We Sold Our Souls

by 3star4life

Summary:

Metalhead Taekwoon and Pop Star Jaehwan may seem like an odd pairing, but that doesn’t stop them from being together. And Jaehwan sure as hell is not about to let a contract with the devil come in between them.

Notes:

Day 4 entry for Spooky Vixx October 2021:deadline

 

Jaehwan

 

The entire venue reeks of weed, hard liquor, sweat, and worn leather; smells that aren’t necessarily unfamiliar to Jaehwan, but ones he’d rather not deal with on a Thursday night. A harsh shove from a passerby makes him yelp, turning around to glare at the offender only to realize what an impossible feat it is to narrow down who exactly pushed him in a sea of black graphic tees, jeans, and Doc Martens. Jaehwan is sticking out like a sore thumb, dressed in a white tee, baggy sweatpants with tube socks rolled up above his ankles, and white sneakers. He took off his black Rolling Stones hoodie about five minutes after walking in, not realizing how hot the venue will get with all of these bodies and feeling a bit silly for even wearing it in the first place. He only wore it because it was the closest ‘rock band’ merch he had and he only had it because he thought the tongue and lips logo was cool. He frowns in annoyance, mumbling to himself “my fans are never this rude,” shooting Sanghyuk a pointed look when he catches the other staring. “What?” he has to shout.

 

Sanghyuk has one of those stupid, endearing grins where his lips curve in this stupid swirly way when the idiot presses his lips together to hold back a stupid, ugly laugh. It irritates and coaxes Jaehwan equally. Unlike Jaehwan, Sanghyuk is sporting a black t-shirt with some kind of weird design of a skull or some shit, hell if Jaehwan knows, black jeans, and simple black converse. He looks chill and ready to jam at the same time. It makes Jaehwan even more annoyed. The taller male leans closer to the popstar, shouting into the older male’s ear “Your fans are just as bad.”

 

“The fuck they are!” Jaehwan screeches with a gasp, punching the giant’s shoulder in offence. It doesn’t hurt Sanghyuk one bit, clearly, considering the ridiculous guffaw the oaf lets out. He once told the shorter male that an angry Jaehwan just reminds him of a toddler trying to demand a puppy. Jaehwan didn’t care for that analogy; he certainly doesn’t care for Sanghyuk’s laugh. He crinkles his nose as some guy spills a beer while walking past him, turning towards his friend with a sour expression. “Remind me again why’d I let you drag me out here in the first place?”

 

Sanghyuk is mid-sip when he raises an eyebrow at Jaehwan, pulling the beer bottle away to let out a scoff as he points out “You’re acting like you’ve never been to concerts like this or raves when I’ve literally recorded you twerking at Ravi’s concert.”

 

“Yeah, but I wasn’t tired to the bone that day!” Jaehwan groans, throwing his head back, his blond strands indivertibly slapping some girl’s face. “Oh, sorry!” he shouts at her, too tired to really care if the stranger accepted his apology. He sighs, wincing as he takes a sip from his own bottle, glancing around the crowd with a grimace. “I should’ve thought twice about coming out to a mosh pit after going through a full schedule today.” 

 

“We are not at a mosh pit.” Sanghyuk deadpans, blinking rapidly at Jaehwan as soon as the words left his mouth.

 

The older male narrows his eyes, lips curving into a smirk as he challenges “What’s with that look?” He must be speaking in his normal volume, which clearly isn’t audible in this crowd despite being louder than average. “What’s with that look?” he repeats with a shout.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sanghyuk responds, cool as a cucumber. 

 

Jaehwan rolls his eyes, still smirking as he yells “Ha! You just got an intrusive thought, right? ‘I really hope they don’t start mosh-pitting because if Jaehwan gets hurt, Hakyeon will tear me a new asshole.’ Because it can happen, can’t it?!” Jaehwan sounds slightly maniacal, he knows, but he will never pass up an opportunity to point out Sanghyuk’s slip up; because the fucker doesn’t have many.

 

Sanghyuk blankly stares at him, expressionless “First of all it’s moshing, not mosh-pitting.”

 

“Potato, potata” Jaehwan replies, shrugging him off. 

 

“Second of al- okay, no one ever says potata so that doesn’t mak- you know what? That doesn’t matter. At least try to pretend like you’re having a good time and I didn’t hold you at gunpoint to come here. I know this isn’t really your scene or you don’t really listen to this kind of music, but give it a try. Be a little open-minded? Have some fun?” Sanghyuk pleads with an exasperated voice. 

 

Jaehwan lets out an exaggerated moan, loud enough to catch the attention of some heavily pierced guy, smirking as he ogles the blond up and down. Jaehwan shakes his head at the stranger, scrunching his eyebrows as he takes a sip from his bottle, eyes drifting over to the still empty stage. He turns to Sanghyuk as he shouts “I will have you know, I am plenty open-minded and I listen to plenty of rock music, thank you very much.” turning his attention back to his beer.

 

Sanghyuk snorts, looking at Jaehwan with a shit-eating grin. “Plenty of rock music?” 

 

The singer blinks back incredulously, nodding as if it’s obvious. “Of course! Just because I sing ballads and pop songs, doesn’t mean I don’t dabble in other genres.” 

 

“Right.” Sanghyuk says. He’s still giving Jaehwan a look that the older does not care for, undoubtedly about to say some stupid shit like he always does. He points at Jaehwan’s shirt and demands “Okay...then name five Rolling Stones songs.”

 

Jaehwan punches his shoulders once more, even less harder than five minutes ago. “Fucker.” he mutters as the giant laughs, moving his attention back towards the stage as the lights start to dim. “This better be the best fucking concert of my life.” he hisses loudly, internally dreading the headache he just knows he’ll have tonight. While he occasionally dabbles with some alternative rock every now and then...the few times he’s heard loud, jarring heavy metal music sounded like nothing but cacophony to him. What kind of mist did Sanghyuk spray on him to agree to this? He doesn’t really know. Charming fucker. He tries not to wrinkle his nose, sighing as he decides to give the band a chance. After all, he chose to come here with his friend; he can at least give the music a try. “What’s so good about this band anyways?” he shouts as the crowd starts to cheer.

 

“You’ll see; hyde has some kickass songs.” Sanghyuk yells back.

 

Jaehwan furrows his eyebrows. “Hide? What an obscure name, but what did I expect from a metal band I guess.” he yells.

 

Sanghyuk snorts, “No you idiot, hyde as in Jekyll and Hyde.” 

 

The pop-star scoffs “Whoa, how macabre.”

 

Sanghyuk doesn’t respond to that, his attention already at the stage. 

 

The concert-goers start cheering as the band slowly appears on stage, the drummer starting off with a rhythmic hit against the drum. Suddenly the strumming of an electric guitar starts buzzing, the crowd going into a frenzy as a spotlight hits the guitarist. Soon enough a second spotlight hits where the bassist and drummer are playing their instruments, the fans already moving their bodies and screaming. Jaehwan looks around confused and slightly impressed by the crowd’s enthusiasm. They haven’t even sung anything yet.

 

Finally, the last spotlight hits the stage as a man holding another electric guitar approaches the microphone, his jet-black hair parted in the middle, covering most of his face, the tight black tank and pants clinging to his body. The guitar strap hangs from his left shoulder as the instrument rests against his hip and pelvis. He grabs the microphone with both hands, bringing it close to his lips, his hair moving away from his face as he starts singing. 

 

And that is when Jaehwan sharply inhales and forgets to breathe.

 

The man sings into the microphone, narrowed, dangerous eyes scanning the venue, watching the hundreds of drunk metalheads packed in the room screaming and singing along. The lead singer’s lips are so close to the mic, he’s practically swallowing it. Jaehwan’s jaw drops as he watches the man pull the mic aside to throw his head down to a particular beat of the song, then immediately bringing the microphone back to his lips and shouting out the lyrics, as if he didn’t get whiplash from how fast he moved his head back up, as if singing like that isn’t absolutely shredding his vocal cords. 

 

He pulls away from the microphone and grabs his guitar, strumming the instrument with such finesse and discordance at the same time. The crowd is going absolutely insane over the man as he continues gliding those long fucking fingers against the strings. His eyes are shut tight with a look of pure bliss, as if he were feeling every chord progression thrumming through his blood, nearly bending backwards, pushing his pelvis out as he continues playing. 

 

It’s at this point that Jaehwan hears the drummer abandon his previous rhythmic sound and go absolutely nuts in the background. But he doesn’t pay attention to that; his eyes instead follow the lead singer move to the other guitarist, pushing his tongue against the inside of his bottom lip as he grins at her, strumming along in tandem. As the song continues and the lead singer continues playing alongside the guitarist, he starts moving his head faster and faster, faster and faster, his fingers moving along that guitar with impeccable pace before he returns to the microphone. He grapples it, screaming into the mic while somehow still maintaining the rhythm of the song. Normally this is where Jaehwan would groan for the love of his ears, ready to abandon his friend to give himself some peace. But this...this man...

 

Jaehwan is still gaping at the stage as the lead singer takes them home, finishing up the piece by continuing to strum his electric guitar, easily transitioning it into the next song. The crowd releases a roar, clearly recognizing the track just from the riff. The popstar is still gaping, slowly blinking at his takes in that talent, that energy, that charisma.

 

“You okay?” Sanghyuk finally asks, clearly having seen Jaehwan’s stunned face.

 

Jaehwan nods, not fully paying attention as he reaches for Sanghyuk’s shoulder, prodding the younger male closer as he shouts into his ear, “What’s the singer’s name?”

 

Taekwoon

 

The lead singer gulps down the water, releasing the bottle with a pleased sigh, the liquid already providing some comfort to his aching vocal cords. He throws his head back against the wall, shutting his eyes as the buzzing in his body settles down, the adrenaline still coursing through his blood. The lounge is incredibly loud, his band members shouting and laughing in between passing beer, drugs, and groupies. He opens his eyes from a nudge, taking the cigarette one of his bandmates offers him. He glances over to see Hongbin flirting with two groupies, smirk very evident even as the bassist’s black bangs covers almost half of his face. Next to him, their guitarist Jea finishes off her beer can, crushing it in her palm before throwing it towards the trash. Taekwoon leans down when Chanyeol takes out a lighter, letting the drummer light the stick when he hears the door creak open, taking exactly one puff before glancing over.

