Chapter Text
yanan woke up in somewhat of a daze, neck aching from the way he was hanging off of the couch, long limbs uncomfortably curled. his head felt foggy, the way it did after a long night of drinking but he knew that wasn’t the case. in fact, this was probably the most sober he’d ever been.
“good morning, yanan!” wooseok chirped from where he was sat criss cross applesauce in front of the television. he was wearing one of yanan’s hoodies, an oversized red one that looked stark against his pale skin, sleeves pulled over his hands. he had only been living at yanan’s for a week and buying the angel clothes of his own had completely slipped the demon’s mind.
“what are you watching?” yanan groaned, voice low and groggy with sleep. all he could hear was the loud volume of whatever show wooseok had on, cranked up too loud. he was still learning how to properly use the remote and all it’s buttons.
“ummm,” wooseok hummed, tapping his finger against his bottom lip, “i’m not sure but the lady is giving away a lot of free stuff. ‘and you get a car!’” he imitated, giggling under his breath.
are you fucking kidding me? yanan dropped his head back onto the couch with an audible thump. the kid was actually watching oprah. it was way too early for this.
he couldn’t believe he had given that brat his bed to sleep in. he didn’t really know why he did half of the things he had for wooseok. things he would never do for anyone else. it was puzzling, unfamiliar.
“did you eat breakfast yet, angelface?” he finally pushed himself up, running a hand through the messy black strands. he would say he felt like death, but he knows what that feels like and it’s definitely not this. he felt like he got hit by a small truck or maimed by a bear and left to bleed out. he blinked rapidly, trying to make the world around him focus.
“nope.” wooseok popped the ‘p’, looking at yanan with those big doe eyes of his. it still shocked him at times how positively pure the angel was. yanan was pretty sure he had passed by toddlers in the supermarket more tainted than wooseok was. his soul was laid bare in front of yanan, pristine and sparkling. and yet the angel believed he was damned.
it didn’t make much sense to yanan. if wooseok had done something so corrupt, so brutally awful yanan would know. he would be able to smell it lingering on the angel, sticking to him like black mold, branded into his skin. he would be able to taste it in the air the way he did with all his victims before he ripped their heads clean off and burned their bodies up.
wooseok was so far from damned he stunk with purity. he was a picture perfect angel but the small stain that brought him down to earth was gigantic in wooseok’s eyes. if only he knew what people would do with a soul as pure as his.
wooseok asked a lot of questions. which was understandable considering he knew absolutely nothing about earth, nothing about living as a human. but it still caught yanan off guard with how simple the questions were. being on earth for decades made him forget that there were people who were ignorant to the lifestyle of humans, even though that had been him not so long ago.
wooseok didn’t understand the concept of music, there wasn’t any where he was from, no harps playing as the pearly gates opened. yanan had taken it upon himself to educate wooseok on the genius that was rock n roll, but the angel took a liking to lo-fi instead. so yanan played a mix of the strokes and some soft indie singers he found on youtube.
wooseok was absolutely amazed by telephones, the way they worked, all the things they could be used for. the day yanan ordered pizza delivery he was stunned. he waited by the door for the pizza guy to come, shrieking and fleeing from it when a knock sounded. he had believed yanan was messing with him when he said food could be ordered and sent to your house in minutes. it was sort of endearing? if yanan was being honest.
yanan had to sit down and explain to him what a television was and that most of the shows on it were fake after wooseok saw a law & order episode by accident and cried for a half an hour. he liked cartoons a lot more than anything else and sat so close to the screen that if he wasn’t an angel he would’ve gone blind every time cartoon network was on.
it was quite different living with someone else and an angel at that. yanan had gotten so used to being alone, having a space to himself that sometimes it still gave him a shock to hear wooseok puttering around in the kitchen from the other room or getting up to pee in the middle of the night. it was like the other man was slowly creeping his way into all of yanan’s crevices, slow and sticky, and he couldn’t tell if he liked it or not. but it wasn’t like he could kick the angel out now, could he?
he didn’t know why he was allowing this angel to infiltrate his space. he got crabby when his friends stayed over a little too long, rubbing their grubby cheeto-dust fingers over his game controllers, sleepily slobbering all over his couch. out of most people yanan had come across his friends were some of the best and he didn’t feel the urge to brutally murder them most days. but he couldn’t stand them in his personal space for longer than was needed.
yanan had come to appreciate the simplicity of living alone, of waking up and making coffee in his underwear, using the bathroom with the door wide open. he could fuck people on any surface, on the kitchen table if he wanted because everything belonged to him and him only.
living with someone else meant having to take their feelings and comfortability into consideration. yanan didn’t care about being considerate, he didn’t care much about...anything really.
but it didn’t feel weird. wooseok couldn’t be overbearing if he tried, he was shy and quiet and blushed when he spoke a little too loudly. he got embarrassed if he was showering and yanan stepped in to brush his teeth, squealing even though nothing could be seen through the thick shower curtain. that was another thing yanan had to get used to. knocking.
the first night they had argued over where wooseok was going to sleep, the angel protesting that he couldn’t possibly sleep in yanan’s bed, seeing the way his long legs hung off of the couch. it was a back and forth that quickly got annoying so yanan had simply rolled his pitch black eyes down, growling out ‘take the goddamn bed’ until wooseok agreed out of fear. it was nice to know that he still had his edge.
it wasn’t all smooth sailing but that was to be expected. it took three days for wooseok to stop flinching whenever yanan mentioned something dark and morbid. three days for yanan to take the hint and stop mentioning things of that nature at all. it was as if the angel had forgotten he lived with a demon and yanan’s mouth was a constant reminder. yanan couldn’t hold back his smirks at the way wooseok’s pupils would start to dart around the room as his big body curled into a small protective ball.
