Doctor Demon

"Baek! Baek! Baek!"

She was a little dazed when she walked up to the stage. The white spotlights shone directly above her, almost blinding her while the screams and cheers echoed in her ears. Her mind was muddled with strange thoughts. 

Baekha was swaying but steadied herself. This was not a  time to fall sick. She must perform.

But her body was too weak. She could not even muster the strength to stand. Her eyes slowly glanced sideways towards her manager who was flashing her a thumbs up. She took a deep breath and addressed the audience who were shouting for her.

Swallowing down her discomfort, she began to sing.

"When we were young

You made many promises

Never let go, never go far

Our innocent laughter broke the silent nights

But where are you now?

Why are you so cold…"

Backstage, Minyoon was staring at the idol on screen, not moving. He had been in a state of shock ever since he found out that Baek was Baekha. His mind was still replaying what Jina and Jiwoon said.

A tiny finger was poking his cheek. Miyoo was trying to get her brother's attention but he was so shocked that he even forgot about her.

"Hmph!" she pouted. Yoonmin was trying to hold in his laughter while Soobin was also dumbfounded but recovered quickly from her initial shock. The others were merely enjoying the show like silent spectators.

Miyoo was still poking her brother for attention.

"It's no use, Miyoo," Yoonmin told her. "Minmin is now in his own world."

"Minmin, moron," Miyoo remarked.

"I still can't believe that Baekha hid this!" Soobin exclaimed. "But why is she dressing up as a guy? I mean, she could have become an idol even as a girl!"

"We'll have to ask her that," Jiwoon sighed. "But I'm guessing she is hiding her identity from her parents. They'll never let her become an idol. Only their precious son can be an idol."

There was a bitterness to her tone which did not go unnoticed. Siwan was also observing the girl on the TV screen and shook his head in dismay. The Cho's were really biased towards their son and it showed. Their daughter meant nothing to them simply because she was born a girl.

Was family prestige really that important to them? What sort of fake prestige was this?

"Minmin!" Miyoo yelled into her brother's ear but the poor guy was still out of it. Jina and Hobin were now laughing. 

"Your brother really lost his marbles," Hobin mused.

"He never had any in the first place!" Jina laughed. "He still can't believe that he didn't figure out Baekha's identity."

Onstage, Baekha was still absorbed in her performance. She was now immersed in the song, trying not to think about her health. The fans were swaying to her voice, absorbed by the feelings in her song. They cheered for her as she sang for them in her deep voice, hypnotizing them.

"Now you mean nothing to me!

We used to be something

But it's all in the past now…"

Siwan's phone rang and he excused himself for a while.

Jina was enjoying the song when something caught her eye. Miyoo also stopped poking her brother and turned her attention to the screen. Hobin felt Jina's hand on his arm, gripping him. He was alarmed by the scared expression on her face.

"What is it?" he asked. The others were also staring at them now.

"Sis?" Yoonmin called for her. "What happened?"

Jina did not say anything but pointed at the screen. The others only saw Baekha in it but Miyoo knew what she was talking about.

"Red!" she exclaimed. "Beaky. Red!"

Red? Hobin frowned but Jina answered it for him. "There's a red demon right next to Baekha!" she whispered. "And...and it's doing something to her!"

The performance ended and the fans erupted into loud cheers. Baekha smiled and waved at them but was suddenly grappled by a wave of dizziness. Her heart was palpitating and she felt her hands become clammy with sweat. The world around her was spinning. Black holes appeared in her vision.

"Baek! Baek! Baek!" The fans kept on cheering but she was not listening. Her ears were only hearing a sharp static sound. The world around her was a blur and began to spin.

In her trance, she saw a few figures approaching her. A strong pair of hands grabbed her and stopped her from falling on the ground but her mind blacked out at that point.

…

Minyoon rushed towards Baekha and grabbed her before she could fall. Behind him, Jina was looking for the demon and caught a glimpse of it, floating towards a ventilator above the stage. The fans were alarmed and panicked but the guards were calming them down. 

Jango also ran towards Baekha who was now unconscious in Minyoon's arms.

"Baek!" he called her.

"Take him back to his room!" Hobin ordered. "Yoonmin, disperse the crowd! Soobin, there should be a first aid kit inside Minyoon's room. Go and get it!"

