Hey babes.
Here's the next part!
I'd appreciate if you'd vote and if you want to leave some comments, this would make me very happy 🥰
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Part 9: Promises
The time Anya and Kyun spend in this supermarket is surprisingly relaxing for her. Even though there's nothing in her shopping cart yet—besides the peaches.
"You really have to start feeling joy even at this kind of stuff!" Kyun says eventually. "See it as an adventure!"
She huffs a laugh. Of course he says stuff like this. Everything is an adventure when you're from hell.
He looks at her before he grabs her and when Anya realizes what he's up to, she pushes him away. "No, Kyun! Let go of me, KYUN!"
Despite her protest, he lifts her with ease and lowers her into the shopping card, the hard metal rods underneath her pain with every movement. The card is so deep that she feels like a caged animal.
"Kyun!" she hisses and turns her head as he steps behind her. "I'm not a toddler, get me out of—" Just as she's about to pull herself out of it, Kyun shoves it so abruptly that she falls back and groans with pain.
"Kyuuuuuuun," she whines. "Please, I'm not in the mood for this..."
A soft chuckle comes out of him and she hears his voice close to her ear. "Enjoy the ride, babygirl!"
"Kyun! Don't you dare!" She squeals. "Don't you daaaaaaaa—!"
In the middle of her protests, he suddenly begins to run before standing on the axle connecting the wheels and lets it careen through the long aisle at high speed.
Screaming, Anya covers her eyes with her hands, doesn't wanna see what they're about to crash into any minute. Kyun, behind her, laughs out loud.
As if he's standing on a skateboard, he pushes the cart with one foot and it moves even faster.
"KYUN!" Panting, she turns around in that small cart, lifts herself on her knees and grabs his shirt. "Stop this!"
The pain in her knees becomes unbearable, but suddenly a wave of adrenaline rushes through her body, makes her laugh out loud.
"Kyun, please stop!" she giggles into his face while holding tight to him.
"Relax, babygirl!" He jumps on the cart again. "Enjoy it!"
"You're hurting me!" She already knows her knees will be bruised after this.
"Sometimes, fun things have to hurt a little!" He laughs and Anya can't help but join.
Like a playful child, he pilots the shopping cart through the long aisles while she holds onto it for dear life, shooting death threats at Kyun between her screams of amusement.
"Fuck!" he suddenly gasps and his eyes widen. She turns to look over her shoulder.
"Kyuuuuuun!" she yells when she sees a staff member standing in the aisle, trying to stop them.
Kyun's feet abruptly hit the ground and the cart slams to a halt, but apparently he underestimated his strength, because the next thing she feels is the thing flipping over.
A sharp scream escapes her throat and she wraps her arms instinctively around Kyun's shoulders so gravity won't catapult her through the aisle. Kyun didn't seem to see this movement coming, because he somehow loses balance and she rips him to the ground as the shopping card disappears from underneath her.
The next thing she hears is the loud noise of the shopping cart crashing into the shelves and glass shattering on the ground.
Groaning, she moves, feeling the immense pain from the impact with the hard ground underneath her, even though half of her body landed on Kyun.
There's a short moment of silence in which she tries to figure out whether she's dead or alive. Then Kyun's roaring laughter fills the air.
In disbelief, she lifts her head from his chest, sees him lying there, his arms spread wide, his eyes closed.
His laughter sounds so melodic and honest again—and a little lunatic—and for the first time, she notices his cute sharp canine teeth, which almost look like those of a vampire. Anya can't help but ask herself if this is a part of his demonic appearance or if he already had them before he turned into a demon. There's also another thing she notices for the first time: how beautiful he is.
Not in a sexy nor arousing way but in an insanely... human way.
The longer she stares at him and the louder he laughs, the more she can't hold back her own laughter and for something that feels like an eternity, they lay on the floor, laughing as if they'd completely lost their minds. Until the staff's voice rips them back into reality.
"What the fucking hell is wrong with you!"
Still chuckling, Kyun gently pushes her off of him and helps her to her feet.
"Are you okay?" he asks and cups her cheeks. In fact, Anya is so pumped with adrenaline that she has no idea. Her eyes fall on the aisle and the dozens of destroyed bottles and their contents on the floor.
Fuck...
"Wait— oh my god!" the voice from behind them suddenly gasps "It's you! Anya!"
She closes her eyes.
Fuck!
"I got this..." Kyun whispers and turns around to him. Suddenly the worker's eyes widen even more.
