The Seamster and The Demon

2. The Department of Demon Contracts

Seonghwa didn't take his eyes off the demon when he sat down opposite him on the couch. The stranger had opted for a chair, and now he neatly dusted off the sleeves of the uncanny tie-dye shirt he wore by now. The coffee table between the two served as divination of the two sides, but Seonghwa still held onto Wooyoung as if he feared the demon might take him away.

The man had... shifted. Apparently, he had had a human form all the time and the moment that Seonghwa had hissed at him to get into the house because the neighbours had begun to stare at his front yard curiously, he had changed into that. Seonghwa hadn't caught the moment of it, still busy smiling reassuringly at old man Kim opposite the street. The man had rubbed his eyes disbelievingly as he had stared after the man disappearing in the house, but he had passed on without further issues. Only then, Seonghwa had quickly closed his car and hurried inside to follow the demon.

The idea of being alone in a house with him had the fear bubble in Seonghwa's chest. He doubted that the police was responsible for weird demons that appeared in people's driveways after their kids played with chalk. If anything were to happen, Seonghwa would have no other choice but to practise violence with the help of a cooking pan. And if Seonghwa hated one thing, then it was the possibility of damaging his precious cooking pan.

The man he found neatly seated in his living room might have been a completely different person, however. Gone were the mighty horns and the giant wings. What stayed was a boy that nearly seemed small without the imposing characteristics. The light surrounded him as it normally would, and his colourful tie-dye shirt matched the piercings in his ears and his dark blue hair that he had tied into a messy ponytail. He looked nothing like the demon just seconds ago.

The demon had sweater paws.

Seonghwa needed an ice-cold shower and a good night's sleep. If it weren't for Wooyoung's squirms in his arms as he wanted to run over and explore the other man, he would have played it off as a dream.

But now, they sat tensely opposite of each other, and Seonghwa suspiciously eyed the demon up and down. His visitor lazily leaned against his chair, looking close to bored as he played with his painted nails.

"I can imagine your confusion; you don't look like a person who usually plays with dark magic. But fear not, the responsible department will send someone here soon. Since this is a popular misunderstanding, we can certainly nullify the contract. Wouldn't be the first time one of my kind got summoned accidentally."

Seonghwa blinked at him with big eyes. Was he supposed to believe that demons oftentimes infiltrated the humans casually? Despite his extensive knowledge of books and movies about the topic, Seonghwa could hardly find himself to adjust to that idea.

"What do you mean summoned on accident..." Still, Seonghwa's questions were cautious. He expected the man to fall into a rage any time. Even if he hadn't been a whole demon who had just crawled up from the depths of hell, then this man was still a stranger in his home who claimed to have a bond with his son.

"A distant cousin of mine once got summoned by some teenager who distributed the jam on her sandwich in just the way it took to summon him. The ways of the universe are full of wonders."

Grumbling, Seonghwa adjusted Wooyoung when the boy nearly managed to slip off his lap. He protested with a yelp.

"Shouldn't it be more difficult to summon you? I dare say that's something not every child should be able to do."

The demon giggled amusedly. Seonghwa was glad to discover that his revolver dentitions had disappeared with his spectrum of unnecessary extras. They had made him the most nervous. A shark's mouth full of teeth on a human skull was a sight he would have nightmares about for a long time.