wooseok didn’t want to discuss his fall so yanan didn’t bring it up. it was something of a traumatizing event to the angel, that much he could tell. he could see it in wooseok’s eyes, he wasn’t ready to talk about it any more so than he already had. it was as if he had said too much and was carefully guarding the rest. wooseok’s memories of heaven were precious golden doubloons that yanan was not allowed to touch.
that was okay with yanan. whatever wooseok had done to guarner his fall was nothing compared to the sticky black sin that lingered all over town, that lingered everywhere. it floated on the air like snow, close enough to do damage but too far away to touch. it was like rolling gray fog, pollution dancing with the clouds.
wooseok’s soul was pure. yanan could see that better than anyone. a single flower growing in the middle of a desert littered in bodies. an alluring oddity.
it almost hurt to look at him for too long. to see unadulterated innocence there in front of him, with his own soul darkened, scorched in his chest felt...wrong. dirty almost. but wooseok didn’t have anyone else but yanan. they both knew that. yanan was sure that was the only reason wooseok was still there. eating his pop tarts and curling up in yanan’s big blue flannels.
but living with the wooseok was entertaining. he was still learning what kinds of foods he liked and yanan couldn’t lie and say he didn’t find delight in feeding the angel. his face scrunched up in disgust when yanan made him suck on a lemon and lit up in awe after a simple bowl of cereal. it was intriguing to say the least.
wooseok didn’t understand why yanan liked coffee so much, he prefered sweetened hot chocolate, and had spat out the bitter drink the moment he took a sip. he loved chicken and chinese takeout, especially egg rolls and he had been confused at the idea of fortune cookies. (‘how does the cookie know my fortune but i do not? is it magic?’)
“i was waiting for you to wake up.” wooseok smiled, tentatively but it got wider by the seconds, scrambling to his feet. “and i still don’t know how to use the toaster.” he looked a little sheepish. the angel had taken a liking to chocolate chip pop-tarts. yanan couldn’t blame him.
“you just push the button down.” yanan yawned, stretching as he made his way into the kitchen knowing wooseok would follow after him.
“well you told me not to touch anything unless i was sure.” wooseok protested, pouting slightly, “i didn’t want to set the kitchen on fire.”
“you set my kitchen on fire-”
“‘i set you on fire.’ i know.” wooseok quoted, rolling his eyes as he took a seat at the table. “so see, i was just being precautious.”
“well thank the lord for that.” yanan ripped the shiny wrapper open with his teeth, popping the pastries into the toaster with a hum. he turned on the coffee maker for himself and grabbed wooseok a glass of milk, knowing the angel would rather eat dirt than drink espresso.
wooseok scrunched up at his nose, taking a sip as they waited for the poptarts to be done. he wore a pair of yanan’s old shorts, long pale legs on display as he swung them back and forth absentmindedly. his face was alight with something yanan was glad to see, some sort of contentment, less afraid. of yanan himself and everything else around them.
the sound of the tarts popping up still made wooseok jump and almost lose his balance, a hand pressed to his heart like it was beating out of his chest. yanan’s lips just quirked at the corners, letting wooseok take one as he took the other, munching on it absentmindedly as his coffee drained through.
he drunk it black, without cream, or sugar, or milk, because the taste didn’t matter. the way it felt going down was most important. yanan liked everything thing more when it was a bit darker, bitter, anyways. a little more gritty, a little more twisted, things that hit really deep inside.
wooseok fumbled with his glass, giving himself a messy little milk mustache and wiped at it with a clenched fist, looking too much like a disgruntled kitten. yanan sighed and reached up to grab a cup from the top shelf, looking away.
“what are we doing today?” wooseok licked smudged chocolate off of his thumb, doe eyes crossing as he did so.
“nothing, nothing and nothing.” yanan recited, taking a deep sip from his powerpuff girls mug, mojo jojo’s smiling face a little sticky where the liquid ran down the sides. “i need a nap.”
he really did. yanan felt like he could lay back down and sleep the rest of the day away. maybe even the day after that too. before long he was eyeing the bottom of his cup and poured himself a new one, letting the scalding hot liquid rest on his tongue.
“you just woke up!” wooseok frowned, “i thought we could go to the park today? i’m hoping that puppy from last time will be there.”
“aw did you make a new friend, sweetheart?” yanan drawled, just enough bite to it to make wooseok huff. yanan had stopped going into detail about his gruesome “devilish” endeavors but his teasing nature was just something wooseok would have to get used to.
yanan was more locally known to be a “troublemaker with a smart mouth and a sharp tongue”,or at least that’s what the landlady of the apartments called him in greek because she thought he didn’t understand.
it was mostly because he wasn’t scared of anything. not of bugs or rodents, not of drowning or clowns, or anything people normally had phobias of. he tore apart people’s bodies with his bare hands, watched the life drain from their limp bodies and that never scared him. nor did he regret it.
and humans didn’t intimidate him in the slightest. so he felt no need to hold his tongue and be anything but sly and a little bit mocking. (maybe a touch manipulative if it got him what he wanted).
when yanan first woke up on earth, scent smoky like a campfire, looking like he just crawled out of a tar pit; he didn’t understand humans. he had to study them for a while, walk like them, talk like them until their behavior made sense. he had learned that humans weren’t honest with each other because they didn’t want ‘step on anyone’s toes’, hurt each other’s feelings. yanan didn’t care if people’s feelings got hurt because of him.
he didn’t sugarcoat things because he didn’t see the point. how did humans get to know each other if they just lied all the time? it seemed like a very dishonest way of living, no sense of satisfaction to it.
for the past week yanan had been nothing but honest to wooseok, answering almost all of his questions about earth, trying to explain in a way that was easy for the angel to understand. but he never lied to wooseok, never coated his words in dripping honey just because the angel was naive. either way, wooseok would believe yanan because who else did he have to tell him the truth?
yanan was a demon, through and through. something that scared wooseok, intimidated him even. and he wasn’t going to change just because there was an angel sleeping in his bed, ignorant to the way the world worked. he gave wooseok honest information, that was all he could do really.
and if he teased the angel in the process, making his nose scrunch, face all skewed as he thought of a response, then that would become normal for them.
