I didn't want this one to be completely plot-related buuuut it turned out that way. I know it's long but trust me when I said it was nearly longer 🤡 I cut out an idea where Jackson, Lay and Jinyoung babysit San, but I seriously didn't want this to be over 8,000 words. So who knows, maybe I'll finish that when the story is over.

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"Wooyoung and I are going out, I'll see you later!" Just before San flew away, he gave his two father's a peck on the cheek and then a wide grin. The smiles remained on their faces, even as their son walked out the door, his arm wrapped around Wooyoung's waist.

Hongjoong finally sighed, leaning against Seonghwa, who was sitting on the couch. He chuckled at him and wrapped his arm around the smaller, bringing him closer. "Something on your mind?" He asked, to which his husband shrugged.

"Do you ever just feel like he's growing up too fast?" Seonghwa chuckled once again and then nodded.

"Every day...He used to be so tiny. Just our adorable little ball of chaos...he's grown up so much since then..." Both demons jutted their lips out at such a thought. San was seventeen now, when they found him, he was merely five years old.

"Don't say it like that," Groaned Hongjoong. "You're going to make me feel old..." Seonghwa rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath about he technically was old. Not that Hongjoong wanted to hear that.

"Do remember when we first found him?"

"How could I forget...?"

------------------------------

It was a normal day in the Park-Kim household:

"Shit, Joong!"

"F-Faster Hwa!"

"Ah...Ah!"

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Both parents sat on the ground, tired beyond belief as light giggles echoed through their Victorian house. A small child, the age of five, appeared in front of the couple, laughing at their pathetic state.

Chunks of their expensive furniture had been melted off, chairs and tables rolled through the air of the dining room, faces on paintings became distorted and just about everything in sight was scratched or turned over. The house was an absolute wreck.

All while the young boy clapped his hands with nothing but excitement. "Again, again!" He cheered, attempting to pull his exhausted parents to their feet.

Hongjoong couldn't even bring himself to shake his head. "Not again Sannie, daddy and father are too tired." That definitely wasn't the response the child wanted to hear.

His little face contorted into a frown, his lip trembling in a way that made Seonghwa's eyes go wide. "Oh jeez, DUCK!"

"AGAIN!" The older demons were thrown against the wall when a harsh shockwave went flying from the toddler's body, sending everything back with it. San giggled at the destruction, clutching his stomach while bearing a bright grin whilst his two father's groaned.

"My house..." Whimpered Seonghwa at the pure wreckage that was the state of their living room. If this is what was going to be normal from now on, both demons were sure they'd die early.

So...How did this happen? How did Hongjoong and Seonghwa end up parenting a chaos demon who found nothing but joy in destroying their house and watching them race to fix it, only to then wreck it once again?

The two demons had been living a rather peaceful life since they got married. They had their spats here and there but over the last century, they had been feeling extremely comfortable. They even built a house together, filled it with objects and secrets that made it feel like home while they simply enjoyed each other's presence. Things were going great.

Which is probably how they ended up in this situation.

While Seonghwa was out in town searching for...accessories for his husband, he came across something odd. A strange aroma that made his senses twitch. Instinctively, he followed it. Truth be told, he expected to just find a chaos demon on high. The last thing on Seonghwa's mind was: "A child...?" Sure enough, there was a small boy in front of him, floating through the air. It was towards the back of a few buildings where people tended to throw out their trash, so he was surrounded by piles of garbage. Everything around him was either scorched, distorted or downright broken.

His little face was covered with dirt and dried tears. Seonghwa could only wonder what he had been crying for.

The child must've noticed Seonghwa's presence because the moment he was within a few feet of him, everything around the child fell - including the kid himself. Seonghwa gasped and quickly rushed to grab him before he hit the ground. The little demon giggled and cradled up to him, grabbing a hold of his neck for support. Seonghwa was understandably taken aback by how quickly he warmed up to him but that didn't stop him from cooing. "You're so cute! But what are you doing out here..." He read the name tag on the child's chest. "San?" He read aloud in curiosity. Glancing around, Seonghwa couldn't see anyone else nor did he feel the energy of other demons.

That was how he ended up taking San home. "What do you mean you just found him?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Of course, when relying this discovery to his spouse, Seonghwa was met with severe scepticism from the other. Hongjoong ran his hands down his face in, reasonable, disapproval.

"Seonghwa...Did you steal this child?" He asked in regards to the tiny demon now playing in the drapes of their living room windows. Seonghwa was offended by such an accusation but it was pretty understandable.

Hongjoong gently took the child into his arms, facing no opposition from him. After all, he was strangely trusting. He had to admit, Hongjoong found him adorable as he gently pushed back his black-red hair to see his tiny horns poking out of his head. A dimpled smile on his face when he grinned.

With care, he brushed off the smudges of dirt on his cheeks, hoping that the least they could do was clean him up later.

"Hwa, we can't just keep him. Most demons have never even seen a child before, we don't even know what one needs! How are we meant to take care of him?" He was hardly moved by the pout Seonghwa gave him yet felt his heart clench at the way San looked up at him with his big, innocent eyes.

