Chapter Text
It’s late. Seokmin knows this. Meaning he also knows the consequences of letting himself walk around at midnight. Should’ve known the consequences when he agreed to eat out this late with his coworkers.
Night only creates more shadows, more opportunities for something to lurk. Even as he removes himself from the bustling restaurant, his mind light with previous laughter and a couple drinks, he can feel reality start to weigh in on him again.
His thoughts settle on him like a wet article of clothing, clinging to his skin and he can’t ignore the sensation, the feeling.
A coworker, Minghao, had offered to drive him home tonight and he’s finding himself wishing he didn’t refuse. Instinctual politeness to decline comes easy to him. The younger wouldn’t push him, but still gave Seokmin a somewhat knowing look before getting into his car.
There’s a whisper now, floating with the wind like a promise, sounding so close as if it’s touching his shoulder. So close to his ear that he can hear it breathing around him with something labored, the sound heavy and inhuman.
When he was younger, it was easy to tell himself it wasn’t real, but the statement provides little comfort when he can always feel it now. 24/7 his mind warns him, setting him into a never-ending fight or flight because something is constantly watching now.
The way his hands start to tremble because he’s always been scared of the dark, no matter how much his mother doused their house in mystical darkness during her practices. If anything, it only made it worse, to have to hear the pained yells, melancholic cries, and screams of those which she called upon for her own practice. They echo in his mind on his worst days.
Mediums are far and few in between now, and as the son of one, Seokmin finds himself a common target for normally weak, but bitter spirits looking for a good dose of fear. It’s particular to him, and others like him. His mother constantly reminded him their blood and aura is pure , more so than regular human’s, not that he’s ever bothered to figure out what it means .
For most of his life, there was never any reason to investigate further, because the spirits’ actions weren’t ever hostile no matter how scary they tried to appear. That’s the thing, they’d normally keep a distance, they always did for the first 25 or so years of his life. Nothing like the sensation he’s getting now, where he can tell the creature is waiting to pounce on him like a cat with its prey right under its claws.
He assumes his mother’s recent death may be to blame as the catalyst of most of the recent misfortunes in his life. Because that night she let out her last breath began the most nagging, terrifying four months of his life, it’s almost like the spirits lost any hesitation to come after him.
Each day, something new tails him, dragging him down through his already exhausting day. He’ll wake up to a pair of eyes peeking at him from his closet, a pressure against his wrist, scratches on his stomach, bruises on his legs. Fortunately, the injuries never get worse than that, but it’s hard to explain to his friends and peers
The light above him, almost like a spotlight, flickers uselessly, and Seokmin’s heart jumps in his chest. Wrapped in his thoughts, he’s almost forgotten he’s still on the street, alone.
Frantically, he’s looking around at his surroundings, waiting for the presence to show itself.
They don’t disappoint.
Each time his vision becomes dark because of the light’s malfunctioning fuse, there’s a dark, imposingly large figure hovering closer and closer to him from a blackened, shadowed corner between buildings. It’s almost like a stop-motion image as it disappears when Seokmin is bathed in light, only visible in the eerie dark of a cold night. Light deters most of the spirits that follow him, that much he’s gathered.
The whispers increase in volume, their tones becoming more urgent. Seokmin can’t make out what they say, but on the next flicker, it stays dark. The street is empty but the uneasiness hasn’t left.
He whips his head around.
Where did it-?
Then there’s a cold, sharp pressure at his ankle.
He takes a sudden intake of breath.
Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t-
He looks down, and sure enough, there are gangly, rotting fingers gripping his ankle firmly, and Seokmin doesn’t have time to see whatever the hand is attached to because he flees. Runs for his life . It’s the most intense any of his interactions with inhuman spirits has gotten so far and he’s wishing he took Minghao up on the offer to drive him home now.
There’s something warm running down his ankle as he runs and loses the grip the creature had on him, but he finds he doesn’t care. It’s just another scratch, another scar left by the consequences of who he is, of what he is.
Tension leaves his body in an instant as he is faced with his drab apartment building, and he’s immediately relieved once the bright lights inside hit him full force. He’s grateful as the sensation of eyes clinging to his skin evaporates, almost as if it burns away from the heat of the lights.
For now.
He sighs, rubbing his eyes mindlessly before he presses the familiar button on the elevator and is eventually, gratefully , unlocking his front door, tossing his bag on his old couch before heading straight to his room. As is part of his nightly routine for the past couple months, he makes sure to keep all the lights on, finding paying extra in his electricity bill is worth the comfort.
