Chapter Text
She used to hate the rain, and as a Finder fairy, hating the rain was normal. The rain would dampen and wash away the magical energy that Finder fairies used to track down their targets. The Finder could be right on top of the creature or object they’d been tasked to find, but if it rained before they could find the source of energy, it was back to square one, back to digging up leads, stake-outs, and questioning locals.
She used to hate the rain, but now that her wings are gone and her powers have been essentially cut in half, she doesn’t mind as much in that regard. However, it still hinders her search, still trips her up when she catches onto a trail, only for the rain to come and wash it away.
She used to hate how the rain made her clothes stick to her skin, her hair to her face, and how it plastered her wings to her back like they’d been glued there. She detested the way it soaked into her shoes and made her socks wet, loathed how long it took to peel off her wet clothes, and she especially despised how long it took for her wings to dry.
She used to hate the rain and how it made going out a chore. She hated the way she used to have to fumble with an umbrella or a raincoat, both of which never really kept the rain away, drops of water always finding their way through somehow. She hated the way the rain slowed her steps, made her weary of walking too close to the road, and made her step carefully around every puddle so her shoes wouldn’t be soaked.
She used to hate the rain for countless reasons. She had a laundry list of why she used to hate the rain and used to despise every single drop of water from the sky. Why she hated each puddle she came across, hated the raincoats and umbrellas, the wet socks and wet wings.
Handong used to hate the rain for every possible reason, and now she just hates how it makes her miss the ones who made the rain enjoyable.
She misses Yubin, with her quiet presence and strong insistence on holding the umbrella above their heads, a warm hand pressed against her back to keep her close. Yubin’s soft laugh and gentle nudges to walk farther away from the side of the road where cars roar past and splash dirty rainwater onto the sidewalk. She misses Yubin’s voice, gently scolding when she gets caught without an umbrella or raincoat, even though Yubin had told her it would rain that day.
She misses Yoohyeon, with her bright sunshine smile that seemed to make even the darkest clouds lighten and her loud laugh that cut through the thunder like a knife. Yoohyeon’s cold hands wrapped around her arm, clinging tightly to her as she squealed when raindrops dripped onto her shoulder from the umbrella's spines. Yoohyeon’s voice when she yells into Handong’s ear to watch out for a puddle she hadn’t seen. She misses Yoohyeon’s eyes lighting up whenever lightning strikes close by, her eyes tracing the white slashes in the sky with her face against the window.
Handong misses both of them with a fierceness she’s never felt before. She misses them every time it rains, every time lightning strikes and thunder roars. Her heart aches whenever she sees a couple walking beneath an umbrella, arms tight around each other to ensure they remain under the canopy. Every time the forecast calls for rain, she goes out without an umbrella or a coat, hoping when she arrives back home, Yubin will be there, gently scolding her for being foolish. Hoping Yoohyeon will be there, smiling brightly while draping a warm towel over her head and shoulders, teasing her gently for not listening to the weather report.
As a Finder, she’d spent most of her life alone. Tracking was a job meant to be done alone; having another person there would mess with the energy, and the trail would get messy and hard to trace. She was used to being alone, living alone, eating alone, and sleeping alone. Until them.
Yubin and Yoohyeon had crashed into her life at separate times, but they both had a lasting impact. And when the two of them met for the first time, Handong realized that she had fallen in love with both of them.
Yubin had appeared in front of her desk with a puff of black smoke, smoke that curled around her and clung to her clothes and had to be waved away. Lee Yubin was a daemon, heir to her family's throne, but she had never quite gotten the hang of shadow travel. She hadn’t figured out how to stop the smoke from clinging after she exited the shadows.
Yubin had needed help tracking down a family heirloom that had been stolen. A priceless relic that had been in the daemon’s family since the daemon race had come to be. Stolen by a daemon full of hate towards Yubin’s family and hidden away somewhere deep in the daemon city.
When the fairy had finally tracked the heirloom down and presented it to Yubin, the daemon had swept her up into a hug and held her close for several agonizing seconds, in which Handong was sure her heart had ceased to beat, and her face burned like she was being held to a flame.
It hadn’t been easy, tracking down a daemon heirloom within a city of daemons, but Handong had done it, and Yubin had rewarded her with a literal pile of gold that the fairy declined. Yubin had frowned and waved away the gold, asking what she could give in return. Handong had told Yubin that she didn’t need any payment for finding such a priceless object. But Yubin had insisted, determined to pay for the time and effort that had gone into searching.