But Hongjoong refused to be swayed.

"No no no! No! We need to return him to containment."

It turns out, San doesn't like that word very much.

The child's face scrunched into a scowl, his body beginning to shake in Hongjoong's arms. "NO!" His voice alone sent Hongjoong flying towards the bookshelf, leaving San levitating angrily. Though his face melted into a smile when he saw the redhead on the ground, laying in pure shock.

Seonghwa was quick to snatch San and cradle the child back into his arms, watching his husband get up. He opened his mouth to speak but- "No."

"But-"

"No! He's a child and he's a chaos demon! That's too much Seonghwa!"

Seonghwa rolled his eyes while he comfortably adjusted the smiling demon in his arms. "Oh please, you don't know true pain until you've had to see your husband wear a mullet for five years..."

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad! Besides, you said you liked it..."

"I lied." He walked off without another word, leaving his husband with his mouth agape. Seonghwa took San upstairs and let him wander down the vast hallway. They had so many rooms that they hardly ever used, outside of the occasional guest of course. It was time they put their obscenely large house to good use. "Why don't you pick a room Sannie?"

A bright grin appeared on the child's face and he excitedly began zooming up and down while Seonghwa tried his best to keep up with him. He had to admit, the kid was pretty fast. After peeking his head through several doors, San finally pointed to the one he wanted. Seonghwa hummed at his choice, nodding in approval. "Then it's all yours Sannie."

"Hold on just a moment," San beamed when he saw Hongjoong coming towards them. He wrapped his tiny hands around Hongjoong's larger ones and pointed to the room in excitement.

"Look look!" He exclaimed. "Mommy let me have this room!" Hongjoong stifled a laugh at the name, making Seonghwa glare at him.

"Mommy, huh? Alright then." San let go of him and started to run around the room, trying to look for whatever secrets he could in its corners. While Hongjoong stood next to his husband, watching the scene with a sigh.

"Hongjoong..."

"I know, I'll think about it." Seonghwa beamed brightly, wrapping his arms around his waist and snuggling behind him. Hongjoong grinned at him, then stroked his face, knowing that he liked to be pet. "You're so sweet, aren't you, Mommy." Hongjoong expected nothing less when Seonghwa hummed in his ear, pure satisfaction in his tone. "New kink?" He questioned.

Seonghwa shrugged at him. "Regardless, I'm not letting him call me that. You on the other hand~" Immediately, Hongjoong pushed him away, just before he could finish his thought, leaving Seonghwa to pout in the hallway.

Hongjoong crouched down next to San and grinned. "Sannie, how do you feel about staying here a little while? At least until we- Whoa!" He didn't even get to finish his sentence before San jumped into his arms, knocking him back and nodding excitedly. Seonghwa chuckled, shaking his head with a grin.

"Alright, then it's settled. But we'll have to set some ground rules first." The child got off of Hongjoong and sat crossed legged, looking up at Seonghwa attentively. "Number one, don't go anywhere without telling us. We should be able to see you at all cost. Number two, never go into the basement."

"What's in there?" San asked.

"Adult things," Hongjoong told him, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Number three, that's Daddy," Seonghwa pointed to Hongjoong, the younger rolling his eyes. "And I'm Father." San nodded, repeating the titles under his breath while looking between the two older demons. "And...I think that's it. Hongjoong?"

"Nothing else I can think of," The fire demon scooped San into his arms, the boy giggling. "Welcome to the family, Park-Kim San."

Just to make things official, the trio stood outside their house, facing the front door. Years ago, before marriage, Hongjoong and Seonghwa had carved their initials into the frames of the door. K.H.J and P.S.H. Now, it was time to add a new one. P.K.S For Park-Kim San. After much trial and faulty independence from the child, they managed to put his name just under the others. A sight they would be sure to cherish in the future.

At first, things were fine. Not easy, but manageable. The couple had to decorate the room themselves since children's objects or toys weren't necessarily a thing but they managed and they even let San help paint the walls. Hongjoong had also sewn the boy a little toy dog, which San cutely named 'Shiber' and carried wherever he went.

Things were definitely interesting with a child in the house. For one, they, particularly Seonghwa, had to watch themselves whenever San was near since he had a sneaky habit of coming into their room whenever he pleased, managing to unlock the door every time. Safe to say that neither of the older demons had a chance to be alone in quite some time. San constantly wanted to see both of them at once and if one of them so much as went to the bathroom, he would get teary-eyed, desperately trying to find them.

The real challenge came with San's powers. Being a chaos demon, he found nothing but glee in the dysfunction and destruction of the things around him. Nothing brought a bigger smile to his face than when something was burned or someone fell. All San needed to do was sit in a room, and things would go haywire. It was torture for Seonghwa especially. Every time he would clean something, he would turn around to find it destroyed the next moment.

There were also times when San wouldn't do anything at all. Like he was afraid to so much as lift a finger. These moments would never last long, but they were still worrying.