“do you really want to go to the park?” yanan sighed, hands twitching like they were ready to pick up a third cup of coffee. he needed a drink, caffeine was doing nothing for him.
wooseok’s face lit up and he bounced a bit from where he was sat, limbs spread out like a gangly baby calf. “yeah! even if we don’t see the puppy from last time, the swings were fun and that milky drink we got was delicious.”
“ah i see, you only want to go because you want a milkshake.” yanan accused, watching his cheeks tinge with a light pink. it seemed as though wooseok’s cheeks were always rosy, skin plush and plump where wooseok’s palms cupped them.
“maybe.” wooseok mumbled, head hanging slightly as he fiddled with a loose string on yanan’s hoodie. the fabric shifted to the right so the creamy skin of his collarbone peeked out from the stretched out neckhole. yanan wondered briefly how it would feel under his hands as he wrapped them around the angel’s neck and shook his head, flicking the coffee maker back on.
he was better than that.
“i like the one with the peanut butter.” wooseok rambled on, a dribble of milk resting by the corner of his lip but he continued, unaware. when yanan leaned forward to wipe it off, the angel violently flinched back, almost like a reflex and they stared at each other in the silence of the kitchen until the coffee maker beeped.
yanan cleared his throat and went to make his third cup, downing it in about 13 seconds, rubbing his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt afterwards. “i’m gonna take a shower.”
“and then we can go to the park?”
“yeah sure.”
“thank you.” wooseok said softly, like he really really meant it, looking up at yanan under his long eyelashes and the demon just nodded, brushing by him to exit the room.
the shower in yanan’s building took forever to get warm so he curled up on the toilet and played tetris until he saw the steam rising over the curtain, water hot enough to boil. he needed it to be scalding, hot water still felt like room temperature to him.
yanan sighed the moment the hot water poured over his shoulders, easing his tense muscles at once. he pulled his already wet hair back away from his forehead, letting the water run over his closed eyes, cheeks, lips. he turned and let out a long breath as soon as the water started it’s trek down his bare back, over his legs and tense muscles. sleeping on the couch was making his body hurt in all kinds of weird places. he was happy to be submerged in warmth again.
there was a comfort yanan found in being warm. not too hot, not too cold. hell was no playground, no hot summer’s day. it was suffocatingly hot there, so much that your skin would scream as it was being steamed, a constant reminder that you’re burning slowly to death.
when it was too cold, it felt like his body was shutting down. when he first woke up on earth he was in the middle of alaska, shivering on a pile of ice. his skin that was still scolding to the touch melted the floor beneath him until he was drenched in a pool of ice water, sinking to the bottom.
it was...terrifying.
so warm it is. that’s where his best memories and feelings are.
that had been crossing his mind over and over that first night as wooseok shivered before him. that he needed to warm him up.
and well, yanan’s not exactly maternal, he couldn’t take care of a cactus, nevermind anyone else. but he needed to make sure wooseok wasn’t covered in goosebumps, ice slowly spreading over his skin.
as he rotated his stiff neck he thought again about the angel just a room away, his doe eyes and weird obsession with whipped cream. the terrified boy he saw just a week ago, scrambling away was now drinking out of his cups, sleeping in his bed, calling yanan’s name when he needed help. it was puzzling, peculiar, odd, all of the above.
yanan knew why he had taken the angel in, deep down he knew. it wasn’t just because wooseok had been alone but because yanan had been too once. he ended up on earth, hot as hellfire, completely deserted and confused about where he was, how he got there.
five years in he was searching for his purpose of being on earth, trying to find a reason, a piece of concrete evidence as to why he had been sent. he found nothing. fifteen years after that he was just tired. of himself and the bloodlust that thrummed under the surface of his skin like a heartbeat.
he didn’t know if he killed because he was a demon and that’s what he believed was the purpose of living. or if he killed because he wanted to, simple as that. maybe he hurt people because he wanted to feel something since merely living made him feel nothing. he pondered it for a year and came to the decision that maybe he didn’t want to live at all.
the water abruptly switched to cold just as he was rinsing off the last cluster of soap and he jumped back, spluttering. like it was planned, a small scream carried from the living room, distinctly wooseok’s voice and without thinking he pulled the curtains back, stopped just long enough to tuck a towel around his waist before he was moving into the other room. he stood there, leaking onto the hardwood floors below him as he blinked back at shinwon and hui’s confused faces.
“yananie.” shinwon greeted nonchalantly, like he definitely hadn’t committed breaking and entering, hui slung under his arm.
“how did you get into my house?” he questioned, pushing the wet dangling strands of hair away from his eyes that trailed over wooseok’s curled up form, huddled up defensively in the corner of the couch.
“i have my ways, don’t worry about it.” hui shrugged, looking a little too pleased with himself for yanan’s tastes.
“you can stop freaking out.” yanan directed at wooseok whos head peeked up once he realized he was being addressed, slightly calmer because the demon wasn’t screaming at or attacking the people he only knew as strangers. “these assholes are my friends. i guess.”
“sorry for scaring you.” hui apologized with a soft smile and wooseok tried to smile back, but yanan could see that his hands were still shaking.