 

He smiles when he notices his friend Sanghyuk, moving his head away from the extended lighter. He blows out the smoke from the corner of his mouth, ready to greet his friend, when his head snaps back to the door, lips remaining parted as he watches the blond man come in. The stranger nervously looks around the room with curious brown eyes, his sharp nose slightly crinkling, undoubtedly from the smoke and smell of alcohol and sweat, his pink lips puckered and plush. Taekwoon can’t take his eyes off the stranger.

 

“A-yo! Leo! My guy!” Sanghyuk shouts, prompting the stranger to look at Taekwoon. His friend walks over to him, reaching out a hand to Taekwoon then leaning in for a one armed hug. “Killer show!” he adds, grinning as he pulls away.

 

“Thanks Hyuk.” Taekwoon lazily mutters back, looking at Sanghyuk briefly before flitting his eyes at the blond, the other man standing right behind Sanghyuk. His eyes remain on the new guy as he adds “Glad you came.” He’s still staring at the stranger, nodding to whatever Sanghyuk responded to him, not really listening. Taekwoon watches the man blink at him, lips still slightly parted, then spreading into a shy grin. The cigarette hangs from Taekwoon’s lips, long forgotten as the lead singer gawks at the stranger. The stranger sort of fidgets in his spot, both hands in front of him as he plays with his fingers, biting his lower lip as he looks away for a second before glancing back at Taekwoon, as if he doesn’t even notice the rest of the chaos in the room. It’s not that Taekwoon hasn’t seen attractive people before; they’ve had plenty of hot groupies, stage managers, venue employees; men, women, and everyone in between. Yet something about this man grasps his attention so…

 

Sanghyuk is still saying something, Taekwoon notices how his friend’s hand is motioning towards the stranger, but the rockstar isn’t listening. Instead he focuses on the small sliver of pink swiping out from the stranger’s lips. Taekwoon peeks over his friend’s shoulder, moving his gaze past Sanghyuk as he extends a hand to the other man. He hears Sanghyuk stutter to a stop, probably confused at the action. The lead singer doesn’t pay much attention.

 

“Taekwoon.” he says softly, not even realizing he offered his real name instead of his stage name.

 

The blond’s full lips are slightly parted in surprise as he glances down at the extended hand, smiling as he places his own. “Jaehwan.” He responds. “Nice to meet you, Taekwoon.”

“Likewise.”

 

Jaehwan

 

He fidgets with the bucket hat over his head, scrunching his nose as the mask itches the bridge of his nose, fogging up his round glasses. He tsks as he takes them off, the glasses being there purely for aesthetic purposes. Jaehwan eyes the lobby suspiciously as he casually bops his head to the pop song, taking in the buttery smell of hot popcorn. He closes his eyes for a second, exhaling as his mouth waters. The man next to him chuckles, prompting him to snap his eyes open. He glances over to find the older male staring at him with his feline eyes. “What?” he asks.

 

Taekwoon shakes his head. He also has a mask on, covering the bottom half of his face while the bill of his black cap casts a shadow over the top half. His black hair is in a short ponytail sticking out of the small gap in the back of the cap. He looks so casual dressed in a raglan tee with red sleeves and black pants, a change from the black ensemble he had on during the concert. Casual and simple.

 

Meanwhile Jaehwan decided to layer up with a grey hoodie with a striped t-shirt underneath, baggy sweatpants, and one of his Air Jordans. He figured in a way he’d be prepared if it got too cold inside the theater, but now he feels a little silly standing here, trying to be inconspicuous. He feels self-conscious as he glances up at his bucket hat, wondering if that would draw more attention to the duo. 

 

“You’re thinking so loud, I can practically hear it.” Taekwoon softly comments. 

 

It still kind of catches Jaehwan off-guard how the man he saw screaming at the top of his lungs last week is actually so soft-spoken. Which is okay...Jaehwan has no problem being the talker. He loves to talk. The popstar just needs to remind himself that he’s on a date with Jung Taekwoon, not Leo of hyde. 

 

Jaehwan sighs. “I’m just worried my disguise is going to bring more attention to us...doing the exact opposite of what a disguise should do!” he whispers to the taller male. 

 

Taekwoon doesn’t respond right away, simply blinking at Jaehwan as he says. “Oh...we’re supposed to be in disguise?” Jaehwan gawks at the question, his eyebrows furrowing as he slowly nods. Taekwoon’s expression doesn’t change as he simply asks “But why?”

 

The popstar tilts his head in confusion, blinking at the other “So our fans don’t catch us? Or worse, paparazzi? I didn’t want our date to be a bad experience because we spent the entire time hiding from cameras.” Why does Jaehwan have to spell this out?

 

His reasoning only makes Taekwoon tilt his head, mask moving up as if he might be pursing his lips. “I mean...maybe for you, but I doubt I’ve got people following me around. This isn’t exactly the scene of my fans.” he says while motioning at the theater’s concession stand. 

 

“Your fans don’t watch movies?” Jaehwan deadpans, adding “Or get concessions?”

 

“No, I’m sure they do, but they generally don’t come to the theaters in the A.M. during matinee times to get the senior citizens discount.” the rockstar challenges back, raising an eyebrow. 

 

Jaehwan blinks at Taekwoon, looking around to see that the older male is right: the theater mostly consists of retirees; the typical crowd on a weekday morning. Riiiiightttt. His eyebrows then furrow as he asks “Hold on...okay, so you’re right about your metalhead fans not being here, but it almost sounds like you’re saying my fans would be here...what does that mean?”

 

Taekwoon shrugs, adding with a teasing glint “I mean aren’t most of your fans the tweens and teens skipping school? Or old grandparents?” 

 

“What?!” Jaehwan gasps, his jaw dropping below his mask as he releases an offended scoff. “I will have you know, most of my fans fall in between their mid-to-late twenties and thirties.” Taekwoon laughs at the younger man’s defensive tone. Jaehwan wrinkles his nose as he adds “And what makes you think a good chunk of my fans are old people, not that anything’s wrong with it, but I’m just confused why you’d think that?” 

 

The rockstar lets Jaehwan finish, his eyes a bit more squinted as if he were smiling below his mask. They move up in line as Taekwoon shrugs again, “You seemed to leave quite an impression on that one throwback program a few years ago, singing a tribute for that older singer I think? All the grandmas looked super smitten by you.” 

 

Jaehwan feels his cheeks heating up, not necessarily at the comment of older women being smitten at him, but at the realization that Taekwoon either knew who he was already or took the time to look him up when he went home. He presses his lips together, happy the mask is covering his lips. “You...you watched that?”

 

Taekwoon’s eyes widen as if he weren’t expecting that comment, stuttering as he responded “Wha- I mean, I guess I kind of looked you your name on…” His words drift off as he rubs the back of his neck, starting to avoid eye contact. If Jaehwan was a betting man, he’d say Taekwoon’s cheeks were flushed. The rockstar moves his hands as he mutters “I mean...I was just curious how your music sounded, since we’re both musicia-”

 

“How was it?” Jaehwan cuts him off, feeling slightly amused.

 

His date blinks at him. “Huh?”

 

“Did you like my music?” the blond asks once more, grinning below his mask. 

 

Taekwoon’s mask continues to move, as if he were opening and closing his mouth underneath. He looks away. “I mean...it’s not exactly my style of music” he hesitantly starts off, immediately glancing up at Jaehwan, blurting out “but I think you have a really good voice!”

 

Jaehwan doesn’t respond right away, choosing to stare at the other male. Taekwoon nervously chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck again as he tries not to look away. 

 

“Next.” the cashier calls for them from the stand. 

 

They move up as Jaehwan orders. “One large popcorn with extra butter, a large Coke, and um...hmm…” he hums, looking over the candies, “a box of Crunch bites.” He turns to Taekwoon, “Do you want anything?” 

 

“Uh,” Taekwoon starts off, probably gaping under his mask, eyes wide, as if he’s surprised Jaehwan is acknowledging his existence. It almost makes the popstar laugh. He turns to the bored cashier, muttering “A Coke Zero.” 

 

“Size?” the attendant monotonously asks back. 

 

“Excuse me?” Taekwoon asks in confusion.

 

“What size would you like for your drink?” the cashier clarifies.

 

“Oh.” Taekwoon dumbly says, glancing at Jaehwan for a second, then back at the cashier “A medium.” 

 

Jaehwan bites the bottom of his lips, feeling absolute amusement as he says “He’ll take care of it.” pointing at Taekwoon with his thumb. 

 

The older male blinks him for a second, releasing a breathless chuckle as he pulls his credit card out. They walk away from the line and wait for their beverages and Jaehwan’s snacks. “Wow, okay, I guess I deserve that.” 

 

Jaehwan shrugs, “I mean, you're the one with awful music taste.” Taekwoon scoffs out a chuckle, blinking at the older male. The blond smiles as he leans close to the rockstar, whispering loudly, “To be fair...I really don’t listen to metal music.” 

 

Taekwoon throws his head back to laugh, muttering “Wowwww, I’m so surprised.” 

 

“Hey, I could have!” 

 

“Right, right.” Taekwoon nods back. He takes off his mask, laughing off Jaehwan’s scandalized expression. “I promise you, anyone that could recognize one of us already has. Your outfit isn’t really helping you be incognito.” 

 

Jaehwan furrows his eyebrows together, hesitantly pulling his mask off as he reaches for his popcorn, muttering “I become a completely different person with my hat and glasses.” He hears Taekwoon laugh once more before they walk into the theater room

 

Taekwoon

 

The blond chews on his bottom lip as he looks over the menu, his eyes full of excitement like a kid in a candy store or a puppy at the park. “There are so many options to choose from…” he mutters, moving his thumbs to his lips to bite on his nails.

 

Taekwoon rubs away the last of the sleep in his eyes, placing an elbow on the table as he rests his chin in his palm. “Well, what are you feeling right now?” he asks, prompting the blond to blink up at him owlishly. “Are you in the mood for breakfast food or a burger or sandwich?”

