Baby Saja
I dismissed my idiot manager, a shortround dork with weird facial hair. He was great for work, but he was a bafoon. I plopped down in my dressing room, glad it had been rather easy to worm my way to some status again in only two months.
I looked in the mirror, quiet for a moment. There was a smear on my concealer, just on the bottom left where a mark showed. I stood up, shaking. Why was I shaking? Who the fuck smeared my makeup?!
Hurts, doesn't it?
I leaped back as my own reflection began to grin, the demonic glow and purple flames of Gwi-ma igniting in his eyes. "Lord... No... you are nothing anymore." I scoffed.
Hmm, nothing? Just like you were. Just like you have always been, Pihae-ja
I gasped as memories ripped back into my pained, throbbing skull.
I stood behind a crowd, watching as the beautiful ladies of court walked by in their finery. Their beauty was unmatched, and the lead trio held a resonance that almost seemed divine. I was jealous. Beyond jealous.
I toiled day after day as a man in fields and patties for these women. For their beauty to flourish, and my only reward was blisters and a broken back!
Wouldn't it be nice to be one of them?
The voice had been so tantalizing back then. I shook when it struck me, stood among that crowd and gawking at the beauties of stolen refinery.
After all, you worked for it. Don't you deserve to be beautiful, too?
I remember the moment I took the deal. The feeling of finally being beautiful. As beautiful as the women. As flexible and unblemished as a lady. I felt... free.
Within days I garnered royal attention, my status as a man held no sway over their intentions. I became the talk of every court. I became the apple of every noble eye, while my family starved to death without my labor.
What's worse? The apple isn't as sweet in real life. I thought it was all beauty and fancy walls. These were the ravenous dens of wolves.
Days after being invited, I learned the expectations hoist upon me as a feminine member of royal courts. I was to Serve the men, in any way, shape, or form they desired. I got what I wanted, and it was a nightmare.
"Stop it!" I shouted angrily.
It was your decision, Pihae-ja.
"Don't say thay name!! Its Baby! Baby Saja!"
Sure it is, and your family is alive and well. So are your bandmates. Face it. You are just an ugly, scared little whore clawing at importance.
"N-no..."
But I can make it better again. Help me. Help me return, and I can make you beautiful forever.
"No, no! I won't be you-" A sharp gasp as the vision grew worse. Every mark on my body began to burn and sear.
Obey, or suffer, Pihae-Ja. The choice is yours.
I screamed, turning and shattering the mirror with my fist as blood splattered from my knuckles. I shook painfully, staring at the fragmented pieces shakily as the hunger in my chest grew into a firestorm. Just then, my door clicked.
"Sir, everything alright?" A security guard stepped in.
"...Yes. It's all better," I smiled to myselves in the mirror, licking my lips, "Now."
...
Zoey
I skipped down the street, happily headed to get some boba with Bobby as he walked beside me. He kept glancing at his phone, and I could tell he was stressing over our upcoming press meeting. There had been a few disappearances recently and the public wanted some answers if the hunters were still on it. It had definitely been a shock that everyone jumped to demons had come back, but we would handle it.
"Hey. Relax Bobby." I touched his shoulder. "Focus on Boba!" I cheered as we walked into the bubbly café.
"Heh, sorry Zo. Got a lot on my mind is all." He rubbed his neck with a smile.
"I know you're nervous, but there's no good in worrying!" I placed his usual which did earn a smile.
"It's not that Zo." He said as we sat in the plush chairs. He tapped on the sides of his cup, sipping slow. "Wow, everytime." He smiled, a mood booster already in his system with the macha goodness.
"See? So, come on. What's up?"
"Well, i-"
"Demons!"
I turned towards the scream coming from outside. There was a pair of large burly demons snatching people and tossing them into baskets on their backs like crops.
"What the heck?!" I jumped up. "Bobby! Stay here and call the girls!"
"On it!" He ran right for the men's room, locked the door and began dialing. There are days I definitely say I'd call him dad. Very dad energy.
I dashed outside, humming the tune to takedown as the hanmoon rippled to lifw. My daggers poured out of strings as I started to jump, stopped mid leap, then politely walked out the front door and then dove on the nearer, redder jerk.
"Nnnn?" It turned, swinging a massive hand at me to grab me. I jumped, running and slashing up its arm as it howled, trying to throw me off but failing as I twirled into the sky and harried him with a spray of knives in the perfect shape of of a boba cup, complete with smiley straw, before slamming my heel down on his horn and shattering it as he turned to dust.
His big blue buddy seemed less than enthused. He pulled out a massive club, swinging it down, missing, and smashing the storefront I had just been trying to avoid breaking. So, I was a little angy.
"THAT WAS MY FAVORITE BOBA PLACE!" For a moment, I could have sworn there was a rip of green in the hanmoon as I growled up at the beast, who seemed to sweat under the sheer GRR of my stare.
"Uh, Oops?"
The manicure I was gonna need later was totally worth shredding him apart. Returning to Bobby as he peeked out, I sighed in relief at seeing he was safe and sound.
"So... they really are back, huh?" He muttered as he walked out.
"Guess so..." I sighed. "This is gonna be trouble." I looked at the destruction and the people who were scared. They looked to me with such a need for hope that had never existed when this was all a secret. It was... overwhelming. What if I failed?
I would let them all down. I won't be enough.
I shook my head, holding my temple for a moment. Where the heck had that come from? "Come on, Bobby. Let's meet up with the girls."