Soobin nodded and ran off towards Minyoon's room. Jiwoon was calming down a very scared Miyoo who had also seen the demon on screen with Baekha.

"Maggie!" she mumbled. "Maggie!"

"Miyoo, it's alright!" Jiwoon consoled her. "She'll be fine."

"Maggie!" Miyoo said. Maggie? Jiwoon frowned. Why was the girl repeating the same word?

Jina was on the lookout for the demon. As they carried Baekha away, she kept on glancing back to make sure it was not around. There was no doubt that the demon was harming Baekha for some reason. 

Why was it haunting her? She wondered. If Sungki was after Jiwoon, then why was it harming Baekha? It made no sense to her. 

As the others carried Baekha away, Jina stayed back to investigate. Walking towards an isolated area of the backstage. She stooped down to one of the ventilators below and examined it. A strong scent of sulphur was coming out of it and she was sure that the demon was still in there, hiding. 

"How are we gonna catch this thing?" she snarled in annoyance. "Fucking demons! Why do they keep on haunting us?"

"Hey! That's rude."

Jina suddenly felt another cold presence behind her. She froze as she slowly turned around to find a man in his late sixties, standing there. Even though he was a human being, she could tell that something was wrong with him. His eyes were out of focus and he seemed to be in a trance.

This man was possessed.

"That's so rude!" the man claimed. "Cursing us like that. Demons like me are elite and high class! Don't put me in the category of that idiot who's haunting his sister and obsessed over a human. Puhleez! I'm a pure demon who's in the nobility. I've got my pride, ya know!"

Jina was staring at the strange demon, completely speechless. Huh?

Magrod had possessed another random body to find Jina and finally succeeded in getting her alone. He released his temporary host and landed on the ground to face the Butterfly Priestess. Jina only stared at the strange three headed dog which was behaving like a diva.

This thing was a demon?

"I am Magrod," he introduced himself in a pompous manner. "A high level demon from the Vozakel class. I have come from Hell to find you and the Prince so that I can help the two of you. As for myself. I like to bathe in water which is exactly 100 degrees and eat raw fish. I like sushi and loathe anything sweet except cookies, candies, chocolates, macaroons, cake, rice porridge, pudding…"

He went on to name every sweet dish in existence but Jina only stared at him in disbelief. 

"...As for tea, I like ginger tea with a dash of lemon and exactly five spoonfuls of sugar in it," he nodded. "And-"

"What the hell are you?" she whispered.

"Magrod. Maggie for short but I hate that nickname. Your sister keeps on calling me that but it's annoying-"

"My sister? You know my sister?"

"Yes, she's been my slave for the past month," he boasted. "That brat listens to everything I say and-"

Jina grabbed the tiny demon with one hand and picked him up, frowning.

"Hey!" he protested. "Lemme down! Lemme down! I can do karate ya know!"

He tried to hit her but was too small to even land a kick. Jina was still staring at the thing, trying to figure out how it was a demon. Demons were usually cruel and manipulative but this thing did not give her any such vibe. In fact, it was small, harmless, furry and surprisingly soft.

"How do you know Miyoo?" she demanded. "And what did you do to her?"

She shook the tiny creature which scowled at her.

"Nothing! That kid is the one that bullied me!" he finally admitted. "That brat drove me up the wall with her childishness and even bribed me with cookies! And then she tickles me by scratching my tummy."

"That sounds about right," Jina said. "But wait a minute! The twins' condo is protected with charms. How did you get in?"

"Charms?" he scoffed. "Oh please! Those charms won't work on us. They'll only work on low level demons but we're higher class. Charms won't do shit! You gotta step up the game, Priestess. If I wasn't there to save the brat that night, she might have died!"

That night…

"You mean on the night the spirits attacked us?" she gasped. "You protected her?"

"Duh! How else do you think those spirits were dealt with?"

Jina was now confused but this creature seemed to know a lot about what was going on. 

"Tell me everything," she demanded. "Now."

Magrod was now grim.

"I will, Priestess," he promised. "But now, we have something else to worry about."

Jina sighed. The tiny dog demon was right. There were other matters to take care of. 

"How are we going to get rid of this demon?" she asked.

"Simple," Magrod shrugged.. "You gotta kill him."

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