 

Jaehwan opens his mouth to answer then pauses, humming in confusion. “I don’t really want a burger right now.” he mostly says to himself, flipping back to the first page. Taekwoon tries to hold back a yawn as the younger male continues muttering to himself. He glances at the clock hanging on the wall, tiredly blinking as he reads 3:30. Jaehwan woke him up about twenty minutes ago, whining about how famished he felt and begging Taekwoon to go out and eat with him. Taekwoon wasn’t even sure why the younger male was up until he noticed the popstar’s notebook out, clearly feeling inspired in the wee hours of the morning. 

 

The notebook is on the table next to the menu as Jaehwan finally mutters “Aha.” He smiles up at Taekwoon with a toothy grin as he declares “I’m gonna get the Choconana Pancake breakfast!” He animatedly points to it on the menu. “Chocolate pancakes with bananas?” He glances down in awe then back up at Taekwoon with exaggerated adoration. “What more can I need?” 

 

Taekwoon snickers at the other’s reaction, calling the waitress over. He watches the blond place his order, going back and forth between chocolate milk and orange juice before settling on the juice. Taekwoon was going to order himself a coffee before Jaehwan reminded him that he might not fall back asleep. He made a show to roll his eyes and ordered decaf along with plain pancakes. 

 

Jaehwan smiled brightly at the waitress as he immediately reached for the notebook, humming a tune to himself as he started writing down things. He’d pause every few minutes and look off into space, out of the window towards the twilight skies, before scribbling back in his notebook. Taekwoon just watches, so intrigued by the other. One second he’s so excited and hyper like a puppy, the next he’s all serious and concentrated. Hongbin once commented how much of an enigma “your boyfriend” is, to which Taekwoon responded “he’s not my boyfriend,” nearly muttering yet, and “he’s not an enigma...he’s just Jaehwan.”

 

Truthfully, the older man doesn’t know what exactly they are...but he knows it’s moving fast. And that’s what scares Taekwoon. A pang of anxiousness starts bubbling up in his chest, his stomach feeling a bit queasy and he hasn’t even had the food yet. He forcefully looks away from the blond, glancing around the rest of the restaurant. A group of factory workers are in a booth in the other corner of the (probably getting ready for a shift), a couple dressed in scrubs having coffee in a table in the center (possibly just getting off of a shift), and a father-daughter duo in another booth with duffel bags and carry-on suitcases (enjoying breakfast before their grand train trip). All three groups at the restaurant between one destination or another.

 

And then there’s Jaehwan and Taekwoon: two musicians up because you can’t decide when inspiration strikes and Denny’s was the only place open during this time. 

 

He folds his hands on the table, pressing his chin into his forearm as he watches the popstar, eyes lingering on the faint beauty mark on his sideburn, nibbling on the inside of his bottom lip as he watches Jaehwan’s plush ones, trying to count the lashes fanning over his slightly dark circles, thinking about reaching a hand over to caress the blond’s bare face because it just looks so soft. He unwittingly lets out a sigh, loud enough to cause Jaehwan to look up. 

 

The younger has a sheepish grin as he presses his lips together. “Sorry,” he says, jotting two more things before putting his notebook away. He reaches his arm over and places a hand over Taekwoon’s, the tender touch making the rockstar’s heart skip a beat. “Thank you for coming out with me.” Jaehwan mumbles, a shy smile on his face. 

 

Taekwoon doesn’t think as he presses his cheek against the top of Jaehwan’s hand, nuzzling his eyes in between the popstar’s knuckles. 

 

“Ew, you weirdo.” Jaehwan says in between a laugh, no real bite in his tone.

 

Taekwoon scoffs against Jaehwan’s hand, sitting up as he takes it into his palms, messaging it. “Got some good stuff written down?” he absentmindedly asks, his attention mostly focusing on the other man’s hand.

 

“You can say that.” Jaehwan says with a nod, giggling as he leans a little over the table. He looks around them to make sure the scantly present patrons aren’t listening. Taekwoon smiles as he leans in, the feeling of endearment in his chest. Jaehwan jokingly whispers “Let’s just say...I’ve got a new muse.” He winks at the older male before leaning back, a goofy grin plastered on his face. 

 

Taekwoon watches the other with a smile, his fingers unconsciously still messaging Jaehwan’s hand. He bites his bottom lip as Jaehwan stares back at him, the anxiousness building up more and more. Taekwoon licks his lips, swallowing the lump in his throat before he says “Jaehwan…”

 

The said man’s eyes drift behind Taekwoon, widening as he announces with a whisper “I think that’s our food!”

 

Within the next second, the waitress comes up to their table, placing their pancakes in front of them along with Taekwoon’s decaf coffee and Jaehwan’s orange juice. “Enjoy.” she politely says with a smile before leaving. 

 

Jaehwan is practically bouncing in his seat, grabbing the knife and fork as he gives Taekwoon a wide grin. He pours an obnoxious amount of syrup over his meal then cuts into his chocolate pancakes, making sure to pick up a piece of banana before popping it in his mouth, fluttering his eyes shut then making an obscenely loud noise. Taekwoon snorts at the reaction, watching the younger male take another bite of pancake then drizzling some syrup on the hashbrowns, along with salt. He cuts into the sunny side up egg, making a delighted noise as the yolk oozes out onto the hash brown, inhaling it before taking a bite, letting out another deep moan. The peculiar combination of sweet and savory would normally make Taekwoon wince, but instead he’s sitting here watching the other in amusement.

 

“You’re like 70% sugar and carbs at this point.” he teasingly comments, drizzling a moderate amount of syrup onto his pancakes as he holds back a smile.

 

The popstar blinks up at him, cheeks full. He chews the food before giving a quick swallow, taking a sip of his juice before giving the older man a lop-sided grin. “I’m too sweet for you to resist.”

 

Jaehwan

“Okay everyone, once more from the top!” Taekwoon yells, nodding at Chanyeol. 

 

The drummer nods back, holding his sticks up in an ‘X’ as he hits them together in a click, click, click. As soon as the third click happens, Jea revs up her guitar, seamlessly playing the opening riff of their song. After a few more seconds, Hongbin joins in with his bass as Jea’s fingers slide between the different frets. By the time Taekwoon grabs the microphone and croons against it, Jaehwan is mystified. He watches asTaekwoon loses himself to the music, all members of the band coming together, working off of each other’s energy well enough to know when to go rogue and when to play in tandem. There is so much enthusiasm, he feels like they’re performing at an actual concert.

 

The popstar is watching Taekwoon work the guitar when he feels a hot breath against his ear. “It’s funny how a few months ago I had to coerce you into coming to a metal concert with me and today you’re willingly at hyde’s rehearsals.” Sanghyuk whispers in his ear. Jaehwan doesn’t have to turn around to see the shit-eating grin on his friend’s face; he could hear it. The younger man tsks, adding with a mutter “Dick must be a hell of drug; made Lee Jaehwan into a metalhead.”

 

Jaehwan jabs his elbow into Sanghyuk’s abdomen, obviously not doing any damage because the guy snickers in response. “I’m not a metalhead.” Jaehwan mumbles back, which isn’t a lie. The popstar still doesn’t particularly like the music...but he loves watching Taekwoon perform. He wrinkles his nose at his friend, turning around just in time as the band finishes up the song. The final riff Jea’s guitar comes to a halt, prompting Jaehwan to loudly cheer, clapping at the band. 

 

All the members glance up at him in amusement as Taekwoon looks like he’s holding back a smile, his cheeks lightly dusted. “Uh, why don’t we take five?” he says out loud, turning around to give his band a look. 

 

The rest of the members share a knowing look, getting up from their spots. Hongbin scoffs, grinning as he mutters “Guess we’ll have to find somewhere else to chill for a bit, huh.” He squeaks when Taekwoon punches his shoulder, giving the lead singer a playful glare. 

 

As the band empties out, the rock star smiles up at Jaehwan, then Sanghyuk. He doesn’t have to say anything, their mutual friend already giving an exaggeratedly, distressed sigh. “I guess I’ll get out of here too then.” He ruffles Jaehwan’s hair as he leaves, causing Jaehwan to let out a petulant whine. 

 

Taekwoon pats Sanghyuk’s back as the younger man wiggles his eyes at him, scoffing as the taller male leaves the room. He turns his attention back to Jaehwan, a wide grin on his face as he walks over to the couch. 

 

Jaehwan moves over slightly to make room for the taller man, opting to slide onto his lap, placing his hands on either side of the older man’s shoulders. He immediately moves his face down to leave a kiss on the rockstar’s lips, arms wrapping behind Taekwoon’s shoulders. Taekwoon chuckles as an arm winds around the blond’s waist, licking his bottom lip. “Glad you liked the rehearsal.” 

 

“Eh, it was okay.” Jaehwan teases, placing another peck on the corner of Taekwoon’s lips. 

 

Taekwoon raises an eyebrow. His hand gives Jaehwan’s waist a squeeze, tilting his head as he adds “Just okay? You clapped for it like it was more than okay.” He smirks.

 

Jaehwan scoffs, “That’s because you look super hot while performing. You know how weak I get seeing you with a guitar.” he mockingly says as Taekwoon laughs, nuzzling against the older male’s neck, taking in the scent of aftershave, sweat, and cigarettes. Jaehwan wrinkles his nose when he gets a hint of that, not exactly a huge fan of smoking, but boy does Taekwoon look good with a cigarette hanging between his lips. He sighs against the older male’s neck, reveling in the smell that’s distinctively Taekwoon, a hand moving up to play with the rockstar’s raven locks. He moves some out of his way to press an open-mouthed kiss on the older male’s neck, giggling when one of Taekwoon’s hand gives his ass a playful squeeze. While he’s laughing, a bright color catches his eyes, gaze narrowing down the back of Taekwoon’s t-shirt. 

 

Feeling curious, Jaehwan moves away more of the older male’s hair, pressing closer to his chest as he peers down. Taekwoon finds it amusing, tightly holding onto Jaehwan as he lips attach to the blond’s neck. “You keep this up, my band members are gonna walk into a show.” he jokes, lighting biting Jaehwan’s neck.

 

The blond doesn’t respond, his fingers moving up to pull at Taekwoon’s t-shirt, peering inside his shirt and tilting his head. Taekwoon has some tattoos, but he’s never paid attention to a few of them. But right now he feels ever so curious. Right above the left shoulder blade is an imprint of a small black guitar, a faint red flame behind it, as if it were swallowing the instrument whole. Jaehwan squints his eyes, to figure out what the dot on the top is. 

