JIYONG WAS LYING IN bed. After what happened earlier, his legs gave in because of exhaustion so he was forced to be carried by his brothers.

     "Give him time to rest. His body still can't cope up, especially when the heart isn't exactly his." Kharon explained.

     "I'm fine old bird. I'm the strongest demon remember?" Jiyong said with a weak voice, making Kharon flick his forehead. Jiyong whined, and the six brothers who were surrounding the bed laughed.

    Kharon chuckled too and patted Jiyong's head after, "I'm glad you're back kid. But please, rest." 

     As they were watching their resting brother, someone suddenly knocked on the door. Sunggyu, who was sitting on the bed while holding Jiyong's hand, looked at the door to see Junhyung.

     "Do we deserve to face the prince?" Junhyung asked; the hesitation is vivid in his face.

     Sunggyu looked at Jiyong, and Jiyong nodded his head as an answer.

     The rest of the demons went to the side to give way to Junhyung. Then, the rest of the Arcs followed behind him. When they were all in front of Jiyong, the seven arcs bowed down, surprising the Demons.

     "As the leader of Arcs, we give you our sincerest-" Jiyong immediately cuts Junhyung off and said, "If you apologize again like Sunggyu I'll kick your ass."

     Junhyung looked up, and Jiyong smiled and continued, "While I was dead, my soul wandered in this dark abyss. But I could hear things, and that included your prayers for me. Especially you...Choi Seunghyun. You prayed for me every day for the past seven months. I can't thank you enough." Jiyong revealed, surprising the demons even more.

     "I don't know if it's a good thing to pray for a demon, but I thank you for that," Jiyong added, and Seunghyun smiled back and nodded his head as a sign for "you're welcome". 

     "My death was not your fault. Because if you ask me, I'm grateful you chose one than all. If you didn't let me die, the rest of my brothers would have died with me. I wouldn't know what to do if that ever happens." Jiyong explained, and the Arcs finally stood up.

     "Thank you Kwon Jiyong," Junhyung stated, and it looked like he was about to shed tears too.

    "Come on, don't fucking cry. I'm not good at handling that." Jiyong complained, making everyone in the room laugh.

     "Welcome back prince of pride," Mark says.

     Soon after, the Arcs's guardian - Jang Dongmin - enters the room.

     "It really is strange to see you again prince of pride." He stated when he saw Jiyong lying in bed.

     "Still look shitty as ever saint Peter. Looks like you still have a drinking problem." Jiyong teased.

    Dongmin smirked and said back, "Looks like you're still an asshole prince Kwon." 

     It would have sounded offensive, but Dongmin was as happy as the rest. He was glad to see  Jiyong alive again. And he was happier about the fact that they could exchange insults like this too.

     "But enough about that. There are people who are dying to see you again." Dongmin said, and right on queue, Jiyong's mother arrived with his step-father Charles.

     The Arcs and the Demons looked at each other. Sunggyu looked at Jiyong, and Jiyong nodded his head back.

     "Let's give them some privacy," Sunggyu stated.

     The Demons and the Arcs agreed. 

     The Arcs went out first with their guardian. And when the Demons walked past Jiyong's parents, they hugged them first before leaving. It was only today did they meet them again after Jiyong's funeral. 

     Jiyong's parents didn't know about all this. Dongmin advised to keep it a secret from them for the time being because if the resurrection did not work, Jiyong's parents won't be in pain again. But when Jiyong woke up, Kharon immediately flew his way to their mansion to give them the good news.

     "M-Mom?" Jiyong called out.

     The two looked hesitant. With her eyes filled with tears, she looked back at Jiyong and asked, "Jiyong? Is that really you?"

     A tear fell from Jiyong's eyes as he answered, "I'm sorry if I made you worry mom."

     Mrs. Kwon didn't even say anything anymore as she ran towards her son to give him the tightest embrace. She never thought that this would ever happen. She never thought that she'll ever have a chance to hug her son like this again.

     "I missed you so much. I prayed every day that they'd take me instead. But thank god you're back. Thank god." Mrs. Kwon continued to say without letting go of Jiyong.

     Charles on the other hand just looked at the two with awe. The last time he hugged him was when he returned dead from their first battle in hell. But now he's right in front of him, alive and breathing.

     Jiyong noticed him and looked at him with a warm smile.

     And for the first time, he called out, "Father."

     Charles's eyes widen from surprise. He wasn't sure if he heard it right so he didn't move an inch from where he was standing. Mrs. Kwon moved aside as Jiyong repeated, "I'm back father."

     The tears finally poured out of Charles's eyes.

     "Oh, my dear son." He ran to Jiyong's side and hugged him as well. After so many months, they were finally together again.  And just like the demons, their family was once again complete.

THE NEXT DAY

     "Mom and Charles will be back tonight with Jiyong's things. They agreed to let Jiyong stay here since it's safer." Sunggyu tells the Demons and the Arcs.

     The sons were eating breakfast. Jiyong was back, and as much as they wanted to celebrate his return yesterday, Jiyong was still too weak to even move, so they let him rest the entire night instead.

     "I still can't believe Jiyong is just sleeping in the other room," Minhyuk said as he took a sip of his coffee.