"Fuck... Ryan Reynolds? Anya and Ryan Reynolds, oh fuck! I might faint!" he squeals and begins to flounder excitedly.
Confused, she narrows her brows.
Ryan Reynolds? What?
"I'm a huge fan, buddy!" the dude says and hugs Kyun tightly.
Oh. My. Fucking god, he did not.
"Sorry for the mess!" Kyun replies, his voice so sweet and charming, and she's still so confused. To her, he looks like he always does...
"Ah don't worry man, I got this!" The dude smiles and waves aside before his eyes fall on her. "Anya, are you hurt?"
With parted lips she stares at him and the demon, trying to figure out what's going on. Kyun turns his head and gives her a stare that tells her to play along.
So, she smiles, and shakes her head.
"No, I'm fine, thank you! And sorry for this..."
"Yeah..." Kyun says now. "I hope we won't get in trouble...?"
The dude chuckles. "For doing what we secretly all wanna do? Don't worry!"
Anya has been famous for a while now, but she never took advantage of her fame before to get out of a situation like this—not that this was ever necessary.
The dude and Kyun pull the shopping cart back upright before he grabs the peach bags from the ground. "Is this all you wanna buy?"
"Yes!" Kyun smirks but suddenly turns and—wow, what a coincidence that they landed here—takes two bottles of whiskey off the shelf. "Aaand this!"
"Okay!" The dude smiles brightly and takes the products out of Kyun's hands. "I'll bring them to the checkout! Take your time and don't worry about the mess, I'll clean that in a minute!"
"Are you completely insane?" she hisses at Kyun the moment the dude leaves. "You can't walk around with me looking like Ryan Reynolds, man! Do you even know what kind of rumors this can cause?"
Whining, she lays her hands on her cheeks as she remembers that he's married!
Oh fuck.
Oh shit!
"Relax, babygirl!" He chuckles. "I'll talk to Ryan!"
Again, her jaw drops. "Excuse me?"
"Hm?" He lifts his head from another bottle of whiskey. "Oh. We're friends, actually..."
Anya stands there, frozen in complete and utter shock, while Kyun puts the bottle back into the shelf and walks down the aisle.
"WHAT?" she yells and tiptoes over the broken glass and spilled alcohol after him.
"You'd be surprised how many celebs have a connection to hell! And no, he didn't sell his soul!" He smirks and looks at her while they both walk over to the checkout. "I just happen to be friends with him. And he knows that I use his face from time to time—as long as I don't get him into trouble he doesn't mind..."
So many questions. Anya has so many. But at the same time, she knows for a fact that this is something she doesn't wanna hear more about. The truth would destroy her on so many levels.
"Okay... But you have to explain this! To Blake as well! I don't wanna be the reason that his marriage—"
"Chill!" He groans, annoyed and amused at the same time. "I will!"
For a moment they both walk in silence until she remembers something.
"Wait!" She grabs his arm and stops him.
"Is this also what you did to the waitress? Shifted into a celeb? Is this the reason she went to the liquor store?"
Kyun tilts his head and bites his lip, apparently to hide his grin. "Maybe..."
"Who?" she whispers, almost choking on her rage, and pulls him by his shirt down to her, "Who did you turn into?"
Again he remains silent for a moment.
"Timothée Chalamet..."
He can't be serious!
"Kyuuuun!" She lets go of him and buries her face in her hands again.
Not him. Not Hollywood's latest sweetheart.
"You have to be careful with this! I can't afford a scandal, okay?"
"Why?" Kyun asks and looks down at her.
"Why?" she asks in disbelief and whines again. "Becaaaause!"
So frustrated that he doesn't seem to get her issue with this, she stomps her foot to the ground and groans loudly. This dude will be her downfall. She knows that!
Suddenly he grabs her by her arms and pulls her closer to him. "Babygirl. For so many years now you've been trying to please everyone. No one knows about all the sex you have and besides your sexy shows, you're such a good girl to the public. The perfect girl next door! But this is also the reason you're so numb! Because you stopped doing fun stuff, too scared to piss people off!" His voice is so deep, and—she could be completely wrong but—it sounds like there's a little spark of desperation in it. "Piss people off, babygirl! Live!" he almost pleads and she goes rigid.
He's right. He's right again. Ever since she's started her career she's been running around on eggshells. She was hiding, avoiding situations that could cause trouble, too scared that if she didn't play along with what the people want her to be, she might lose them. Lose the fame, lose everything.