 

Taekwoon chuckles, hot breath hitting Jaehwan’s neck. “What are you doing?”

 

He doesn’t respond, still eyeing the tattoo until he realizes what the symbol is: an upside-down cross right at the apex of the flame. Of course there is; the man is in a freaking metal band. Jaehwan snorts to himself, eyeing the tattoo as he casually mumbles “I’m looking at this tattoo. I just realized I never actually paid attention to it before.” Jaehwan feels the rockstar go rigid under him, his hands and lips freezing against the younger male. The popstar pulls back in confusion, blinking at Taekwoon. The older male blinks back, his expression unreadable. Jaehwan tilts his head at him, giving Taekwoon’s shoulder a squeeze. “What’s wrong?”  

 

Taekwoon doesn’t respond. 

 

Jaehwan narrows his eyebrows, pressing his lips together into a frown. His question must have upset the other. Maybe Taekwoon thinks Jaehwan doesn’t pay attention to him...or the younger male doesn’t see him more than someone to fuck around with. They’ve been seeing each other for a few months now, so Jaehwan should’ve noticed the tattoo by now. But he’s always been the person who doesn’t notice the details right away. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t care enough to notice...far from it...he cares about Taekwoon a lot.

 

“Are you upset I didn’t notice it? I’m sorry! I’m usually preoccupied with, uh, other stuff when you have your shirt off.” He nervously chuckles, pursing his lips out. “Are you mad at me? Please don’t be mad. I’m so cute.” he jokes, puffing his cheeks out at the other. This success of this strategy can go either way: either Taekwoon will give him a death glare or the rockstar snorts then coos at him (and occasionally fucks his brains out afterwards). 

 

Right now...Taekwoon is giving him nothing. 

 

The popstar stops puffing his cheeks, an apologetic look in his eyes as he says “Are you really upset at me? I’m sorry.” He gives Taekwoon a lop-sided grin. “I hate seeing you upset...I think it’s pretty cool...I just never noticed the details. Please let me make it up to you.”

 

It’s silent. Taekwoon stares at Jaehwan, his hands resting on either side of the blond’s hip. Jaehwan nibbles on his bottom lip, trying to read what the other male is thinking. A few seconds pass. He sees Taekwoon gulp. Then Taekwoon smiles, giving Jaehwan’s hip a squeeze as he leans forward, connecting their lips. Jaehwan’s eyes are wide open in surprise at first, kissing back once his brain catches up, one hand gripping at Taekwoon’s shoulder, the other delving into the rockstar’s black tresses. The other man chuckles against his lips, mouthing against it “I can think of a couple of ways you can.” 

 

Taekwoon

 

Taekwoon takes a puff of his cigarette as he watches the blond’s back through the door of the balcony while the other does the dishes. He can hear the vinyl playing an old blues song inside the apartment as he takes another drag, his eyes moving up the silhouette of Jaehwan’s body under his shirt, fitting way too large on the blond’s lithe frame. He takes a second to look around, checking if anyone else is resting in their patio or if any paparazzo is watching him from the roof of a building. No one else is out, unsurprising for 6 am on a Saturday. No cameras flash at him, the privacy predictable considering how much Jaehwan pays in rent. 

 

He turns his attention back to the blond inside, wondering what their fans will think: the bubbly popstar fucking around with the lead singer of a heavy metal band; pop’s sweetheart messing around with a smoking, drinking punk; handsome heartthrob choosing to be with a roughened metalhead. The thoughts make Taekwoon smirk, taking one last drag of his cigarette before stubbing it on the railing. He throws the butt into the little waste basket Jaehwan left out in the patio after getting fed up with Taekwoon throwing the stubs in his (dying) patio plants. 

 

Taekwoon opens the patio door then slides in, making sure to close it behind him. Jaehwan’s blond head turns over his shoulder, giving Taekwoon a tired smile as he turns his attention back to the dishes. It’s odd to see someone do dishes this early in the morning, but the two didn’t wake up just now; they stumbled in late and stayed up drinking a little and fucking a lot until the wee hours of the morning. By that time Jaehwan realized he’s meeting up with some producer or something at 10:00 am and realized instead of going to sleep, he’d be better off showering and enjoying a nice breakfast with Taekwoon.

 

Personally, Taekwoon would choose to sleep in, roll out of bed way past noon, brush his teeth and throw on a new shirt, then meet the producer. If they had anything to say, he’d tell them to fuck off. But that’s Taekwoon.

 

He leans against the counter and watches the other male for a few more seconds, slowly walking behind him. Taekwoon wraps his arms around the popstar’s waist, resting his chin on Jaehwan’s (rather broad) shoulders, inhaling the linger scent of the younger male’s cucumber and lemon body wash. Jaehwan’s damp blond hair tickles his cheeks, making Taekwoon nudge his head in the crook of the shorter male’s neck to avoid them. He grazes his teeth against the soft skin, enjoying the little whine Jaehwan lets out. 

 

Taekwoon’s hands rub up and down Jaehwan’s flanks as he presses his front against the younger male’s back, his pelvis slowly moving against the blond’s barely covered ass. He notices how Jaehwan stills, his sink nearly empty. There are a couple of mugs and glasses and maybe two plates left. Taekwoon tries not to laugh; this should be fun.

 

He noses along the pop star’s long neck, hands moving to squeeze at Jaehwan’s waist, then hip, then thighs, then ass. Jaehwan shudders as he leaves open-mouthed kisses along against the heated skin, the younger male’s hands barely moving in the sink. “Taekwoon,” he whines, “what are you doing?”

 

The taller man doesn’t say anything as he continues to knead the globes between. He releases a breathless chuckle against the blond’s neck, nosing along Jaehwan’s spine over the thin shirt. His palms move up to rest on the curve of Jaehwan’s ass as he gently drops to his knees. Jaehwan’s brows are furrowed as peeks down at Taekwoon over his shoulder; a hint of confusion, a dash of curiosity on his face. Taekwoon stares up at the other, eyes slightly covered by his raven-locks as he moves his hands below the shirt and over the groove of his Jaehwan’s shorts-cladded ass. His fingers slowly creep up and hook onto the waist band on the small of the pop star’s back.

 

He sees Jaehwan gulp, lips slightly tremor as he says in a hushed, warning tone “Taekwoon…”

 

Taekwoon keeps his eyes locked with the younger male, letting a few seconds pass then muttering “Keep washing the dishes.” Jaehwan lets a shaky breath, presses his lips together. He holds back a little yelp when Taekwoon yanks off his shorts in one go, pulling them over the curve of his ass, slowly moving them down Jaehwan’s legs. Taekwoon’s hands move back to messaging the blond’s ass, raising an eyebrow at the shorter male as he says “Well, go on.” 

 

Jaehwan’s mouth opens for a second, swallowing the lump in his throat as he slowly turns his head back in. Taekwoon watches the back of his head until the pop star resumes washing the dishes, his motions a lot slower than before. The rockstar grins, moving up the dress shirt to expose Jaehwan’s bare bottom. Without thinking, he reaches forward to nip at one of the cheeks, smirking against the skin when he hears Jaehwan hiss. 

 

Pressing a soft peck kiss over where he just bit the skin, Taekwoon glances up to make sure the other male is still washing the dishes. He is. Taekwoon continues kneading the globes, teasingly opening and closing the cheeks. He purposely exhales when he spreads the cheeks at one point, nearly chuckling when Jaehwan gasps. Taekwoon finally moves close, watching how puckered the entrance looks, almost twitching against the chill air. He listens to Jaehwan’s clumsy movements, smirking as he sticks his tongue out and swipes. 

 

The action causes Jaehwan to gasp, nearly dropping something in the sink. Taekwoon has the audacity to laugh, teasingly muttering “Be careful now.” 

 

Jaehwan glares back, “Fuck you.” 

 

The comment only makes Taekwoon chuckle once more, resting his chin against one of Jaehwan’s globes and giving the younger male a cheeky grin, “Oh I will...just not yet.” He smirks, adding “Well, don’t stop on my accord.” The younger man rolls his eyes but moves his attention back to the sink. 

 

Taekwoon bites back a smile as he grapples Jaehwan’s ass once more, moving in to swipe at the entrance once, twice, a third time more. He tries not to pay attention to the blond’s shaky legs as he pushes his tongue inside the warm cavern; just the tip at first, pulling out for a second then fully pushing in. Jaehwan lets out a soft, drawn-out moan, his head tilting back slightly as Taekwoon moves inside him. 

 

Reveling in the little mewls the other man releases as his velvety walls contract around Taekwoon’s tongue, he adds a finger, then a second one, along with his tongue. Taekwoon’s lips smile against Jaehwan’s skin as he continues to eat the other out, noticing the little clanks of the glassware in the sink; Jaehwan was still trying to wash those dishes. One of his hands move up to palm the pop star’s balls, causing Jaehwan to choke on spit. 

 

He decides that enough, pulling his tongue and fingers out then standing up. He takes his own shorts off, spitting on his hardened length before placing lazy kisses on the back of the panting pop star’s neck. Taekwoon’s hand grabs one of Jaehwan’s hips, placing his other hand on the shorter male’s shoulder, resting his forehead against the crown of the blond’s head as he slowly pushes in. 

 

Jaehwan releases a gasping moan, hand letting go of whatever was in his hand to clutch at the sink. “Fuck.” 

 

Taekwoon groans as his cock gets engulfed by the heated walls, placing his cheek against the back of Jaehwan’s head for a second, letting the other male adjust before he starts moving. The pace starts off steady then speeds up, both men panting as Taekwoon thrusts his cock in and out of Jaehwan. The younger male whines, his eyes shut, as he tosses his head back to rest on Taekwoon’s shoulder. His legs are trembling and his hands are barely grabbing the glassware. The rockstar hisses against Jaehwan’s ear, one hand keeping the blond steady by gripping onto his waist hard enough to bruise, the other moving up to the crown of his head. He holds Jaehwan up against his body, fucking the younger male against the counter, groaning at the litanies of moans and whines. 