Nevertheless, Seonghwa and Hongjoong had a new addition to the family and they wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

Once again, it was a normal day in the Park-Kim household. For the most part, it was nothing out of the ordinary, Hongjoong was playing make-believe with San and Seonghwa was aggressively scrubbing down his burnt stairwell. The dark demon had always been a neat person but raising San had amped it to a whole new level. Every day, something new was broken or became dirtied and he refused to become complacent with any sort of mess.

So Hongjoong made the effort to keep their son distracted whilst Seonghwa went on his cleaning sprees. Even if he knew it was all in vain. For the moment San was done playing he'd rush to find his father and inevitably ruin the newly polished environment.

As he scrubbed, Seonghwa was interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. He rose his brow, wondering who would be here at this time and shuffled over to see. "Oh! Jinyoung?"

Sure enough, the older demon of darkness stood in front of him, a sweet smile resting on his pale face. Just before he entered, Seonghwa told him to remove his shoes in fear of tracking dirt into the house, earning a chuckle from the other. "When did you become such a neat freak?" He questioned, complying with the younger's rules anyway.

"You try raising a chaos demon and see what it does to you." This blunt statement was met with confusion from Jinyoung. Confusion that was sure to be cured when a little ball of energy came spiralling down the stairs, practically burning through the steps with each step he took. Seonghwa could feel his eye twitch at the sight yet plastered a smile on his face when San ran into his arms. "Hi Sannie. Did you have fun with Daddy?"

"Yeah! He let me ride on his back and we got to fly like airpanes!" He giggled.

"They're called airplanes, sweetheart." Hongjoong came behind him soon after, floating to avoid the newly made holes in their staircase. He greeted Seonghwa with a kiss, promising that he would fix it later. Seemingly forgetting that Jinyoung had been standing there the entire time.

"In the Devil's name..." His mutter brought the other's attention to him. Never in his life had Jinyoung seen a demon so...tiny! And utterly adorable for that matter.

San's eyes went wide, immediately stretching his hands out with the sudden urge to be in the arms of this complete stranger. Jinyoung's limbs suddenly went forward, unconsciously grabbing the child and cradling him. While San simply giggled at the shock on his face, both of his father's sighed.

"Sorry about him, Jinyoung," Mumbled Seonghwa. "Best keep your mind on guard, we're trying to teach him not to take over people's bodies without permission, but it's taking a bit for it to sink in..."

"It's alright!" Replied Jinyoung, the smile remaining on his face. He shifted San in his grip, just so it would be more comfortable for the both of them. "But...Seonghwa...Did you steal this fledgeling?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Hongjoong shook his head, rubbing the older demon's back. San, getting bored of the conversation, floated away from the trio. Hongjoong made sure to glance his way occasionally, just to make sure he wasn't causing any trouble. "I'll explain everything to you later," Seonghwa promised his friend. "I've got to go clean up what's left of my staircase..." The thought of the newly deformed item made him exhale with frustration, yet he carried on anyway.

That left Jinyoung and Hongjoong alone. Joy.

"You'd better be treating him right," Growled Jinyoung in regards to the demon who had walked off. His sudden shift in persona would catch most people off guard but by now, Hongjoong was completely used to it. He had been like this ever since he and Seonghwa started dating.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I am."

"Might want to check that aggression as well, Hongjoong. Wouldn't want that fledgeling to get a fright, now would you?" Their eyes trailed towards San, who was contently minding his own business, tossing Shiber in the air. "Cute. Hope he never finds out what you do for a living."

Hongjoong's teeth bared, accompanied by a hostile sneer in Jinyoung's direction. The only reason he never snapped this man's neck was because he was one of Seonghwa's best friends. They knew each other well. A little too well.

"Don't tell him a thing," He snapped. "Scare him, or do anything to Seonghwa and I'll rip you a new one!"

"Oh please, you'll do all of that yourself. The only reason Seonghwa didn't leave you before is because you got yourself together just before he lost patience and you can satisfy his weird kinks. Had it been just a little longer, and he'd still be in my bed."

Fury was all the redhead felt. His hair flared brighter than the Sun, his eyes glowing aggressively. Jinyoung was never one to back down from a fight and matched his undoubtedly violent attitude by whitening out his eyes completely. The shadows in the room waiting at his beck and call.

Then tension in the room was definitely paupilbe and San noticed it within seconds. He tilted his head to the side, examining the scene his brows furrowed. He wondered what was about to happen and who was bound to strike first. Little did he know that the scene he played in his head was about to come to fruition when the eyes of the older demon's began to glow with a deep purple. Yet neither seemed to notice.

Their harsh gazes only remained focussed on one another.

Seonghwa, happy with the way he managed to remove the melted wood, dusted his hands off. He thought back to the others and realised that he didn't like the thought of leaving them all in a room together. With that, he turned around to be interrupted by-

BOOM

He dashed back to the living room, eyes going wide with confusion and then fury at what he witnessed. Ignoring the fact that the two demons had practically blown each other up - the living room looked dreadful. San was floating just over everything and for once, he could say that it wasn't technically his fault. Seonghwa's eyes travelled to his son, who pointed to Jinyoung and Hongjoong.

