--

"I used my powers on Jungkook yesterday."

Jimin frowned and pressed the side of his face further into the pillow on his bed. "I kind of promised myself that I wouldn't anymore because it's really starting to really drain me every single time I use it... But I couldn't help myself. I always feel just a bit healthier when I have sex, and Jungkook looked so stressed out.."

He turned over and caught Taehyung's gaze, sighing softly. "But I know it was a mistake, because recently everything has been hurting after I do anything demonic... But I wanted to take the stress off of him, at least for a little bit."

Taehyung frowned, walking over and sitting at the foot of Jimin's bed.

"Why are you always putting him before yourself?" He asked, sighing heavily and looking at the deteriorating demon in front of him. "Why does your well being suddenly not matter, as long as he's doing alright?" Jimin merely shrugged, pulling his blankets further over him.

"Because my well being doesn't matter." He answered softly, not wanting to look at Taehyung and see his reaction. "I'm going to die anyway Taehyung, he's the only reason I'm still somewhat trying."

"He's also the reason that you're dying in the first place." Taehyung frowned, finding it extremely hard to find the logic behind Jimin's words.

He seemed to be doing everything to defend the fact that his and Jungkook's relationship was horribly dysfunctional. "Jimin get up, please." He huffed, reaching over and patting Jimin's thigh in an attempt to get the other demon to sit up.

"Don't want to." Jimin mumbled. "Everything hurts."

And he wasn't lying, he didn't even think it would be that bad. He was never specifically told what it would be like to die, but he hoped somewhere in his mind that maybe he'd just drop dead one day and not have to feel pain.

Apparently he wasn't given that luxury.

Before, he thought that the worst pain he ever felt in his entire life was the burn of the hellish waters he was pushed into. Now, he knew that wasn't true. That pain, was only on the surface. This pain, ate at him from the inside out, clawing at every single part of him and not bothering to salvage anything.

Which maybe, was the reason he chose to indulge in Jungkook yesterday. Not only to make Jungkook to feel better, but to distract himself from the torture he was being put through.

"Jimin..." Taehyung sighed softly. "I brought somebody with me you know, and I doubt they're going to want to talk to you if you're curled up into a ball."

Jimin slowly popped his head up.

"Jungkook?" He asked, watching as Taehyung's frown only deepened.

"Not Jungkook." He answered softly, reaching a hand out to Jimin as an offer to help him sit up. "I still need you to get up though."

Jimin huffed, but nodded nonetheless, taking hold of Taehyung's hand and biting back a cry of pain when the other demon hauled him up into a sitting position.

A few tears pricked at his eyes, but he ignored them, choosing instead to focus on calming himself down as his body screamed at him to lie back down. It was hard to keep his breathing regulated when the burning sensation within him was suffocating, but he still squeezed Taehyung's hand as he attempted to do so.

Taehyung, as always, did nothing but watch. He did however, decide to rub soothing circles against Jimin's back, because the smaller demon just looked so close to breaking that he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

"Who is it?" Jimin asked, voice merely above a whisper as he opened his eyes once more and looked into Taehyung's eyes.

"I don't want you to freak out." Taehyung breathed. "But he really wanted to see you, considering that we don't know how much longer we're going to have you around if you keep down this path."

"Taehyung." Jimin urged. "Who?"

Taehyung took a moment a silence before he spoke again.

"Hoseok." He mumbled, huffing when he saw Jimin's expression completely drop, trying to tug his hand away. "Jimin don't be like this."

"I don't want to talk to him." Jimin groaned, still trying to move away from Taehyung. "You can't make me."

"I actually can." Taehyung shrugged, before turning his head towards Jimin's bedroom door. "You can come in now." He called, loud enough for Hoseok to hear.

Jimin immediately shook his head aggressively, looking to Taehyung with an expression of near panic on his face.

But sure enough, the door opened and Hoseok stepped in.

The atmosphere immediately dropped.

Taehyung cleared his throat and stood up, ruffling Jimin's hair as a silent way of saying 'good luck'. When he left and shut the door behind him, Jimin didn't want to open his mouth to utter the first words.

"So, what does love feel like?" Hoseok chose to speak first, and his words had Jimin's eyes widening.

"What?" He asked, watching as Hoseok slowly walked over and sat down next to Jimin. It was a strange atmosphere for the both of them, considering that most of their encounters before this were filled with bitter gazes and harsh words.

"Love." Hoseok repeated, refusing to look at Jimin directly. "What's so great about it, that you're willing to die for it?"

Jimin was still in a slight state of shock, but nonetheless chose to answer, pulling his blanket over his shoulders in an attempt to provide himself with some comfort.

"Hatred, makes you feel so... Cold." Jimin mumbled. "Nothing that I did made me feel happy before I discovered love. There were so many things that I did that should make demons ecstatic, but I felt nothing. I broke up couples, I stole people's innocence, I broke hearts, and it should have made me happy but it didn't."

Hoseok nodded slowly, trying his best to follow along. "Love... It's so warm. I don't even have to try to be happy around Jungkook because all he needs to do is smile and my heart will soar. It brings such a beautiful feeling that I know no other demon has ever been able to experience." He sighed. "And it's so hard to explain because I don't even understand it myself."

The words he spoke caused an intense pain to rip through his chest, and he didn't even think before he reached down to grab at anything he could in an attempt to ground himself. He just so happened to grab at Hoseok's hand, but he didn't care at this point.

"But Jimin, look at yourself." Hoseok huffed. "The 'love' that you're talking so highly about is causing you so much pain it's honestly hard to look at you."

"Why do you care?" Jimin hissed. "I thought you hated me. You said I deserved it when I was pushed into the river down in hell, so why are you suddenly concerned about the pain I'm in?"

Hoseok frowned and looked down.

"Because I don't want you to die thinking that I don't care about you whatsoever." He breathed. "I do. I've already told you, when we were first made you're were the only one I didn't hate."

He still didn't push Jimin's hand away from where it was grasping at his still. "And that's still mostly true. Telling myself that I hated you not only went along with the sin I'm assigned to, but was also easier than forgiving you - because I am a demon after all."

Jimin gulped, finding it hard to believe that Hoseok's words were true.

"Why did it take me dying, for you to start caring again?" He asked, Hoseok flinching at the words.

He shrugged.

"I never stopped. I just told myself that I didn't, because everything was so much easier that way." He answered, Jimin frowning and raising an eyebrow.

"If it was easier then why are you even telling me?" He asked, the other demon letting out a small chuckle that lacked all humour.

"Jimin, ever since Jungkook came around nothing has been easy. I've just finally decided to stop pretending that it is."

--