Seven Sins | BTS x Reader

Millenia

You hesitated only a little, but Hoseok's hard glance didn't waver or move away from your face. He seemed to know you would agree before you yourself knew it, and when you finally uttered a quiet "Yes", his expression turned almost content.
"Fine", he said – as if it took a lot of convincing for him to spill the story – and leaned back a bit. Ultimately, he reminded you of your grandfather who used to take on a position similar to Hoseok's whenever he told stories to your four-year-old self or prepared for a rant about war and the deterioriation of the military. The thought made you chuckle, but even though Hoseok noticed, he overlooked it.

"Basics", he started off. "How are demons made?"
It was a rhetorical question, but you still shrugged. Neither did you know nor had you ever thought about it, at least not since your first conversation with the demon in front of you.
Hoseok frowned, gathering his thoughts before answering his own question. "Demons, apart from the lower species and the top class, don't just ascend from hell or wander out of a dark forest." The thought alone that the folklores and the whispers of the people could be true seemed to amuse him. "We don't just come from anywhere, and contrary to popular belief, we aren't made out of darkness and", now his lips twitched in despise, "supernatural... things."
He seemed to have lost his train of thought for a moment, but you knew better than to interrupt him. Instead you patiently waited until he spoke up again.
"Demons were beings before they turned into what they are now. Some were cats – see Daimon, some were bats – see the lava devils that Jimin showed you, and some were humans." He made a hand movement which included the whole house or rather, the demons that lived in it.
"Before we were the Seven Sins, we were humans. And some of us – Jin or Yoongi – were even normal demons before that. It's a complex transformation, but we can start at the beginning, if you want."
You simply nodded again, and Hoseok seemed fine with it. He leaned back a bit further and stared up to the ceiling of the room. "We've been here nearly 247 years", he mumbled, seemingly more to himself than to you. "That is a long time, for a human. For a demon, it is", he snapped his fingers, "like a blink of an eye."

"How old are you?"
Your question caused Hoseok to lower his head and look at you again. "You're asking me... how old I am? Rude", he chuckled, but the spark in his eyes gave away that he didn't really mean it.
Even so, he had to think shortly, and that alone – having to calculate and to take a moment before telling someone your age, not because you forgot for a second but because you are literally too old to keep count reminded you of the giant difference between you and the devils once again.
"I'm 12.784 years old", he finally decided, eyes narrowing as he went over it once more, then nodded. "12.784."
Your brain tried to wrap itself around the fact that this man had lived through nearly 13 millennia, but failed miserably. Yet you were curious. "How about the others?", you inquired, and Hoseok was willing to reply – after another short calculation.

"Jin must be about... 19.000 years old now", he begun, and even his voice sounded a bit strained at this. "I've lost count of his age. Yoongi is a bit younger – 17.473, if I remember right. He turned 473 just two months ago."
"473?"
Hoseok felt interrupted in his calculations and threw you a sharp glance, then sighed. "Whatever", you thought you heard him mumble to himself, then he proceeded to answer your unspoken question. "It's too much of a bother to count the millenia. So we go by the hundreds until a new millennium is reached."
You nodded and he continued. "You know my age already. Next is Namjoon – he is barely a mere 1000 years younger than me. Must be about 11.619?"
He shrugged. "Jimin is 10.851 and Taehyung 9407 years old." Now his eyes darkened and he paused for a bit. "But Jungkook..." He seemed to take a deep breath as if he was hesitant about saying it, but then sighed. "Jungkook is a mere 2100 years old. He's the youngest by far, and he struggles the most with what happened to him."

You looked up, his choice of words making you curious. "Happened to him?", you inquired, and Hoseok shot you a short, dark glance. Even though he offered to explain to you, the topic still seemed to be an uncomfortable one even for him.
"Y/N", he now got your attention and leaned forward a bit, looking at you firmly. The dark bloody red in his eyes swirled with emotion. "As I said, demons don't just crawl out of hell like in the stories."
Silence weighed heavy on your shoulders for a moment as Hoseok paused, then he leaned back into his chair again and sighed deeply.

"If someone or something becomes a demon", he mumbled, so quietly that you had to listen closely to understand him, "it means that something went wrong when their souls got consumed." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked up to the ceiling, the grey stones apparently catching his interest. He didn't raise his voice when he continued and this time you had to physically lean forward to understand what he was saying.
"In other words, someone becomes a demon when a part of their soul is leftover by accident or because it can't be swallowed. It's a teeny tiny bit, not enough to make us anything close to a human, but it's enough to keep us alive unlike normal Xiqaas."
You frowned. "X- Xiqaa?", you asked, struggling to pronounce the unfamiliar word. "What's that?"
Hoseok's lips twitched. "It's the Demonic word for "bite" – used to refer to a soul that is meant to be consumed, a sacrifice for example." His eyes rested on you and you lowered your head when you realized what he was hinting at. "I'm a Xiqaa, then", you murmured, and Hoseok nodded, but his expression was friendly. "A unique one", he added, but before you could ask about that, he returned to his story.

"Six of us were Xiqaas whose consumption went wrong. However, one of us had a soul that couldn't be fully swallowed. But let's start at the beginning." He crossed his hands over his stomach, reminding you even more of your story-telling grandfather now.
"Now, how did Jin, the oldest, become a demon?"