 

They both lock eyes as Taekwoon continues fucking him. Jaehwan parts his lips with a moan, whimpering out a soft “Taekwoon…” and the rockstar suddenly feels a huge pang of loss in his chest. His jaw stiffens, thrusts slowing down slightly but increasing in force. 

 

He grits his teeth as he pushes away the hollow feeling he has inside as he mutters back “Come on Jaehwan...why’d you stop?”

 

Jaehwan breaks  a glass and a mug that day…but he cums like a rockstar.

Jaehwan

 

The pop star tilts his head as he watches Taekwoon across his table, confused why the older male has been so quiet. The couple, as they have finally gotten around to admitting to each other, went out for their one year anniversary a few hours ago. It’s really crazy how time flies by. But Jaehwan can’t help but notice how quiet the rockstar’s been all night. Even when Jaehwan said cheesy things to him all day or teased him about sucking him off in the restaurant’s bathroom or cuddled up next to him on the couch. Something’s wrong; something’s off. 

 

Before he could open his mouth to voice his concern, Taekwoon speaks. “I can’t believe it’s been a year already.” He turns towards Jaehwan to smile. 

 

Jaehwan blinks at the older male, resting his head against Taekwoon’s shoulder as he mutters “I know right?” He sighs, picking that time to put his legs up across the taller man’s lap so he could fully snuggle against Taekwoon. “A year ago I’d look the other way if I heard someone playing a metal song, Iron Man was just a Marvel movie, and metalheads freaked me out.” 

 

Taekwoon bits his bottom lip, his eyes crinkling slightly as if he were holding back a laugh. Instead of responding to the first and last point, he chooses to address the second one. “For the last time, Black Sabbath weren’t singing about Tony Stark when they released “Iron Man,” okay?”

 

Shrugging, Jaehwan pokes the older man’s cheek “Let’s agree to disagree.” 

 

The rockstar snorts at the comment, his whole body vibrating against Jaehwan. The blond smiles as he listens to Taekwoon laugh, genuinely, for the first time tonight. He watches Taekwoon calm down, an amused smile still gracing his face...then slowly dropping. Taekwoon bites his bottom lip as he turns to Jaehwan with an apprehensive look on his face. “Jaehwan,” he starts off, pausing to peer into the pop star’s eyes. 

 

Jaehwan blinks at Taekwoon, sitting up when he notices how serious Taekwoon looks. He sees the older man swallow the lump in his throat, wetting his lips, looking nervous.  

 

Fuck...he’s about to leave me.

 

The pop star feels his heart racing, a sense of uneasiness in his belly as he starts to gnaw on his bottom lip. 

 

“I have to tell you something.” Taekwoon says with a sigh, looking away.

 

Fuck! Fuck! He’s definitely about to leave me! Did he cheat on me? He thinks I’m annoying. High-maintenance. Does he hate me? He doesn’t love me. He cheated on me because he hates me? He’s fucking leaving me!

 

Jaehwan gulps as the words float in his head, pressing his lips together to stop the trembling. He tries to be patient, but as usual, his mouth reacts before his mind can process what he wants to say. “Are you leaving me?!” he shouts, surprising both himself and Taekwoon at how shaky his voice sounds.

 

Taekwoon snaps his head up with a startled look. “What?!” 

 

“You’re leaving me, aren’t you? Because you’re tired of me.” Jaehwan mumbles back, hoping, praying, fucking threatening , his tears ducts. 

 

The rockstar shakes his head adamantly as he splutters “No, no! Of course not!” He reaches in to hug the blond, a hand reaching up to rub Jaehwan’s back “I would never get tired of you. I love you, Jaehwan.” 

 

Jaehwan nods as he clutches onto Taekwoon, hoping his breathing settles by the time they part and his eyes are no longer watery. They remain like that, silently sitting in an embrace as the minutes pass. 

 

Once Jaehwan stops sniffling and shaking, Taekwoon finally pulls away, sighing as he says “Look...I- I really don’t want to say this right now but…” he rambles, opening and closing his lips several times as he collects the words. “It’s not going to get easier...instead it’s going to get harder... there’s something I wanted to tell you for a while, something I should’ve told you way before, but I always thought that maybe I’d finally have the balls to either tell you by now or I-” He pauses again, squeezing his eyes shut as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

 

The blond blinks at him confused, reaching out with a comforting hand as he rubs Taekwoon’s shoulder. “Taekwoon, I’m really confused. What is it? You can tell me.”

 

Taekwoon glances up at Jaehwan for a second, biting his bottom lip as he watches the younger male. He sharply inhales, clearing his throat as he says “Okay...let’s say...let’s say I have this deadline.” He looks up at Jaehwan as if waiting for the other to agree.

 

Jaehwan stares back, slowly nodding. “Okay.”

 

Taekwoon nods back. “Okay. So...I have this deadline...this deadline to complete something that- something I agreed to complete when I was sixteen.” 

 

Jaehwan furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head in confusion. “Okay…” he drawls out, not quite understanding where Taekwoon is going with this, but trying to remain patient. 

 

“I agreed to this deadline when I was sixteen, right, because when you’re sixteen, you don’t think about the future. Not really. Maybe the immediate future o-or maybe a vague future you just imagine, but not the little details or the large details that come with it.” Taekwoon rambles, nearly letting out a slightly crazed chuckle. 

 

Jaehwan is starting to wonder how much alcohol is actually in his boyfriend’s system. “Taekwoon, sweetheart,” the blond says, reaching out to take both of Taekwoon’s hands. “I’m trying to be patient, but I’m not sure exactly where you’re going with this.” He reassuringly squeezes his boyfriend’s hands. 

 

Taekwoon watches him, his eyes crestfallen, his lips lowered into a frown. Jaehwan has never seen him look so miserable. He finally opens his mouth, nearly whispering “I never thought I’d fall so hard for someone.”

 

The comment should make Jaehwan gush, coo out an aww as he smothers Taekwoon’s face with kisses. But there’s something heartbreaking laced with those words...Jaehwan can feel it. “Taek…” 

 

“I-” Taekwoon suddenly starts up, biting his lips, his eyes glimmering. He clears his throat “When I was sixteen I sold my soul. I sold my soul to the devil.” he rushes out, averting his eyes as he says it. “A woman approached me when I was performing with my shitty band at some shitty underground event and offered me an ‘offer I wouldn’t be able to refuse.’ Told me her and her associate could make me more famous than I could ever imagine, all while making the music I wanted. I was naive. I was brash. All I wanted to do was get the fuck out of that town as soon as possible and play metal. Sing about all the dark shit and gloom an-and fucking dragons and shit! That’s all I wanted to do…” He looks down at their joined hands, pausing before he adds “I never thought I’d find someone to...I never thought I’d fall in love with you.”

 

Jaehwan stares at his boyfriend, stunned, wondering if he should laugh at the absurdity he just heard or curse. He takes a second to compose himself, trying really hard not to shout out the first cluster of words that pop up in his head. “Let me get this straight: you sold your soul...to the devil? You’re in a heavy metal band and you sold your soul? To Satan?” He blinks at the other, still in shock as he shakes his head. “No you didn’t… there’s no way that you… that’s not possible… it’s not real.” he babbles, pressing his lips together. He really, really wants to shut up and be here for Taekwoon, because this can’t be real… could it?

 

Taekwoon doesn’t look back up, his head still down, like an ashamed puppy. If Jaehwan wasn’t trying to figure out what the flipping fuck is going on, he’d scoop the rock star into a hug. 

 

“I- yes.” Taekwoon responds, looking back up at Jaehwan, wetting his bottom lip. “That’s why...that’s what the tattoo represented. They wanted some kind of mark on me symbolizing that. I could choose what I wanted it to look like...but they needed something…” he drifts off, looking away.

 

Jaehwan furrows his eyebrows, biting his bottom lip. His heart is beating quickly as he lets out a shuddery breath. “Okay...so you...you sold your soul.” he repeats in a steady voice, moving one of his hands up to rub his temple. “So, uh...what exactly, um... how does that affect us...Because I still love you, no matter what. I love you Taekwoon.” he reassures. “But...I feel like there’s something more. You said...you said there’s a deadline? A deadline for what? A deadline for when?”

 

Taekwoon licks his lips, gulping as he says “A deadline for when...when I fulfill my contract and they collect.” 

 

“Collect what?” Jaehwan questions, gnawing on his bottom lip, having an idea of what exactly they’ll be collecting.

 

The rockstar stares at Jaehwan, sighing as he says “My soul.” 

 

Jaehwan scrunches his eyebrows, perplexed “But you already gave them your soul.” 

 

Taekwoon shakes his head at that, sighing “I- I signed a contract when I sold it, but they collect it after the contract is done...after it’s fulfilled. The time for that is coming up.”

 

Jaehwan’s eye twitches, feeling a pang in his chest. He whispers “When?”

 

The rockstar doesn’t respond. 

 

Jaehwan inhales deeply, searching for all of the patience inside him. “Taekwoon, when? When’s this deadline?”

 

The older male sadly stares at Jaehwan, sighing. “My 32nd birthday.”

 

32nd Birthday

 

Jaehwan gasps, his heart skipping a beat as he reaches up for his chest. “B-but you’re birthday’s next month… you turn 32 in November…” he trails off. 

 

Taekwoon doesn’t react, parting his lips for a second then closing it.

 

“You’re fucking with me, right? Tell me you’re fucking with me.” Jaehwan demands, shaking his head.

 

Taekwoon doesn’t meet his gaze, instead looking away as he mutters “Jae…”

 

Jaehwan scoffs, scrambling for words. He releases a humorless laugh. “You’re not fucking with me because you’re fucking me! Absolutely fucking me!” he shouts, feeling anger coursing through his body. He stands up from his seat, his body suddenly in need to move and get this tension out. 

 

He paces in his living room, biting his nails, focusing his gaze on the floor because the room seems to be spinning. He’s about to lose Taekwoon, his Taekwoon, to the fucking devil. Taekwoon’s about to be gone, leave everything all before turning 32nd? Jaehwan hadn’t even finished planning the surprise party he was going to throw him…

 

The blond pauses his pacing but continues to fidget, glancing back up at Taekwoon as he asks in a hopeful voice “Well, what exactly will it mean if they take your soul? Like you just lose your musical abilities or human decency? Because that might not be ideal but that’s not the worst!” he frantically yells. The lack of Taekwoon’s response tells him it’s more than that. “I-” Jaehwan starts off, asking in a hushed tone “what exactly will happen to you?”