It was fun going out tonight again. Even if it's just the grocery store. It was fun not to think about consequences...
"You were so damn close to going to hell! Promise me that you'll use your new life to live!"
Chewing her bottom lip, she looks up to Kyun. He tilts his head to the side, smirking at her.
Damn smirk.
"Fine..." She sighs, defeated. "but I wanna go home now..."
"We will!" he says, lays his arm around her shoulder, and pulls her down the aisle to the checkout. "But not before you've paid for my peaches and booze!"
"Would you please look like your normal self again now?" Anya snaps as she and Kyun walk through the parking lot to her car.
"Chill!" he says and smirks. "I already am!"
It's not only that he shifts into different people all the time that bothers her—the fact that she doesn't even notice it, that's the worst!
The way the employee behaved while they were paying made her so angry at Kyun again. She can't believe this demon.
"So frustrating..." she mumbles under her breath and Kyun pulls her closer.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" she says, and pushes his hand off of her. "I'm just—"
"Anya!"
The sudden sound of her name makes her turn her head. For a long moment she stares at the person, taking a moment to recognize him in the dim light of the parking lot.
A sharp squeal escapes her throat. "Oh my god, Wonho!"
With bouncy steps, she walks up to him. His broad arms close tight around her and he lifts her and spins her around. "It's so great to see you!"
"So great to see you too!" She chuckles after he puts her back on her feet. "How are you doing? I haven't seen you at my shows in so long!"
Usually, Anya doesn't notice when people aren't coming—of course she doesn't. She has too many fans to remember every face in the crowd. But this fan is a very special one. She would even call him her most precious. He's one of those fans that actually became something like a friend over the past years.
"Ah yeah, I know..." He pouts. "I've been so busy lately, my job is killing me and—"
His eyes fall on Kyun as he appears next to them. "Hey, Coop! Nice to see you!"
They both shake hands and she's so relieved Kyun managed to think and shifted into your manager instead of... Jackson Wang or some other ridiculous combo.
"Coop, you remember him, right?" She throws a warning gaze at Kyun. "That's Wonho... one of my biggest fans..."
"Oh yeah!" Kyun nods. "Yeah totally. Good to see you too!"
Wonho smiles brightly and looks at her. "I promise I'll be at the next show! I really miss the whole feeling of your concerts!"
"You don't have to!" She takes his hand. "I just missed you, that's all!"
For a long moment, they look at each other. It's funny how a fan can become so important to her... and he became even broader since the last time she saw him. Jesus.
"Okay!" Wonho claps his hands. "Gotta go! I promise I'll be back soon! Have a great night, Anya! Coop!"
He hugs her tightly before he turns and walks to the sliding doors of the supermarket.
"He doesn't look like a fanboy..." Kyun mumbles as they watch him leave.
She nods. "He's a huge animal in the finance world, so he definitely keeps his fanboying lowkey. He spends a lot of the money he makes to meet me! He's so charming and sweet, and —"
"Hot!"
It's true. He really is hot. His huge, muscular body is definitely the first thing people notice. But that's not the reason she likes him so much...
"Yes, but his heart is so much bigger than his muscles and—"
"Yeah, sure, babygirl!" Kyun scoffs. "You only want his heart!"
It pains her that he thinks this way. Wonho actually is important to her. Maybe it's because she barely has friends, so her fans somehow have a bigger place in her heart because of it.
"Babygirl!" Kyun suddenly says. He seizes her shoulders and turns her body to face him. "I want him! I want his soul!"
Her eyes widen. "No!" she gasps. "No! I won't send my most precious fan to hell, forget it!"
The idea alone! How can he ask for something like this?
"But I want him! His soul is the purest I've ever seen!" Kyun grabs her chin, forces her to look at him. "Remember when I told you some souls are more valuable?" he asks and his eyes light up reddish. "This is one! Babygirl, I want him!"
Anya has never seen so much greed in the demon's eyes.
She turns her head in the direction Wonho disappeared. "But he's so cute..."
"Five souls!" he says. "He's worth five souls for me!"
Five souls! Wonho is definitely worth more than that!
"Ten!"
"Seven!"
"Deal!" she hears herself say, blurting the word before he can change his mind again.
Shit.
This still doesn't feel right...
Sighing, she turns her head back to the supermarket. Wonho has always been so sweet and gentle with her. This hurts her. And at the same time, she can't help but think what a chance this is. Getting seven people off the list by sleeping with one... And one who looks like that.