The fairy caved and stumbled and suggested a dinner date, waving her hand in the air as if to wave away her words so the daemon wouldn’t hear, but it was too late. Yubin had heard, and a shy smile had tugged at the daemon’s lips.
Yubin had accepted the date and promised to make it the best one the fairy ever had and vanished with a puff of smoke. And it really was the best date Handong had ever had. Yubin had taken her out for dinner at a fancy restaurant and then for a moonlit walk through a nearby park.
The daemon wasn’t one for small talk, but when Handong spoke, Yubin listened intently, asking questions and offering some stories of her own when Handong prompted her gently.
The pair walked through the park for some time before Yubin led them to a bench and settled against it, leaning her head back to gaze up at the moon. Handong had remained standing for a few seconds longer, taking in the view of the daemon bathed in the moonlight.
Yubin had caught her staring and laughed, covering her mouth with one hand while offering the other to the fairy, gently pulling her to sit beside her on the wooden bench.
They sat there for a while, just looking up at the star-filled sky and pointing out what constellations they knew until Handong had begun to shiver, and Yubin stood, pulling the fairy up with her.
The daemon had walked the fairy back to her apartment and left her on the doorstep with a lipstick stain on her cheek and a soft promise to go out again sometime.
Yoohyeon had quite literally stumbled over the threshold of Handong's office and collapsed in front of her desk, eyes pitch black and wild as she kicked the door closed. Kim Yoohyeon was a vampire, a tall, clumsy vampire who, at that moment, was blood-starved and half-mad with hunger.
It had been early in the morning, the sun barely in the sky, when Yoohyeon had appeared. After kicking the door closed, the vampire slapped her hands to the desktop and hauled herself to standing, leaning heavily against the desk. Her eyes were pitch black, and they darted around the room quickly before landing on Handong.
The vampire’s fangs were visible, stark white against pink lips, and Handong had pushed her chair away from the desk slowly, standing even slower as the vampire’s eyes watched her every move.
Yoohyeon had been running from werewolves, a pack of them, who claimed she’d killed one of their own. The vampire had no memory of it, and she barely could tell Handong her name in those first few tense hours.
Handong had to leave the vampire in the office alone while she’d gone out and got a bag of blood from a nearby blood bank.
As soon as she’d returned to the office, Yoohyeon had pinned her to the closed door and bared her fangs against the fairy’s neck, her control very clearly slipping through her fingers. Handong had offered the blood bag, and the vampire had snatched it from her. Sharp fangs had pierced the plastic, and Yoohyeon had gulped the entire bag down in seconds, wiping her bloody mouth on the back of her hand.
Handong had stayed against the door, knowing that the blood would take a few minutes to soothe the vampire’s hunger and that if she moved, she’d end up the vampire’s next snack. The minutes passed painfully slowly, like time had decided to hit the brakes suddenly and take a detour.
The vampire had stood in the middle of the office, black eyes slowly changing to a warm brown as the blood worked its way through her system. Then, once her bloodlust was sated, the vampire, eyes now gentle and worried, pressed herself against the far wall and apologized for how she had acted.
Yoohyeon needed help clearing her name with the pack of wolves chasing her. She hadn’t been able to stop and feed in days, the werewolves constantly on her trail. Yoohyeon was adamant that she hadn’t touched a werewolf and never would. She told Handong that werewolves were gross and annoying, with their drool and their howling in the middle of the night.
It had taken a temporary truce, several days of negotiating, and just a touch of fairy charm, but Handong managed to convince the pack and their leader that Yoohyeon had done nothing, that the werewolf who had died hadn’t done so by the vampire’s hands.
The pack had left mostly peacefully, one wolf trying and failing to lunge at Yoohyeon, who had flinched backward and attempted to hide her tall frame behind Handong, cold hands wrapping around the fairy’s arm. The pack leader had reprimanded the young wolf, snapping and snarling at him before bowing his head to Yoohyeon in apology.
Yoohyeon, much like Yubin, had offered to pay Handong for her services. For negotiating with the wolves and getting her blood. But Handong refused, once again, and Yoohyeon had tilted her head to the side, almost like a giant puppy dog, clearly confused.
