Hey babes! We managed to work on a few more chapters so the updates will come a little faster 🤓
Love you!
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Chapter 8: Peaches
Anya sits at the desk in her office and tries to force her brain to focus on the spreadsheets on the screen before her. The launch for the makeup label she's been working on for years now is coming soon and there are a few things she has to take care of.
Over the past few months as the end of her contract had loomed closer, she'd put this project—and other stuff—on hold. With her newfound almost-freedom, she wants to focus on all this stuff again.
But her mind won't let her.
Sighing, she squints her heavy eyes shut, exhausted from staring at her computer for hours.
When she opens them again, they fall on the desk calendar and she grabs it.
Mumbling curses underneath her breath, she flicks through it. Every day she's had a victim is marked with a red X.
Four and a half months. Eighteen weeks. Fourteen victims. She has seven and a half months, thirty weeks and thirty-six people left.
Thirty-six people!
Fuck...
This is a nightmare.
Anya throws the calendar aside and buries her face in her hands.
She's been procrastinating a lot lately. Not only when it comes to her job, but also when it comes to her victims. The night with Shownu, that awesome sex she had, seems long forgotten after all the many miserable victims she had after him. Even though she chose them herself.
Suddenly the door slams open and her head snaps up.
"Good evening, babygirl!" Kyun throws himself onto the couch next to the desk with a huge smirk and bites into another peach. "It's the last one!" Smacking, he points at the fruit. "You need to buy new ones!"
Groaning, she massages her temples. "Sylvia bought new ones a few days ago, Kyun. They would last a lot longer if you wouldn't eat six a day..."
His blood must taste like peaches by now.
Every time this dude shows up, she gets anxious. Because it reminds her of all the work she still has to do.
"What are you doing?" he asks, ignoring her scolding, and she watches him biting into the fruit seductively again.
"Working..." she mumbles and crosses her legs under the table, shifting her body as her panties get soaked once again. Her lousy lovers in combination with Kyun's teasing frustrate her the most about this deal. Not even self-pleasure gives her the satisfaction she needs not to want to jump on him like a bitch in heat.
"Why are you working, babygirl?" Kyun asks. "It's Saturday night?! You should be out there enjoying your life a little!"
"I don't have time to enjoy my life..."
It's been a while since she actually enjoyed things offstage. All those parties, those gatherings, the events exhaust her. All those fake people who smile into her face but talk shit as soon as she turns her back to them...
"That's so boring!" Kyun laughs. "I can't believe you—"
"Stop this!" she shouts and Kyun flinches at the volume of it. "I am perfectly happy with the way my life is going, okay? The only thing that makes me tired is all the victims I have to fuck! I'm incredibly sorry that I'm not the girl you thought I was! I'm not responsible for your entertainment!"
"Wow, babygirl..." he breathes, seemingly shocked at her outburst. "Relax, okay? I'm just—"
"No!"
Suddenly the anger and frustration boil over and she rips open the drawer and pulls out the demon-killing knife. She jumps up, the desk chair crashing to the floor behind her, and holds it against Kyun's throat.
She doesn't want to kill him. She has no idea what she's doing here, she's just so... angry!
The demon glances at the knife, rolls his eyes and bites into the peach again.
"Do it..." he says nonchalantly. "Kill me! But I hope you're aware of what happens then..."
With shaky hands she stares at him. "What do you mean?"
He shoves the hand holding the knife away from his throat and gets up.
"Babygirl, I get your frustration!" he says and throws the peach pit into the trash can. "But don't be so stupid and impulsive all the time!"
With a dry mouth she stares at him. His words are as sharp as the knife in her hand.
"You made this deal with hell. With Lucifer himself. Not with me! The only deal you made exclusively with me is the second one. You can kill me, but there are plenty of demons who will collect your soul in a heartbeat and they won't be as nice as I am! At this moment, me and this second deal are the only things keeping you away from hell, keeping you alive!" While speaking he slowly walks up to her.
