Shared Beds and Strange Dreams

Yun Hao was exhausted.

Not the normal "I've-studied-for-finals" kind of tired.

The deep, soul-crushing kind where your microwave explodes, your fridge resurrects itself, and a demon takes over your apartment in less than an hour.

By 3 a.m., he was curled on the edge of his own bed, which now had magically grown double in size to accommodate one tall, shameless demon prince.

"You're hogging the blanket," Ruin complained beside him.

"You're not even cold," Yun Hao snapped, pulling it tighter. "You're a demon. Aren't you fireproof or whatever?"

"That's beside the point," Ruin said, inching closer. "I like warmth. Yours, specifically."

Yun Hao made a strangled noise. "Touch me and I'll summon a priest."

"I'd love to meet him." Ruin's voice dropped an octave. "Maybe he can officiate our soul marriage while he's here."

Yun Hao buried his face in the pillow. "I want a refund on my life."

The room was dark, the only light coming from the glowing heart mark now permanently hovering above Yun Hao's phone. It pulsed gently, like a heartbeat.

He tried to ignore it. Tried to ignore Ruin's steady breathing beside him. Tried not to think about the fact that he was sharing a bed with a literal demon prince.

And for a while, it worked.

Until the dream came.

---

He was standing in a burning field.

Blue fire. Not red. It danced like silk, wrapping around crumbling ruins and broken statues. Smoke curled into the sky.

In the center of it all… was a man.

Tall. Dressed in black. Eyes like glowing rubies.

He was screaming—but Yun Hao couldn't hear the words. Only the pain. The rage. The heartbreak.

The man reached out toward him, fingers scorched, eyes pleading.

> "Don't leave me again."

Yun Hao stumbled back. "I—I don't know you—!"

> "Even in this life, I found you again. Don't run. Not again."

The fire roared. The ground split.

Yun Hao fell, down, down, into darkness.

He woke with a jolt, drenched in sweat.

Breathing hard. Heart racing.

Ruin was awake too, eyes open, glowing faintly red in the dim room.

"You dreamed," the demon said softly. Not a question.

Yun Hao sat up, running a shaky hand through his hair. "What the hell was that…?"

Ruin stared at him, quiet for a long moment.

Then he said, almost too gently, "You remembered something, didn't you?"

Yun Hao blinked. "What?"

"Nothing," Ruin said quickly, voice back to normal. "Just... a side effect. Soul bonds can do that. Merge memories. Cross wires."

He rolled over, back turned.

Yun Hao didn't reply. Couldn't.

Because deep down…

That dream hadn't felt like just a dream.

It felt like something lost.

Something ancient.

Something his soul knew but his mind had forgotten.

He laid back down, eyes on the ceiling.

And didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

The next day.

When Yun Hao opened his eyes, two things hit him at once.

First, the overwhelming smell of something burning.

Second, he was still alive.

He sat up in bed, squinting. The bed was warm. Too warm. And suspiciously empty.

No Ruin.

He blinked at the ceiling, then turned to the side.

> Still no demon prince in sight.

"…Please don't be burning my house down," he muttered, dragging himself out of bed.

He stepped into the kitchen just in time to witness the crime scene.

Ruin.... shirtless, glowing faintly in the morning light, was standing over a pan of absolutely destroyed eggs. Black smoke billowed up from the stove. Something hissed. The rice cooker had fallen over. The sink was overflowing with bubbles. The fridge was wide open. And the demon himself was proudly flipping a pancake that looked like a piece of hell.

Yun Hao stared. Then spoke slowly.

"…What are you doing?"

Ruin turned with a dazzling grin. "Good morning, darling. I made breakfast!"

Yun Hao gaped. "You burnt breakfast."

"It's called searing," Ruin said with a wink. "Gives it flavor."

"It's called cremation," Yun Hao corrected. "You cremated my eggs. My rice is dead. You're boiling soap in the sink. And I think that pancake just blinked at me."

The pancake did twitch.

Ruin frowned. "That's a side effect. Sometimes my magic leaks into the batter."

