Baby Saja pulled his hoodie tighter around himself. He really didn't want to be recognised, especially not now that he was in a hurry.
The fluorescent lights of Korea flickered and burned above him, each advertising something more brighly than the next. The scent of Tteokbokki drifted lazily through the air, accompanied by the faint shouts of street vendors in the distance.
He breathed deeply, still not used to the odd customs of the human realm. Everything was too...
Bright? Loud? Friendy?
All three, he amended. In the demon realm, it was just fire and the eternal wrath of Gwi-ma. But here - there was much, much more.
Although Baby Saja knew he should be back at the hotel, running through new routines with his fellow bandmates, something kept him from joining them. Perhaps, it was that he knew as soon as he returned, he would be plagued by Jinu, forcing him to keep the act up.
For as much as he tried to deny it, Baby Saja knew he was slipping.
He could no longer slip into the wide eyed, innocence of 'Baby' Saja as easily as before. He couldn't deny his true, rough nature, and playing the role of this 'Baby Saja' was especially draining.
The fans loved him. Everyone did. And for some reason, that made it worse. The fact that people would only love him, when he wasn't his true self.
His true self...
Taeyang Jeong.
The traitor, the outcast, the unloved reject. He was nobody.
For then, that awful day of his eighteenth birday, Gwi-ma had first spoken to him:
"You cannot deny who you truly are, what you truly are."
It was true. He was but another miserable soul, cast into the depths of the demon realm, forced to endure an eternity of nothing but his own regret to accompany him. Four hundred years of suffering.
That was until Jinu had come along...
Jinu, with his angelic voice and way to ensnare even the most strong-willed.
Baby Saja had been instantly upswept into Jinu's plan. Yet another pawn in his puppet show.
Baby Saja, Romance Saja, Abs Saja, Mystery Saja, and Jinu.
Jinu had crafted each member a new personality, new name, new self.
And Baby Saja had accepted that.
Minji crossed the busy intersection, eyes glancing left and right. She shivered - it was a chilly night, even for Korea.
She made a beeline to her favourite covenience store, craving the sweet relish of a milk tea fresh from the store fridge.
The door chimed cheerily as Minji opened it, the clerk smiling warmly at her. She quickly grabbed a brown sugar milk tea and payed.
Minji sat down on a nearby bench, illuminated by a streetlight. She viciously stabbed the lid of her drink, gulping the sweet tea with great gusto.
She pulled her phone out from her pocket, quickly checking her notifications. Minji noticed she had an absurd amount of notifications, about people tagging her in posts.
Amazed by the sheer amount of tags, she clicked on the first one. It was a video of five boys singing in a studio. One boy caught her attention. He had short blue hair covered by beanie, and wore an oversized pink sweater.
He begun rapping, and it was a shock to Minji how his voice completely mis-matched his demeanor.
When the video finished she replayed it. Then again. And again. By the fifth replay, Minji was only re-watching it to see that blue-haired boy.
Her screen faded to black as she switched off her phone. It was getting late.
Minji stood up and disposed of her cup in a nearby trash can. She begun the walk back to her flat.
'Anyways', she thought, returning to the spectualtion of those boys. 'What kind of kpop band calls themselves the Saja Boys?'
Minji laughed. It was obvious these 'Saja Boys' had gotten underneath her skin. Yet she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. There was something off about them, though she couldn't quite decipher what.
Maybe it was the fact that each member was too perfect, not a single one seemingly real.
Minji shook the thought away. 'Must be my sleep deprivision talking.'
'Way to go, Minji. Not human? Please.'
It was obvious she needed to get to bed.
Minji looked up, just as a rough shoulder slammed into her. She looked up in surprise to see a retreating back. He wore a black hoodie, pulled tight around himself, with just a peek of light blue hair showing.
She brushed it off. 'Late night wierdos'
But he turned back, and just as she was about to keep walking, she saw it. It was him, the boy from the video.
"Watch where you're going, punk"
His words where sharp, unrefined. Minji couldn't resist the urge to yell back;
"Actually, I think you're the one who should watch out!"
He spun abruptly around. "Sorry?" His voice was disbelieving.
"You heard me", she shot back.
The boy scoffed. "Whatever" And with that, he turned his back and walked off.
Minji walked away just as abruptly, but her heart couldn't help but give a small flutter.