The redhead groaned, slowly moving himself up. He got himself ready to growl at the older demon but halted when he noticed Seonghwa standing over him. He was livid. "Hwa-"

"CLEAN THIS HOUSE UNTIL IT SHINES!" He bellowed, everyone wincing at his immense volume.

"Oh come on Hwa," Jinyoung pleaded. "Could you at least say it nicely?"

Seonghwa pursed his lips at him. "Fine. This house entire building had better be so clean, I could eat it off my husband's ass." Hongjoong could have sworn he choked and Jinyoung was speechless.

Thankfully, San didn't seem to understand what he meant and simply floated down towards him. "Father, what's ass?" He asked innocently.

"Don't worry about it, baby. Come on, let's go give you a bath."

------------------------------

Hongjoong sighed. He washed the blood off his hands in disgust. This was the third time he had slipped up and now another human was dead. He was angry with himself for getting so carried away again. Every day, he felt more and more remorse towards the humans he tortured. He was trained to be emotionless and to ignore their cries yet now they started to haunt him. He would go harder every time just to get them to stay quiet, but some would never speak again. Leaving behind nothing but a corpse for him to clean up.

Hongjoong felt only disgust and regret each time. Why was this happening?

"Hongjoong?" Seems his irritation would have to wait. He glanced up with a hum to see Hoseok standing there.

"What's wrong, Hobi?" He questioned, noticing the sweat running down the older's cheek. Hoseok gulped, looking down for a moment. It made Hongjoong worried. "Hoseok...?"

"T-The...The boss wants to see you..."

Hongjoong scoffed. "I wouldn't call Jinyoung our boss."

"No, not Jinyoung...The devil." Hongjoong froze. His eyes went wide but he didn't see any hints of humour on Hoseok's face. As much as he wanted to question what he had done wrong, the redhead didn't stand around for long though. Hongjoong knew better than to keep the devil waiting.

His finger trembled towards the highest button on the elevator. It was bright red, practically warning people not to touch. Yet when Hongjoong did, it was like all life had been sucked out of him. Surely that must be what it felt like to have your soul taken...

What did he do wrong? Was it about the killings? Quicker than he was hoping, he was on the very top floor of the building. He shuffled towards the large double doors guarded by two centaurs. The burly creatures glared down at him, huffing one they had examined the small demon. To his surprise, they moved right by for him, allowing him to enter with no conflict.

Hongjoong gulped. Faced with a dark desk and a chair turned towards the massive windows overlooking all of Hell, he spoke. "Y-Y-You w-wanted t-t-to see me, s-sir?" Mentally, he cursed himself for stuttering, but who wouldn't? He was meeting with the devil of course.

The chair finally swung around, revealing a tall man with silver hair, deep, glowing red eyes, and a dimpled smile. His wings were the things that intrigued Hongjoong the most. Unlike Hoseok's or other winged demons, his seemed like they were of another world. While others were simply black and feathery, the Devil's looked burnt. Once something elegant and otherworldly was now broken and damaged. "Please, call me Namjoon."

"N-Namjoon?" The Devil smiled at him then stood to his feet. His seven-foot figure easily dwarfed the younger demon when he made his way over.

"Relax," He said in his deep, soothing voice. "Can I get you a drink?" Hongjoong shook his head, still avoiding eye contact. Namjoon shrugged. He poured himself a glass anyway, then passed one to Hongjoong.

"I-Is there a r-reason you called me here?"

Namjoon chuckled at him, shaking his head at the way he stuttered. "Adorable. Who would've thought rediscovering one's emotions would give them such a cute stutter. I find it funny." Hongjoong wasn't necessarily sure what to say. He, however, was rather surprised that the Devil had noticed his less frigid attitude. Well, he supposed it would be pretty obvious since, other than Hoseok, all others who worked in the torture chamber were rather void of emotion.

"Alright, I'll get straight to the point. You and your husband have recently come into possession of a child, is that correct?" Hongjoong nodded at him. The Devil strutted over to him and the smaller went stiff when Namjoon rose his glass to his lips, signalling him to open his mouth. "I told you to relax, didn't I?" He smirked in satisfaction when the younger male took a sip obediently. "Good boy."

The Devil then led Hongjoong over to his couch. He placed him down while Namjoon sat on the armchair right across from it. "That child," He continued. "Do you plan on keeping him?"

Hongjoong was slightly bewildered by the question but didn't hesitate to answer back. "Yes sir, Seonghwa and I intend to raise him with the help of a few friends..." The Devil hummed at him. "If you don't mind me asking...h-how does this concern you?" The redhead's breath hitched at what he just asked. How could he just question the Devil like that?

"You dare question me?" Yet he wasn't angry. He wasn't even irritated. In fact, there was a smirk on Namjoon's face as he leaned in closer to the smaller demon. As if he were entertained.