A hiss leaves his lips as his ankle comes into contact with the brush of his pants, and he winces at the blood gracing his skin. Fortunately, all he needs to do is run it under water and disinfect it.
Worse than the other day, he notes, remembering the previous injury that left superficial scratches along the inside of his forearm, paired with small imprints of fingertips on his skin. Even now, the skin is still bruised. A sigh leaves his lips, he’ll have to keep it up with the long sleeves a little while longer.
Going to bed is a hassle with his routine, and even with the added light, blankets covering his entire body, protective charm Seungkwan gifted to him on his night stand, he only feels a rather terrible form of anticipation.
He barely sleeps that night, a repeat of the previous, countless sleepless nights.
Waking up is hard, probably the most annoying yet terrifying part of his day. Because opening his eyes means coming (normally) face to face with whichever creature has decided to follow him for the day, slowly draining him of his energy until they’ve had their fill and can move on. Then, the next day, something else invites itself to take its spot.
Early on, he asked for help from those around him that might understand. He finds himself grateful for his fellow, relatively inhuman friends. Seungkwan has tried making countless protection charms to comfort him. Jeonghan has slept in this same bed with him to try to foresee what would come to haunt Seokmin. Hell, Soonyoung stayed the night to try to threaten the spirit haunting him for the day. Minghao, despite probably being a regular human, lets Seokmin confide in him, but he can’t do much more than that.
It’s useless, because nobody he’s met besides his mother can see what Seokmin is faced with each day. All Jeonghan becomes witness to that single morning is Seokmin’s teary, terrified gaze as he stares at what Jeonghan perceives to be an empty corner of the room. He knows it scared Jeonghan too, the older realizing there are beings out there that can avoid his sixth sense because he receives absolutely no premonition of anything coming for him.
Soonyoung also not being able to see whatever creature is bothering his best friend means there’s nothing to physically take down, and all he can provide is moral support.
Meanwhile, Seungkwan’s charms are meaningful, helpful for the short couple hours they hold together before Seokmin wakes up to find they’re almost always broken and probably have been since some time early in the morning. He’s stopped asking the younger to make them for him.
So no, he’s not surprised as he wakes up to rustling in his bed, something more exasperated pulling him out of sleep rather than terror. He sighs heavily, a gut feeling today might be harder than the others based on how the previous night went.
Also because this something in his bed feels heavy , dipping in the mattress from across Seokmin and he can tell before he opens his eyes this thing is about as big as he is, probably even larger.
Most of the spirits don’t have such a strong physical presence.
There’s more rustling against his sheets and he hums mindlessly as he finally wakes up, instinctively wincing before he gets to see his entity for the day. He takes note of the fact his lights are still on, blinding him as he opens his eyes.
To his utter shock, there’s a human -or it looks human- probably supposed to be around his age lying on his side. Seokmin regretfully notes he’s kind of attractive as he lays right across from him, posed like he’s a model. The man(?) rests his sharp jaw against his palm with dark, mischievous eyes boring into Seokmin’s sleepily unimpressed ones.
It’s nothing like the monster he was expecting to see for today.
“Um, hey.” Despite the smug appearance in the man’s features, his voice comes out rather hesitantly.
Oh, this one speaks , very clearly too.
The familiar human-like nature of it all is almost scarier than some half-crazed demon in his bed because Seokmin outright screams once his mind registers it all and he chucks a pillow at the oddly human-like demon-thing.
Seokmin thinks he’d rather see a completely deformed human at this point, he’s not sure why this human appearance scares him more.
“Ow?” It says, but still catches the pillow with his right hand as he sits up.
Seokmin shakes his head like he’s trying to clear his vision, but the thing remains and he furrows his eyebrows. The initial shock leaves him and is quickly replaced with confusion.
“You’re not a-”
“A ghost? Demon? No, not technically,” he grins toothily then, something terribly cocky and boyish with short fangs hanging over his bottom lip, “but I see why they’d be awfully obsessed with you, pretty.”
Despite what he says initially, his irises glow red.
So not pure human, just looks human.
Seokmin knows the other is likely just commenting on his aura, something his mother’s discussed along with their pure blood. It’s completely white, something almost never seen and she’s referred to it as pretty before, so he’s assuming that’s where the nickname is coming from.
But the smirk on his face says it’s something more, and Seokmin groans.
“Great, now a sex demon is after me.” He throws his hands up in the air exasperatedly.
At that, Mr. sex demon sputters, face flushing red and his eyes go wide and back to a human-like brown.
“I- what ? I’m not-!”