“yanan didn’t tell us you were here.” shinwon glared at the demon from the corner of his eyes and yanan could tell he was going to grill him for every single detail about wooseok. he could feel the headache coming. “if he had we would’ve used the door like civilized human beings.”
“well you’re not civilized.” yanan pointed at shinwon, “and he’s not human.” he gestured at hui. “i can’t remember the last time you have ever attempted to be anything but.”
they didn’t react at all to the words leaving yanan’s mouth, the black haired man could tell they were much too intrigued by wooseok, could probably smell the innocence wafting off of him. he could see the gears turning in their head, explanations for why a boy like wooseok was in yanan’s apartment, still alive and breathing.
yanan normally didn’t have much company besides them and the tipsy individuals he picked up from nearby bars for a quick fuck. wooseok wasn’t the type the demon would normally bring home, at all. and no one ever stayed any later than eight a.m, nor did they wear yanan’s clothes. it all seemed too intimate.
yanan didn’t do intimacy.
“be right back.” he dipped out of the room quickly to pull a pair of sweatpants over his hips, no underwear because what was the point, and a plain t-shirt. when he re-entered the living room, he jerked his head towards to kitchen, making sure his friends were following.
yanan’s hair still dripped onto the tiles as they settled in, judgement and confusement written clearly on their faces.
“who’s the fresh meat on your couch?” shinwon asked bluntly, never one to mince his words. his hip cocked to the side, hand daintily resting on it. it was like no matter where he was or what he was doing he needed to be poised.
“and why does he smell like that? so clean?” hui sniffed, nose wrinkling. “he smells like a newborn baby.”
“because he practically is one.” yanan huffed, rolling his eyes. his friends were so loud and demanding pretty much all of the time. they’re extremely lucky he hasn’t snapped one of their necks yet. “he’s an angel.”
“never seen one of those before.” hui hummed in thought, dragging his tongue across his plump bottom lip. his eyes flashed with a feral glint. “never tasted one before either.”
“sorry he’s not on the menu.” he pushed past them with a low grunt. he needed more coffee. asap.
“since when do you care who i have dinner?” hui looked genuinely surprised, eyes wide as they follow closely behind.
yanan had a habit of dragging some of the worst humans he came across to hui, to drain completely. the bite of a vampire especially in a more...sexual sense was not inherently lethal. he eyed shinwon and hui for a moment. it was encouraged actually.
draining however was not only deadly but excruciating. like everything that matters to you, all your memories, the things you keep dearest and closest to you are being sucked out through a straw. small, microscopic needles by the thousands pricking your body repeatedly as your brain is slowly cooked to mush.
it doesn’t take just your blood, it steals your essence. leaves you without any of the pieces of your soul that make a human truly alive. empty, a skeleton in more ways that one.
yanan wouldn’t let that happen to wooseok. he’d be damned if he let someone place a finger on the kid. he was too innocent, too pure of heart and mind. he wasn’t meant to be a vampire’s first course.
wooseok was still lounging in the living room, some educational documentary about birds on. the narrator droned on in a monotone voice, accent heavy and overwhelmingly british. he seemed to be enjoying it so yanan couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed. the volume was still too loud.
“since when do you care ?” shinwon snorted, looking too proud of himself and yanan flicked him so hard the skin of his forearm was already starting to bruise as he pulled away.
“he’s not up for grabs, okay?” is all yanan said in return, taking a deep gulp of the scalding hot coffee without a flinch. “that’s all you need to know. and last time i checked you weren’t only giving up ass but your neck as well, correct? go do that, personal blood bank.” his tone was scathing.
“someone’s on edge.” hui whistled, not at all bothered, hopping up onto the counter with a toothy smile. “guessing you aren’t fucking the angel or you’d be a lot calmer right now.”
“why am i friends with you idiots again?”
“because we’re the only ones who aren’t terrified of you.” shinwon grinned, in the same cooing tone yanan used. “are you gonna tell us why you’ve got yourself an angel for a pet? you always seemed like more of a cat person to me.”
“he’s not my pet.” yanan was quick to defend, ignoring the way hui’s eyebrows shot up. “the kid needed my help, okay? that’s all you need to know.”
“fine.” hui pulled shinwon back, the taller’s broad shoulders and small waist fitting between his legs. “we’ll leave it alone. just come over to me and dawnie’s tonight.”
“i can’t just leave wooseok here.” yanan hissed, like saying the angel’s name too loud would summon him or something. he was still watching the television though, they could hear his small chuckles and queries to himself from where they were standing.
“so that’s his name.” shinwon hummed, resting his elbows on hui’s thighs. they looked cozy, fit together in a way that shouldn’t work but it does. it made a smile tug at the corner of his lips.
“bring him along then.” hui smiled wider, the grin of a shark, intriguing and dangerous. “i extend my invitation. we’ll make sure he has a good time.”
“how many people?” yanan sighed, downing the rest of his drink with ease. he knew his friends didn’t take no for an answer. instead they would just annoy you into telling them what they wanted to hear. he’d rather skip all that and just give in early.
“just us, dawnie and the youngins. scout’s honor.” shinwon promised, waggling his eyebrows with a hand pressed sincerely across his chest. his black hair was growing longer at the back of his head in a messy mullet that hui ran his fingers through.
“sweetheart you were never a scout.” yanan allowed himself to laugh, relaxing into the familiar company of his friends. he had quite missed them the past week. though preoccupied with wooseok, there had been a fluttering at the back of his mind. like he was forgetting something of importance.
“i wanted to be.” shinwon was all sulky, ridiculous as usual. “badges were pretty cool.”
