Kissing the Demon (Seoksoo)

Joshua

Landing on the roof of my house, I wiped the water from my face with my hand and compelled my wings to vanish. You know what I didn't miss about living in the valleys? The constant fucking rain. Stripping off my clothes as I walked, I headed straight for the shower. I needed to stop wearing outfits I cared about on these little jaunts. The weather was murder on them. It took several long minutes of standing under the boiling water before the chill receded from my bones, and I felt more demon again.

I was towelling off when I heard my phone vibrate from the pocket of my jeans that I'd dumped on the floor. Wincing at the feel of the wet denim, I extracted it to see I had several missed calls from Seungkwan. Alarm buzzed through me as I rushed to return his call.

"Finally! Where have you been?" Seungkwan's voice was exasperated, and I immediately relaxed.

"Bestie, do we need to have another chat about how you should start phone calls with 'hello'?"

"Don't you start. I've already been through this with Seokmin."

My chest tightened at the mention of his name, but I forced my voice to remain light. "And how is the illustrious Seokmin?"

"You can find out tonight when you join us for dinner." Seungkwan's voice was far too chipper as he delivered this news.

My pulse sped up. "Does he know I'm going to be there?"

"Yes, he's looking forward to it." A false note in his tone had me rolling my eyes.

"Maybe I'll give it a miss," I said, slumping backwards onto my bed and covering my eyes with my forearm. "I don't want to make Seokmin feel uncomfortable."

"Joshua, I say this with love, but you and Seokmin are doing my head in. Get yourself dressed in something fabulous and get your arse over here, or so help me, I will..."

A smile cracked my face at the feistiness in Seungkwan's tone. My bestie had come a long way from the shell of a man I'd met last year. And although, fine, a lot of that was down to Vernon, I would take a little of the glory for myself too. "Or you'll what?"

There was the sound of a short scuffle before Vernon's smooth voice came on the line. "Or he will send me over to get you. You know Seungkwan gets what he wants, and right now, he wants you and Seokmin to come to dinner."

I stood with a sigh, making my way over to my wardrobe even as I continued arguing. "Well, what if I don't want to?"

"Your opinion doesn't matter where Seungkwan is concerned. This...distance between the two of you is making Seungkwan unhappy. And I won't—"

"Have Seungkwan being unhappy, I know." I interrupted him, flicking through various clothing options. "I don't understand why this is such a big deal though. Seokmin's made it very clear he doesn't want to be with me."

"We aren't asking you to be in a relationship with him, Joshua, just to be physically in the same room and behave in a civil manner. Besides, there's another reason why I need to see you tonight."

My hand froze on a pair of jeans that made my arse look fabulous. Did I want Seokmin to look at me and regret what he turned down? Absolutely. "Why? Has something happened?"

"Not yet," Vernon's voice was hesitant. "But someone has made a request of us."

My eyes narrowed as I threw the jeans onto the bed, followed by a white crop top. Remembering the chill outside and reconsidering, I swapped the crop top for a tight turtleneck jumper. "What kind of request?"

"The kind that requires a response from the four of us."

I cursed under my breath, reaching for my biker boots that would fit over the slim cut of the jeans. Something told me I'd need the extra confidence boost to face the evening ahead. "That's my least favourite type of request."