 

“Jaehwan,” the older male starts off, pressing his lips together. “I- I’ll be gone. They’ll take me…”

 

“Take you where?” Jaehwan curtly demands.

 

“Hell. They’ll take me to hell… I won’t be here anymore.”

 

Jaehwan feels like his body was just hit with a ten-ton truck, just completely run over by a double decker bus. “No…” he says with a shudder. He gasps, blinking through tears welling up in his eyes, mouth agape as his mind races through what he just learned. “No… you’re… you’re only 32…” he mutters in a wispy voice. “You’re so young, how can they- it doesn’t… it doesn’t make sense. You can’t just leave… you have so much left in you…” 

 

Taekwoon has a sad smile as he stands up, worrying his lips, as if he’s wondering if he should approach the younger male. 

 

Jaehwan is still standing there stunned, unable to figure out where to look. He gasps, scrambling for words “Mayb-maybe we can find some better lawyers! Have someone else look at this contract. Do you still have it? Is it a real contract? I’m sure some clause will nullify it. I’m sure we can find something in it, because” Jaehwan lets out another mirthless chuckle “it doesn’t make sense why they’d want you to stop, just stop living, at 32! You’re fucking prime! Yo-you still have so much to do… how can they just take it all away so quickly.”

 

“It doesn’t work like that, Jae.” Taekwoon quietly admits. “Lawyers can’t do anything about it because it’s not a typical contract drawn up by a law office or courthouse. It was written with hellfire, immediately combusting in flames after I signed it sixteen years ago. I’ve heard stories,” he starts off, making an uncomfortable face. “Stories of other people trying to get out of it...but they couldn’t. In fact when people have tried to tell other people about this they’d just get institutionalized or lose all credibility as an artist… they’re thought of as insane. Some have even hurt themselves to get away… but that just made it easier for them to collect. You don’t get to escape from it… I can't escape.”

 

“I- well what if-” Jaehwan stutters, frantically waving his hands around “What if we run away? And they don’t find you? That can get us more time, right? What if we just change our identities and-”

 

“It doesn’t work that way, Jaehwan. It’s the devil...they will find me anywhere, then they’ll be pissed.”

 

Jaehwan stares at the man, his face finally breaking, lips trembling as he holds back a sob. “Why?” He asks in between a sniffle, “why would you even wager that…all for some fame??”

 

Taekwoon takes a shaky breath in,softly saying “I was a kid. Just a damn kid. All I wanted to do was play my music.”

 

The blond gasps, tears streaming down his face as he murmurs with a broken voice, “But… you’re mine.” He shakes his head, looking away in disbelief “We’re… we’re going to… we belong together.” he mutters to himself. “There has to be a way.” 

 

“Jaewhan,” Taekwoon whispers back, his own eyes full of tears. He finally reaches for the pop star, hands trembling as he does. 

 

The younger man flinches away, putting up a hand as he mumbles “I- I can’t do this right now.” He shakes his head, rubbing his eyes as he lets out a sob, nearly crumbling to the floor. Earlier tonight he was on top of the world; in love and so happy. Now his world just collapsed and he’s about to lose the most precious person in his life. It’s too much, too quickly. He feels broken. “I… I need to be alone.” he manages to stutter out. 

 

Taekwoon doesn’t say anything, nodding as steps aside. Jaehwan doesn’t look at him, eyes staring straight ahead as he walks to his room.

 

You lied Taekwoon… Jaehwan wants to say, wants to scream so badly. You are leaving me.

Taekwoon

 

Taekwoon wakes up with a groan, blinking at the ceiling as he wonders why his back feels so uncomfortable. He looks around and realizes he slept on Jaehwan’s couch, taking in the stillness of the morning as sunlight peers in through the blinds of the balcony door. He checks the time, rubbing his eyes when he realizes it’s 6:00 am. The rockstar notices the two abandoned wine glasses on the coffee table, his brows narrowing as he remembers what happened last night. They didn’t drink a lot, honestly only having one glass each before Jaehwan asked him what’s wrong and Taekwoon finally told Jaehwan his secret. 

 

He runs a hand through his jet-black hair, sighing as the fatigue in his muscles and under his eyes start pulling at him. Taekwoon tossed and turned all night, unable to catch a wink of sleep. It wasn’t just because he physically felt uncomfortable on the couch, the musician being used to falling asleep wherever he could on tour, but also from the pent up guilt in his chest. Every time he started to doze off, he’d see Jaehwan’s tear-stricken face, making him jolt up, making him remember that he doesn’t have much time left. 

 

Rubbing his face again, Taekwoon sits up, stretching out his tired limbs as he blankly stares in space. He debates whether he should go check on Jaehwan, the pop star being pretty adamant that he wanted to be left alone. But that was last night. They’ve already spent the last three months apart with Taekwoon and Jaehwan’s respective tour dates never quite syncing up. He scowls to himself as he thinks about that, gritting his teeth in anger that he didn’t spend those months with Jaehwan. He wasted precious time on his own tour instead of soaking in every second that he could with his boyfriend.

 

Taekwoon’s face softens as he remembers his band. What would they have done without their lead singer and guitarist? They shouldn’t have to suffer because of a stupid, stupid, stupid decision Taekwoon made when he was a piece of shit teenager. The three of them put in as much blood, sweat, and tears into their band as he did...well maybe not as much blood. 

 

After sitting there for ten more minutes, Taekwoon stands up, deciding that he has wasted too much of his time without seeing Jaehwan, he wouldn’t waste anymore. He wants to spend the days he has left with his lover… that is if Jaehwan will still want him. 

 

He pads over to the pop star’s room, taking in a deep breath before slowly opening the door. Jaehwan is lying on the left side of the bed, facing away from the door, the blanket going up to his shoulder. His blond hair looks messy on the back, slightly flattened while sticking out all over the place, his shoulders seem tense. Taekwoon lets go of the door knob and leans against the door frame, aching to slither into bed with the shorter male and hold him until he can’t anymore. 

 

“If you’re gonna stand there, you might as well come to bed.” Jaehwan softly voices.

 

Oh, so he’s awake.

 

Taekwoon feels hesitant, but slowly walks in, shutting the bedroom door behind him before taking off Jaehwan’s green froggy slippers climbing onto the bed. He awkwardly sits on the edge, trying to figure out if he has permission to do more. What if Jaehwan recoils when he tries to touch him? What if the proximity pushes the younger male away? What if he tells Taekwoon to leave and never comes back? Taekwoon won’t be able to survive that… he’d probably just tell the devil to take his soul right away. 

 

Jaehwan slowly turns his head over with scrunched up brows, giving Taekwoon a perplexed look. His eyes are slightly swollen and the bags under his eyes are dark. The older man probably looks just as bad. The blond unconsciously juts his lips out, frowning as he says “Why aren’t you getting in?” He raises the blanket with one hand, waiting for Taekwoon to catch on and slide under the covers. Jaehwan sighs as he turns back around, moving his hands in front of him, muttering “My back’s cold.” 

 

It was code for Taekwoon to wrap his arms around Jaehwan. And so he does. His arms wind around Jaewhan’s middle as he presses his chest against his boyfriend’s back, lying his head down on the younger male’s pillow. He feels Jaehwan’s hand grasp his under the cover, hugging it close to his chest with a sigh. They lie there quietly, listening to each other breathe. Taekwoon stares at the blond locks in front of him. He shuts his eyes and rests his forehead on the back of Jaehwan’s head.

 

“I love you Jaehwan.” he says, breaking the silence. “I love you more than anything.” He doesn’t feel Jaehwan move or hear his lover say anything. “I’m…” he starts off, wondering if apologizing will make any difference. He licks his lips, adding “I wish I didn’t have to leave… I want to be there for you for everything; to meet your parents, go to your musical next summer, pop a viagra to fuck in the retirement house.”

 

Jaehwan snorts, his shoulders shaking a little. 

 

Taekwoon hugs him tighter, resting his chin on Jaehwan’s shoulder. “I love you Jaehwan…I’d never leave you.”

 

The younger man doesn’t respond right away. Taekwoon doesn’t prod one out of him. He lies there and listens to Jaehwan’s breathing. 

 

“Will you still come with me to the awards?” Jaehwan meekly asks after a moment.

 

Taekwoon’s heart swells. He lets out a breathless chuckle, whispering against the blond’s ear teasingly “You don’t mind everyone wondering how a sweetheart like you ended up with a scoundrel like me?” he almost slipped out the words “devil worshipping” but his tongue doesn’t let him.

 

Jaehwan scoffs, turning to face Taekwoon with a smirk, “Oh don’t worry about that. The last guy I publicly dated was a fucking menace to society. At least you weren’t caught drag racing or committing vandalism. They’ll be relieved to see me with you.”

 

Taekwoon gawks at his boyfriend.

 

Jaehwan

 

“Hi, I’d like to order one medium sized bubble tea pizza and one cheese with olive and mushrooms.” Taekwoon orders on the phone. 

 

Jaehwan’s arms are wrapped around the older male’s waist, his cheek pressed against Taekwoon’s shoulder blade as he plays with the short hair on the base of the rock star’s head. Last week he showed up with his black hair cut short and neatly styled, swept to the side. He wore a nice sleek suit with a white shirt and black tie, nervously standing in front of the apartment door when he came to pick the popstar up for the awards. Jaehwan had looked him up and down, gaping like an idiot, for several minutes. 

 

“I wanted to look nice for you.” he had said. “Look presentable while walking beside you.”

 

“Babe,” was all Jaehwan managed to mutter out, hugging his boyfriend. Because long hair or short, he didn’t care; he just wanted Taekwoon to be happy; he just wanted to cherish these last few moments.

 

Jaehwan sighs as he turns his head, resting his chin and neck against Taekwoon’s back, his fingers slowly moving down the older male’s back hovering over the tattoo on his other shoulder blade. He traces the ink, slowly moving his finger over the fine details of the guitar, even in such a small print. The smooth top of his nail glides against the flame, grazing the edges of the flame. He finally moves to the tip of the fire, his finger freezing over the upside down cross. 