"Leaking demon magic into food?? That's not breakfast! That's a health hazard!"

"I'm a prince, not a chef," Ruin said breezily. "But I'm learning. I even followed a recipe from something called 'YouTube.'"

Yun Hao covered his face. "I'm too broke to afford therapy for this."

Ruin stepped closer. He was still shirtless. Still barefoot. His hair was a mess of silver-white strands, slightly curled from heat and static. His eyes sparkled, like he was having way too much fun watching Yun Hao's mental breakdown.

"Do you want a bite?" he asked innocently.

"No."

"Come on. It's my first ever mortal meal. I made it with love."

"Is that what that smell is? Love?"

"I mean, technically, it might be a bit of brimstone and lust too."

Yun Hao turned away, groaning. "Don't talk to me until you've un-cursed my toaster."

---

After they cleared the kitchen disaster (with help from a fire extinguisher and several summoning circles), Yun Hao collapsed onto the couch.

His phone buzzed.

> [Professor Wen]: "Still waiting on your research paper draft. I expect it by midnight tonight."

Yun Hao sighed, typing back a fast excuse, then tossing the phone aside. His entire life felt like it had flipped upside down. The contract. The demon. The dreams.

He hadn't even processed everything yet.

And worst of all…

He still couldn't get that burning dream out of his head.

The man in the fire.

Those eyes. That voice.

> "Don't leave me again."

Yun Hao rubbed his forehead. "Why does it feel like I've heard that voice before…?"

"You did," Ruin said softly.

Yun Hao jumped. "W-When did you—?!"

"I've always been here," Ruin replied, sitting across from him now, his expression unusually calm. "You just forgot."

"…What?"

Ruin didn't answer. Instead, he leaned back, eyes half-lidded.

"I shouldn't be telling you this. But dreams linked to the soul bond… they aren't just memories. They're echoes."

Yun Hao stared. "Echoes of what?"

"Of what your soul's been through," Ruin said, voice lower now. "Sometimes, when a soul lives through something so strong… love, grief, betrayal, it doesn't vanish. Even in a new life, it lingers. Waiting."

Yun Hao's throat tightened.

He didn't want to believe it.

He didn't want to believe that some fiery, tragic man in a dream was tied to him. That this demon in front of him might know more than he was letting on.

But the way Ruin looked at him, like he already knew all of Yun Hao's secrets made it hard to argue.

"…Did we know each other?" Yun Hao asked quietly. "Before this?"

Silence.

Then, Ruin smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"I wonder," he said simply. "Will you remember on your own… or will you run away before you do?"

Before Yun Hao could respond, there was a sharp knock at the door.

Three times. Slow. Measured.

Yun Hao stood, heart thudding. "Who the hell…?"

Ruin tensed.

Not visibly. Not in a way any normal person would notice.

But Yun Hao did.

Just a slight shift of his shoulders. A cold flicker in his eyes.

The air in the room changed.

He walked to the door and opened it, just a crack.

A man stood outside. Dressed in all black. His face was shadowed by a hat, but his presence was… off.

Not normal.

"Is Ruin here?" the man asked, voice like cold metal.

Yun Hao blinked. "You know him?"

The man's lips curled slightly. "Tell him the debt is overdue. The seal is weakening. And they're starting to wake up."

Yun Hao's stomach dropped. "Wait, what—?"

Before he could say anything more, the man vanished.

Not walked away.

Vanished. Like mist.

Yun Hao closed the door, chest tight. He turned to Ruin, who was now sitting very still.

"Who was that?"

"…No one you need to worry about," Ruin said quietly.

"That didn't sound like no one! He was talking about seals and debts and things waking up! What does that even mean?!"

Ruin didn't respond immediately.

Then he stood, brushing off his pants.

"Don't worry, Yun Hao," he said with a strained smile. "I said I'd keep you safe, didn't I?"

Yun Hao stared at him, heart pounding.

Something was wrong.

Something big.

And whatever it was…

He was already in too deep.