"How cute. The concerns of my demons are concerns of mine as well. I was notified that a child managed to escape containment, which doesn't usually happen. I won't force you to return him, Hongjoong. However, I will be checking on him from time to time and I'll be doing so whenever I please. Any objections?"

The younger shook his head which made Namjoon's sly grin grow. He made his way over to Hongjoong, making his breath halt once again. He gently caressed his chin then whispered in his ear: "You're free to leave," his warm breath ran down Hongjoong's neck causing him to shiver. "Unless you'd rather spend some time here with me?"

"N-No thank you, sir!" Hongjoong got up as quickly as he could, bowed towards the Devil and practically sprinted out the room.

Namjoon chuckled to himself. He gazed towards the ceiling, his smirk growing. "I know you saw that you bastard..."

------------------------------

"W-What?!" The knife slammed on the chopping block, Seonghwa turning to his husband in pure disbelief. Hongjoong had just finished recounting what happened at work, intentionally leaving out the Devil's flirtatious actions towards him, knowing full well that Seonghwa wouldn't hesitate to storm down there and smack him across the face. "Does...Does that mean he'll be coming here? W-When? What time? For how long?"

"Babe, calm down..." Hongjoong gently took Seonghwa's hands after he moved the knife away. He cupped his face, giving him a genuine smile, making sure he stayed calm. "It's not a punishment and he won't be taking Sannie away from us. This is the first time something like this has ever happened and he just wants to make sure we're doing the right thing. We'll be fine."

Seonghwa sniffed, nodding slowly at him. "Promise?"

The younger stood on his tip-toes to place a soft kiss on Seonghwa's forehead. Seonghwa giggled at this action, finally smiling down at Hongjoong. "I promise," He felt a hand snake around his waist and was pulled closer to his husband, Seonghwa smirking at him. Just before he leaned in to kiss him, a finger was pushed to his puckered lips. "Nah-ah ah," Hongjoong said in a teasing manner. "Finish making dinner first."

The older held him tighter when Hongjoong tried to spin out of his grasp. "It'll be quick!"

Unconvinced, Hongjoong simply replied with: "No it won't," making Seonghwa pout. "Besides, I want to check on Sannie. Where is he?"

Seonghwa nodded towards the stairs. "He's taking a nap," He said. "He was asking about you, you know? He doesn't like it when you go off to work every day." Hongjoong cooed lightly. He didn't like being away from San either. All he wanted was to make sure the two people he loved the most were safe at all times. "I don't like it either..." Continued Seonghwa, leaning against Hongjoong's shoulder.

This time, he rolled his eyes but still grinned nevertheless. "I'll make it up to you..." the suggestive look Hongjoong gave Seonghwa made his eyes grow dark. The older's smirk returned to his face as he moved towards Hongjoong's neck, making him shudder.

"You'd better baby boy, I'll be waiting." The younger whipped around but Seonghwa had already teleported back towards the cutting board. He sighed, biting the inside of his cheek to help suppress the urge to think about what Seonghwa would do to him later. Instead focusing on travelling to San's room.

No sooner than he entered the hallway, however, did Hongjoong begin to feel something strange take over his body. His brow furrowed, seeing the things on the wall begin to shift and swerve into living creatures and monsters. He barely moved before they came screaming and flying at him all at once. He threw up his hands in defence but they all just...disappeared.

In confusion, his eyes shifted towards the paintings. They were completely normal.

Hongjoong, not wanting to get tricked by any more illusions, raced to check on his son, suddenly desperate to see if he was okay.

Yet when he swung the door open, all Hongjoong saw was San staring out the window, his expression completely blank. He didn't even turn when his father entered. "Sannie? Are you alright?"

The boy still didn't look at him. Hongjoong kneeled beside him and slowly moved him towards him. His face dropped at the dull look in his eyes - there was nothing there. Hardly a sign of life insight. It was as if he was soulless. "Daddy?" He muttered suddenly. Hongjoong hummed at him, glad he was at least speaking. "Do you hear voices?"

"What do you mean, baby?"

"I always hear people telling me what to do but...there's no one there. They're always yelling at me and telling me that I'm bad...I want them to stop but I don't know where they're coming from..." Uncertainty was written all over Hongjoong's face, unsure of what to say. He had overheard briefly from Jackson that he suffered from a similar problem and how utterly painful it could be. If the same was happening to San, then they would need to make it stopped as soon as possible.

"What kind of things are they saying to you Sannie?" Inquired Hongjoong, carefully pulling the child into his lap. San still didn't look at him, instead keeping his face lowered towards his now trembling hands.

"Th-They're saying that I-I'm bad a-and that I should just die...They said that you and father don't want me and that y-you'll take me back to..." San stopped. His purple eyes flickered, likely in irritation with himself for even thinking of that place. "You're mad at me because you go away and father doesn't like me anymore... They said I should kill myself and they told me how..."

Every single alarm in Hongjoong's head was going crazy. The lights above the pair flickered above them as San's head slowly turned to his father. The child's lip twitched upwards before he fell into an instant fit of tears. "D-Daddy...I'm scared!" He threw himself into Hongjoong's arms.