“i’ll get you a badge.” hui said reassuringly, patting his football-pad like shoulders. “it’ll say ‘loudest bitch ever’ on it.”
“i’ll wear it proudly.” he fake sniffled, rubbing his eyes dramatically.
“will there be alcohol at your house?” yanan didn’t forget to ask, because that was all the incentive he needed to come over most days.
“of course, who do you think i am?” hui scoffed, looking quite offended. why he was friends with absolute drama queens, he had yet to know.
“fine. we’ll be there.” yanan shrugged, turning to look at wooseok once again. “just dial back some of the insanity, would you? he’s been on earth for a week, he doesn’t need to see shinwon wasted, ass out, doing a rendition of britney spears’ toxic .” that was one memory he very much so wanted to forget.
“don’t worry it’s not that kind of hangout session.” hui shook his head, “we just wanted to get a little tipsy and enjoy a night together?” his tone read ‘is that such a hard thing to believe? ’ and yes, it was. his friends normally got together and drunk so much someone passed out in a place they definitely shouldn’t had been sleeping. like a dumpster, or the roof of their neighbor’s car.
“we haven’t heard from you in a week, y’know?”
“is that your way of trying to guilt me into coming because it’s not working and i already said yes.”
“nope.” hui’s eyes crinkled into little crescent moons as he smiled, and it was heartwarming, yanan can’t lie. hui was like the sun, bright and warm all the time. you would think that as a vampire he’d be somewhat broody, bloodthirsty and the slightest bit evil. hui was just...nice.
he was genuine to every single person he met unless he was looking for his lunch. he never hesitated when it came to being there for his friends or helping someone who truly needed it. hui made yanan want to be a better demon. and not to say that yanan was blaming hui that he had the heart to take wooseok in but; he’s blaming hui.
“it’s my way of saying that i missed you, you big bag of rocks.” hui rolled his eyes, “a week to me is like nothing but a few days without your sarcasm and i start to get bored.”
“understandable.” yanan nodded, “whatever would i do without your screeching and weirdly expansive knowledge of musicals?” as a group they’d seen the hunchback of notre dame at least 3 times already.
“die.” shinwon deadpanned, doing unenthusiastic jazz hands. he was just lazily waving his hands around really.
“i tried to set myself on fire and the loss of hui’s presence in my life is what’s going to kill me? unbelievable.”
his friend’s faces darkened at the mention and he winced, feeling the energy in the room drop slightly. too soon, he guessed.
“we’ll be there.” yanan repeated, shuffling awkwardly along the tile. “want me to bring anything?”
“just the cutie on the couch thanks.” shinwon smirked, making a little pleased sound at the back of his throat.
“fine but when i show up empty handed you can’t complain.” yanan warned, not that their complaining would affect him any way. he was too used to it.
_________
they did show up empty handed, a half an hour late because yanan wouldn’t grant hui or shinwon the satisfaction of showing up on time. wooseok was visibly nervous at his side, trembling in yanan’s black long sleeve and denim jacket, biting at his bottom lip. when he tried to take a step closer to the door, the angel’s hand curled around the hem of the hoodie he was wearing, not strong enough to stop him but yanan paused anyway.
“w-what if they don’t like me?” wooseok whispered when yanan just gazed at him and it satisfied him slightly that he didn’t have to push wooseok to get him to speak his mind. the other boy was opening up to him it seemed, little by little.
“my friends like anyone with or without a pulse that’ll laugh at their bad jokes.” yanan casually shrugged because it was true. regardless, it was quite impossible to dislike someone like wooseok, just by looking at him you could tell he wasn’t meant to be hated.
“that doesn’t help.” yanan could see him starting to frown, pulling harder on the fabric balled up in his hands. “i won’t understand their jokes, how am i supposed to laugh at them?”
“i didn’t mean it that literally.” the demon continued his trek forward, wooseok having no choice but to follow as they were still attached. “they’ll like you and if they don’t, i’ll make ‘em.”
wooseok’s face scrunched up like he didn’t know what that meant but could tell it was bad, opening his mouth to protest more but yanan was already pushing through the door like he owned the place. and he might have slammed it a little too hard against the wall as a fuck you to hui for breaking into his house but it was a pretty easy way to get everyone’s attention.
hyojong’s head peeked up over the armrest of the sofa he was sprawled over and his eyes lit up, completely ignoring the fact that there was now a door-knob shaped hole in his wall. his wings fluttered excitedly as he sat up, blonde hair a messy heap on his forehead.
hyojong was quite interesting to look at and yanan didn’t mean that in a rude way, he meant exactly that; interesting. his wings weren’t hard to miss, they were tucked closely to his back but just wide enough that the long curled tips could be seen peeking over his shoulders. they looked light to the touch as if they were made out of hundreds of tiny webs, felt or something equally as soft. they glimmered under the light, a stunning iridescent green that blended up into a buttermilk cream color at the very top.
his cheeks and nose were naturally a bright pink so it looked like he was blushing all the time, something the pixie despised. hyojong sort of looked like he was always sparkling, a glow around him that even humans could see, and he could make it shine brighter and brighter depending on who the person was.
the blond called it a pixie’s allure, a tool that came in handy against creeps who thought it was okay to touch his wings without permission or who called him a fairy as a derogatory term knowing damn well that he wasn’t one. yanan thought it was really fucking cool that one of his closest friends could light up like a lamp and bring six foot tall grown men to their knees.
the demon could tell wooseok was a bit overwhelmed already as yanan closed the door behind him and hyojong hopped over, pulling them both into a hug.
“an angel, huh?” he said as a greeting, pinching one of yanan’s cheeks because he knew he hated it.