The vampire insisted, pulling coins from her pockets and dropping them onto Handong’s desk before leaning down to count them, looking up every so often to meet the fairy’s eyes with a shy smile.
Handong had told her she didn’t need to pay, but Yoohyeon had pouted at her and asked for the fairy to at least let the vampire take her to dinner if she wouldn’t accept the money outright. And Handong was weak to this tall, clumsy vampire who had burst into her office all those weeks ago, so she agreed.
Yoohyeon had taken her to a cozy little restaurant owned by a pair of sweet elderly sirens, who sang with the only intent of making patrons comfortable. The vampire seemed well acquainted with the couple, waving to them through the kitchen window as she guided Handong to a booth.
After dinner, during which Yoohyeon had told Handong to eat as much as she wanted and that the vampire would pay for it all, Yoohyeon had taken Handong for a walk along the riverside. Occasionally running ahead and crouching down to pick up random stones to present them to Handong, the vampire wasn’t at all what she was expecting from such a powerful creature.
As Yoohyeon dropped her off at her apartment, the vampire had stepped into the fairy’s space and gently brushed hair away from her eyes, cold fingers lingering for a few seconds on Handong’s cheek.
The fairy was well aware of the vampire’s strength and knew that Yoohyeon could snap her spine in half within seconds should she feel threatened, but the vampire was being so gentle, which was unlike all the other vampires Handong had encountered before.
Yoohyeon had tucked loose strands of hair behind Handong’s ear, placed a barely there kiss to the fairy’s forehead, whispered that she’ll see her around, and vanished, all within seconds. Before Handong had even registered lips against her skin, the vampire was gone, disappearing into the night.
It was months before she saw either of them again, months of clients asking her to find objects and people, months of negotiating payment because she couldn’t get away with refusing them all; she did have bills to pay, after all. She’d only ever refused two payments, Yubin’s and Yoohyeon’s, and she still wasn’t sure exactly why she’d refused to let them pay.
It was late afternoon when Yoohyeon showed up, gently knocking on the office door until Handong had called out for her to enter. The vampire had smiled shyly, both hands behind her back as she stepped into the room, pushing the door closed with her foot. Each time Yoohyeon moved her hands, a crinkle of plastic followed, and Handong had stood, trying to peer around the vampire to see what she held in her hands. But Yoohyeon had laughed and teased, standing with her back to the door so the fairy couldn’t see.
Yoohyeon told Handong how much she’d missed her, how much she had been thinking about her since they last met, and how her thoughts were constantly plagued with Handong, Handong, Handong. The vampire brought her hands to the front and had revealed the bouquet of bright red roses, dipping her head to hide her shy smile from the fairy.
Just as Handong had taken the bouquet from the vampire’s hands, the plastic crinkling in her grip, a puff of black smoke appeared by her desk, and Yubin had stepped from the shadow with a warm smile, holding a bouquet of sunflowers.
The daemon had stopped abruptly, the bouquet falling to her side, as she laid eyes on Yoohyeon and the roses. The smile had slipped off Yubin’s face, her eyes drifted to the floor, and she batted away a wisp of smoke from her legs, jaw clenched.
Yoohyeon’s smile had slipped as well once Yubin had emerged from the shadow, and Handong had panicked, feeling her heart swell at the sight of Yubin’s bouquet of sunflowers. The fairy had darted over to Yubin and taken the flowers from her, setting both bunches of flowers on her desk as she searched for a vase.
The energy in the room had been tense, thick enough to swim through, when Handong came back with a clear vase filled halfway with water. As she cut the stems and arranged both types of flowers within the vase, Handong waited for something to happen behind her. She was expecting a fight, someone yelling, one of them yelling at her.
A handshake. A soft greeting, a few mumbled words that Handong couldn’t hear but were clearly funny as Yoohyeon tossed her head back, laughed loudly, and pushed at the daemon’s shoulder once she regained her breath. Handong had turned and had seen Yubin’s big grin and Yoohyeon’s bright smile, and the fairy’s heart had skipped, and her stomach had twisted and ached in longing.
Handong wanted them both, and just as the thought entered her mind, both daemon and vampire snapped their heads around to look at her. She’d spoken aloud, had said she wanted them in a whisper that they both heard. The fairy had covered her face with her hands, heart pounding in her chest, cheeks burning with embarrassment at her slip.