"Seonghwa!" His husband teleported into the room in seconds. His eyes went wide at the crying child and desperately asked what had happened. "Call Jackson."

"What? Why? What happened?"

"I'll explain later. Just call him...please..."

------------------------------

Why call Jackson Wang of all people? Well, as shocking as it was to anyone with a decent amount of sense, Jackson worked at the containment centre. Not as an officer, but helping the children. His laid back personality apparently made it easier for them to learn from him. If anyone could help them understand what was going on with San, it would be the chaos demon himself.

It was thirty minutes before Jackson finally arrived. The entire time they tried to get San to speak to them, tell them what was going on in his head yet the child never responded. All he did was clutch Shiber as if his life depended on it. "What took you so long?" Shouted Seonghwa irritably, though he lowered his tone immediately when he saw the way San cowered.

"Give me a break, traffic was hectic. What was so important that you had to..." The demon trailed off when he finally noticed the small child in Hongjoong's arms. He squinted at San, looking over him with concern. "Number 11769? How in the world did you-"

"That's not important," Interrupted Hongjoong. "We just need you to help him."

"Hwa?" Seonghwa looked up at him, his eyes pleading him to do something while he stroked San's hair. Jackson sighed and finally gave in. His lips pursed, scanning over the child curiously. There didn't seem to be anything wrong. At least, that's what he thought.

It took a moment, but he noticed the way San twitched when he got too close, baring his teeth at the older demon. Raising his brow, Jackson got closer, if only to see his reaction. Big mistake. As their eyes met, an odd feeling hit Jackson's body. His eye jerked but didn't look away, while both Seonghwa and Hongjoong watched anxiously.

It was as if watching an intense staring competition. Hongjoong flinched back and pulled San away when Jackson's eyes suddenly started to roll behind his head. "What the hell Jackson!" He shouted as San giggled in his arms.

"Agh...Sorry..." He shook his head. "Staring probably wasn't the best thing to do. That's one strong kid you got there."

"What do you mean?" Asked Seonghwa.

"San was put under... um...special curvaliance," Jackson explained carefully, as not to worry them further. "He's got a few quirks here and there but it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed. Until he escaped, that is. What you're holding is an untamed chaos demon."

"Is that a bad thing...?" It was a question Jackson couldn't necessarily answer. Containment existed so that they could be tamed after all, and they didn't seem too keen on sending him back. So all the eldest demon could do was shrug, a very unhelpful answer to the two parents.

"Where the hell did you even find this kid?" It was a poor attempt to change the topic of conversation but the other two went along with it regardless.

"By a dumpster."

"By a- SEONGHWA!" Though San whimpered at his loud voice, his expression quickly switched when he realised that Jackson had shouted at Seonghwa. His head snapped forward, teeth bared with a deep and aggressive growl rumbling in his throat. Jackson was more intrigued than frightened. He was only a child after all.

"I didn't mean to yell," He said softly. That seemed to make San relax just a little, as he lowered his head and curled closer to Hongjoong. For someone put under such intense security, San was rather calm. His surprise laid in the way he had become attached to his new fathers. That bit was obvious and when Jackson came to grips with this, he sighed. "You're not going to let me take him back, are you?"

"Not a chance," Growled Hongjoong.

Seonghwa moved away from the pair and towards his friend. "Listen," He whispered. Hongjoong got the hint that they needed to talk in private and carried San out of the room, telling him that he would keep him and Shiber company while his father was busy. "We didn't call you just so you can meet our new kid. Jackson, there's something off about him at times..."

The older demon crossed his arms, then furrowed his brow, asking Seonghwa to continue. "Hongjoong told me he's been hearing voices. And there are times when San just sits and does...well nothing! He looks like he's in so much pain at times but we have no idea what's wrong! I was hoping you would know..."

"Seonghwa," His voice dropped and Jackson's now serious tone made the younger rather anxious. "Remember how I was telling you that San was under special cirvalence? It's because chaos demons, but more particularly him, have a very difficult time controlling their powers when they're young. It's a hazard so they don't train with other demons. But San was too much for even the other chaos fledgelings. And from the state of your house, he's a little too much for you too."

"Then what do we do, Jackson? We can't send him back to containment!" When the older looked him in the eyes, Seonghwa knew he wasn't going to like what he heard.

Depowering. The act of taking a demon and practically sucking the life right out of them. It was a process seldom done and apparently it was something the officers at San's containment centre were planning to do on him since he was just too much to handle. Well not on Seonghwa's watch. And when relaying this to Hongjoong, he agreed as well.

With their stance firm, Jackson informed them that the most they could do was teach San to have better control. Basic morals would be a good place to start, but for someone who had spent the better part of his life torturing humans and the other who went around breaking hearts for fun - it all sounded rather hypocritical. So because Seonghwa had the morality of a rock, Hongjoong took up the role of teaching his son to control his thoughts as well as the ethics of his powers.