 

In that moment Jaehwan feels an overwhelming amount of annoyance and anger coursing through him. Not necessarily at Taekwoon, but at the fucking devil, for preying on such a young kid, for taking his love away from him. He feels an urge to scratch at the black symbol, scratch it until it’s no longer on Taekwoon’s back, it no longer has a hold on their lives. Taekwoon had later explained to him that he needed to have some kind of marking on him to remind himself and others that while he may have control over his body, he’ll never own his soul. Jaehwan thought that was fucking stupid. He was about to lose his man, the love of his life, to some corny-ass motherfuckers? Not on his watch. 

 

He forcefully moves his hand away from the taller man’s back, knowing he’s a few seconds away from maiming his boyfriend. Just then, Taekwoon hangs up on the phone, turning to Jaehwan. “They said the pizza will be here in thirty.” The rockstar smirks as he pulls Jaehwan close by his hip, their flaccid dicks nearly touching “We better put on some clothes before that.” 

 

Jaehwan scoffs, jutting his lips out as he mocks “‘We better put on some clothes before tha-’ uh, I’m sorry? Who is we? Only one of us needs to open the door.” 

 

Taekwoon laughs, a hand reaching down to pinch at Jaehwan’s ass, giggling, fucking giggling when the blond yelps. “You just want me to pay again.” 

 

The pop star laughs, giving the older man a cheeky grin, “Not like you’ll need those earthly possessions where you’re going.” He bats his eyelashes at the older male, hoping what he said comes off playful rather than cruel.

 

It catches Taekwoon off-guard, his smile falters for a second, immediately releasing a guffaw. “Wooooww.” he starts off, his lips parted as he laughs, speechless, “You bring up an interesting point, there. I really didn’t think about that.” He rubs the crown of Jaehwan’s head with a knuckle, laughing at the little whine the shorter male lets out. Taekwoon presses his lips together as he stares at Jaehwan, as if he is taking in every detail. He tsks as he says “Actually...I was going to leave everything to you...but if I spend it all on take-out...I guess you’d get nothing.” 

 

Jaehwan tilts his head as he asks “Wait, so they’re going to take you, literally kill you to do that, but let you leave me all of your money?”

 

The older male had explained to him when the time to collect comes, they will make it look like he had a very believable death. For most rock stars and musicians, the obvious method is drug overdoses, alcohol abuse for the older artists, maybe even make it look intentional. “It’s hard to give a 30-something year old a death ‘by natural causes.’” Taekwoon said with a sigh. When Jaehwan asked him how his death might look, Taekwoon shrugged.

 

He doesn’t even know. The frustration befuddled Jaehwan’s mind, and still does. 

 

Currently, Taekwoon sighs, leaning his bare, flat ass against the counter, pulling Jaehwan along as he does. “Well...they were never after my money, shit, I didn’t have anything when they approached me. They wanted my soul...that’s all they’re after. It’s up to me if I want to leave all of my money or things to someone else.” he finishes with a shrug. 

 

Jaehwan places his hands on Taekwoon’s shoulder, trying to rub soothing circles into the older male’s muscles. “Well...too bad you’re not leaving me hyde.” 

 

Taekwoon snorts, throwing his head back to laugh. He presses a long kiss against Jaehwan’s temple, hugging the other “Oh baby, you’d disband them the first chance you get.” 

 

Jaehwan pinches Taekwoon’s nipple as retaliation.

 

The popstar knew very well that no one person technically owns the band. He also knows that Taekwoon has been telling them for the past year and a half that he’ll be quitting the band by this November. Taekwoon mentioned that they hadn’t taken it very well, especially Hongbin who said a few choice words to the lead singer, but as time went on they understood that it was the end of Taekwoon’s journey with them and that he cherished every moment of it. That’s why they spent the last three months on a tour. Unbeknownst to their fans, it was to act as sort of a farewell tour. Jaehwan wonders how they’ll feel when they get the phone call next week that Taekwoon is no longer here… he wonders how fans, and friends, like Sanghyuk will be devastated after hearing the news. 

 

Jaehwan chews on his bottom lip, his eyebrows narrowed together as he gets lost in his own world. 

 

It isn’t until Taekwoon murmurs “Hey,” while gently cupping his cheek, does Jaehwan realize he had spaced out. “What are you thinking about?” his boyfriend asks him, a pained smile on his face. Because he knows to a degree of where Jaehwan’s thoughts are.

 

The blond looks into Taekwoon’s dark eyes. They’ve always looked sort of feline-like to him; slightly hooded with a squint, dark, alluring. Jaehwan is able to focus on them more carefully now that Taekwoon’s dark bangs aren’t in the way. God, his bangs, his hair. Jaehwan thinks about not being able to run his hands through them again. He feels tears starting to prickle in his eyes. A choked sob starts making its way up his throat. Taekwoon must notice this, if the widening of his dark eyes indicates anything.

 

Jaehwan forces back the tears, not even daring to cry. 

 

“I want to go with you next week.” 

 

Taekwoon gapes at him, mouth opening and closing. “I- what?”

 

“When you go to meet them, I want to go with you. I want to be there when it happens.” he says in finalement.

 

The rockstar shakes his head, panic evident on his face. “Jaehwan, I don’t think you’d want to se-”

 

“I want to spend as much time as humanly possible with you; up until the last moment.” 

 

Taekwoon shakes his head, the panic being replaced with fear. “They’ll see you there...I don’t know who exactly...it might just be the woman that I signed the contract with, but they’ll see you. You’ll be on there radar and I don’t ever want you-”

 

“I want them to see.” Jaehwan says with determination, shutting Taekwoon off. “I want them to see me; to see the beautiful relationship they are ruining.The lives they are ruining.”

 

Taekwoon lets out a frustrated sigh, trying to run his hands through his bangs, pausing when he remembers he has short hair now. He looks down, shaking his head in defeat. “Love, they won’t care.” he admits softly.

 

Jaehwan swallows the lump in his throat, knowing the only shot he has at saving Taekwoon, at being happy, is if he’s there when they come to collect Taekwoon’s soul. But he also knows Taekwoon will never be okay with it if he knew what it was…

 

“Please.” he asks with a whisper. “Taekwoon, please let me be there in your last moment. If not for you, then for my sake.” 

 

He sees his boyfriend look up at him hesitantly, his resolve crumbling as his jaw stiffens. He leans in to kiss Jaehwan, a lingering, emotional kiss as he mutters “Okay.” 

 

Yes.

 

Jaehwan smiles at him, running a hand through his hair when he hears the delivery guy hitting the buzzer downstairs. He gives the older male a lop-sided grin as he mutters, “Now that that’s settled, go put on some clothes and grab your wallet.”

Taekwoon

 

Taekwoon takes his last drag of the cigarette, trying to prolong the feeling for as long as he can before dropping the butt on the gravel and stomping on it. 

 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if smoking was part of their clause.” Jaehwan mutters, crinkling his nose in displeasure as he eyes the cigarette butt. The blond’s thumbnail brushes against Taekwoon’s skin as they hold hands, undoubtedly due to anxiousness. 

 

The little petulant jab makes Jaehwan snort. He laughs, staring at his boyfriend endearingly as he kisses Jaehwan’s hand. 

 

It’s rather windy in the middle of this abdonned cross-road. Taekwoon feels the breeze even under his black leather jacket. He watches Jaewhan’s wispy fringes move along with the wind, the younger male shivering slightly under his navy blue jacket. Jaehwan pouts without even thinking, looking around the surroundings with a scrutinizing glare. “I know ‘devil hour’ or ‘witching hour’ or whatever the fuck obviously runs on their time, but sheesh, couldn’t they make us wait somewhere indoors. This is not how I would’ve planned your birthday.” 

 

Jaehwan’s comment makes Taekwoon laugh, pulling the blond close as he says in an amused tone “Can’t wait to get rid of me?”

 

The blond gives Taekwoon an annoyed look, yawning as he responds “No, I just want to go home and crawl under my blanket where I can grieve in peace.” Taekwoon snorts as he presses kisses along Jaehwan’s face and lips. The younger male sighs, hugging Taekwoon as he murmurs “I bet you’re gonna have so much fun in hell without me.” 

 

Taekwoon splutters, chuckling as he says “What kind of comment is th-” He cuts himself off when he hears a loud thud.

 

Both men snap their heads up and look around the abandoned field surrounding the cross-road they're standing at. Jaehwan looks at Taekwoon as they scan the area until both of their sights land on a figure in the distance, walking towards them. Taekwoon feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his spine straightens, his blood starts pumping. 

 

It’s time.

 

He sharply inhales, looking over at Jaehwan as miserable dread fills his chest. He knew he’d have to do this for nearly two decades, but no matter how long he knew, he’s not ready. He’s not ready to let go of this world, of playing metal, of Jaehwan. He feels Jaehwan reassuringly squeezing his hands, a hand rubbing up and down Taekwoon’s back.

 

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.” the pop star murmurs. It almost seems as if he is talking to Taekwoon and himself.

 

As the figure comes closer, they realize it’s a woman. She has her dark hair up in a bun, dressed in a fitted dress shirt with the button over her chest holding on for dear life, tucked in neatly into a sleek, tight black, striped pencil skirt. Her black Louboutins make a click-clack with every step, the heels digging into the gravel as she walks. Thin reading glasses rest on the bridge of her nose in front of her hazel, almond shaped eyes. She looked like she meant business...she looked like a hot office worker.

 

Jaehwan pulls on Taekwoon’s sleeve, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. “Uh...is she the person collecting your soul.”

 

The rock star nods, licking his lips. “She’s the woman that approached me.”

 

The blond tilts his head, eyes wide, “She’s the devil?!” he loudly whispers, glancing over to her, “But she looks lik-like a teacher or something.”

 

“She just works for the devil.” Taekwoon responds, cautiously watching the approaching woman.

 

“Boy, this location is awful! Who on earth wants to rendezvous here?” the woman complains, bringing her glasses down slightly to glare at the decrepit area.

 

“You’re the one that told me to come here.” Taekwoon deadpans. 