“damn you’re tall.” was the second thing that left his mouth and his eyes trailed up wooseok’s long frame, lingering on yanan’s jacket wrapped around him. his lips quirked at the corners and when they made eye contact yanan just shook his head. were all of his friends just going to assume he was sleeping with the angel? probably.
“thank you?” wooseok tried to say but ended up asking, curling back into himself when the pixie let go.
“i’m hyojong.”
“wooseok.”
“too sober right now.” yanan groaned and raised a hand just in time to catch the bottle hui threw across the room at him in response.
“it would’ve been really funny if that hit you in the face.” shinwon snorted from his spot on the giant beanbag in the corner, a christmas gift he bought for hui last year so he could take comfier naps at his house. in other words, shinwon was somehow simultaneously the best and the worst.
“i’m sorry i can’t hear you over the sound of this beer opening.” yanan definitely did not stick out his tongue before he took his first sip, moving further into the room, suddenly hyper aware of the way wooseok copied his movements, staying close to his side.
the house was quite intimidating in size, at least three times the size of yanan’s own apartment because yanan didn’t live for the flare of things, he liked simplicity. hui and hyojong however, were the complete opposite.
hui had enough money to buy half of the properties in the tristate area, something yanan was surprised he hadn’t done already. when hyojong offered for them to move in together, the pixie had been expecting a nice cozy 2-story residence in the middle of the suburbs, maybe even a white picket fence if they wanted to get classy. what he got instead was a house the size of a small mansion.
and then hyojong put a ball pit in it. so there was that.
“i’m hyunggu!” the incubus introduced himself next from where he was sat on a taller man’s lap, sipping vodka through a straw because none of his friends could be normal for more than two seconds.
hyunggu’s hair peeked out from under his hat, newly dyed a fiery red catching yanan off guard. the last time he had seen the younger man it was a blue so dark it looked black. it had been purple before that. hyunggu got bored of things easily; of hobbies, songs, even people. it was no surprise that he was the same way about his hair.
yanan could tell wooseok was slightly thrown off as well, though not by the color of anyone’s hair, but the way the muscled forearms wrapped tighter around hyunggu’s frame.
“‘m yuto.” was muffled as he mumbled into the back of hyunggu’s neck so the japanese boy sat up a little straighter, peeking over his boyfriend’s shoulder to wave. “nice to meet you.”
it still shocked him at times how well the two of them fit together. yanan despised cheesy sayings but since the day they met, they had clicked together like two pieces of a puzzle. it was no surprise to anyone when hyunggu chose the kitsune as his mate. it seemed that yuto was someone hyunggu could probably spend a thousand years with and never grow tired of.
yanan tried to hold back a chuckle at the way wooseok awkwardly waved back and pushed the angel forward to sit down on the loveseat. there were two velvet-like sofas in the center of the room, placed in front of the biggest television yanan would probably ever see in his life. there were plants in pots on the ground, on the shelves of the entertainment system, some hanging from higher up, all taken care of by hyojong. the house was ridiculously expensive, to the extent that it made yanan cringe, but it was pretty.
“so you’re yanan’s,” hyunggu paused, looking like he was searching for the right word. “ ‘friend’ , right?”
yanan could almost hear the quotation marks, the words dripping with something like mirth. he couldn’t blame him he supposed, yanan didn’t have many (any) companions outside of his already small friend group, everyone else just pissed him off.
yanan knew hyunggu didn’t mean to sound condescending, he was just like that at times. blunt and unrelenting (yanan was friends with him for a reason). thankfully wooseok couldn’t tell the difference and just nodded shyly.
“i-i guess so.” he glanced at yanan out of the corner of his eyes like he was making sure it was the right thing to say, getting a small nod in return.
it was at that moment that yanan realized he too, didn’t know what to refer to wooseok as. they didn’t fit the traditional concept of friendship. though looking around the room he could say that about anyone he laid eyes on. but yanan saving the angel from freezing to death in the middle of the woods didn’t exactly make them friends. besides, yanan had only known the kid for a couple of weeks. it took hui almost a year to gain the demon’s trust.
and despite all his friends’ assumptions, he wasn’t banging the angel either. although, wooseok did steal his bed and slept in it every night, did that make them roommates? he wasn’t quite sure, and in hindsight, it didn’t matter much anyways.
yanan was surprised when wooseok started to speak again, ears glowing bright red as he did so.
“how long have you known yanan?” wooseok’s voice was timid but under that his curiosity poked through. for wooseok, meeting his friends was one of the only indications that yanan was more than just the demon he saw him as. so he let him ask his questions.
“it’s been a little over three decades for me.” hui piped up, face twisted playfully because knowing yanan for that long was obviously torture. “been trying to get rid of him for years.”
“you told me you missed me earlier.” yanan huffed, taking a sip of the light brown liquid. it wasn’t the best alcohol he had ever tasted but again, yanan was simple. not that he could get wasted anyway, he was too busy babysitting an angel.
“i lied.”
“i’ve only known yanan for like two years?” hyunggu tilted his head, giggling when yuto nuzzled deeper into the bare skin of his neck. their love was nauseating. “i met him through hyojong.”
“it was like a domino effect,” yanan explained, “i met hui first, he and hyojong were always together so meeting him was inevitable. they introduced me to shinwon, shinwon introduced me to hyunggu and then hyunggu and yuto became attached at the hip so they became a package deal.” he sighed, exasperated, “and now i’m stuck with them.” his friends didn’t bat an eye at his dramatics.
“yanan didn’t like me at all when he met me.” hyunggu burst into his loud, cackle-like laughter, shinwon following soon after.
“me either!” the man laughed from where he was still spread out on the beanbag and that graduated into him choking on a pretzel, coughing it up, swallowing it and then laughing more.
