The dinner date was an absurd, ridiculous affair. Son Oh-gong, a demon king who had devoured a thousand souls and thousands of treasures, was on a date with his dinner. He was a master of the heavens and the earth, but he was a slave to a promise he had made. The restaurant was beautiful, the food was delicious, but he was bored, his golden eyes filled with a cruel, arrogant look.
"Aren't you done yet?" he asked impatiently "I'm hungry "
Jin Seon-mi, with a newfound courage, just smiled, a beautiful, serene expression on her face. She was a human who was about to be eaten, but she was also a woman who was about to rewrite her destiny.
"Not yet", she said in a soft lovely whisper. "There's one more thing you have to do for me".
She took out a small, elegant box from her purse and placed it on the table. Inside, lay a single, intricate gold bracelet. It was an Geumganggo, a piece of ancient magic that would bind him to her, a piece of ancient magic that would make him her slave.
"What is that?" Oh-gong asked, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes.
"It's a gift " she replied. " A gift for a man who fulfilled my last wish".
Oh-gong, a great demon king who had never been given a gift, was intrigued. He took the box, his face masked with arrogance and confusion.
"You have to wear it, so that I can see how beautiful it looks on you. I want it to be the last thing I see before I die " she said feigning sadness.
"So wear it, and after that, you are free to eat me. I surrender " She said, bowing down her head.
He took the bracelet from the box and with a final gasp, he put it on his own wrist. The bracelet, a beautiful, golden band, glowed with a blinding magical light, and in that moment, the love, a feeling he so desperately hated, became a part of his soul. He felt to his knees, his hands clutching his chest, his eyes locking on Seon-mi's face.
"What is that feeling?" he gasped, his voice cracking with a new, raw vulnerability. "What have you done?"
Seon-mi looked at him, a dawning realization spreading across her face. He was staring at her with an expression of absolute, unadulterated devotion. The great demon king, Son Oh-gong, was in love with her.
"What.... what is this feeling?" he asked, his eyes, once glinting with a desire to devour her, now shone with a desperate need to protect her. "It hurts ".
She looked at him, not with fear, but with a dawning curiosity. "It's the Geumganggo. it makes your heart feel love for me".
He shuddered, trying to stand, but the feeling was too strong. "This isn't love. This is torture. it feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest".
Ma-wang stepped forward, his expression now serious. "It is not love, not yet. It's the beginning of it. The Geumganggo forces you to feel what you would feel for her what you would feel of you had a heart. It will become stronger with time. The more she's in danger, the more you will desire to protect her. The more she cries, the more your heart will ache. You are her loyal servant now.
Oh-gong's eyes widened in horror. "I'm no one's servant! I am the great sage, equal to heaven!" He tried to pull off the bracelet, but it glowed with a fierce light, burning his skin. The chains were gone, but the new seal was far more powerful.
Seon-mi, seeing her chance, decided to test the boundaries of her newfound powers. "Get up, Oh-gong. We have to go".
The demon king's eyes locked onto her face, and with a guttural growl of forced obedience, he rose to his feet. He was a perfect gentleman, extending his arm to her and helping her walk towards her car, a look of utter disgust on his face even as his actions were those of a devoted protector.
The scene was absurd. The two of them, a timid ghost seeing human and a monstrous demon bound by a magical spell, walked away from the now silent house and the satisfied Devil king. Their journey together had truly begun, a strange and perilous path of forced romance, dangerous and a demon's heart slowly, begrudgingly learning to love.