The Demon In You

"Stole her demon?" Rian frowned. "How did they do that?"

"Well, to be precise they stole the demon's corpse," Jo Sun explained. "When a person dies an unnatural death, the demon turns into small, round ball. The color of the ball depends on the person's soul."

"Our job is to extract the demons from a person who had been killed," Shua went on. "When a person dies, the demon dies as well. Upon that, the connection between them is severed. So even if the body of the person is moved, the demon's corpse stays back. However, unlike a natural death where the demon's corpse vanishes on its own, murdered demons need to be collected so that evil beings cannot use them. So all we have to do is retrieve the demon's corpse."

"But now that the demon's corpse had been stolen, there is a chance that there is a corpse thief amongst us," Hyunjae deduced.

"Did Boram steal the corpse?" Rian inquired.

"Highly unlikely," Hyunjae said. "Boram is more interested in sacrificing the human host rather than steal the demons. Besides…"

He stepped towards the apartment and held out his hand. Closing his eyes in concentration, he drew a circle in the air. Rian stared in awe as he began to mutter incantations under his breath.

The air around them grew cold. The wind began to blow very rapidly; the hairband on Hyunjae's ponytail snapped, causing his hair to sway. Blue glittery lights began to erupt in the air, rotating very fast around him.

The lights came together to form a shape. It looked like a winged outline but Rian noticed that it looked like a fairy like creature. It reminded her of the demons she sees everyday. Like them, it had no face but unlike demons which were colored in a range between white and black, this one had a pleasant baby blue color. It was smaller than Rian's palm.

The blue fairy was hovering in the air, staring curiously at Rian.

"Teeny!" Hyunjae called it. "We need your help. A demon has been possibly stolen from a human's corpse. We'll need to find it. Can you help us?"

Teeny nodded. Turning around, it ushered them to follow it. They set off after it.

"What is this thing?" Rian asked Shua.

"It's an Esprit," she said as they got on the elevator.

"They have many names," Jo Sun supplied. "Fairies, Elves and all that. But they're basically the same as Esprits. Unlike most folklores where they're menacing creatures or mischievous being which harm humans, they're actually quite gentle. They're not really powerful but are quite loyal. Esprits are like pets of demon lords. They help us in finding demons which went missing after their hosts died."

"How come you didn't use Teeny all this time?" Rian asked. "If it can track down stray demons, then surely it can find Boram?"

"Teeny cannot find demons which fed on their humans," Hyunjae explained. "Those demons conceal themselves with dark magic which are too powerful for Esprits to trace. Other than that, they can easily track down demons which were stolen or went missing from their hosts."

As soon as the elevator reached the ground floor, the Esprit flew off at a remarkable speed. The group followed it outside towards the parking lot. To their surprise, they ran into an unexpected duo.

"Well well," Changmin said when he noticed Hyunjae and Co. approaching. Jaehee was standing next to him, holding a net.

"What are you doing here?" Hyunjae asked in an accusatory tone.

Rian was also surprised by his appearance. What troubled her more was the demon he had, Sonja. It was so dark that it camouflaged with the night sky. It scared her.

"To purify demons of course," Changmin shrugged. "That's my job ya know."

"Yet, you failed to get to it first," Jaehee snorted. "Typical Second Lead."

Changmin shot her a look before turning to Hyunjae. "It seems someone else stole the demon from the corpse."

"Was it you?" Hyunjae asked. "It's not the first time you've interfered in my work."

"As much as I'd love to have gotten the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of getting to the demon first," Changmin said. "I didn't get to it first."

"Wait a minute!" Rian spoke up. "Can one of you tell me what the hell is going on? How come he knows about demons?"

She pointed at Changmin.

"Coz he's a Demon Lord too," Hyunjae said in disgust. "Obviously a lower class than me."

"I'm a Diamond category," Changmin gritted his teeth.

"And I'm Platinum," Hyunjae boasted. "The only one in my category thanks to my exceptionally perfect good looks and abilities."

He flashed a smug smile but everyone ignored him.

"What is more important is to find the missing demon," Jo Sun interjected.

"Yeah!" Shua agreed. "We can't waste time here. Why not compete on who can get the demon first?"

"Sounds good to us!" Jaehee smiled brightly.

"Deal!" Hyunjae fired up. "We'll beat you idiots!"

"But it seems your team is outnumbering ours," Changmin pointed out. "We want to take one from your team for ours. To make the competition fair."

Hyunjae fumed up in anger. "Fine!" he agreed. "But let me tell you, my members are very loyal to me-"

"I'll go!" Jo Sun volunteered. "I wanna beat him!"

"No I want to go!" Shua protested. "I don't wanna hear about his new hairdo again!"

"Hey, I'm the female lead!" Rian exclaimed. "I should be the one to go to the second lead's team!"

"Can I exchange spots with any of you?" Jaehee chimed in.

They began to argue amongst themselves for the remaining spot.

"At least pretend to be loyal," Hyunjae said with a facepalm. Changmin was laughing loudly behind him.

"Tch," Hyunjae pouted. "Disloyal pests. I'm gonna cut all of their salaries for the next six months."

"So what does the winner get?" he asked turning to Changmin.

"If I win…" Changmin said, stepping forward. He looked directly into Hyunjae's eyes, with a strong determination. Hyunjae knew exactly what he wanted and he was not willing to give it to him.

"If I win," Changmin said. "I will take your Vintage Porsche."