 

The woman has the audacity to glare at Taekwoon, rolling her eyes. “Okay, let’s get down to business.” she says. A clipboard immediately conjures in his hand as she pushes her glasses up, skimming over the page like a doctor going over his chart. “All right, my name is Narsha. You may remember me from sixteen years ago when you signed the contract, Mr. Jung Taekwoon. In exchange for selling your soul, you have received acclaim and resources to leave your shit-hole hometown and make it big in the metal scene. The contract stated after sixteen years, on this day, we will collect your soul. Annnnnd the deadline…” she drifts off, glancing down at her fancy wrist-watch as she clicks her tongue, “has been reached ten minutes ago.” She glances up at Taekwoon with a smile, her eyes finally landing on Jaehwan. She narrows her eyebrow, “Who is he?”

 

“I’m his boyfriend.” Jaehwan says even before Taekwoon’s able to open his mouth. He has his eyebrows scrunched, lips jutted out in defiance. “Lee Jaehwan.” he nearly grits through his teeth. 

 

Narsha glances down at the contract, skimming through the paper as she shakes his head. “I don’t see him listed anywhere...nor do I remember him from the contract signing day…” she mumbles, giving Taekwoon an accusatory look.

 

Taekwoon shakes his head, hoping his hands stop trembling as he squeezes Jaehwan’s own. “He’s...he’s not part of the contract. He just wanted to be here...during the time of....” Taekwoon doesn’t finish his sentence. The entire thing feels surreal, but he knows it’s actually happening. 

 

The woman glances between the two, scoffing when her eyes land on Jaehwan. “You look like a tiny puppy glaring at me like that.”

 

Jaehwan releases an offended gasp, his jaw stiffening. “Excuse me?” 

 

“Anyways,” Narsha says, completely ignoring the pop star. She continues “it doesn’t make a difference to me or the big guy downstairs who is here to witness it and who isn’t. Now if you don’t mind letting your angry chihuahua go, we can get along with thi-” 

 

“Before you take his soul…I want you to listen to what I have to say.” Jaehwan cuts her off.

 

Narsha raises an eyebrow, clicking her tongue as she rolls her eyes “Look, nothing can change this, sweet-cheeks. I’d rather not waste any time and get going. I’ve got places to be. It’ll be easier for all of us if you let go now. I promise to make it painless…but the longer I have to wait, the less patient I’ll be;” she grimly implies, her eyes narrow “with both of you.”

 

Taekwoon widens his eyes after hearing her threats, his heart pounding in fear for Jaehwan. He turns to his boyfriend, giving him a tight hug. Jaehwan is still glaring at Narsha as Taekwoon tries to reach down for a kiss, “Sweetheart, I love you more than you can ever imagine, but I think you should go now. Thank you, thank you, for the love you’ve given me and letting me have the privilege of loving you back.” he quickly babbles, nervously glancing over when he hears Narsha’s foot tapping impatiently against the gravel. Jaehwan is glaring at her, still not looking at Taekwoon. He shakes his head, pulling the pop star’s face towards him to look into his eyes. “Jaehwan, I love you. Never forget that, okay?”

 

Jaehwan blinks at him, his eyes full of fury like molten rocks, steaming lava. He shakes his head, turning back to Narsha, imploring “Please. You’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

 

Narsha narrows her eyes, pursing her lips as she thinks. “Hmm...what the hell, I guess.” She says, folding her arms. “You’ve got thirty seconds.” 

 

Taekwoon glances at Jaehwan, unsure of what Jaehwan is about to say. The pop star moves out in front of Taekwoon, taking a deep breath.

 

“Okay. I want to sell my soul.” Jaehwan says.

 

Taekwoon splutters behind him, his eyes bulging, his heart beating out of his chest. “What?!” he shouts. He grabs the pop star’s arm, trying to pull Jaehwan back as he snarls “What are you doing?!” 

 

Jaehwan pulls his arm away, not looking at Taekwoon as he repeats. “You heard me; I want to sell my soul.”

 

Taekwoon gawks at him, shaking his head in disbelief. 

 

Narsha raises both of her perfectly arched eyebrows behind her glasses, an intrigued smile on her face. “Oh? Do you, now?” she asks, sizing up Jaehwan with a predatory gaze, as if Taekwoon isn’t even there. 

 

“Jaehwan, you don’t know what you’re doing!” Taekwoon yells at him. He turns towards the woman, frantically shaking his head as he stutters “H-he doesn’t mean it! He doesn’t want to do that-” 

 

But Jaehwan cuts him off. “Yes I do! I, Lee Jaehwan, want to sell my soul.”

 

“Baby, please!” Taekwoon desperately shouts. What the fuck is Jaehwan thinking?

 

“And what would you like in return?” Narsha asks, as if she didn’t even notice the disagreement between Jaehwan and the rock star. “Because I see that you’re already a pretty successful artist. What’s it going to be? More awards? More sales? Perhaps a successful venture into acting?”

 

Jaehwan adamantly shakes his head, as he scrunches his eyebrows. Taekwoon sees him swallow the lump in his throat as he demands “I want you to leave Taekwoon and my soul alone until we’re both ready to die.”

 

Taekwoon feels his heart stop, gaping at his boyfriend as he hears that demand.

 

Narsha scoffs, throwing her head back in a laughter, seizing it right away as she shouts “Are you trying to waste my time, little boy! ‘Until we’re both ready to die?’ ” she adds in a mocking tone. “What do you take me for? What do you take the devil for? You think we offer contracts to any chicken-shit demands?” 

 

Jaehwan lets out a frustrated breath, gritting his teeth as he says “If you want my soul, you’ve gotta let me have Taekwoon longer!” Taekwoon grabs for his hand but Jaehwan clasps it, tightly holding it. His jaw relaxes slightly, his tone dialing down. “You’ve waited sixteen years, why not wait a little longer? Get two souls instead of one.” He’s trying to be reasonable, trying to coax a deal out. 

 

The woman has a scrutinizing glare. Jaehwan definitely stares back. She lets out a loud, exaggerated sigh, tsking as she says “Well you’ve gotta clarify what you mean by longer, sweetheart. If I’m being honest? I let him live ten minutes longer than he should’ve. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

 

Taekwoon feels Jaehwan’s grip tighten around his hand, the blond eyes narrowed, his lips pressed together. “Fine.” he starts off, “I’ll sell my soul if you let Taekwoon stay with me...with me...until we end up in a retirement home...and…we both can’t remember each other’s names! You can come collect us after that… at the same time!” If Taekwoon wasn’t literally about to lose his soul, he’d be cracking up, dying over the blond’s words. Jaehwan quickly glances over at Taekwoon, before looking at Narsha. “That’s it: that’s my final offer. Give me Taekwoon and I’ll sign over my soul. You can collect our souls together.”

 

Narsha glares at Jaehwan with furiosity, the flames of hell nearly appearing in her irises. Her phone goes off as she turns, speaking in a hushed tone. The phone call lasts less than two seconds, with her only sharing a handful of words. Taekwoon looks over at Jaehwan nervously, his heart still banging. She turns around and clears her throat, “Fine.” she says while conjuring up a portfolio. When she opens it, flames immediately encompass the inside, startling Jaehwan and Taekwoon. Within seconds, the flames die down, leaving behind in a cloud of smoke a freshly drawn contract on thick, eggshell paper.

 

All in a matter of seconds. 

 

“Sign here. Feel free to read the fine print, all though…we can assure you that you’ve got nothing to worry about. If there’s one thing we make sure to do, it’s keep our promises.” She gives a devilish grin. “And, oh, of course, as per the contract you’d need to get a marking symbolizing your deal with us. If this marking isn’t achieved within 24 hours, sadly the contract will be nullified.” Narsha says with an exaggerated pout full of faux-sympathy. She turns her head towards Taekwoon, expression hardening as she sighs, “Then I’ll have to come out again to collect him...and I won’t be so friendly next time.” 

 

The “fine print” on Jaehwan’s contract is a lot longer than the one that was on Taekwoon’s, which makes sense considering how much Jaehwan added to it.

 

He sees Jaehwan gulp and exhale. Taekwoon quickly grabs Jaehwan’s shoulder, turning the other male towards him. “Jaehwan, sweetheart, do you realize what this means? It means you’ll have to spend eternity in hell. You’ll have to give up everything.” 

 

Jaehwan gives him a loving smile, resting his hands on Taekwoon’s wrist, as if he’s about to pull the hands down. “It’s worth it if it means I’ll get to have you.” 

 

Taekwoon lets out a frustrated groan, biting his bottom lip hard enough for it to bleed. “What if you don’t want me anymore? What if you wake up tomorrow or the day after or three years down the road and realize you don’t love me anymore? You’ll have sold your soul for nothing!”

 

The blond still has a smile on his face, shaking his head as he gently pushes Taekwoon’s hands off. “Impossible. I’m gonna love you forever, Jung Taekwoon.” he whispers. 

 

In a last ditch effort, Taekwoon blurts out “You hate needles! How are you going to get this tattoo?”

 

Jaehwan blinks at him for a second, not answering. Taekwoon thinks he might have finally won when the blond responds meekly “Then you’ll just have to hold my hand.” 

 

The metalhead stares at the popstar; the popstar stares back. 

He gulps, “You...you really want to do this?”

 

Narsha lets out a drawn out groan, grabbing both of their attention “Okay, if you don’t act on this offer, it will expire in thirty seconds. How about that?”

 

Jaehwan looks over at Taekwoon one more time then gives a breathless smile. He takes the pen from Narsha, eyeing the dotted line for a mere second more. He sighs, grinning at Taekwoon once more “You’re mine...and we belong together.” He signs the contract.

Notes:

Truthfully, I initially wanted to write a metalhead!Taekwoon x bubbly-popstar!jaehwan au for the Taekwoon Fic-Fest Bingo last month, but never got to it. While I was reading We Sold Our Soul by Grady Hendrix, & because I never stopped thinking about this duo, I got inspired to give this fic a spooky twist and use it for Spooky VIXXtober! I've been working on the "outline" throughout the last couple of months & really wrote this the past four or five days after work. Please excuse any typos (haven't reread it yet!) & I really hope the pacing/development is good...and I didn't have too less of the soul selling stuff!

Full disclosure: I don't listen to metal a lot, but "Iron Man" was stuck in my head throughout this. Apart from that, I've referenced the first line of "We Belong Together" by Ritchie Valens ^_^

Feel free to follow me on twitter :)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of Spooky Vixx October 2021