Seokmin himself is still confused, but he fights the mild amusement from showing on his face and quickly jumps out of his bed, stretching his arms over his head.
There’s not much to be scared of if this one is just gonna stay human.
“Well then, Mr. Demon that randomly appeared in my bed, no matter what it is you are, I have things to do.”
The other slowly sits up straight and raises a brow, moving his legs so he can sit cross-legged.
“You…you aren’t scared of me? Like wondering why I appeared? I barely even know why I’m here.”
Seokmin barks a laugh at that, “There are much worse things than you following me through my shadow. Plus, you’ll be gone by tomorrow anyway.”
Before walking out his room, he notes weirdly enough, the charm Seungkwan made for him on his nightstand is still intact. As he continues down his hall, he tries to ignore the cautious but heavy footsteps behind him.
That’s new , none of the others have held onto such a strong, physical presence besides their initial appearance to Seokmin. The weight in his bed was one thing, but consistently impactful footsteps? If he wasn’t so stubborn, he’d probably reach out and try to pinch him to see if he feels human too.
“No, I don’t think you understand. I-”
Seokmin slams the bathroom door in Mr. Not-demon’s face.
Seokmin’s day in his apartment continues normally other than the oddly nagging body in his relatively small apartment. He can barely escape the not-demon , even as the other stays a minimally comfortable distance away. Neither says much partly because Seokmin is used to tuning out any spirits that bother him on his days off. Still, it is interesting having a human acquaintance of sorts for the day rather than some ghostly or disfigured creature.
But now it’s been days since it arrived and he’s just resorted to working from home because the not-demon would just be in his apartment, left to his devices and Seokmin’s.
So he’s not too pleased when on the fifth morning, he wakes up after a mostly sleepless night to the same man in his kitchen, wearing an old apron Seokmin doesn’t even remember owning that says in red “Kiss the Cook!”. It’s a little too tight for how absolutely built the man is, and if Seokmin wasn’t so annoyed to see him again, he’d laugh.
Truthfully, he felt the not-demon’s constant presence during the previous nights even from inside his room, a part of the reason why he was unable to sleep. Instinctively, he stayed up and waited uneasily for it to be replaced with what he’s used to: anonymous creatures that give him the chills. Not a human making him breakfast.
It only makes him question this one’s identity more.
“Well, Mr. Demon-”
“Mingyu,” he corrects, “my name is Mingyu.”
“Seokmin.” He says mockingly, but it makes Mingyu’s lip twitch upwards amusedly.
Seokmin bristles, not fond of becoming too familiar with Mingyu , but it is nice to finally be able to refer to him as something other than whatever nicknames Seokmin has come up with.
“Okay, Mingyu,” Mingyu smiles tight-lipped at that, “why are you still here?"
“Trust me, I’m realizing I haven’t disappeared yet either, but for now,” he turns around and Seokmin is faced with a plate full of a terribly tasty looking meal, “breakfast?”
Seokmin raises an eyebrow at him but huffs a small acknowledgement. before going to his small dining table and setting the food down on the table warily. He tries to ignore the fact that Mingyu is avoiding the question.
Rather, as the other finishes up his portion in the kitchen, Seokmin spends his time poking at the food. He’s cutting it open and stirring it suspiciously to make sure there are no secret doses of poison or mistakenly placed razor blades in his first bite.
Maybe this one is just playing the long game in trying to kill him
“Relax,” Mingyu’s voice makes him jump and he glares at the taller, even though it has no real heat, “ If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it already.”
“That’s comforting.”
Seokmin smiles at him a little too widely in place of smacking Mingyu on the back of the head before taking a huge bite of the hot food on his plate to distract himself.
Oh.
He takes another bite immediately after. And then some.
“It’s good huh?” Mingyu is preening, practically glowing as he fishes for a compliment other than the fact Seokmin’s plate is empty.
“It’s decent.”
Mingyu deadpans at him like he doesn’t believe him. Regrettably Seokmin can’t really argue much more because he finishes his plate so quickly and Mingyu has barely started on his.
“Thank you.” Seokmin murmurs, and Mingyu smiles softly.
“You’re welcome, it’s the least I could do for crashing into your house.”
“Trust me, I’m used to it.” He mutters in response.
The rest of the day is spent in a similar fashion, the two trying to balance this odd dynamic, but it doesn’t help Mingyu insists on going everywhere with him.
“I need to go grocery shopping, Mingyu. I know you’re probably not human but trust me, it’s not as fun as you think it is.”
