Kissing the Demon (Seoksoo)

Joshua

I lost track of how many times my brothers killed me.

I couldn't blame them. The moment I reincarnated, my demon took over, and I lost control. I doubted there was much left of the section of the school we'd been in. When my power exploded out of me, Seokmin's body melted into nothing but ash. That realisation sent me spiralling once more until Soonyoung and Seungcheol worked together to pin me down and break my neck.

And so it continued.

I would reincarnate.

Realise Seokmin was gone.

Lose control again.

Then my brothers would step in and kill me.

I only wished they would end me permanently.

The darkness cleared once more, and my rage came to the forefront. Flames engulfed me as my power tried to batter out of me. My demon wanted to punish the world for taking my mate from me.

My Seokmin.

This time, though, the flames screamed as they met not one but three shields. Three shields surrounded me, cocooning me in my own personal version of Hell.

That was fine. Hopefully, my demon would continue until the flames turned inwards.

Unfortunately for me, even my demon had its limits. Once it realised there was no breaking my brothers' shields, the flames retreated within me, slumbering and waiting until there was a sliver of opportunity.

I gasped as I came back to myself, my vision blurring with instant tears. I was bound to a chair, similar to how I'd been a few weeks before. This time though, I was in Vernon's flat. This time, there were no jovial grins on my siblings' faces. Soonyoung was pacing, both his hands in his hair. Vernon held Seungkwan on his lap, grim horror contorting his features. Seungcheol sat on the coffee table opposite me, sympathy and pity at war on his usually impassive face.

The only face that I imagined mirrored my own was Seungkwan's.

Numbly, I traced the tear tracks that showed no signs of fading. The shift of his chest as he fought his sobs. The tremble in his hands suggested he was either coming down from an anxiety attack or about to have one.

When he realised my attention was on him, he swallowed and stood. Vernon grabbed his wrist to stop him, but Seungkwan firmly pulled it away.

"He's not going to hurt me."

He approached me, and I noticed my brothers shift into defensive positions. I couldn't blame them, not after what had happened.

They didn't need to worry though. Even with my demon still mostly in control, I could never hurt Seungkwan.

The others seemed to realise that as they dropped their shields enough to let Seungkwan close, although they kept my arms bound and motionless.

"Are you back with us, Shua?" He dropped to his knees so his eyes were level with mine. His voice was hoarse like he'd worn it out with crying.

"I don't know." My voice cracked. "I don't know if I can be. I want to be."

Seungcheol moved behind me, his hand falling on the back of my neck as he squeezed. Hard. The pain was welcome. It centred me. "Well, we need you to. Pull yourself the fuck together so we can come up with a plan to get Seokmin back."

"What?" My eyes shot wide, and I began to tremble as the tears started afresh. "Seungcheol, don't say things like that unless you think they can happen. I can't...I can't have hope. Not if there isn't any."

Soonyoung joined me at my other side, gripping my shoulder. "We are demons, Joshua. We go against the very idea of nature. Our father controls half the underworld. If anyone has a shot at bringing someone back from the dead, it would be us."