“Do you… Do you believe in demons?”

What a stupid question. Coming from a stupid guy. This whole situation is stupid.

But Abby feels his fangs biting down on his tongue, realizing there’s no going back now. He said it, you heard it. He can’t take back his words.

This is a mistake.

No. Falling in love with you is — perhaps his biggest one, even when counting the foolish deal he made with Gwi-ma to escape his miserable life as a human.

…But he doesn’t think he can ever get himself to say he regrets it even one bit.

You are… everything good that’s happened to Abby, and he genuinely doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve you. All the awful things he did as a human has already come back to him now that he’s a five hundred year old demon who’ll continue to “live” for eternity under Gwi-ma’s control.

Then the world suddenly decided to give him everything he could only dream of — except you’re not a dream. He’s pinched himself more times than he can count. You’re still real to his touch.

Nothing good comes from love between a demon and a human. Rumi’s a perfect example of that. A half-demon Huntrix who banishes her own kind while suffering from self-worth issues.

But you are the sun itself, so bright and so warm, and all Abby can remember is the cold prison that the demon realm is, so can you blame him for reaching out to bask in the ray of sunshine?

Maybe you love him the way you do because he’s been pretending to be a human just like you, just like everyone else in your world. Disguised. Lying right to your beautiful, smiling face.

Would you love him when you find out what he really is?

His heart is already dropping to the pit of his stomach and dissolving in its acid before you can even reply. With this, everything might fall apart. You might hate him, maybe even fear him. He can’t fault you for it.

…Perhaps this is for the better. You deserve someone better. He can focus on harvesting souls again. Most importantly, your safety won’t be put at risk by associating yourself with a demon anymore.

Abby squeezes his eyes close, dropping his chin. He’s such an idiot. You could’ve been targeted at any point in the relationship, and it would’ve been entirely his fault. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if you got hurt because of him. Never forgive himself, that’s what.

With that thought in mind, he raises his head with a decision made in a split second.

The purplish smoke starts at his feet, slowly climbing up his legs like frost on glass. One by one, stripe-like patterns appear across his suddenly off-colored skin — purple and glowing. It rides up to his hands, his arms, his collarbone, and even to his his face, covering the entirety of his body.

When his eyes return to yours, they’re no longer the soft brown ones you’ve grown familiar with, but sharp amber ones that resemble a monster’s.

Because that is what Abby is. This, in his barest, most true form, is a demon. A dangerous, soul-hungry demon.

A dangerous, soul-hungry demon who’s maintaining at least an arm-length distance from a human, silently praying to a god he can’t reach that you don’t scream and run away.

A demon who is undoubtedly, irrevocably, hopelessly in love with that human.

You.

Abby has half the mind to crawl back to the demon realm and never return to Earth, even if Gwi-ma threatens to obliterate him, for fear of ever coming across you again. He never wanted to show you this side of him. If he could play pretend for the rest of your human lifespan, he’d be the happiest demon that has ever existed.

…He can’t be a coward forever.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter whether or not you believe in them anymore,” Abby tries to chuckle, coping with hollow humor. “Cuz. Well. I’m a demon. As you can see.”

Maybe he’ll end up telling you everything. That he’s not even a real idol after everything. That he became a demon after the horrible things he’s done as a human. That the man you love is absolutely nothing like what you’d been fooled into believing all this time.

But above all, he hopes you don’t hate him too much.