouth watering at the rhythmic moans that slipped from his pet. He’d always adored Sanghyuk’s cock. The size of it, how deep it could reach. And the weight of it inside him too. The pretty way it flushed under even the slightest attention. Always so satin-soft and beautifully sensitive. 

 

“Do you remember your time in The Garden, Lilith? I do. The lot of us watched you two from up in the clouds almost constantly. You two… Playing your little cats game. Remember how you would beg him, Lilith? Begged to be bred, begged for him to plant enough seed in your body that a child would grow?”

 

A pang of long-suppressed anguish made Jaehwan flinch. Hongbin's words were prodding Jaehwan’s nightmares awake

 

“You’re so pretty, love, I’ve always wondered,” Sanghyuk whispered, reaching over Jaehwan’s shoulder to stroke absently at Wonshik’s hair, smiling a fond smile when Wonshik dragged Jaehwan off, “Were your looks the reason you were sent to Eden?”

 

“Ah, that’s right,” Hongbin’s laughter rang through the room, filling all the empty space in Jaehwan’s skull, “He saw you too. As did Shik. Hakyeon probably watched you as well, considering how little there was for him to do before the angels began to fall. The only one who wasn’t around to bear witness to your shame is Little Hwannie. Maybe that’s why he idolizes you so much.”

 

“No,” Jaehwan replied, replying to his pet specifically and trying very hard to ignore his sweetling, “I don’t know why I was chosen to go to Eden, puppy. I was never told.”

 

The Prince of Lust allowed his lips to be parted again, keeping his hands behind his back. Desperately trying not to think of The Garden. Focusing on the sensation that he delighted in the most. Enjoying the way his mouth was held open between Wonshik’s fingers while Sanghyuk guided his cock back in, running his hardness over Jaehwan’s tongue.

 

It was good. So very good. It didn’t bring him relief from the edge of the cliff that Hongbin had hung him on, but still-

 

Sanghyuk groaned, thrusting his hips forward. Brow furrowed like he couldn’t help himself. 

 

Pressure slammed into Jaehwan with enough force to jam against the opening of his throat. It would have hurt him if he were a mortal, and with his current diminished power, it did hurt a bit, but pain almost always translated to pleasure for Jaehwan. He was the Prince of Lust. The discomfort didn’t bother him when he could taste the tang of salty bitterness dripping down the back of his tongue.

 

He allowed himself to indulge, drinking down the delicious sounds that spilled from his pet. Taking Sanghyuk deeper. Licking and kissing and moaning around his length. Gurgling a little as he swallowed around it. Unable to move his head while Sanghyuk was holding it in place even if he’d wanted to. 

 

The intoxicating harshness of it all sent Jaehwan’s mind reeling, his head spinning, lashes fluttering as Sanghyuk fucked into his throat. Giving Jaehwan no opportunity to retreat.

 

“Oh, love- just like-”

 

Reveling in the sensation of having his mouth stretched, Jaehwan relaxed his throat. Further and further, lower and lower, Sanghyuk’s cock pushing in until the elder's nose was pressed against his groin. 

 

All at once, a switch flipped. Wonshik’s grip on his hair tightened, pulling so hard that the Prince of Lust sobbed around Sanghyuk. Whatever Hongbin had done to him rendered him sensitive, nerves pitched and singing, normally pleasant feelings turned up to an intense flavor of torment. 

 

“Always so high and mighty, acting like you’re so much better than the rest of us,” Wonshik accused, and the tone of his voice sounded like he was smiling, holding the Prince of Lust’s head in place and refusing to let him up for air, “I still remember watching you beg Michael to come down your throat, because maybe it would be easier for it to reach your stomach and grow from that direction. Even in Eden, you behaved no better than a whore.”

 

His idle fingers pressing against the outside of Jaehwan’s thoroughly invaded throat, Wonshik laughed. Laughing a bit more genuinely when Jaehwan tried to squirm away. And Sanghyuk didn’t chastise him for it; far too focused on trying to stretch Jaehwan’s mouth to care for Jaehwan’s comfort. 

 

The Prince of Lust felt no fear. Call it a symptom of his upbringing, but the potential for danger never failed to awake thrills of desire deep inside him. And, while he felt no fear, this scenario certainly felt dangerous. 

 

“Such a filthy doll you are...” teased Wonshik, “Naughty and shameless and depraved…”

 

It was at that moment that the threads of Jaehwan's memories finally clicked together. Those words... 

 

He’d said those words himself. He’d teased those taunts. Jaehwan had said exactly that sentence to the fledgling. 