Seokmin isn’t sure why Mingyu would think it’d be entertaining in the first place, but he seems oddly insistent on going with him.
“Please? I won’t do anything, I’ll even pay for your groceries!” At that Seokmin raises an eyebrow because then Mingyu is pulling out a fat wallet of cash.
“ What- where did you get all that money? You’re a demon!” Seokmin hisses, not noticing Mingyu’s cringe at the word.
“Despite what you think, I have lived as a human before,” he huffs, “so do you want me to pay for your groceries or not?”
Seokmin, embarrassingly enough, barely hesitates, but he’s still unsure of Mingyu’s eagerness.
“Fine, let’s go.”
Right as Seokmin gets into the car and Mingyu sits himself in the passenger seat, he can already tell this is going to be one hell of a time. True to his gut, he senses the impending irritation right before Mingyu opens his mouth.
“So, um…what kind of spirits do you normally see then?” Mingyu asks with as little grace as possible.
Seokmin almost slams on the brakes as the light flashes red, a little amused to see Mingyu’s body jolt in response, but he doesn’t have the energy for anything snarky to respond with.
“Oops.” Mingyu mumbles, and Seokmin sighs heavily.
“It’s been worse recently,” He isn’t sure why he’s being so honest, “normally their appearance is disfigured… something terrifyingly unfamiliar and inhuman. Even growing up, I hadn’t seen some of these ever in my younger sightings.”
Out of the corner of his eye he can see a look similar to piteous understanding flash across Mingyu’s face, and he’s glad the light turns green so he has an excuse to look away.
“Is that why you were crying in your sleep last night?”
Seokmin didn’t even know he cried in his sleep.
Right after he asks it, he takes a deep breath as if realizing what he’s just asked and stares out the window. Seokmin bites the inside of his cheek hard to avoid the immense urge to kick Mingyu off the side of the road.
It stays silent up until the end of their car ride.
“Seokmin, I-”
“We’re here.”
Seokmin shifts into park and almost leaps out of the car, anxious to get away from the stuffy tension because no matter how much the question irks him, he’d really rather not deal with Mingyu trying to apologize to him.
Thankfully, Mingyu does not end up being a bother during the trip inside the market. Rather, he’s oddly good at meal planning and somehow during their time shopping, has volunteered to be Seokmin’s personal chef for his stay at his apartment.
“And then on Wednesday, I could make-”
“Mingyu, I know you said you didn’t know how long you were going to be stuck here,” alarm bells are ringing in his head, “but why are you acting like it’s gonna be awhile?”
Mingyu shrinks a bit at the question, “Well, I’m not sure…it could be awhile.”
“You can’t stay anywhere else? Can’t you just crash at the place of someone who can’t see you?”
“ All humans can see me, I told you I’m mostly human!” Mingyu argues, “and how am I supposed to explain my situation?”
Well at least Seokmin doesn’t look like he’s talking to air then.
“You clearly have money, why don’t you rent out your own place?” Seokmin’s running out of reasons
“With what identification and documents?”
Seokmin wants to keep arguing, but he remembers as they’re in public, “When I’m not so utterly exhausted and sleep-deprived, I am going to have to actually make you explain to me what it is you’re stuck with me for besides the fact you keep saying you’re forced to be here too.”
Mingyu pouts, “But I am.”
“Later.” Seokmin mouths as he tosses something into their cart.
It’s weird, the way Seokmin has been drawing the explanation out, and he’s not sure why. Normally his exhaustion doesn’t outweigh his self-preservation skills, but the questions he wants to ask MIngyu don’t feel as urgent as he’d expect. There’s something about Mingyu that Seokmin thinks he can trust.
Physically, Mingyu is imposing, intimidating. He’s probably close to 190 cm with the way he towers over even Seokmin. And even as he’s dressed in Seokmin’s small selection of oversized clothes, Seokmin can still make out the muscle underneath: definition in his arms, broad shoulders and chest.
And yet that’s the same man that cowers under Seokmin’s glare and pouts at him when he’s upset. Honestly, it gives Seokmin whiplash.
Even more so than the instinctual ease of his and Mingyu’s rather childish, bickering dynamic, there’s the reality for his situation:
Not a single spirit has visited him since Mingyu’s arrival. The past few nights, Seokmin has been sleeping anxiously, partly because he could feel Mingyu’s presence, but also because he was waiting . Waiting for Mingyu to disappear like the others, only to invite something equally or more terrifying into Seokmin’s home.
And yet, this morning, Seokmin woke up to the smell of a home cooked meal and he found himself eating breakfast cooked by the demon that appeared in his house less than a week ago.
