Our cute, little demon

4

"Don't pity me," he sighed, "it was my fault I got cursed."

"And explain to me how you cursed?"

Jimin's eyes flitted to Adalinds, "Like Tae here, I liked boys. And just like now, it was seen as wrong and unsavory. So when a witch fell in love with my face, and I didn't reciprocate, she got a little pissy. So she cursed me to have a female soulmate, knowing damn well that I wouldn't be able to make them fall in love with me since I can't fall for them. Or so I thought," he whispered the last part.

"What about the other one? If she only cursed you with a female soulmate, how did you end up with two?"

Why does she have to be so damn observant? "I wanted to make it a little easier on me. There are no ways out of a curse other than fulfilling it. So I went to another witch and had them curse me with a male soulmate. Same conditions, but at least this time, a body I thought I'd be attracted to."

She shook her head, "So, do you think you'll be able to fall for your female soulmate?"

A little too observant for his liking, "I do, I honestly believe I will."

"And why is that? If you aren't attracted to females, then what makes you think you will be with her?"

"Well, didn't Tae mention that he is only attracted to you? You are the only female that he wants. Why couldn't it be that way with my soulmate? Aren't soulmates quite literally made for you? So I have no doubts that it'll be instant for me when I meet them." He knows that because that's exactly how he felt when he saw her for the first time.

"Wow, I didn't think I'd find a sadder life than mine, but you, Mr. Demon, take the cake."

"Jimin, my name is Jimin."

Adalind smiled at him softly, "Jimin, I'm Adalind, and this idiot is Taehyung. I call him Tae, and he calls me Addy. We can call you Min if you want?"

He absolutely didn't want that; he was named Jimin for a reason. But he wasn't going to stop his soulmate from giving him a nickname. So he smiled so big his eyes disappeared, "sure, I'd love that."

"So since you aren't going to torture us, and we apparently aren't going to go to that village because I'll be damned if my soulmate is going to be given to some rando. What do we do then? Is there another village close enough that we can get to?"

The demon was starting to panic. He couldn't let them leave. He'd never be free if they left. He needed time, time to get them to fall for him. "There's one that's well over a week's walk away. But I don't know much about it. I can get the information about it tomorrow from whoever comes to get the sacrifice and let you know."

That seemed to appease Tae for the moment. "Well, we know that we can't go back home. But what happens when they come to find us? We both technically ran away."

"I can promise you, Addy, that they won't come looking for you. No one dares to come anywhere near my cave. They'll assume that you fled into the woods and I killed you, like any of the others that have run."

"What happened to the others?"

"Either they find their way to my cave, and I walk them through, or they find their way over the mountain and to the next village. I quite literally cannot leave this cave, so I can't kill anyone. Not that I would, anyway. Killing was never my thing, and it never will be."

Tae's eyes sparkled like he was up to something. "He's so adorable. He's a demon that crochets to keep warm, and he doesn't hurt people. This is already shaping up to be way better of a home than our old one."

"What about your parents, Tae? Did you even leave them a note?"

He looked guilty for a second. "No, but when they realize I'm gone, they'll go to you and see the note I wrote you. They know how I feel about you, so it won't be surprising."

"Tae," she whispered as Jimin watched their exchange. He was already so far behind, but it was clear that Tae was head over heels for Addy, and even Addy loved Tae. Maybe not in the same way, but she loved him nonetheless. They had known each other for years, and he was just meeting them for the first time. 

"Are you hungry?" He asked, mainly just so they'd stop looking at each other the way they were. "I have coffee or some alcohol if you'd like, and I can make something to eat."

"Tae doesn't like coffee or drink alcohol," Addy supplied.

Well, he's already off to a bad start. "I have water," he added, looking a little sheepish. "But I can at least make you something to eat. Squash soup, maybe?"

"He doesn't like squash either," she giggled. "He's like hella picky; I'm the easy one of the two."

"I am not picky," Tae yelled. "I just know my worth."

Addy's head whipped around to look at him, "What in the hell does your worth have to do anything with being picky about food."

He looked at his nails, completely ignoring her. "You wouldn't understand. I swear I was a nobleman in the past. I had long, beautiful hair, and I wore robes of silk. I got to ride horses and sword fight."

Tae is dramatic, so she's heard the story of him being a nobleman many times over their lives. His stories get more elaborate each time. "And you died a dramatic death saving the would-be King. Betrayed by your older brother. I know, Tae, I know."

Jimin chuckled at their antics. Yeah, he was sad that he wasn't a part of it, but it was still amusing to be around. "Maybe you can tell me sometime, Tae. I'd love to hear about your tragic death."

The younger started bouncing a bit. "There was poison on the sword, and I caught it with my hands." He held his hands out, his palms up in the air. "See, you can see where I was cut." Jimin looked, not seeing anything besides the typical lines that humans all have on their palms.

Addy sighed a bit before palming her face and groaning, "Tae," she whined, "we've talked about this. Those aren't marks from a past life; otherwise, I would have also stopped a sword, and I know I didn't."

"How can you be so sure?"

Jimin stood up, walked over to the bookcase, and pulled out a book. "Well, I have this Babylonian book, and it states that the lines mean different things on your palms." He wasn't looking at the two; he had his eyes on the page. He looked up when they didn't say a word. "What?" He was honestly confused as to why they were staring at him.

"You can read Babylonian?" Tae all but shouted.

"Um, yes." He was getting a little embarrassed but needed to prove his worth to his soulmates. "I've been around a long time, and it's not like I can leave. So I read and learn." He was trying to play it off; it wasn't easy. It was a dead language, after all. He didn't want to appear smug, but he wasn't to impress them.

"Wow," Tae gasped as he looked at Addy. "He's hella smart. I bet you he knows what 120x50 is, too."

Addy facepalmed, "It's 6,000, you idiot."

"Well, I didn't know that," he grumbled.

"I did," Jimin smiled softly.

"See, he's so smart," Tae sighed a little dreamily, making the demon giggle. "Aww, listen to him giggle. Addy he's so fucking cute, can we keep him?"

"TAEHYUNG, we can't keep a demon," she sighed.

"But you really can," he said so quietly that they missed it.