 

Sanghyuk’s rhythm hadn’t yet broken; taking Jaehwan's mouth harsh and fast. Harsher and harsher and harsher until Jaehwan’s devitalized body gave in under the pressure and he felt himself -heard himself- gag. Choking on the hardness lodged down his throat. 

 

Everything stopped. 

 

Wonshik dragged him off so sharply that Jaehwan yelped, and when he looked up at Sanghyuk through blurry eyes, the Prince of Lust took in the breadth of his pet's disappointment. 

 

“That’s a shame,” Hongbin sighed from over on his chair, one foot bouncing lazily in the air. 

 

“Wait,” the Prince of Lust squeaked, flushed with heat, still hearing the fledgling’s voice echoing the words in his ear, “I can do better!” 

 

Sanghyuk reached down to pet his soft cheek, and then slapped him hard. “I’m sure you can, love, but there’s no time for that.” 

 

Jaehwan moaned. He just couldn’t help it. It did not matter that it hurt, he was too overwhelmed by the heady lust that permeated the air around him to contemplate anything else. 

 

But his puppy didn’t say another word. And Wonshik’s hands on him had vanished. 

 

With his mouth hanging open, close to drooling, slap-reddened cheek flushing even darker still, the Prince of Lust turned big mooney eyes on his sweetling. 

 

“Beg,” Hongbin instructed.

 

Squirming where he knelt, cock twitching, wanting to come so bad that he was close to sobbing, Jaehwan begged. He begged to be touched. To be touched or hurt or fucked or anything Hongbin wanted to see done to him, as long as Hongbin did something to bring his pleasure to a crest.

 

At last, Sanghyuk hauled him up to his feet. Turning him harshly around, ignoring his startled cry, and positioning the elder so he was facing the bed. 

 

“I think,” his sweetling hummed, pleasant, as Sanghyuk began to tug at the ribbon around Jaehwan’s neck, “It's best if your lovely hands are tucked out of the way. Just in case you can't control yourself and begin tugging at your cock like a rabid animal. Don’t move...”

 

The Prince of Lust didn’t dare move. Shaking slightly as he felt the loose end of the ribbon stretch out to an improbable length before it was wrapped around his wrists. His forearms too. Securing them tightly folded behind his back. The pulse at his throat fluttering wildly. 

 

“That’s it, Lilith... Good.”

 

Jaehwan felt his spine arching, felt his toes curling, whining with need as Sanghyuk bent him over and shoved him down. Enjoying the Prince of Lust’s renewed struggles for composure and squeal of surprise. 

 

Lying there, sprawled on his front, Sanghyuk held him with careless ease. One hand on the back of his head and the other forcing his legs apart. 

 

“You want it?” asked his pet, whispering the question in Jaehwan’s ear. Pressing the tip of his cock against him, dragging around his rim and teasing it open. 

 

“Yes-” Jaehwan buried his face against the quilt to stifle his cry, trembling with the surging heat and pain of his pet sinking suddenly deeper. But not deep enough.

 

His pet laughed, holding him possessively. Grip shifting to his hair, to his waist, then pressing over the curve of his spine. Working inside him and demanding more. “Sweet little slut. So filthy. You really want it?”

 

“Yes, pet- yes, yes-” the Prince of Lust’s voice broke, trembling out of him at Sanghyuk’s sudden thrust. 

Spreading his cheeks apart and sinking into his body all at once. 

 

“Like being a filthy little slut for me, hmm?”

 

The burning friction made the inside of Jaehwan’s head crackle. “Yes, yes, yes...”

 

“Tell me, Lilith. Tell me what you like.”

 

“I like being a filthy little slut for you...”

 

Sanghyuk laughed again. Mouth dragging against his ear as he began to fuck him, voice low. “Yeah? You do?”

 

Jaehwan tried to agree, tried to speak past the heat clogging up his throat, but all that managed to come out was a muffled whine.

 

“That’s what I fucking thought.”

 

He wanted to come. He was so desperate, suffering such a deep ache, but his body refused to comply. Only making the sensation more intense each time Sanghyuk thrust into him. Sinking into him with violent sharpness. Making Jaehwan’s throat constrict each time that hardness sheared through him.

 

He begged and begged and begged, but in truth, he did not know if he was making any sound at all.

 

“Look at that, Lilith, can you see?” His pet took hold of his hair and turned his head to the side. Angling them so Jaehwan’s line of sight connected directly with their reflections. And Sanghyuk smiled at him, smiled as he pulled out none too gently. “Such a pretty little mess, Lilith, all for me.”

