A Demon's Angel - Seongjoong

Part 16

Seonghwa held on to Hongjoong's hand as the demon shadow walked them to their next destination.

When they arrived, Seonghwa gripped Hongjoong more tightly. He shot a worried glance at the demon next to him, but Hongjoong seemed more steady this time than the last time they shadow walked together. Hongjoong met Seonghwa's eyes with a reassuring look.

"Not so bad this time." He said, as if reading Seonghwa's mind.
Seonghwa nodded, and their surroundings took his attention.

The salty smell of the air and the humidity in the air were the first things the angel noticed. He couldn't see the ocean but he knew they had to be close by.
They were surrounded by small shops painted different pastel colors, but all matching in size and shape. Some had little flower pots in the window sills, some had different styles of porch railings, and they all had different signs hanging out above the street, but their overall uniformity was charming.

The little beach town was alive and bustling. Hongjoong and Seonghwa walked down the streets, still hand in hand, meandering at a slow pace to be able to take it all in. Seonghwa got a whiff of fried food that floated down the breeze from somewhere off in the distance, and it smelled amazing despite the fact that he was still full from dinner.

Seonghwa found himself wanting to explore all the little shops around, but he wasn't sure what Hongjoong had planned.
"Where are we headed?" Seonghwa asked, eyes glued to the window of a store they were passing.

"Oh. Well I just think this town is cute so I thought we could walk around here and then watch the sunset on the beach."
"So can we stop at this store?"

Hongjoong paused to look where they were, and Seonghwa didn't wait for an answer before dragging him up the porch steps and inside.

A little bell chimed as the two entered the store. It was small but brightly lit, pastel colors swirling across the walls. The shelves lined up were packed with figurines, stuffed animals, puzzles, legos, and games, and the children zooming around underfoot gave a pretty clear idea of who the store's target audience was.

Seonghwa smiled sheepishly at Hongjoong as a kid holding a dinosaur plushie tripped over her own feet and began crying as she clasped a hand over her carpet-burned knee.

"Sorry." Seonghwa said. "Maybe this isn't your vibe."

His nerd side had reared its head. Maybe it wasn't too late to salvage his reputation but he had to leave quickly. Once Hongjoong caught him thoroughly searching the lego shelf for the botanical set that kept eluding him, his sexy and classy image would be forever lost.

Hongjoong shot him a puzzled look. "What are you sorry for?"
Seonghwa bit his lips.

"I'm sure that going to the toy store was not part of the plan when you brought me here. We can go somewhere else. I saw a cute shop that sold honey and jam that we could check out."
"I thought you wanted to check out this store." Hongjoong said, still looking confused. "We don't have to leave."

Seonghwa's eyes shied away from the demon's. "No no, it's fine."
He went to turn back towards the door when something caught his eye, distracting him from everything else.

"Oh my god." Seonghwa gasped.
Hongjoong was at his side in an instant.
"What is it?"

Seonghwa pointed
"That plushie."
Hongjoong eyed the orange stuffed squirrel that Seonghwa pointed to.
"What about it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Seonghwa said, moving closer to the shelf to examine it closer. "Hongjoong, it looks just like you."

A noise of disbelief left Hongjoong but Seonghwa was pulling the plushie down and putting it next to Hongjoong's face for comparison.