“Do you like cabbage or radish kimchi more?”
Mingyu’s question interrupts him from his thoughts so he hums like he’s thinking, but he needs a second to process the question after barely listening.
God, he’s so out of it.
He wasn’t lying when he told Mingyu he’s too exhausted to hold a proper conversation. Each night he can’t sleep peacefully knowing something terrible will be there to greet him in the morning, to ruin his day. Truthfully, the spirits weren’t all bad, some completely harmless, but it never stopped that nagging feeling.
Weirdly enough now, he’s losing that anxiety because for some reason, Mingyu’s aura just blocks it out. It almost assures Seokmin nothing would mess with the supposed demon , and so by default, him as well. It’s as intriguing as it is concerning: Mingyu’s sudden and constant presence.
“Seokmin?”
Seokmin completely forgot that Mingyu asked him something.
“Oh, what was the question again?”
The other huffs out a breath of exasperation and Seokmin fights the amusement rising in his chest at the sound.
The rest of the day is as uneventful as it can be, the feeling of going about his day with an additional person is oddly domestic for someone Seokmin has barely known for five days. Mingyu even cooks them both dinner and they sit on opposite ends of the couch, watching a cheesy action movie that recently came out.
“That was terrible.” Mingyu remarks.
“Seriously, where did the budget go in that movie? Because it clearly wasn’t the writing.”
Seokmin says mindlessly, and then narrows his eyes at Mingyu’s clearly pleased face. It’s too easy to fall into causal banter as if Mingyu is just another one of his friends. But for what they both are and for the situation at hand, Seokmin can’t let it get too casual, because they’re not friends.
Attempting to fight it, he stands up from his spot on the couch, stretching his arms over his head.
“Well, I’m exhausted and for once might actually try to get some sleep.” Mingyu nods, but there’s clearly another question ringing in his head.
“Wh-where can I sleep?”
Seokmin pauses at that, forgetting for a second Mingyu isn’t just a friend he has over and can leave to go back to his own house anytime he wants.
“So you do sleep.” He hums.
“Sometimes, I don’t always need to.”
Mingyu makes a face and Seokmin sighs heavily.
“Where have you been sleeping?”
“Against your door.” Seokmin’s eyes widen comically.
“ What ?” Seokmin sputters, Mingyu’s weird attachment issues are so disorienting and the puppy eyes don’t help, “Fine, just sleep on the floor, in my room, I have something you can lay on.”
Seokmin finds it doesn’t bother him too much. If Mingyu was gonna try anything funny, he had the chance to do something that very first morning, possibly night, in Seokmin’s bed.
Mingyu seems happier at that than the couch so he eagerly follows Seokmin to his room.
“Here.” Seokmin says rather unceremoniously and gestures to the pad on the floor that looks too short to be able to encompass Mingyu’s height.
It doesn’t seem to matter, because Mingyu hums and adjusts whatever pillows he’s stolen from the couch and the blanket Seokmin left folded on the edge of the pad.
“You can just take clothes from my closet until you can…go shopping.” It’s weird to say because it makes it sound like Mingyu will be here for a while .
“Thanks.” Mingyu grins at him gratefully, and takes his shirt off right there to change.
As discreetly as possible, Seokmin flips around and pretends to go on his phone before he has to see anymore of Mingyu’s very defined shoulders, chest, and abs. Quickly, he goes to lie on his bed, facing away from where Mingyu will be sleeping.
“Night, Seokmin.”
Then Mingyu turns the light off, and that has him sitting up in his bed straight up with the hairs on the back of his neck rising. He can hear rustling from the side and instinctively flinches.
“Seokmin?” Mingyu calls concernedly, because of course he heard him.
“Yeah,” he breathes, weirdly embarrassed because how is he supposed to tell a demon he’s scared of the dark , “I’m fine.”
“Night."
Surprisingly, he does fall asleep within a half hour or so, but it’s almost as if as soon as his mind falls into that numbing, relaxing state, he’s waking back up. It’s oddly disorienting, because his eyes just open immediately, that awareness he’s learned from his mother making alarm bells go off in his head.
Because something is off .
Hesitantly, he sits up in his bed, using his hands to scoot back into his headboard so he can get a good glance at his room. He must’ve gotten too used to not being alone with any spirits haunting him because he’s rather quickly calling for his newfound roommate.
“Mingyu?”
He almost whispers, but there’s no response and Seokmin can just tell he’s not even in the room with him. Any residuals of the other’s presence nonexistent, almost as if he’d never even been there.