 

The large mirror against the fireplace showed what was being done clearly enough. Showed Sanghyuk burying himself in the elders yielding body. Showed the dark red smudges decorating Jaehwan’s pale flesh.

 

‘I am drenched with proof of my own desires...’ Jaehwan thought, even as he panted Sanghyuk's name, shame burning on the tip of his tongue and hard flesh spearing him from behind, ‘I am stained with the proof of my sin.’

 

Welcoming the pain from the overstimulation, Jaehwan watched Sanghyuk fuck him. Biting his lip and pressing his cheek against the soft quilt. Sharp sobs spilling out of him as he wriggled, aching for more of that perfect, velvety cock. 

 

Each move only shoved him further onto the bed. He could see how his socked feet bounced in the air, unable to find purchase on the floor; how the bands of them hugged his narrow thighs. He could see how the folds of taffeta bunched up around his waist and the crimson ribbon bit into his skin. He could see how Sanghyuk’s fingers were knotted in his dark curls, and how Sanghyuk was forcing his head down. 

 

“Cant your hips up for me, Lilith,” Sanghyuk urged, pressing against the small of his back so his spine arched even more, "That's it, take it, just like that... Take it...”

 

It almost felt like the Prince of Lust couldn’t control his body anymore. Nothing happened when he tried to spike his energy, his hands were trembling too much for him to even attempt to snap his fingers, and he gave a hiccupping moan with every hard thrust. And when Sanghyuk’s touch caressed over a particularly tender bruise on his backside, Jaehwan let out a broken little mewl. 

 

He could see himself crying even as his eyes rolled back, silver tears rolling over his cheeks as he drank down each and every wave of perfect pleasure. The taste of it lingering on his tongue like nectar. This was what he’d been made for, this flavor of sensation was what he adored above all else -what sustained his infernal form- and he just wished so badly that he could come-

 

Body jerking in an uncontrolled stutter, Jaehwan managed to hold himself taut. Arching up to meet each thrust, desperate for more.

 

Sanghyuk hiked one of the elders' legs up with no warning; folding it so Jaehwan’s knee pressed to his chest and Jaehwan was partially turned on his side. Using one arm to pull Jaehwan close by the waist. The new angle let him break into Jaehwan’s body even deeper. It made Jaehwan whimper and sob. And when Sanghyuk idly thumbed at the tip of his cock, Jaehwan began to mumble fragmented incoherent pleas. Filled to the brim and far past his breaking point.

 

“Like that, hmm? Want me to stop?” Sanghyuk asked, cocky, lazily spreading the precome around Jaehwan’s slit. 

 

“No, no, please don’t stop, please please, I-”

 

Almost hysterical, body glistening with sweat, the Prince of Lust panted into his quilt. Nearly blacking out as Sanghyuk thrust down and stayed there. Hilting himself so his cock pressed against Jaehwan’s prostate.

 

Jaehwan saw stars. Lip trembling as he felt warm viscosity flooding his body. Felt Sanghyuk pulsing hot inside him. 

 

“Let me, let me, let me-” he chanted under his breath, keening as Sanghyuk pulled out of him. Even as Sanghyuk’s come began to dribble down his inner thighs.

 

“Not yet,” Hongbin called from where he still sat, in a mocking sing-song voice, “I don’t think the message has sunk in quite yet.”

 

He was hauled up and spun around, mostly upright as he was made to sit back on Sanghyuk’s cock again. Rocking his own hips in a broken rhythm, trying to grind against nothing. 

 

“Pretty sir-” The fledgling had returned, beaming as he leaned down and licked the tears off Jaehwan’s cheeks. Beaming still as he sank to his knees. “-Sir looks so pretty when he takes it up the ass.”

 

If his hands had been free, the Prince of Lust would have yanked at that slate grey hair and slapped that impertinent little smirk off his namesake’s face. But alas, they weren’t-

 

“You would have, would you?” asked Hongbin, grinning like a cat, “Well then...”

 

Sanghyuk gave Jaehwan’s curls a painful yank and slapped Jaehwan across the cheek until the elder began to hiccup again. 

 

“...Everything you want to happen to Little Hwannie is going to happen to you, remember?”

 

How could the Prince of Lust be expected to remember anything when he was being subjected to as terribly delightful an onslaught as this? 

 

The fledgling laughed at him, pawing at Jaehwan and pinching Jaehwan’s thighs. And then the fledgling took his cock in his mouth, all the way to the base. 

