Seonghwa's chamber came with a bed, a drawer, and a desk. It was modest, though cosy, and clean enough that no curious rats found their way around the aged wooden beams that kept the tavern together. He could hear the guests in the main room downstairs as they bellowed drunken calls at each other. Minor brawls broke out from time to time that quickly quietened again when the owner threatened to kick the men out and cut their beer supply.

The noise wasn't too dramatic to sleep. After Seonghwa had bid his goodbyes to Yunho after a long evening of talking about Cardend and the rather humble life he had lived there, he retreated with a sore throat and weary limbs. Before his evening prayer, he opened the window to welcome the crisp night air.

Seonghwa knelt on the ground with his fingers clasped on the bed to pray. The breeze ruffled through his hair and slipped under his loose tunic to caress his skin. It was a pleasant night, and he was happy for having found a kind companion for the evening. If the lingering pain didn't remind him that this was no trip of pleasure, he would have forgotten his duty to spend more time learning about Yunho.

When Seonghwa opened his eyes, they found the full moon in the sky. Its light cast a long beam onto the floorboards of his room.

Uncaring of the stab of pain to his knees that he was long used to, Seonghwa got to his feet. He walked to the window to put his hands on its sill and inhale Eastshallow's air. In the distance, the rivers splashed away as the last few people out returned to their homes for the night.

Seonghwa couldn't help his curiosity when he craned his neck to look at the roof. Hongjoong left the dinner table early with the excuse that the other guests were too loud for him. In truth, he got bored with Seonghwa's tales and his blushes whenever Yunho asked about his daily lifestyle. The mood had been lighter after he had disappeared.

The gargoyle sat on the roof, as he had promised. His wings wrapped around him like a black coat as he perched on the edge and looked out over the city. In stillness, he seemed to become the stone he had once been, but his eyes glowed subtle enough that Seonghwa knew he was awake.

"Hongjoong?" Seonghwa called out to him. His voice was mellow in the night, but the gargoyle heard him. Slow enough that Seonghwa expected to hear the noise of stone grinding, his head turned in the priest's direction. Then, a smirk tugged on the left corner of his lips.

"You're talking to me again. I thought I had sealed your vow of silence towards me."

Glad that he replied, Seonghwa leaned against the window frame. It felt romantic, standing there in the night. His chapel had no such large windows and the otherworldly environment of the town cast him in dreams of a different life.

"You're thinking of monks."

Hongjoong waved a dismissive claw. It cut through the shadows of the night to glint in the moonlight. Fire made Hongjoong look scary. Moonlight made him look deadly.

Yet Seonghwa didn't retreat. He was glad for the calm tone of their voices. Perhaps he could talk to Hongjoong as an equal after all.

"You're all the same to me. Spineless daisies who would rather excuse their suffering by an imaginary god than take matters into their own hands," Hongjoong said, and Seonghwa's hopes shattered. Still, the gargoyle replied with nonchalance rather than an outright attack as he had done last time. Vigilant of his mood, Seonghwa brought up the topic that had weighed on his heart so heavy.

"What you did to that man was vile."

"I am a demon, aren't I? It's my nature." Hongjoong's cruel smirk uncurled with his tail and wings. He stretched in the night, a hellish creature towering over the city where countless innocent souls slept. He could reap them all in a night and they would never know that the one who had brought their doom upon them had been a priest.

Seonghwa was distrustful of Hongjoong's intentions. The gargoyle's plan had worked.

"You can not hurt me with this. I have learned to forgive ignorance. The Lord has not cast you aside. You need not defy him. Your bitterness won't succeed," Seonghwa promised him. He sought to hear Hongjoong's struggles, wanted to aid him in overcoming them. The gargoyle had to be lonely, but he wasn't foolish. If he so wished, he could improve.

"Your blind trust will neither, lamb. Do you seek to forgive me? Is your dear, innocent heart so desperate to cast your endless kindness upon everyone that you disregard my very nature?" Hongjoong hopped from the upper roof. With a swish of his wings that threw Seonghwa's hair into his face, he landed on the canopy below Seonghwa's window. Balanced by his wings, he stood on the shingles with his weirdly arching legs. His head tilted with a flash of his fangs as he faced Seonghwa.

Proud that he was willing to talk, Seonghwa dropped the matter of their differences.

"I don't wish to be your enemy. Our journey is long and I feel restless not accepting the one who guards my life. I already did my worst deed by allowing you to keep tainting me with your presence, despite your murder. If a middle path is the one we must take to understand each other, I shall listen to your demands."

Amused, Hongjoong brushed his hair back. It coiled around his horns to end just above his wings. Its ghostly white glow reminded Seonghwa of the White Lady that had cursed him.

"Not everyone who serves you deserves to be treated with sympathy, sweetheart. Therefore, deserters desert and slaves slaughter their owners. You must establish your rules if you wish to be respected." Hongjoong's voice dropped when a challenge flashed in his eyes. He had established his rules and Seonghwa had submitted to them. The demon toyed with Seonghwa's willingness to absolve. His weakness would make him the puppet of Hongjoong's mischief.

Seonghwa shivered.

"I would like to develop a better relationship."