She feels her heart rate increasing as she takes one step back for each he takes towards her. She feels the couch behind her legs, but Kyun doesn't stop advancing, and she falls back over the armrest. Kyun smirks and bends down to her. Eyes glued to his face, she leans her head back, so mesmerized by his crimson ones again.
"Don't ever forget who I am, babygirl! I can be your friend..." Grinning, he grabs her chin and moves closer. "Or your worst enemy. I can make you feel alive or drag you down to hell with me! Do you understand?"
His lips are only inches away from her again and she feels her bones aching from the tension in her body. Anya had no idea.
"Y-yes, Kyun..." Her voice is barely audible. "I understand..."
The demon lets go of her and carefully takes the knife out of her hand before throwing it onto the desk. His broad hands wrap around her shoulders and lift her to a sitting position.
"No one said it's going to be easy..." he says in a soft voice and she's startled by his compassion. "And it can't be easy, babygirl, 'cause it's your way out of hell! And I know you enjoy the sex. Even if it's bad sex. I know sex is what makes you feel alive, so would you do me a favor and tell me what's wrong?"
For a long moment, she looks at him. As much as she hates to admit it: He's right. The sex isn't the problem. It never was.
When Anya thought she was going to hell she was so eager to achieve everything she's ever dreamed of. And now with this pressure gone she feels so... empty.
"I'm tired..." she whispers and looks at the ground. Kyun chuckles softly and tucks her hair behind her ear.
"For someone who's so depressed and numb, you hold onto your life pretty tightly..."
"I'm not depressed! Or numb..." Her voice a sharp hiss.
"Yes, you are!" He smirks. "And that's okay. That's why I chose you!"
Her jaw drops. "Chose me?"
What the fuck is that supposed to mean? What the fuck is going on?
Kyun smirks and lets his fingers glide over her cheek again, his eyes caressing her every feature. "I know you a lot better than you think. Probably better than you know yourself..."
"What did you choose me for?" she demands, still completely thrown off guard.
For a long moment he looks at her, eyes unreadable. Then he smiles brightly.
"Life!" With this word, he grabs her hand. "Come on!"
Groaning, she stumbles after him. "Where are we going?"
"Grocery shopping!" He grins over his shoulder. "I need more peaches!"
Bored, Anya pushes the shopping cart through the aisles of the supermarket. It's been a while since she's last done this. Of course it has. It's hard doing the most normal things when fans and paparazzi follow her around all the time.
But the huge store is surprisingly empty, probably because people have better things to do at 10 PM on a Saturday.
Kyun walks next to her, stops every now and then, grabs a few things, and reads the labels, amused, before putting them back.
"This seems like fun to you..." she says after a while and he nods.
"I like to do mundane stuff from time to time!"
She raises her eyebrow at his comment and he sighs.
"Come on! Don't you like it?" he asks and she scoffs, leaning on the shopping cart.
"Grocery shopping? No!"
Kyun seems annoyed that she doesn't enjoy this as much as he does. Anya couldn't care less. It's really not her duty to make him happy.
When they arrive at the huge produce section, his eyes light up excitedly.
"Peaches!"
His love for these things really amuses her and she follows him, smiling, until he stops in front of the fruits.
A loud gasp escapes her throat as he suddenly lifts a few of them and bites into them–and puts the bitten fruit back.
"Kyun!" she hisses and collects the bitten peaches. "For god's sake! Have a little decency, we have to pay for them!"
"But I don't want you to pay for peaches I don't like!" he says nonchalantly and bites into another one of a different brand. "As you know I like them... sweet, soft and..." he smirks at her before he lets his tongue flick over it again. "Juicy!"
Groaning, so annoyed by the way he messes up her head, she snatches the peach from his hand and puts all the ruined fruit into plastic bags.
"And I will be broke soon, if you keep on eating so many peaches! Choose now!"
Kyun doesn't even think about stopping. Instead he keeps on trying peach by peach and Anya asks herself why it's necessary for this store to have a dozen different fucking peach brands!
"Which one do you like the most?" Munching he holds two already bitten peaches in front of her. "Bite!"