 

Jaehwan startled, gasping, arching up away from Sanghyuk and bucking slightly into the fledgling's mouth. His namesake flinched with a tiny choked noise, brow furrowing, but he pressed his lips closed around the Prince of Lust. The slide of his sweet mouth growing even more insistent. 

 

He could feel the fledgling’s throat working around his length, the way his neck muscles flexed with each swallow. And he could feel Sanghyuk still so hard inside him. Unable to do anything but sob as pleasure assaulted him from every side. 

 

“That's all a stupid little boy like you is good for, isn’t it?” the fledgling asked, voice a parody of Jaehwan’s own, “Taking cock and being used like a toy…”

 

And then his head resumed its bobbing. Up and down and up and down over the Prince of Lust’s lap, rhythmic, easy from years of practice. Engulfing Jaehwan in hot, wet softness. 

 

Sensation erupted inside Jaehwan without warning, the build-up of heat in his lower stomach trying so desperately to boil over. But- but he didn’t- he couldn’t- he still could not even glimpse a hint of relief. 

 

The Prince of Lust’s head lolled to the side, pleasurable shocks running through his body as his cock was slowly licked, as the fledgling continued twisting around him, caressing his unbearably oversensitive skin. Thoughts scrambling into meaningless noise every time that lithe tongue found his slit and rubbed at it, teasing him mercilessly. 

 

“Beg,” said Hongbin, and the Prince of Lust’s resolve crumbled all over again. 

 

He begged. Thoroughly debauched and begging Hongbin to let him finish, please, I’ll be a good boy I promise just let me come, sweetling, please, please let me come, sweetling, I won’t be naughty ever again, I’ll do everything you say, just let me- let me finish, please…

 

So frustrated and hot and still, all he craved was more. 

 

Panting like a mindless animal, Jaehwan couldn’t even beg coherently because all the precious energy he had left was spent pointlessly chasing pleasure. His hips working back and forth as far as his pet's grip would allow. 

 

When Jaehwan’s eyes fluttered shut for a moment, the mouth around him vanished. And, when he opened them, he found that he was sitting astride Sanghyuk's lap; Sanghyuk lying on his back on the bed and Jaehwan splayed open around him, bouncing gently as he rode his pet's cock. 

 

“Perhaps this will help you get the message,” Hongbin said, inspecting his nails when Jaehwan looked over his shoulder. 

 

“Th-this?” the Prince of Lust stuttered, muscles tensing when Sanghyuk’s hands began to stroke his stomach and his hips. 

 

“Repent,” replied a voice that Jaehwan hadn’t heard in millennia, oceans deep and tinged with ice, “Your sin has poisoned you. It has ruined you. Repent.”

 

Another person was there. Another person was standing beside the empty armchair. A tall person -even taller than Sanghyuk- with wide eyes and a shapely mouth and short hair so fair it was nearly white. Features that could look boyish and charming when he smiled. But he was not smiling. He was looking at Jaehwan with stern, detached disapproval. 

 

“Pet,” Jaehwan wriggled a bit, heart in his throat, wishing his hands were free so he could grab Sanghyuk and get his attention, “Pet- can you see him?”

 

To his dismay, Sanghyuk said nothing. 

 

The man took a step. Then another. Moving closer to the bed. “Still ungrateful, it seems. Our time in Eden taught you nothing.”

 

The Prince of Lust sucked in a shallow wisp of breath. “Michael...”

 

“You, Lilith, are a creature of hunger. Your existence is nothing but one long craving for satisfaction. the Almighty gifted you to me, no doubt hoping that I could teach you to be better, but that endeavor has not yet succeeded... Sinful little monster.” 

 

“Please,” Jaehwan gasped, still begging, always begging. Mind fracturing as he watched the angel approach. Unable to tell if his steps were compressing carpet weave or blades of grass.  

 

“My plaything. A toy for me to use and abuse as I see fit. You want it, don’t you, Lilith?”

 

Jaehwan swallowed hard, looking at Michael over his shoulder. At his body. The impressive volume of his sex. He could remember the feeling of it. Remembered it vividly. The way it felt working between his twitching thighs each time he was taken. Each time the archangel used him, taking him violently until he was halfway conscious and praying for mercy. 

 

“Michael,” he repeated, not daring to breathe as the angel put one knee up on the bed behind him, then the other. 

 

Once again, he felt Sanghyuk’s cock press deep in him. Up into him. Felt himself stretch, his muscles twitching weakly while the oversensitivity hit him hard.