“i thought you both were idiots.” yanan deadpanned, reaching for his second beer, “now i know for sure that you are.”
“you just didn’t like me because you wanted to be the only big bad demon in the area.” hyunggu said in a sugary sweet mocking voice, even getting an eye roll from his own boyfriend.
“y-you’re a demon too?” wooseok voice came out in a tiny squeak, tucking his legs in just a little bit tighter. something else wooseok would have to get used to; being around creatures that ‘went bump in the night’. yanan knew quite a lot of them.
speaking of creatures, yuto finally pushed hyunggu off of his lap to flick his lighter and spark something up that looked like a joint. the orange glow reflected in his fox-like eyes, one red, the other a swirling stormy gray. it was funny that while yuto looked intimidating, out of most people in the room he was the tamest as if he didn’t harness the power to make lightning crack with a single blink.
“hyunggu’s a type of demon, yeah.” yuto blew out the smoke in a heavy breath, body angled away from the angel so he wouldn’t catch any second hand smoke. “he serves a completely different purpose than say, why yanan was created.”
“like what?”
it was cute how wooseok kept asking questions, head tilted like a confused puppy and yanan could tell he was genuinely interested, leaning forward with a want to know more. but at the same time, he was scared.
scared to be in this new environment, surrounded by people that he didn’t know yet was fully aware that they were dangerous. terrified because the person that brought him there was seemingly the most so. and yet he still was still burning with curiosity.
wooseok was brave.
hyunggu winced at the question and took a long pause to figure out how to phrase his words. “incubi and succubi by definition are sex demons who appear in your dreams to ‘do the do’.”
“he’s not five, ggu.” yuto snorted, running a hand through his slightly black hair, styled like he had washed it, dried it and hadn’t touched it since. hyunggu stuck his tongue out at him, snatching the joint from his fingers.
“hyunggu traditionally would seduce a nice lady so he can give her his demon semen, make her have his devil spawn and potentially kill her in the process.” shinwon plopped onto the floor as he spoke nonchalantly, paying no mind to the way wooseok’s eyes doubled in size, frozen with surprise.
“but i don’t do any of that!” hyunggu protested, waving his hands in the air like a mad man. “i swear!”
“show us the horns!” hui started to hoot and holler, falling onto the floor in a fit of giggles when hyunggu pulled his beret down over his eyes in response. chaos.
yanan tapped wooseok’s knee reassuringly, the angel didn’t even flinch. “hyunggu really doesn’t do any of those things, if he did yuto would be pissed.”
“yeah! i’m the only person you should be giving your demon semen to.” yuto pouted, scrunching up his nose when his only answer was a cloud of smoke being blown into his face.
“you know that you are.” hyunggu threw his legs over yuto’s lap because he couldn’t go a minute without touching the other man, huffing. wooseok awkwardly looked away.
“yeah but i like hearing you say it.”
“don’t be gross.” shinwon whined from his position on the floor.
“you wish you had a love so pure, so irrevocable, so unrelenting-”
“i will stab you both.” yanan slammed his beer down on the table, knocking a shot glass off of the table and smashing it to bits by accident. wooseok did flinch that time, at his words and his actions. “my bad.”
“i’ll get something for the glass!” hyojong bounced up, wings tittering, snatching yanan by the back of the collar as he did so.
“why.” was all that came out of his mouth as he let hyojong pull him to the kitchen, not having to look to know that hui was tagging along.
their kitchen was quite literally the size of yanan’s living room and their fridge was so fancy it had a screen built into it that kind of pissed yanan off. but hui and hyojong always had the good snacks so he let it be.
“why does your little angel look so petrified by everything?” hyojong tutted, tapping him on the nose. “one would think you haven’t been taking care of him correctly.”
“because he is petrified by everything.” yanan shoved him into the refrigerator door in retaliation, “he hasn’t even been on earth for a month yet.”
“oh i forgot to tell them that.” hui chimed in from where he was stuffing both hands under hyojong’s shirt making the pixie screech at how cold they were. he looked only slightly apologetic. “yeah, angel boy is as pure as they come.”
“and you left him with the incubus and shinwon?” hyojong raised an eyebrow, not making any moves to find something to help clean up yanan’s mess. “i would say yuto as well but he’s harmless.”
“you’re the one who dragged me in here!” yanan accused, rifling through their cabinets for something to snack on. hui didn’t bat an eye, it was as if the demon paid rent there.
“well yeah because i’m nosy and i wanted to know more about the angel but i guess there isn’t much to know.” hyojong blew out a breath, finally grabbing a broom and a dustpan, gliding out of the room with such grace only he could achieve.
“what i wanna know is how long you’re gonna keep him around.” hui remained, leveling yanan with a look that said a lot more than his words did.
“however long he wants to be, i guess.” yanan supposed, it wasn’t something he had taken into consideration or really thought about at all. wooseok seemed to have found some kind of contentment where he was. that was enough for them both.
“what if one day he wants to leave?” the vampire pushed, “he’s decided you taught him all he needs to know about how shitty the world is and wants to move on?”
“i wouldn’t care.” yanan raised an eyebrow, unsure where the conversation was going or why it was even happening. hui was one conniving son of a bitch he knew that much.
“you would let that innocent angel leave knowing how many people would kill, have killed for souls like that?” hui scoffed, looking all too proud of himself. “i don’t buy it.”
“the things they would do to him, i’m sure they would torture him before they let him go-if they even let him go. they might just keep him, the idea of an angel slave is quite appealing, watching his soul get darker and darker, watching the innocence bleed from his eyes-”
“you can shut up now.” yanan gritted through his teeth, unwilling to take the bait. he knew a goad when he saw one.