Where did he go?
Right as he looks toward his door, questioning if Mingyu possibly just went to the bathroom, he feels it.
After over two decades of this plus some increasingly worse visits in the past few months, his awareness has improved drastically. If his mother was still here, she’d probably praise him for it.
There are at least a few pairs of eyes on him, and Seokmin doesn’t remember the last time he’s been stuck with more than two spirits in one day. He focuses his vision harder in hopes of being able to see them.
Small, narrow red eyes peer at him from the darkness shadowed over his door.
Fuck. Not now.
He’s gotten too comfortable even in just a few days with Mingyu’s presence, which seemed to ward off most of the spirits that would come after him.
“What do you want?” He keeps his voice steady despite the increasing fear, but his mind is running over possibilities, an escape route.
Right as he asks the question, there’s a shift in the air, as if the spirits are surprised to see he notices them. Paired with the increasing tension are hushed, incoherent whispers echoing in the otherwise scarily silent room.
Seokmin swallows, they’re communicating with each other . And right as the thought passes through his mind, he turns his head to the side and crawls to the edge of his bed.
But he freezes right as his eyes make their way over the edge of his bed and he finds more .
There’s an impossibly darkened shadow pooling on his floor in place of the pad he left for Mingyu to sleep on, and coming through it is the clear sight of the same pair of red eyes. Seokmin isn’t sure how he can tell they’re the same, he just knows . The eyes narrow at the sight of him before growing larger, as if moving closer to him. The the body comes next.
The quick appearance of an oddly human-looking hand reaching for him is what has him scrambling off of the other side of his bed which is thankfully shadowless. The room is still bathed in darkness and as Seokmin looks back, he can see the shadow from the floor spreading, as if consuming his room.
Light. He needs light.
He nearly leaps off the bed and makes it to his door in a split second, still staring at the incoming darkness as he feels around his wall for the familiar switch.
The wall feels empty like a blank canvas, and he snaps his head to where his light switch is - should be .
He’s met with a startlingly smooth wall, both the light switch and his door completely absent from their spots. Immediately, his heart jumps to his throat and he’s muttering panickedly under his breath.
“Nonono no -”
The shadow is under his feet now, his body dropping into it slowly as if it’s quicksand, and struggling only makes him sink into it faster. The pool of black is cold around him and his body is trembling simultaneously from fear and the way his skin feels frozen.
“ Seokmin ”
Then there are short, uneven breaths echoing in the room paired with calls of his name and he can distantly hear cries of distress, alarm . Still, the abyss-like shadow continues to pull him down until his face meets its opening and he’s clawing at its edge, trying to pull himself up. Fighting it has no effect, and once it’s over his face, he can’t breathe . It’s less like drowning and more like being smothered, as if someone has their hand over his mouth and nose.
“Please.”
He can’t hear himself actually say it, rather, the plea echoes in his head. And soon enough, his vision is fuzzy around the edges, body slowly becoming limp and floating downward in the space the shadow has pulled him into.
Then there’s a warmth gripping his palm, another hand The squeeze it offers startlingly wakes him up like a breath of fresh air and the grip pulls him up harshly.
“ Seokmin !”
He gasps as he shoots up from where he lay on his bed, hands shakily groping around the blankets because it felt so real . He’s temporarily blinded by the sudden light in the room, but after turning a lamp on, Mingyu is rushing to his side. He’s not quite as close as he probably was when he woke him up, but the presence has Seokmin’s shoulders slumping and he relaxes.
“Jesus.” He breathes out, still out of breath as if he truly was drowning.
“Sorry if I scared you,” Mingyu apologizes quietly, as if talking down a feral animal, “Are you okay? Do you still see anything?” Of course he figured out what happened.
Immediately, Seokmin shakes his head without even looking. He knows whatever it was this time was just coming for him through his sleep, and now that there’s light, anything coming after him will likely wait for another moment where Seokmin is caught off guard. He ignores the fact it could also be because Mingyu is here, and with this now, he’s concluding his presence does mean something.
“No, it’s fine,” Seokmin inhales deeply before exhaling and finally uncovering his face. However, the lamp that lit up the room quickly shuts off and Seokmin very obviously flinches. Damn timer-based lights, it’s why he doesn’t use those to light up his room, not that Mingyu would know.
“Are you okay?” Mingyu repeats, and the sincere worry is messing with Seokmin’s head a little bit, adding to the fuzziness of exhaustion still lingering.
“I’m fine , not the first time it’s happened.” He admits and his voice sounds weaker than he’d like it to.
