deal | jjk

03

The demon, whose name you still don't know, served as a great distraction. But now, when he's explicitly ordered you not to summon him again, you have no choice but to obey. You know he said the contract was sealed and that none of you could break it, but you still don't want to risk anything by angering him.

Out of the twenty-one days you agreed upon, six have already passed by, and with each second, your meetings with the demon feels more and more like a fever dream.

You spend the days like they're nothing out of the ordinary, like they're not your last on this earth. The luxury of quitting your job isn't one you have.

The alarm rings earlier than you'd wish on your worst enemy, and you start getting yourself and your little sister ready. Dahyun is only five, but she's well used to this routine by now, so it usually goes by pain-free.

With the sleepy little girl either on your hip—even though she's honestly way too big now—or using your hold on her hand to be powered forward, you walk up to your neighbors' door.

Not a day goes by when you don't thank your lucky stars for the elderly couple that watches Dahyun during the day so that you can work. The Mins know about your situation, have seen all three of you grow up and early on decided to help you with nothing expected in return.

Your job at the close-by convenience store is another thing you're grateful for. It leaves much to be desired pay-wise, but since it's open twenty-four hours a day, you're lucky to get quite a lot of hours. In the end, it pays for the tiny apartment, food, clothes, and the necessary bills. What it fails to pay is Taehyung's medical bills.

The days go by quickly. You work, pick up Dahyun, drive to the hospital to see your brother, and then you go home to collapse on your bed. Work is busy as always, never really giving you time to sit down and breathe. Still, you seem to always have time to worry.

Taehyung is seventeen. In less than six months, he'll be eighteen, a legal adult. Ideally, you'd want to stick around for that, if not to spend more time with them, then to at least make sure whatever money and things you have will make it safely to him. But he doesn't have six months. Well, now he does; he's received them from you.

He's so tired when you go to see him. Often sleeping, it leaves you to sit by his side in the uncomfortable armchair with Dahyun in your lap, or if she's at the elderly neighbors', crawl into the small hospital bed with him. You've always been close, and you like to hold his head to your chest and stroke his hair.

The short hair on Taehyung's head is both a blessing and a curse; it's nice to see him start looking like himself again, but it's also the result of canceled chemotherapy. It didn't work.

One evening, after spending hours going through your will with the cheapest lawyer you could find, you're once again at the hospital. Taehyung was allowed to come home for a while, but these days he's in so much pain that the hospital is more comfortable. At least they can manage it.

Visiting hours are over, have been for quite some time now, but the nurses usually make exceptions for you and Dahyun. It's not ideal, it's much better to go home for the night, but occasionally, you end up falling asleep in that chair. The tiny body of your sister is snuggled up next to Taehyung, and they're sleeping soundly.

The room is dark, but the light from the corridor seeps through the crack underneath the door. Although you know they're trying to be invisible, the shadows tell you when the nurses pass by.

You hold Taehyung's warm hand carefully as to not wake him up. Despite belonging to your baby brother, it's much larger than yours, and you're left reminiscing of the time he joyously found out he'd surpassed you in height.

The past year has been unbearable, it still is, because even though he will be cured, you will have to leave him. Leave them. It's been eight days since you first met with the demon, which means that in thirteen days, you will be ripped away from them. The only stability they've had for years. Ever since your dad died.

Taehyung's gonna have to step up and take your place as the make-shift parent. Luckily, his shoulders won't be weighed down by the entire responsibility, because although they're not rich by any means, the Mins promised a long time ago that if anything happened to you, they'd take Tae and Dahyun in.

"I love you," you lean down to whisper against his hand. "No one loves anyone like I love you."

"That's not true."

At the sound of his mumbled words, you lift your head. Taehyung's awake, watching you through tired eyes. "I love you more. Promise you won't forget about me?"

You nearly sob at his small plea. It's the hardest thing you've ever done, having to keep Taehyung believing he's going to die when you know he'll be perfectly fine. The demon is right, it would hurt them more to know the truth.

Tears are starting to blur your vision, and you try desperately to blink them away and smile reassuringly. You hope they won't forget about you.

"We'd never forget about you, Tae."

"Dahyun might. She's still so little."

The both of you look down at the child sleeping with her head on Taehyung's chest. Something breaks in him, and he sniffles. "I don't want to die."

You stand up quickly, and despite the ache it puts in your tired back, you lean down to hug your brother tightly. 'You won't,' you want to say. 'You'll live.'

"It's going to be alright," you whisper as you cradle his head to you. "You know miracles happen, right? They happen to good people when they feel the least hopeful. And if you're not good, I don't know anyone who is. So we'll keep praying for a miracle, okay?"

"Okay."

You fall asleep in that chair, holding onto Taehyung's hand. You don't notice the hospital blanket that gets stolen from a supply closet and draped over you, nor do you notice the shadow that executes those actions or how it's been watching you.