Hongjoong's arms stretched out to reach for the windowsill. His long claws wrapped around the space left and right of Seonghwa's arms as he took a step forward to lean in. His wings unfolded to stabilise him and cast a shadow over the human. Frozen in his position, Seonghwa peered up at him like a rabbit would do to a wolf.

Sickening joy filled Hongjoong's eyes with sadism. It gleamed in his eyes like diamonds, but their charm was deceptive.

"You don't. You hate me. I see the fear in your eyes and it's delicious. You only seek to be friends because everyone deserves endless chances in your belief. I am not human. I taint you and you know it. It started with you forgiving me for killing that guy." He leaned in until Seonghwa moved back. Up close, his horns looked bigger than his skull and like Hongjoong's very own weapons. He didn't need to carry more than his appearance to look threatening.

Uneasy, Seonghwa shifted on his feet. He wanted to stand his ground, but Hongjoong smelled like a gorge. The solid rock was scentless but refreshed by mosses and trickles of freshwater. It wasn't a hellish odour, but it was unnatural enough on a person to send Seonghwa's mind into a panic. He would prefer if Hongjoong smelled of sulphur. The way the lines blurred from a demon into a creature of nature had Seonghwa question his every belief.

With his hands clutched to the wood, he stood his ground. Hongjoong's breath caressed his cheek as his broad frame eclipsed the moon.

"Tell me, little lamb... What is it you fear most? Corruption? Sin?" Hongjoong licked his lips. Involuntarily, Seonghwa's eyes got stuck on them as they formed the last question with sensual movement. "Me?"

"I don't fear you." Seonghwa's eyes flicked up again. A lie, but one he believed enough that he could brush it off.

Hongjoong's fangs appeared with his grin.

"I will have you know I come with both of the former. If you seek to uphold your innocence, then keeping your distance from me would be... recommendable." His claw brushed over Seonghwa's hand, barely scraping his skin. As if burned, Seonghwa flinched away. When he staggered a step back, Hongjoong slithered into the room through the open window like smoke.

Fear welled in Seonghwa's chest as he found himself trapped in the narrow space with the murderous demon. His need for destruction reflected in his playfully swishing tail.

Step by step, he drew in to douse Seonghwa in shadows of despair.

"M-move away, demon!"

Uncaring of his shaky demands, Hongjoong advanced. Seonghwa's back met a wall, and he fumbled to grasp his cross. He considered running, but turning his back to Hongjoong to unlock the door seemed like an unwise idea.

Like a nightmare but so horrifyingly real, Hongjoong halted in front of him. Pure evil weakened Seonghwa's knees and stabbed at his hammering heart. He whimpered when Hongjoong's hands braced left and right of his head. No amount of shutting his eyes and coiling into himself got rid of the image of doom in front of him.

How ironic that not Hongjoong, but the pure lady had been the one to bring Seonghwa to his demise. This gargoyle took pleasure in doing so much worse.

"Sin tastes like honey on skin such as yours. I would like to steal you from your god's grasp and show you what it's like to worship one who does the same to you. In every way." A sinister chuckle underlined the dark promise. Barely holding up against the wall, Seonghwa prayed he wouldn't fall right into the demon.

Hongjoong inclined his head to breathe in Seonghwa's scent. Trembling like a leaf in the wind, Seonghwa stayed still as a rock. Even if he had tried, he would have been too scared to move.

After a moment of tense silence, Hongjoong dropped his arms. His overpowering presence left as he retreated to the window. With him left the dread of him ripping Seonghwa's guts out of his breathing body.

"If only you weren't doomed to die. Such a loss."

Seonghwa had forgotten how to stand. He leaned against the wall and his voice was comically high as he replied.

"You said we would heal me."

"We are trying to heal you and I stick to my oath since I don't want to become a pile of ashes. Whether we succeed is another matter. Perhaps if we do, I will taste you." His mocking smirk returned. While he swung a leg over the windowsill, Seonghwa gathered his arms around his shivering body to protect it from the demon's dirtying gaze.

"I won't let you taste me!"

A snicker answered him as Hongjoong hopped onto the canopy once more. In a better mood after scaring Seonghwa, he stretched his limbs and looked up into the moon. Before he left, he reached to grasp the open window.

"Good. Then keep your distance."

With that, he pulled the window shut. A moment later, his frame disappeared and Seonghwa hastened to lock the bolt.

When he sunk to his bed, his hands wouldn't stop shaking. The demon had been so near, had brought his deadly intentions so close to Seonghwa's pure mind.

He stained him like ink stained a blank piece of paper. Left ugly blotches that could never be fixed.

Seonghwa washed and muttered another prayer to feel clean again. When he went to bed, his ears strained to hear any movement while his heart nervously beat in his chest. When only the clamour of the tavern answered him, exhaustion soon pulled Seonghwa into its grasp. Sleepy eyes shut to catch up on the slumber he had missed since Hongjoong had appeared in his life.

He didn't feel safe under the watchful eyes of the demon. Much rather, his amber irises seemed to follow Seonghwa through his dreams. They watched from the shadows, ready to pounce on their prey in a moment of inattentiveness.

Seonghwa slept all night without a break, which he was thankful for, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that his dreams tried to warn him.