The reminder makes Mingyu falter.
“I- yeah you’re right. Sorry, I know we’re not even really friends .” Mingyu purses his lips together, and they both remain in silence, not quite sure of what to do next.
A hint of guilt tugs at his chest.
“Mingyu-”
“Do you want the lights on?” Mingyu effectively cuts Seokmin off but there’s a knowing look in his eyes and something in Seokmin deflates unreasonably.
“I…yeah, please .”
Mingyu stays on his pad though, as if anticipating more, an explanation maybe before he actually does what he offered. Seokmin wants to roll his eyes.
“The lights seem to deter them most of the time, so I normally keep them on.” He answers as vaguely as possible.
“Why did you let me turn them off earlier then?”
“How the hell do I explain to a demon that I’m scared of the dark and need a nightlight?” Seokmin flushes slightly, but the familiar banter is bringing any remaining tension down, and he can tell his heart rate is finally no longer going a mile a minute from the fear or weird anticipation making his stomach churn.
He doesn’t even see Mingyu stand up at first, but light fills the room and the other has his hand on the switch.
“You just did,” Mingyu points out as he sits back down on the pad, “and you’re not wrong, a lot of the weaker ones will avoid brighter lights.”
Of course he would know that.
“Just sleep, Mingyu. I’m fine.”
“I know, I just-” he hesitates before adding, “sorry it took me so long to wake you up. I was in the bathroom when I heard you…um crying”
Ignoring the fact the cries he heard in his dream were his , a lightbulb buzzes in his head.
Mingyu was outside the room when the dream occurred, supposedly far enough away for something to feel comfortable enough to come after Seokmin. He files the thought away for later, for the morning.
“Thank you, for um - waking me up.” He tries, and Mingyu smiles something small, genuine.
“Of course, go back to sleep. I’ll be here.”
The lights are kept on the rest of the night as Seokmin falls asleep with ease, aware of Mingyu’s still, yet guarded presence.
Seokmin is grateful, really is , for Mingyu’s help from the night before. The other likely pulled him out of a spiral into his own mind and it’s hard to say how badly that could’ve ended considering the strength of some of the newest “haunts” in his daily life.
But he’s pretty sure Mingyu is taking this whole separation anxiety act a little too seriously.
“Mingyu, I’m just going out to get coffee. You can stay here for a couple hours.” He highly doubts at this point Mingyu would try anything if he were to leave the house.
Mingyu rolls his eyes, and Seokmin is almost glad the tense, emotionally charged air from the night before has evaporated, “I have to go Seokmin, whether I want to or not”
At Seokmin’s clear confusion, Mingyu makes an o with his mouth like he’s realizing something
“Oh… I thought you were able to see it.”
“See what?”
“Give me a sec.” Mingyu grumbles.
Seokmin watches as Mingyu grabs his own wrist, his eyes glowing red for less than a second before a bright blue line appears, connecting Mingyu’s right wrist to Seokmin’s left, both bound by a cuff Seokmin wasn’t able to feel until right now. Even then, it’s a light pressure on his wrist as the chain seems relaxed for now.
“Okay, what did you just do?”
Mingyu rolls his eyes.
“I didn’t do anything, I just made it visible to you. These cuffs, thankfully long, tie the both of us together. We physically cannot be too far apart.”
“You’re lying.”
Seokmin’s mouth is agape in disbelief, mostly because he’s never seen magic like this before. It’s clear whatever its purpose is, it has to be from wherever it is Mingyu’s power originates.
Hell , his mind supplies helpfully.
At the accusation, Mingyu clicks his mouth shut and backs up, walking just barely outside of the kitchen before he aggressively tugs his arm behind him. Seokmin yelps as he’s dragged along and his ass hits the tile of his kitchen floor harshly. There’s an amused snort from the taller but Seokmin is more focused on his wrist and the cuff flashes an angry maroon before going back to blue as Mingyu allows the chain to relax between them.
“What-?” Seokmin is so lost.
“We’re bound , Seokmin. No matter how much we would both like for me to head back to my home, I’m forced to be here with you as much as you are with me.”
Seokmin would like to argue, but he finds his thoughts are hard to articulate because he’s never quite seen anything like this. Mingyu’s clinginess does make sense now, though.
“How am I still able to go into rooms by myself then? We were both able to shower this morning.”
Mingyu rolls his eyes as he walks over to help pull Seokmin up from the floor.
“Have you not noticed every time you try to keep me out of your room that I’m on the other side of the door? The chain isn’t physical , it’s just a symbol of the contract between us.”