"You're such a good girl, babe!" Kyun whispers into her ear and her lower abdomen throbs again. Her praising-kink kicks so hard every time he talks to her like this. "You're collecting such great souls for me. With him down there... gosh, I'm sure never before did a demon collect someone like him..."
As much as Anya hates to admit it, seeing Kyun this happy about the soul... does something to her. This urge to satisfy this demon makes her forget about right and wrong. Makes her forget about how horrible her actions actually are. She simply doesn't care.
She turns her head to him, smirking. "Well, I'm sure you'll find a way to reward me then!"
Kyun wraps his hand around her neck and pulls her closer, so close that she feels his breath on her face. His scent of ebony and peaches caress her senses.
"I will! Steal his soul and I'll give you everything you want from me..." He lets his thumb glide over her lips and smirks. "Except your freedom, of course..."
"Wonho!" Anya calls when she spots him standing in one of the aisles. He turns his head, his brows raised.
"Anya? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
This. This is the reason she likes him so much. He always cares about her well-being.
Quickly, she shakes her head. "No, don't worry! I was just..."
The young artist takes a deep breath.
Wonho narrows his brows and suddenly takes her hand. "You seem tense, princess. Are you alright?"
Fuck. Can't he just stop being so damn caring for one second?
"Yes, I am! I just miss you a lot and I wanted to ask if you... would like to meet...?"
His hand slips off her and his eyes widen another time. "You... you mean unofficially? Just... Just you and me?"
His reaction makes her even more insecure. Maybe that's a sign. Maybe she should just... leave.
"This was probably a bad idea! I'm sorry! Have a great night!"
Just when she's about to turn, she feels him grabbing her wrist. "Wait! What makes you think I wouldn't want that? I'm just... out of all your fans... why me?"
Because your soul is so pure that Kyun wants you bad... and I need a way out of this deal...
Sighing, she shrugs. "I don't know... I kinda need... a friend?"
Wonho looks at her for a long moment, as if he's trying to read her real intentions. Then he smiles. "I'd love to. It's actually an honor to meet you... tomorrow?"
Anya nods. "Sounds great. Give me your number!" She passes him her phone. "I'll text you the address!"
"Babygirl..." Kyun says. He waits, leaning against her car, as she trudges back up to him. "I suggest you stop worrying so much if you want this to work. You have to sleep with thirty-six more dudes! This will destroy you if you start letting it get to you..."
Throwing a death-stare at him, she opens the car door. Usually, she really doesn't care because her victims were strangers. Wonho is not!
"I'm sure you'll be the one that destroys me."
She feels Kyun's eyes on her as she gets into the car. Before she can close the door, he catches it and holds it open.
"You could've said no to that deal!" he groans. "You could've just gone to hell! No one is forcing you to sleep with Wonho, okay? But forty-three dudes sounds better to me than fifty! You should show some gratitude from time to time, especially when you think about what all this means for me if something goes wrong!"
So distracted by her thoughts, Anya needs a moment for the words to sink in. Her eyes dart up to him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
For a long moment, he looks at her, his expression as unreadable as usual, so hard to see through. "Forget it. Can you please stop being mad at me now and like me again?"
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah..." he sighs. "Kind of takes the fun out of things when you're all salty and give me those looks and the silent treatment... come out? Please!"
With a soft gaze, he holds his hand out to her. Sighing, she takes it and lets him pull her out of the car. She leans against it as he takes a step closer.
"I already told you a few hours ago that I know this isn't easy! But remember why you're doing this! Babygirl!" His hands carefully settle around her cheeks and she feels her knees becoming weak under his touch. "I know it's hard for you to picture hell... I mean, how could you even imagine? And I know you feel bad but, this is such a small thing compared to what you'd face otherwise..."
With a dry mouth, she looks into his crimson eyes. The more often he mentions hell, the more she wants to know...
"Will you tell me about it? Someday? About who you are and what happened to you?"
"Maybe one day I will..." he says and tries to smile. But she can see it in his face that the prospect of talking about this is just as hard a task for him as sleeping with Wonho is for her...
"Come here!"
To her utter surprise, he suddenly wraps his arms around her and pulls her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry that I have to make you do this. But this is your only way out..."
"I know..." she breathes against his neck, not even ashamed of how fast she clings to him, and how much she enjoys this hug even though she's almost one hundred percent sure he's only doing this to manipulate her again. It works. As usual, it works perfectly. Anya feels so safe in this demon's arms.
So dangerously safe...