Bargain (Not Met) (JungHope)

Interlude - Rivals

Hoseok woke up in a cold sweat, heart hammering against his chest as though he ran a marathon in his sleep. There were a few, terrifyingly long seconds where he struggled to breathe; couldn't see the familiar jagged crack up on the ceiling, nor the ceiling at all; couldn't hear anything but an insistent ringing in his ears.

And then a faint, hushed voice spoke above his face: "Shh, it's okay, it's okay."

Slowly, his vision returned, along with his hearing, and his heart slowed its beating. He took a deep, shuddered breath as his eyesight began to clear up until he could recognize the face above him as Jungkook's. It disturbed him how close his blood red pupils were to his, but he couldn't complain since the demon had single handily managed to calm him down in a matter of seconds.

As he continued to take measured breaths, he noticed that the demon's hands were wrapping themselves tightly around his wrists and that he was practically straddling him. In any other circumstance, Hoseok would have probably kicked him off the bed, but knowing that the demon had the power to invade and destroy his dreams kind of killed his fury.

He vaguely wondered how the shadow demon was able to physically touch him before rasping out, voice hoarse and thick from having not been used for so long, "Kook, get off of me."

The demon licked his lips nervously before nibbling on them. Hesitantly, he released his grip on the office worker's wrists and leaned away from his face, a wary look in his eyes as he did so.

Hoseok gave him a peculiar look before lifting his upper body off the mattress with his elbows. He reached his hand over to his wrist and rubbed and twisted it a few times, a relieved sigh escaping him when he noticed that there weren't any bruises.

He chanced a glance up at the demon, who still sat firmly in his lap, and quirked an eyebrow up at him. "Why are you still on me?"

Jungkook ceased the insistent gnawing of his lips, wringing his hands together, fingers ending up in a tangled mess. "I need to strengthen the contract," he muttered, tilting his head over to the side and staring at the section of the wall just behind Hoseok. "Since that stupid angel went and messed with you, the contract I made with you before won't be strong enough to hold him off now."

Hoseok scoffed and glared at Jungkook. "Okay, first of all: get off of me."

Jungkook's eyes widened at the aggressive growl that rumbled up Hoseok's throat and hastily jumped off his lap, landing clumsily on the floor with a resounding thud.

Hoseok let out a mocking scoff before throwing his numb legs over the side of the bed. "Second of all," he continued, standing up and balancing himself with his trembling legs, "you don't get to tell me what to do."

Jungkook sputtered and rushed to get off the cold, hardwood floor as Hoseok hobbled his way out the bedroom door. "Bu-but we made a contract! Most people would be terrified to go against a demon they've made a contract with!"

Hoseok whirled around toward Jungkook, feet almost sliding out from underneath him in doing so, and snarled at him, much to the demon's horror. "Well, I'mnot most people, Demon Boy!"

He stomped up to the demon and jabbed his finger into his chest. "Just because this is your job, doesn't mean Ihave to go along with it," he spat, venom on his tongue, punctuating every word with another jab to the demon's chest. "So, if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for work since it's--"

He glanced over at the lone clock that watched solemnly over the living room, a sharp intake of air piercing his lungs when he saw what time it was.