 

The angel's arms wound around him, reaching down and tracing the skin on Jaehwan’s inner thighs, and Jaehwan went utterly still. Thoughts losing their shape as he felt those oh so familiar hands begin to rub between his legs, dragging a hand up from his waist to his throat, caressing his face as if they were lovers still. 

 

“You’ve failed to obey the will of the Almighty, consistently failed to play your role in humanities creation,” the angel murmured, folding the dress up so the swathe of flesh he desired to see was exposed, “And now, for your failures and your sin, you will be punished. Because that is what happens to disobedient toys. There is no stopping once we begin until I am satisfied.”

 

The Prince of Lust lowered his gaze, nodding obediently, his faint cries of distress melting into wanton pleas for more. “Yes, sir. Please, sir-”

 

He suddenly felt a second cock probing at his entrance. Michael’s cock. An archangel's cock vivisecting him from the inside with rails of holy light. Michaels cock and Sanghyuk’s too. 

 

Jaehwan tried to focus on calming his breathing but it did not work. His mouth hung open as he scrambled at the ribbon binding him, numb fingers barely able to get a grip. 

 

Stuck there between the two beings he’d loved more than all the rest. 

 

Michael fucked him punishingly with no preamble, his instinctive scream cutting off into a high pitch moan. Quicker and deeper than the waking world would ever allow. He shoved Jaehwan down, holding him by the back of the neck, keeping his legs spread wide. 

 

It was all so painful- Jaehwan let out something between and moan and a scream as the angel bottomed out.

 

“Can you stay quiet for once? Or do you need to be gagged?”

 

A feeble whine left his lips as he was stretched open so wonderfully, waves of pleasure-pain coursing through his body. He couldn't quite swallow, couldn’t quite cry. And when they began to move inside him at once, Jaehwan couldn’t help but curse, biting his bottom lip as he was impaled by both cocks.

 

It was all heat then. Hot, dull pain at the core of him. A mind-blanking burn. Each trying to thrust deeper and harder than the other. 

 

“You are a failure, Lilith. No one has ever failed quite so spectacularly as you.”

 

“I'll do better, I swear, I'll do better and do as I'm told, please, Michael, please, just don’t stop-” He begged and begged and begged, barely able to keep up with the relentless pace. Eyes stinging from the effort.

 

Jaehwan didnt know what to do with himself, struggling to imagine how else he could please them both as he was relentlessly fucked. Internal monologue reduced to incoherency. 

 

The intensity of the double penetration increased, and he pushed back against them, feeling the raw ache inside him. Drowning in sensation and desperate for relief. 

 

The angel spanked him, getting a harsh grip on his hips and fucking into him harder. “My obedient, lewd little fuckdoll, aren't you, Lilith?”

 

He turned the Prince of Lust to face the mirror and sighed. 

 

It wasn’t the bedroom Jaehwan saw when he peered at his reflection. It was The Garden. 

 

He was in The Garden again, in the soft pink robe he’d worn there every day. With his willowy limbs, curls worn long and a lighter shade of brown, face flushed the same color as the fabric that hung off his shoulders. Atop a demon and beneath an angel. 

 

“Tell me how wicked you look.”

 

“Very wicked, sir.”

 

A hand came down against Jaehwan’s bare ass again, brisk and sharp, stinging his already sore, red flesh. Then, three more times in rapid succession, hitting him hard, low across the crease above his trembling thighs. One after another, the next always more painful than the last.

 

Jaehwan twitched and twisted, failing to squirm away. Michael held him still and pressed inside him again, ignoring the frantic shifting of his hips.

 

His insides felt like they were being reshaped and it hurt so much, but he did not care. He was too far gone. Unable to tell where pleasure ended and pain began. Just happy to feel any of it at all. So desperate to please. 

 

“You asked for this, Lilith,” Michael chided, holding Jaehwan’s upper arms tight, “You begged and pleaded for me to have you so many times. This is exactly what needy, filthy little brats like you deserve. You asked for it, and now you’re going to fucking take it.”

 

The combined sensations were steadily becoming too much, sending his eyes rolling back in his head. Each thrust was buried deeper and deeper inside him. Jaehwan’s imagination was running away with him. Imagining the way the outlines of their cocks would wax and wane in his lower stomach when they fucked into him. The way those large hands would leave impressions in his tender flesh.

 

Sanghyuk was kissing him, trying to soothe him, but it did no good. The hot slide of them in concert with the angel’s fingers wrapping around his throat was making Jaehwan feel a bit dizzy.