Gulping, she looks at him before hesitantly grabbing for his wrist, guiding the fruit to her mouth, and biting into it. She chews it pensively, considering all the criteria he enjoys about them, before she swallows the bite and repeats it with the other one. Kyun grins at her the whole time.
"Talk, babygirl... which one?" His voice is so unnecessarily seductive again. Anya feels herself becoming cocky.
She guides the hand holding the first peach back to her mouth before licking over the parts they both have bitten into. Her eyes are fixed on his the whole time, making quite sure he notices what her tongue is capable of. And there's something in his gaze...
Teasingly slow, she does it with the other peach as well before pointing and the first one. "This one is juicer..."
Kyun smirks. "Good girl! You learn fast!"
He throws the bitten fruits into the plastic bag, collects more from the brand she chose, and puts them into another bag before passing it to her.
Just as she's about to turn to put the bags into the shopping cart, she feels Kyun's hand seizing her jaw a little ungently. Tension rushes through her body and he leans closer.
A passionate moan escapes her throat as his tongue glides over the corner of her mouth.
Fuck!
"Yes!" he smirks and pulls back again. "I like the taste!"
Oh shit!
Anya's eyes dart about the store. Thank god there aren't many people here and the ones who are didn't seem to hear her near-orgasm.
She has a hard time controlling her racing heart and needs an eternity to stabilize her wobbly body.
Every time he does this to her, she feels so weak, as if she'd lost every control over herself. She can't even express what his saliva does to her body. This is driving her insane.
"You coming, babygirl?" Kyun sings from behind her, an amused smirk on his face, and she finally manages to put the bag into the shopping cart. Then they both keep on walking through the aisle as if nothing happened.
"Kyun?"
A little nervous, she chews her bottom lip as she stands in another aisle, waiting for him to finish scrutinizing the shelves. He lifts his head from a package of candy.
"Hm?"
"What... what would happen to you if I stabbed you with that knife?" she asks in a low voice. "I mean you are already dead... what happens to you after?"
Kyun chuckles and puts the candy back into the shelf. "You don't wanna go down that rabbit hole, babygirl. It's like asking a human what comes after death..."
It's kind of disappointing to hear this. She thought supernatural creatures might know more about all this than humans do...
"So there must be theories in the underworld as well...?"
"There are!" He nods and they both keep on walking. "Some say when we get destroyed the good parts of us that are left make it to heaven... others say you're trapped in hell forever with no way of getting out there. Ever..."
So every demon has the right to just... step out of hell if they want to? This sounds a little too easy—if you can ignore the fact that your soul gets tortured for all eternity.
Biting her lip, she looks at him. "What do you think?"
He stops to lift a package of Pop Tarts, sighs, and puts them back. "It would be comforting to believe in the heaven theory..." he says, shrugging. "But I think... there's just... nothing..."
This makes her sad. So he spends a miserable life without the prospect of... something better. Like so many other humans.
"So, you believe in heaven?"
"I've seen hell, babygirl!" Smirking, he looks at her. "Since there's hell, there must be heaven as well, right?"
Their eyes meet and she nods pensively.
"But on the other hand..." He shrugs again. "it's hard to believe a place like heaven exists when you've seen hell... if you get what I mean..."
Again she nods. Still, Anya can't even imagine what he must've seen, witnessed in hell. Something so horrible that it made him lose faith in the good things. No wonder he enjoys grocery shopping so much. For her it's a burden, for him it's probably something that makes him forget about hell... at least for a moment.
"I believe there's a place for you in heaven!" She smiles compassionately at him.
Kyun returns that smile and wraps his arm around her waist while they walk through the store without a destination.
"Perfect proof that you don't know a thing about me, babygirl..."
These words hurt her. She wishes she knew him the way he knows her. Wishes she could read him the way he can read her. But it's nice seeing his deep side from time to time. And she still has seven months—and then maybe even more—with him to find out what exactly happened to him.
Having this thought surprises her. Shouldn't she look forward to getting rid of him again once this is over?