Chapter Text
Rae-yoon felt like he was the one who collapsed instead of Jin-woo as he stared at the unresponsive form of their leader. They were practicing for their debut song when out of nowhere, he just...fell.
"I can't breathe," Jin-woo said, his words calm and composed as ever, as if nothing was wrong. Then, as if strings were cut from their master's hand, he collapsed.
A-joon and Bae-ho, the closest to him, catch him reflexively; Rae-yoon and Min-soo follow. All of them grabbed their leader. Bae-ho managed to catch his head, and they were able to lower him down safely. It has been over 3 human days since, and he never once woke up.
Derpy and Sussie are beside their father, with Derpy practically slumped over Jin-woo. Rae-yoon knows that he should get the not-so-clever tiger off the older demon, but he knows the spirit is worried for his father, and so he can't get himself to do so. Sussie, meanwhile, is more prickly than usual, practically squawking and pecking at anyone who tries to get to Jin-woo. A-joon nearly got his eyes taken out by the magpie for accidentally tumbled over Jin-woo when he checked on the older demon.
"No changes?" Min-soo asked quietly. His shoulder was slumped, without Jin-woo to correct them, none of them bothered to keep their back straight and rigid, too anxious to even try to make the effort.
"None yet," He shook his head. "Still unresponsive."
"Tsk, I don't know what's wrong. Gwi-Ma hasn't cut him off." Bae-ho says as he enters, scowling. "If anything, he has larger stores than usual, considering that Gwi-Ma has recently summoned him to perform."
"Maybe that's what's wrong," A-joon theorized. "Maybe it's too much, and his body is trying to accommodate the large amount of energy."
"If only." Bae-ho huffs. "You're quite new, so you're not aware of this, but this isn't even the largest amount Jin-a got from that overgrown fireplace. If anything, he's been stingy for the past centuries."
"We haven't been getting as many souls as before ever since the Honmoon got created and constantly strengthened," Rae-yoon said grimly. "Which is why we must succeed in this or else Gwi-Ma will start feeding on us."
Bae-ho, ever the fatalist, rolled his eyes. "Oh please, as if that hasn't been happening before, maybe he's still on just born-demons now, but that will always change, whether or not we succeed. That overgrown fireplace will never be satisfi-AGH!"
"Keep your back straight." Said a familiar voice. Automatically, they all straightened their backs, remembering the lesson their leader drilled in their thick demonic skulls.
"Jin-woo!" A-joon exclaims as soon as he processes what happened.
Said demon was already sitting up, with the tiger moving a bit out of the way to let his master sit. Rae-yoon and Min-soo immediately came beside him.
"How long?"
"Three human days."
Everything was a kaleidoscope of color; he couldn't see anything clearly at all, but he could feel the pain clearly, so painful it was as if he was thrown into the sun itself, but the familiar feeling was unmistakable; the source of the pain was the fire of his God. The voices, too, were very much loud and clear. He knows one of them was him, and the other was from a woman he didn't know.
"Jinu! No!"
"I'm sorry for everything."
"No. I wanted to set you free."
"You did. You gave me my soul back. And now... I give it to you."
After that, everything was an explosion of the colors of the rainbow, bright yet gentle, glimmering and ethereal as the moon. Jin-woo — or Jinu? That was what the woman called him, and it felt right — felt clear, freer than he's ever been, no Gwi-Ma whispering poisoned, just total silence aside from the occasional melody from the same voice as before. It wasn't lonely at all for some reason; rather, it was peaceful and comforting, like when his mother used to sing Lullaby for him and his sister.
Jin-woo — no, Jinu — wants that feeling to last forever—
—and then he woke up. To loud chattering at that, they were arguing — his boys — and they are loud. The first thing he sees as he opens his eyes is Derpy, perched on top of him and almost choking him. Sussie also entered his field of view as soon as she noticed him lifting his head.
"Hey, buddy." He pats the Tiger's head, watching the large feline purr in satisfaction, which makes him feel a lot better. He turns and does the same to his sassy Magpie.
"-hat overgrown fireplace will never be satisfi-AGH!" He kicks the older demon's shin reflexively, rather than anything malicious.
"Keep your back straight." All of them startle into action like well-trained soldiers.
"Jin-woo!" A-joon exclaims as soon as he processes what happened.
He held on to Rae-yoon and Min-soo as the two helped him sit up properly.
"How long?"
"Three human days," Rae-yoon replies. "How are you?"
"It feels longer than that," Jinu sighs, feeling his body ache all over as he remembers the flame of his God destroying his very being. Bae-ho, as pessimistic as he is at times, is correct; there will be no pleasing Gwi-Ma enough for salvation, it is only a matter of time.
He felt his hand shake — was that his future? What about the boys then? What happened to them?
"-woo...Jin-woo!"
He jerks back, staring straight at A-joon's glowing gold, worry etched on their youngest's face. "What's up, man?"
"Ah, sorry." He reflexively apologized, the action making the others visibly more upset, but he ignored it. "Were you asking me something?"
"We were just asking if you know what happened to you," Min-soo said quietly. The half-dog demon was beside him, hands on his back, still supporting.
"Ah, no." He shook his head. "But I dreamt of something weird."
"Weird? What do you mean weird?" Bae-ho asked, frowning.
He opened his mouth before hesitating. A-joon, being the youngest and shortest temper of them other than Bae-ho, jabbed him harshly on his side, nearly toppling Min-soo in the process.
"What the hell man, out with it!"
He glared at the younger demon but obeyed nonetheless.
"Gwi-Ma killed you?" Rae-yoon asks shakily. He was shaken. Min-soo, too, looks visibly upset as much as Rae-yoon can tell with his mop of hair. Bae-ho and A-joon were, as he predicted, practically bursting in anger. A-joon was the first one to show his anger outward, punching a hole in the wall next to him.
Bae-ho was more glacial in his anger, hatred practically pouring out of his very being. "That goddamn son of a- That's it. I have had enough!"
"Bae-hyung!" Rae-yoon called out, hurrying after the leaving demon. "Stop it, what do you think you're doing?!"
"Let go!"
"Not when you're being stupid!"
"I sai-"
"Enough!" Jin-woo huffs. "I just woke up and you lot are fighting again. Even toddlers are more well-behaved."
"Jin-a, you know what that meant, right?" Bae-ho says. "Are you seriously just going to let that happen to you? Obviously, we failed, so that means we need to take it back from him!"
"Jin-a mocked him," Min-soo cuts in. "He didn't do anything because our offer caught his interest. We can't take it back."
"Then what do you want to do, huh? Let him get killed when we failed?!"
"We didn't fail." What?
"We didn't, I know we didn't, where I died, it wasn't in hell, it was on the other side."
"That means..."
"We succeeded, enough to get Gwi-Ma to the surface," Jin-woo nods. "But something went wrong, I don't know what. Maybe it has to do with the woman talking to me."
A-joon frowns in confusion. "The one to whom you give your soul?"
"Yes. I think we need to find her."
"Bae-hyung," Jinu whispers.
"Give me some time." The other replies, not looking away from the black sun over the horizon. "I just need a few moments."
"If you don't want to co-"
"Shut it," Bae-ho said sharply, glaring. "Who said I'll be left here when you four are on the surface? Plus, didn't we already apply at that agency?"
"It will be fine. You worry too much."
"And you don't worry enough."
"You do that enough for all of us." Jinu laughs. Patting Derpy's head to distract himself from the piercing gaze of the older demon. "You and Joon-ya."
"I can't lose you — any of you."
"You won't."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."