Bargain (Not Met) (JungHope)

Deal with a Demon: Exposed

Jungkook broke that silent connection as he brought both of his hands up to cup Hoseok's cheeks, palms tender in their touch like they were handling precious, delicate material. "You're okay..." Jungkook said mutely, almost like a quiet assurance to himself. His thumb ran over the slight slope of Hoseok's cheek, traced the outline of his lips. "You're okay..."

Hoseok felt his lips twitch up into a stiff, terse grin, all nerves and blind confusion. "Yes," he said. He had no idea what the fuck kind of mood-swing Jungkook was going through to be expressing such vivid worry, but he was unnerved by it; he was relishing, basking in the affection. And that in itself was enough of a foreign feeling for him to have him jerking out of Jungkook's gentle hold of his face. "We both know I'm fine, but what about Taehyung-ah?" he asked as he created some much-needed distance between his and Jungkook's bodies, a flustered heat sweating underneath the thin layers of his clothing.

Jungkook seemed disarmed by the sudden question, furling away from Hoseok in startlement. "Taehyung..." he said, brows furrowed in solemn concentration. "I didn't do a background check on Taehyung, and I'm starting to regret it."

Hoseok snorted in agreement. "Obviously. We wouldn't be here"—he motioned toward the entirety of their surroundings—"if you had." He dropped his hands to his sides in faltering mirth when Jungkook didn't return his jesting sentiment, fixing Hoseok with a grim stare and pursed lips. "Well, what's Taehyung-ah's big, bad secret?" he asked hesitantly.

Jungkook heaved a breath before answering. "He's not a pure-blooded human."

Hoseok blinked at him, equal parts stupified and bewildered. "Well, what does that mean?" He watched as Jungkook gnawed on his lips in apparent guilt, emotion running deep in his suddenly criminally youthful eyes. "Kook, what do you mean by that?" Hoseok repeated sternly, slowly, trying to ease Jungkook back into a state of confidentiality.

Jungkook seemed to calm his nerves, releasing his raw lips from his jittery teeth. "You said Yoongi-hyung already explained to you the side-effects of humans staying down here, right?" he began, eyes flitting over to the closed bedroom door warily. Hoseok nodded in confirmation, and Jungkook continued. "Well, that goes double for any sort of holy being. To the point of being lethal upon immediate entry."

Hoseok blinked, and his mind filled with Jimin's final image. "That's why Jimin-ah couldn't come with us..." he said underneath his breath.

Jungkook gave a terse nod of his head. "Exactly." He lifted his finger toward the bedroom door, the digit wavering in its hold. "Taehyung... I have reason to believe that Taehyung was an angel that reincarnated into a human."

"What?" Hoseok blurted with a startled laugh. "Taehyung-ah? An angel?"

Jungkook held his hands up haltingly. "I know that it sounds ridiculous and impossible, but just hear me out."

He continued when Hoseok managed to shut his gaping mouth.

"My suspicions started when Taehyung seemed to be going against the natural temptations embedded into our contract," Jungkook said. "He was entirely ignoring you in a romantic sense, which I thought was odd because a demon's contract automatically makes the forbidden attractive. You, being his subordinate in work and a complete and utter stranger with an unknown past, was utterly unappealing to him.

"But I didn't overthink it because the contract was clearly affecting you," Jungkook continued, causing Hoseok's face to instantly break out into a blistering flush. "So, I was without any worries or complications for the first month.

"And then, Taehyung approached you with this wild goose chase of his missing friend, and suddenly his role was more than a mere love interest. He was throwing a wrench into my one-and-done contract and dragging my client with him. So, I think that's where my feelings of frustrations came from, but I just wasn't able to figure that out until I was stuck traveling with him in the depths of Hell.