jaemin awoke after a long and peaceful night of sleep.

the first thing he saw as his eyes opened was donghyuck's smiling face, making butterflies erupt in the pit of his stomach, as usual.

"hello..." jaemin said before yawning.

"hey, baby..." donghyuck replied, pulling the boy closer to him and caressing his raven hair.

jaemin stretched the best he could in donghyuck's embrace before cuddling into his boyfriend's arms more.

"how was your sleep?" the demon asked.

"good..." jaemin replied. "and yours?"

"amazing." donghyuck smiled. "as always when i sleep with you..."

jaemin flushed, lifting his head to look at his boyfriend's face before hitting his chest lightly.

"hey..." jaemin frowned, squinting his eyes to look at donghyuck's neck. "i don't remember you having this bruise on your neck..." he said, poking the blueish mark that decorated donghyuck's neck.

"that's your doing, baby."

"m-my doing?" jaemin's eyes widened.

"yeah." donghyuck nodded. "you were very horny yesterday..."

jaemin flushed as flashed of their night appeared in his mind.

damn NA...

unable to keep his dick into his pants...

"hey, stop frowning, baby." donghyuck said, ironing the skin between jaemin's brows with his finger to make his frown disappear. "i loved it. and you loved it too."

jaemin nodded, smiling at his boyfriend.

of course, that he loved it.

he loved everything that had a link with the demon...

"so..." jaemin said after a while. "we're leaving for the 'fallen forest' today?"

donghyuck hummed, tightening his embrace around jaemin.

"are you ready for this?" he added.

jaemin shrugged.

he wasn't sure he was ready to face the man that killed his parents.

but like, he would never be ready.

meeting him after two years of trauma could only be something even more traumatizing for the human.

for everybody actually...

but let's say jaemin was someone particular.

someone that had drastically changed after the incident.

someone who became violent.

someone who became a murderer.

someone who could have killed the parents of someone else...

"baby, don't cry..." donghyuck said, dropping a kiss on jaemin's temple.

"sorry..." jaemin sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "it's just... i'm scared..."

"i am too, baby." donghuck told. "but i am here to keep you safe. and i won't allow anyone to harm you."

jaemin smiled, nuzzling into the demon's neck as donghyuck kissed the top of his head.

they were in love.

madly in love.

and it was the best feeling in the world.

"are we leaving right now?" jaemin asked.

"no." donghyuck answered. "i want to hold you in my arms more."

𝙽𝙰

"are we there already?"

"almost..."

jaemin sighed loudly, looking at the view outside the window.

his heart was beating erratically.

maybe it was because of his stress level.

anyway, it wasn't healthy for the poor human.

donghyuck had driven inside a forest about 10 minutes ago, rolling onto a path that had been arranged in order to allow cars to pass.

they had just drove past a panel that said 'fallen forest', which meant that they were on the good path.

"the more we're driving, the stupider i find this idea..." jaemin mumbled.

"don't worry. i'm here to protect you." donghyuck said, dodging the few trees that were on his way.

"okay, but who will protect you?" jaemin asked.

donghyuck didn't answer right away.

perhaps that he was getting conscious that no one would be able to protect him?

or perhaps that he was just trying to find an answer to jaemin's question.

"don't worry about me. you are more important." donghyuck said.

"absolutely not." jaemin exclaimed. "you're as important as i am, and i don't want to lose you, donghyuck."

"i can protect myself alone."

jaemin wasn't convinced by the tone donghyuck used to say those words.

he seemed unsure.

"but- "

"i am a demon, baby." donghyuck cut jaemin. "compared to all those demons living in the fallen forest, i still have my powers. that makes me more powerful than all of them combined."

jaemin stayed silent.

his boyfriend had a point.

they would be in a place full of fallen demons.

a place full of ordinary people with red eyes.

and in this case, donghyuck would be the strongest.

the one no one could defeat.

this meant that donghyuck didn't need protection.

donghyuck was his own protection.

his being only could compete with dozens of fallen demons.

and most important, he could win...

"you're right..." jaemin nodded.

donghyuck smiled at his boyfriend who seemed to be less tensed than a few minutes ago.

he didn't want jaemin to worry about him.

he didn't want jaemin to blame himself if anything had to happen.

that's why he lied to him.

that's why he told him that he would be able to defeat any demon when it was well-known that in the fallen forest, no demon could use their powers...

𝙽𝙰

"stay close to me."

jaemin listened to his boyfriend's order, gripping onto his arms as he looked at his surrounding worriedly.

they had parked the car on what seemed to be a deadlock from where a pedestrian pathway was said to lead to the fallen forest's entrance.

and after a few minutes of walking, the two boys had finally been able to enter the place.

and as soon as they did, a dozen of fallen demons appeared from behind trees and glared at them.

"what are a demon and a human doing here?" one of them spoke, catching the attention of the two boys.

"we have some personal affair to deal with." donghyuck answered.

"how about you leave this place." another fallen demon said.

"we won't leave until we're done."

"too bad... we'll have to force you then..."

all the fallen demons around them took out weapons, threatening the two intruders to leave their place.

"let us meet the fallen we came to see at least." donghyuck said as jaemin started trembling harder.

"and who might that be?"

donghyuck cupped jaemin's cheek, looking at his scared boyfriend in the eye.

"baby, what's the name of the demon?"

"i-i... i-i don't know..." jaemin replied.

"can you see him around?"

jaemin looked successively at the fallen demons surrounding them.

"cat got your tongue?" one of the fallen yelled impatiently.

"let him search for the fallen." donghyuck argued back.

"i'm starting to think you two are liars..."

"we are here to- "

"d-d-donghyuck..." jaemin spoke.

"yes baby, tell me." donghyuck cupped his cheeks to hear his boyfriend's next words.

"it's him."