"Consent is important," He told his son. "It's always important to make sure the person you're with is okay with the things you're doing." San sat cross-legged in front of him, his head tilted to the side while he took mental notes.

"Why do you want to take a shower with father?" He asked suddenly. Hongjoong's eyes went wide, blush rushing across his face. It was clearly too late when he felt a slight ring in his head. Ultimately, he sighed and shook it off.

"Okay San, try this. Ask me if you can read my mind."

"But...what if you say no?" Questioned the child. Hongjoong gave him a soft smile, nodding at him to ask. "Can...Can I read your mind?"

"No, you may not. I do not feel very comfortable with that." The fire demon made sure to keep his tone soft yet San's face still quivered, his lip jutted out in a pout. Just before Hongjoong could reassure him and tell him that he wasn't in any trouble, he felt that familiar ring again. San was still trying to read his mind. "San..."

"It's hard though!" Whined the child. "I don't always mean to!"

Hongjoong sighed. Clearly, the young demon was frustrated with himself. He pulled San into his lap and kissed the top of his head. "It's alright San. If you take anything away from this, it's this: Always ask for permission. Okay? You don't want to hurt someone's feelings by finding out something they don't want you to. If someone doesn't want you to use your powers on them, it's best to just respect that." San nodded up at him, matching his father's gentle smile.

Seonghwa took a much less...gracious approach to teaching the boy.

"Say hello to Uncle Lay, Sannie." Pointing towards a large pole, there was a struggling demon tied to its centre.

"Hi Uncle Lay!" San waved at the demon of poison, but he didn't necessarily get a friendly response.

"SEONGHWA!" Lay shouted. "Get me down from here!"

"Uncle Lay is funny," Chuckled the child. Seonghwa grinned at him then patted his head.

"Yes he is. But he's stuck up there! Your job is to get him down before the angels eat him!" Right before San could question where these beasts were, a wave of horrific shadowy figures sky-rocketed out of the ground. Controlled by Seonghwa of course. San yelped and quickly hid behind his father for protection. "It's alright Sannie, they don't want to eat you. They only want to eat Uncle Lay."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his friend desperately trying to wiggle his way out of the steel ropes surrounding him. It wasn't like he would get very far though. Seonghwa made sure of it. Yeah, he may have "kidnapped" Lay and tied him to a pole so his son could practice his possibly "deadly" powers on him, but it was what any good friend would do!

San gulped at the hoard of horrible creatures but still managed to shuffle forward. His eyes looked to Seonghwa, who smiled sweetly at him. Slowly, the child focussed his gaze on the scowling shadows in front of him.

A threatening tremble rumbled through the ground, everything in sight shaking at the mere wave of San's hand. His eyes grew dark, a furious glow emanating from that made Seonghwa crease his brow. Clutching his forehead, he felt an intrusion on his mind. Dark clouds filling his head that he attempted to block out by looking back at San. Yet the pure look of malacia only made it worse.

Before he knew it, the shadows exploded in mid-air. Inky black globs fell from the sky, hitting the ground and turning to mist within seconds. The demon of darkness grabbed his shirt, resisting the urge to wheeze in pain. I didn't expect him to destroy them like that! A lesson learned: don't invest too much energy into simple shadows.

The large pole in front of them began to splinter at the bottom. Cracks racing towards the top. "San...?" The child didn't respond, and with one flick, the entire thing collapsed. They both heard Lay groan in pain as his body hit the ground harshly.

"Did I do good?" San asked with a bright smile. The ground had become stained by the disintegrated shadows, the entire pole had broken into an array of splinters and the demon of poison laid crushed under all of it. Seonghwa had to admit, he was rather impressed.

"Yes Sannie. You did very good."

------------------------------

When one sends their son to visit the Devil, the lord and supreme leader of Hell - you would assume it would be as a punishment. The ruler of the entire dimension, known to be one of the cruellest and most unreasonable creatures known to ever exist - was play fighting with Hongjoong and Seonghwa's child.

The couple watched with absolute caution and confusion at the way San so easily brought the Devil to his knees, giggling with victory. When the other two demons were taught to fear this man with their life. "I win! I beat you Uncle Namjoon!" Laughed the child when he finally moved off of the older. Seonghwa nearly cursed him for informality yet silenced himself when Namjoon chuckled.

"Indeed you did," Chuckled the demon. As the two of them shared a smile, both father's looked between each other. Clearly, they were thinking the same thing: What does he want with San? It wasn't their place to question the intentions of their leader. Yet they found it strange how invested he was in their child. Here he was, in their living room, laughing and chatting with San, but why?

He had come by several times now but was on the parent's own accords. They didn't want San out of their sight for even a second, especially if it was with the Devil. "I've got something for you, Sannie," Namjoon told the little demon, who looked up at him excitedly. As not to keep the child waiting, his finger twirled in the air and San watched with wonder as a small dog appeared in front of him.

"My dog Cerberus had a few puppies. He's all yours San," San glanced at the puppy in disbelief then glanced towards his fathers just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Well, what were they going to do? Say no?