 

“Say thank you.”

 

It was murmured in his ear; venomous and sweet. 

 

“Thank you-”

 

“Thank you for what? For turning you into an obedient little fucktoy?”

 

His own words again. Words the Prince of Lust had spoken, had addressed to his namesake in the heat of passion. Angels did not know the meaning of the word passion. Was this real? Was any of it real? It felt real and looked real and sounded real-

 

“Yes!”

 

“For using your poor little body until it breaks?”

 

“Yes!” the Prince of Lust mewled. Shaking so hard that the pleasure was blinding him. 

 

“You filthy, filthy little creature. Enjoying your punishment, are you?”

 

“Yes, sir!”

 

“Needy little cockslut.”

 

“Do you see what they did to you? Do you remember?” The Prince of Lust forced his eyes open and saw Hongbin right beside him, looking at him, watching his face with wrapt attention. And Hongbin continued, “You were innocent and faithful and good, and Heaven took advantage of you. They forced you into a garden of sin with no protection and then cursed you for it. Labeled you forsaken and threw you down to Hell.” 

 

The compound of pain and bliss flooding his system reached its boiling point and Jaehwan was sure it would destroy him. He couldn’t even tell who was talking anymore. Completely and utterly engulfed by need.

 

“Have you thoroughly repented?”

 

“Yes, sir, I-hnng have repented… I won’t fail again, sir, I won’t indulge in sin! I learned my lesson!”

 

“You truly believe you’ve repented?”

 

“Yes, sir- please please please please-”

 

A fresh slap left Jaehwan gasping for air, reddening cheeks that were already flushed bright with arousal.

 

They used him until the Prince of Lust was too exhausted to properly sob, keening for the angel like a bird with a broken wing. Spread open with the folds of his little dress pushed up around his ribs. Overstimulated and overused. 

 

When one -or both, he was not sure and he honestly did not care- of them came, pulsing hot and heavy inside him, all Jaehwan could do was stay still and take it. Take the messy warmth that flooded his insides and painted him white. Mouth open and lashes fluttering as he let out a high-pitched keen. Drunk on the tendrils of lust that rose from the skin of his partners but unable to feed on it properly when they were still locked in the dream. 

 

“Unsatisfactory, Lilith,” Michael whispered to him, raising a shudder of goosebumps down his arms and thighs, “Spill yourself. Now.”

 

All at once, sensation returned. Drowning him beneath the rush of it. The Prince of Lust tensed when he reached the crest of it; a whole-body shudder and a wild, panicking sound that tore itself from his throat. 

 

The angel struck him as he came, much the way he’d done in The Garden, because this was not about Jaehwan's pleasure, it was about Michael’s. Jaehwan was a vessel. A living incubation chamber that had no right to any of the sensations he chased. 

 

“Unworthy... You are what I made you and you must repent.”

 

Michael struck him as he came, holding his head in place and working red stripes across his cheeks, ignoring the way Jaehwan's body shook as he rode out his ruined climax. But he didn’t care, he loved them both so desperately, loved the angel that had tarnished his immortal soul, loved the demon that had made his immortal life worth living- he loved them both and hated them both and never wanted to let them go-

 

Jaehwan startled violently awake, choking on a scream. 

 

He tried to push himself up to sit but found his strength gone. Muscles shaky and weak. Unable to breathe. 

 

“Shh,” Hongbin crooned, stroking the Prince of Lust’s hair. “Do you remember now?”

 

The Prince of Lust hiccuped. Sunburst impressions of Eden still burned behind his glassy eyes. “Remember?”

 

“Yes. Do you remember why you were so intent on tearing Heaven down from the clouds? You’d grown distracted. You’d begun to forget why they deserved to suffer your retribution.”

 

“I do-” Jaehwan covered his face with trembling hands, feeling his sweetlings arms come around him, feeling his sweetling squeeze him tight. “I remember...”

 

“They will pay for what they did to you. It's time for us to act.” Hongbin gave the elder a little shake. “We need to make the first move. Bring armageddon to them. Strike when they aren’t expecting it.”

 

“You’re right, sweetling,” the Prince of Lust replied, rage and vitriol swelling inside him, “All of this bureaucratic nonsense is nothing but a waste of time. I will bring the Almighty to their knees, and I will do it now.”

 

≌≌≌≌≌≌≌

Notes:

Michael
Because I can lol

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Notes:

*Sanghyuk's venom tastes like a raspberry mojito*

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Temptation Universe