They’d told her to wait until they got to know each other to make sure they got along and weren’t going to kill each other out of jealousy or anything else. But they wanted her. They wanted Handong as she wanted them. She longed to hold their hands, wake up next to them, and live with them.
Weeks later, when they both returned to her, hand in hand, big smiles on their faces, Handong had seen it. She had seen the red threads floating between the three of them. She’d asked the pair if they could see it, and they had asked what she was talking about and asked her to explain. They hadn’t called her crazy, just asked for an explanation of what she was seeing.
Fate Threads. Yubin said she couldn’t see them, but she’d heard of people who could. Invisible threads that connected people who were destined by the Fates to be together in some way or another.
Different colored threads discerned the type of relationship between those linked, Yubin told her, and Yoohyeon had grabbed Handong’s hand, asking what color the lines between them were, hope gleaming in her eyes.
The threads between them were a bright red and seemed to glow like fire when she saw them in the sunlight. Yubin had bit her lip, trying and failing to bite back her smile, as she told them their tie was romantic.
At Yubin’s words, Yoohyeon had darted forward, tripping over her own feet, as she rushed to place a kiss on Handong’s cheek. The vampire, grinning widely, had thrown her arm around the fairy’s shoulder and turned to Yubin, kissing her forehead as she snaked her arm around the daemon’s waist to pull her closer.
They made for an odd trio; A Finder fairy, the heir to the daemon throne, and a clumsy vampire. They drew looks when they walked together, sneers, and harsh words from strangers who thought the mixing of species was wrong and sinful. But Handong didn’t care, couldn’t be bothered by the cruel words of strangers when she was surrounded by love on both sides.
They’d walk the streets at night, Handong sandwiched between Yoohyeon and Yubin, their arms linked with hers as they strolled along the sidewalk.
Yoohyeon would point out stars and marvel at the moon, sometimes tugging them all to a stop when she looked down and found a stone she liked the look of.
Yubin was quiet for the most part, offering little in the way of conversation, gently ensuring they stayed on the sidewalk and guiding them out of the way of other creatures who passed them by.
When it would rain, Yubin would insist on being in the middle, holding the umbrella above their heads as Handong and Yoohyeon pressed close to her, trying to stay out of the rain.
At first, Handong didn’t want to go with them, didn’t understand what was so fun about walking in the rain. But, the two seemed to enjoy it, just strolling along while raindrops pattered gently down on the umbrella above. But, later, when they’d been caught in the rain while out, Yubin had produced an umbrella from a shadow and pulled Handong close, with Yoohyeon practically clinging to the daemon’s back as she fought for space under the canopy, Handong understood.
Yoohyeon yelping when raindrops slid off the umbrella’s spines and soaked into the shoulder of her shirt, Yubin laughing gently and tugging the vampire closer by her waist. Yoohyeon’s pout as she complained about the cold rain, and Yubin’s soft smile as she pressed a kiss to the vampire's cheek and rubbed her back gently.
Handong understood what was so fun about the rain, seeing them like this, soft and gentle with each other, with her.
When it was just her and Yubin, the daemon would snake her arm around the fairy’s waist and pull her close, keeping her out of the rain while pressing a kiss to rosy cheeks.
When it was just Handong and Yoohyeon, the vampire would wrap her ice-like hands around Handong’s bicep and press herself close to the fairy, making it nearly impossible to walk without stumbling, complaining about the rain dripping off the umbrella and onto her shoulder.
Handong used to hate the rain for all the reasons one can think of, but now she hates it because it reminds her of Yubin and Yoohyeon. She hates it because it reminds her of the warmth and love that she used to be surrounded by every day, hates the way the rain brings back memories of soft smiles and warm kisses, memories of Yubin bringing her flowers during a downpour, memories of Yoohyeon showing up at her office, soaked to the bone, but smiling brightly as she holds out a jewelry box with a necklace inside.
Handong hates the rain, hates the lightning and the thunder, hates the sight of storm clouds gathering in the sky. She hates the raincoat hanging up in her front hallway, hates the umbrella leaning against the wall. Hates every raindrop, every puddle of rainwater. She hates the couples that walk in the rain, clinging to each other underneath their umbrellas.
Handong hates that she hates the rain and how she feels about the couples walking and the puddles and raindrops that have done nothing to earn her disdain. But she hates them. Hates them because she knows the chances of reuniting with Yubin and Yoohyeon, the two that made the rain fun, are slim to none.