     "I can't believe it either. And I think I got a little paranoid because I guarded his door the entire night too." Jackson said, and Taeil looks at his best friend and teases, "No wonder you look like a panda with those eyebags of yours."

     "Hey, you look like shit too Taeil," Jackson says back.

     "That's because Taeil dragged Jihoon late at night and forced him to guard the door downstairs," Sungjae revealed, making Taeil kick his leg under the table.

     Sungjae whined, and Minhyuk glared back at his brother who quickly apologized.

     "Looks like you do care," Suho told Taeil, and Taeil just remained quiet and continued to eat his salad in peace.

     "Well, I guess we all didn't sleep properly. I also stayed awake in case something bad happened to Jiyong." Sunggyu revealed, and the rest of the Demons laughed when they realized how paranoid they all were.

     "You boys don't have to worry. Now that Jiyong is awake, ghouls won't come so easily. Even if the king of hell sends out millions of ghouls and lords, it won't be enough. The only thing who can kill Jiyong is the king himself, and I doubt he'll just barge here so easily." Dongmin explained, and everyone couldn't help but agree.

     They all felt Jiyong's power when he woke up. For some reason, he felt a lot stronger than before. Like he wasn't dead at all, but instead, he's been resting and gathering his strength.

     "But if you're still worried, Seunghyun can guard him," Junhyung said with a smirk, making Seunghyun glare at their leader.

     "That's actually a good idea. The Demons need to rest, and the only angel who's compatible with him is Seunghyun," Dongmin says, making the Arcs laugh.

     "Then take good care of him, brother." Woohyun says, giving malice to the word good.

     "Thanks a lot, leader," Seunghyun tells Junhyung who was just laughing. He wouldn't have stopped if Hyunseung didn't hit his head.

     "I don't need fucking protection." Someone suddenly declared, and the strong aura instantly made everyone stop talking.

     Everyone turned their head and saw Jiyong approaching them. Jackson and Sunggyu were about to stand to assist him, but Jiyong immediately glared at them, forcing them to sit back down.

     "Don't act like I'm weak. I've been dead for months while all of you have been fighting these monsters. I should be able to do something useful now so don't waste your time and energy into protecting me." Jiyong says, and the brothers looked at each other.

     It was only natural that they'd be worried. But they forgot how stubborn their strongest brother could be.

    "We know you're not weak Jiyong. But you're very valuable." Dongmin stated, and Jiyong just rolled his eyes and took a seat beside their leader, Sunggyu.

     "Fine, if you want me to have a bodyguard so badly then I'll take that big guy instead," Jiyong said while pointing at Seunghyun. "I'm not letting my brothers guard me." He added.

    "Told you," Junhyung whispered, making Hyunseung hit him again.

     "So be it," Seunghyun said with a serious expression.

     Now that everything was settled, Suho looked back at his brother and said, "Are you feeling better now brother? Or do you want Lay to heal you?"

     "Babe, I can't do that remember? Jiyong isn't connected to an angel yet." Lay reminded him.

     "Looks like you really have to guard his body well Seunghyun," Woohyun teased again, and the atmosphere came back to normal as the rest of the brothers laughed.

     "Enough with the jokes. I'm fucking starving." Jiyong said as he started shoving the food inside his mouth.

    While eating, he suddenly looked at the people around him. They were all staring at him, so Jiyong swallowed his food and drank his orange juice before saying, "Why the fuck are you staring at me like that? Don't you know it's rude to stare at people who are eating?"

     Without saying a word, the Demons suddenly looked teary.

     "We really can't believe you're here again," Hyunseung admitted, and the rest of the brothers agreed.

     "We actually missed you big guy," Mark added.

     Jiyong was supposed to curse them out again, but then he felt his face turning red because of embarrassment. The sudden reaction made everyone laugh.

     "Looks like you can be cute at times too Jiyong," Jihoon stated.

     "What the fuck did you just say, angel?" Jiyong asked back, making Taeil's lover flinch.

     "Hey, don't curse at my brother like that." Junhyung defended.

     "How about I kick your ass right now you good for nothing angel?"

     Sunggyu looked at the people around the table and smiled. This was like the mornings that they had when Jiyong was alive. And right now, it was happening again. He couldn't be any happier.

     "Alright guys, let's settle down. We haven't had a proper celebration so let's raise our glass and give Jiyong a toast." Sunggyu says as stands from his seat and lifts his cup of coffee up.

     The rest found it funny, but they followed and lifted their glass of water, orange juice, coffee, and tea.

     "Jiyong, things went badly when you left. We lost our way and we lost each other. But it is because of you as well that we got together and got stronger than ever before. Starting today, things will change, because this time, we will win." Sunggyu stated, and everyone nodded their heads in determination.

     "Let's win together. Welcome back Kwon Jiyong." Sunggyu finished.

     "Welcome back Kwon Jiyong!" the rest repeated as they lifted their drinks for the reawakened prince.

     Jiyong finally smiled and looked back at the Arcs and the Demons. He stood up from his seat and touched Sunggyu's shoulder as he said, "Like what we always say...let's kill that mother fucker."

- END -