“just think about it.” he flashed his sunshine smile and like that, he was gone. cold air whistled through the cracked open window in the kitchen, sending a shiver down yanan’s back. he looked around the empty room and shoved a handful of chips into his mouth. he hated his friends.
he could hear them, loud and rowdy only a few feet away but there in the corner of the room, tucked between the marble countertops, it was desolate. though yanan wasn’t left alone for long.
“yanan, yanan, yanan,” a slurred voice whined into his ear, hushed in a way like they thought they were whispering but definitely were not.
wooseok curled his arms around yanan’s bicep, pressing his warm, flushed cheek against the slightly taller man’s shoulder.
“wooseok, wooseok, wooseok,” the demon drawled in response, not having to turn around to know the angel was drunk. you leave the kid with your friends for ten minutes and ...actually that might’ve been his first mistake.
“don’t copy me.” wooseok protested the way a kid would, all pouty and way too intoxicated from one drink. yanan knew the angel had never drunk alcohol before, he didn’t even like coffee, so it must’ve hit him way harder than everyone else.
wooseok’s hand clenched onto the margarita can tighter as yanan pried it from his fingers, even though he could feel that it was nearly empty.
“who gave this to you?”
“shinwon!” wooseok bounced on his toes, ratting the modelesque man out without a care. he grinned, looking like happier than yanan had ever seen him. “he said it would make me feel good and now i feel really good, isn’t that so cool? at first i thought he was lying but i still drunk it because i didn’t wanna be rude.”
“that’s alcohol, hun.”
“oh,” wooseok paused, looking as though he was contemplating then simply said, “oops.”
“yeah, oops.” yanan repeated, crushing the can and throwing it in the direction of where the trash bins were, uncaring if he made it or not. “don’t trust that guy, he’s a menace.”
wooseok inched in, does eyes all sparkly half a foot away from yanan’s face. “do you think your friends like me?”
“i don’t know, why don’t you ask them?” yanan shrugged, clapping a hand over wooseok’s mouth when he opened it wide. the last thing he needed was wooseok screaming and his friends screeching back. he’d have a headache for weeks.
“i wasn’t actually going to ask them.” wooseok mumbled into his palm, voice hushed when he let go, “they’re kinda scary.”
“scarier than me?” yanan leaned in close, just to make the angel jerk in surprise, full lips parting with the action.
“nobody’s scarier than you.” wooseok whispered and while normally that would fill him with a sense of satisfaction, he didn’t feel much of..anything.
“damn right.” he smirked anyway, sighing when wooseok went right back to clenching onto his arm as if he hadn’t just admitted how terrifying the demon was.
when yanan moved slightly to the side, wooseok followed, stumbling over his own long legs like a baby deer, clumsy and uncoordinated. the demon picked up wooseok’s hand and moved it, like he taking out the trash or something equally as nasty, sighing when it took its place right back on his arm.
“do you have to do that?”
“do what?” wooseok blinked up at him, genuinely confused. his cheeks were blotchy, red as mcintosh apples and every time his lips curled up at the corners, they puffed up as well.
“nothing.” yanan shook his head and unconsciously the angel clung harder.
they both jumped at the loud bang that was hyunggu crashing into the doorway, thankfully more drunk than wooseok and yanan put together. “stop being antisocial and join us in the living room, we wanna teach wooseok what mario kart is.”
shinwon popped up from behind him, hooking his chin over hyunggu’s shoulder, digging in until the incubus slapped him away. his friends never grew tired of behaving like children and he could tell already that wooseok would somehow fit right in, no matter how peculiar it was. a group of dark creatures and tainted humans all chummy with the purest being yanan had ever laid eyes on. somehow it worked.
wooseok’s fingers fumbled with the buttons of the wii console, eyes alight with wonder as yuto showed him how to pick his character, how to steer and somehow he understood quicker than when yanan was teaching him how to use the microwave. his whole body shook with laughter as he played, even though he was losing, as if just taking part in the game was enough to fill him with joy.
his mouth parted in concentration, eyebrows furrowed and yanan didn’t realize how hard he was staring until hui cleared his throat, his own brows raised like a question.
“what?” his voice was gruff, tearing his eyes away from the angel and focusing on the screen like he had been watching all along.
“you like him.” hui said softly, surely, like it was a fact of life.
“he’s alright.”
“don’t even try to deny it.” the vampire scoffed, pushing him over so he could sprawl his body out over the couch cushions. “i’ve never seen you look fond, ever, and that look right there was the closest thing to it.”
“shut up.”
“and now you’re deflecting. so i know i’m right.”
“i won! look, look, yanan, i won!” wooseok’s voice was delightfully high pitched, surprising for the usually deep voiced angel.
wooseok turned and grinned excitedly at yanan, waving his fists around happily as yuto and hyunggu applauded, cheered and even wolf-whistled. it was quite clear that they cheated, slowing down just enough that wooseok wouldn’t notice, or going off the track and taking forever to find their way back on.
yanan smiled back in a split second like it was something he didn’t have to think twice about. they started up a new game, wooseok bouncing up and down on the loveseat with vigor.
“you should be careful.” hui hummed, taking a swig of his drink, passing it to the demon who sighed and sunk deeper into the sofa. his body felt heavy all of sudden, burdensome. “you just might fall for that angel.”
yanan shot him a look from under his lazy eyelids, “not. gonna. happen.” hui didn’t dignify him with a response, instead they watched the other men play; screaming over each other, loud voices overlapping. it was hectic, noisy as always and comfortable, familiar.
except now wooseok was in the middle of it, small whispers now outbursts, blending in like a sheep in wolf’s clothing. yanan wondered just how long that tranquil, unmindful glow would last.