"Well personally, I'm more of a cat person-"

Seonghwa was cut off by a harsh jab to the stomach from his husband, who looked at him with a forced smile. "What are you going to name him, Sannie?" The little demon hummed to himself, tapping his chin.

"Shiber!" He exclaimed with a happy giggle. "Now Shiber will have a brother!"

"Shiber and Shiber, alright..." Seonghwa's comment was ignored by the others, as San had already started playing with his new pet and Hongjoong was back to glancing towards the Devil. So the demon of darkness just sighed to himself. "Alright then, come on baby, let's go get a place set up for Shiber."

That left Hongjoong alone with Namjoon. The fire demon watched them go upstairs, smiling at the way San waited for little Shiber to catch up with them. "He's adorable," The Devil said, showing off his dimples. They were quite similar to San's.

"He is..."

"Hongjoong," He said seriously, the smaller demon now turning to him attentively. "I have a proposition for you. You seem to care an awful lot about this...little family you've created. And I am aware of your struggles at work. As such, I am willing to give you a couple of years off." Hongjoong had to resist the urge to beam. His body fell to one knee, his head staying down to prevent his smile from showing.

"Thank you my lord!" The Devil grinned down at him.

"So respectful," Though Hongjoong's expression was bright, it soon fell when he felt a hand slip under his chin, gently caressing his face. "Nothing in this world comes free," He muttered. The younger was brought back to his feet, reluctantly. He did his best to avoid the dark gaze of the Devil's eyes by glancing away but he was pulled back. "Such a pretty frame, waisted..."

"My lord, I don't think-"

"I won't ask anything like that, Hongjoong." He reassured him. The redhead felt his stress alleviate but this tranquil feeling didn't last long. "As much as I'd like to. What I want is for San to visit me." What? What sort of request was that? Granted, this is what he had told Hongjoong before, but in exchange for a few years of freedom?

"Is there a catch?"

"Are you questioning me?" Namjoon grinned at the mutter of apology he heard, Hongjoong's head hung low. "Good boy. I only wish to see my new nephew at the destination of my choice. In fact, I'll even pick him up. You have until San turns eighteen, Hongjoong. Use that time wisely. When those I years are up, I expect you to be back in the tower farming souls once again."

"And San...?"

"I'll take care of him, don't you worry. Just don't deny my visit Hongjoong." His forked tongue ran across his lips, eyes still continuing to prey over the smaller. Had it not been for the little morality the Devil possessed, Hongjoong would have sworn things would have gone south. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. As Namjoon moved away from the fire demon with a simple grin. "Send San my best wishes. I will be seeing him again shortly."

Just like that, the king of hell disappeared in a violent cloud of smoke. It was fanned away as desperately as possible by Hongjoong, who wanted to rid his home of any traces of the demonic lord. He cringed at the way his fingers trailed his skin. It felt dirty.

Yet a smile was soon forced back on his face when San skipped back down the stairs, Seonghwa not far behind him. The child's grin fell when he saw that it was only Hongjoong standing in front of him. "Where's Uncle Namjoon...?"

His father sighed, then ran his hands through his hair. "It's alright Sannie, you'll be seeing him again soon..."

And that he did.

San visited his 'Uncle Namjoon' what felt like every other weekend. Seonghwa and Hongjoong remained cautious every time, yet little San always returned home with a smile on his face. No harm seen or done. It gave them a sense of relief, but that didn't mean their worries were gone. For even if their son came home happy, they happened to notice how differently he would act once he returned. Drained was the best way to describe him. Yet they had no clue as to why.

It wasn't until San was nearing the age of sixteen did they finally figure it out. One of the many reasons Hongjoong decided to make the move to Earth...

It was yet another day of San returning from his time with the Devil. As he got older, the times he visited were less frequent but he didn't enjoy them any less. This time, however, he looked wrecked. His eyes tired, face pale, and iris' fading of their purple colour. Seonghwa caught his son the moment he entered their house as San nearly fell within seconds.

He was shocked by his sickly appearance, but most surprising was the colour of his hair. "San...?" Once a striking shade of red and black, his hair had simply become pitch black, a single white stripe running down the side. His aura had faded tremendously. Almost as if he had been drained.

When Hongjoong rushed to see the state of his son, he was absolutely enraged. "He's been depowered..." This statement, said harshly through gritted teeth, made Seonghwa's eyes go wide. Holding his weakened child closer to him.

"I...I don't know what...happened...I-I was playing with Shiber a-and Uncle N-Namjoon but I..."

"You don't need to explain, Sannie," Seonghwa hushed him, gently stroking his discoloured hair. "I'll take you to your room to rest...don't worry..."

At that very moment, Hongjoong had made up his mind. Freedom was something he had gotten used to and having control over his own feelings was something he never wanted to give up again. But seeing how San was hurt was worse than the thought of giving up his emotions. His son needed to be safe.

Once Seonghwa made sure San was in his room resting, Hongjoong came to him. A single thought on his mind:

"How would you react if I suggested moving to Earth?"