“Contract?” Seokmin shrieks, “I didn’t sign anything.”
“Neither did I!” MIngyu’s voice is rising and they both wince at the volume. He sighs, quieting slightly.
“Sorry.” He mumbles, and Seokmin just shakes his head.
“ What contract is tying us together?” Seokmin urges.
“I don’t…I’m not sure. It’s just what these cuffs normally symbolize.” Mingyu squeezes his eyes shut and Seokmin would question him more, but he finds the man really does look equally distressed.
He sighs, assuming if he keeps questioning, Mingyu will only become more guarded with his words.
“You know, I think I’d rather deal with the mildly violent and creepy demons.” Seokmin can’t help the annoyed huff of words that leaves him as he crosses his arms.
Mingyu loses the tension in his shoulders and plays along, raising an eyebrow in disbelief, “You’d rather be tied to an ugly, decaying poltergeist than me?” He gestures with his hands but Seokmin knows exactly what he’s referring to.
“Calm down hotshot,” Seokmin huffs, “it has nothing to do with the looks.”
Mingyu grins then, and that toothy upturn of his lips is back that Seokmin would never admit is a little cute. Very annoying.
“So you admit I’m easy on the eyes?”
Any hint of fondness is lost and Seokmin deadpans.
“All I said was you’re better looking than a dead, deformed spirit, Mingyu,” he turns away, “the standards are low .”
Mingyu whines petulantly, trying to change the subject.
“What about you? You’re asking all these questions about me but I want answers too.”
Seokmin raises a brow at him.
“For what? You’re the one that crashed here.”
“I can still be curious.” He huffs, crossing his arms petulantly. Seokmin rolls his eyes.
“Fine. Shoot.”
Mingyu pauses as if he’s surprised the other is indulging in his nosiness, but Seokmin is sure he’d likely be the same if their roles were switched.
“Why is your aura white? Are you an angel or something?” Seokmin snorts at the blatant question.
“Is this another weird pick up line of yours? And wouldn’t you know of angels’ existence?”
“No I-” he groans, cheeks slightly tinged pink with embarrassment, “I’ve met and seen countless humans…” he pauses, pursing his lips, “you’re different. Besides the fact you can see inhuman creatures - spirits .”
Of all the things he could’ve asked.
“It’s in my blood, “ the smile starts to fall from his face, “my mother would always refer to us as pure - for our auras and blood. Not that I’m sure what she even meant by it.”
Mingyu hums.
“She was also a medium.”
Then his eyes widen comically, lighting up with realization and hope.
“Why didn’t you start with that? It’s not just your aura, you probably have an innate power they’re drawn to. Where is she now? Maybe she can-"
Seokmin lets out a humorless laugh that makes Mingyu stop in his tracks.
“Can’t. She’s dead , Mingyu. Died just shy of four months ago.” That has Mingyu freezing, lips parted in an “o” like he can’t decide between deducing the effects that her death has had or giving Seokmin his condolences.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…” he chooses the latter.
“It’s fine ,” Seokmin responds honestly, “her and I never saw eye-to-eye anyway, butted heads a lot. Guess that’s why she left me with her problems once she died.”
At that Mingyu seems mildly relieved, moving on, “It would make sense, you know? Her passing being the cause of the recent hauntings.”
There’s really no disagreeing with the statement so Seokmin nods, “Yeah, you’re right.”
It must come out too softly, earnestly because it has the taller tilting his head at him in curiosity and Seokmin averts his eyes back to his hands in his lap.
“ Let’s promise each other something.” Mingyu raises a pinky to him to which Seokmin lifts his head slowly to raise an unimpressed brow at him.
Nonetheless, he hesitantly puts his hand up, hands inches apart as Seokmin sticks his pinky up.
“Okay…” Not quite understanding where the other is going with this.
“We’ll work together for now,” Mingyu’s eyes aren’t looking into his, but his voice is earnest, “to try to break the chain, so we can both go our separate ways in the end.”
Seokmin fights a smile because Mingyu is trying so hard to be serious, but he’s quickly linking pinkies with Mingyu in response. At the same time, he is trying to ignore the fact that Mingyu’s hand is warm and very real . A surprisingly comforting reminder of the same hand that pulled him out of his nightmare just the night before.
This’ll be okay, I’ll be okay.
There’s a second of silence once they both lower their hands and stare at each other expectantly before Seokmin breaks it, turning towards the front door and grabbing his keys.
“C’mon,” Seokmin sighs, “I think I know someone who can help.”