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Chapter Text

Before the tower, and even after he had started climbing and conquering it, he had lived a life where he had grown used to being alone. 

And then, there had been him - Sun Wukong - idiotic, childish, stubborn, arrogant. But also straightforward, playful, steadfast and skilled. 

At first, it had just been just excitement, the thrill of a challenge. A riddle to solve. After all, how do you kill an immortal being? 

Then somewhere along the way, it had become a friendly competition.  

From blows meant to hurt and strikes aimed at the neck, it became wrestling in the mud and arms slung careless over each others shoulders, laughter a new staple in their relationship.

Being with Wukong had made him feel like the carefree boy he had never been. He had been happy. 

Then, the outers had come. They had rushed to the tower and thrown themselves in the fight. 

Time became meaningless then. Sun Wukong had been his first companion but as the battle raged and he fought shoulder to shoulder with other players, he had not been the last. He had made other friends, their relationships forged with blood, so much that they felt like brothers more than anything. 

But still, Yuwon looked foward to the moments where he fought back to back with Wukong the most. To when he could shake his idiot monkey over his recklessness and tend to his wounds himself to reassure himself that the fool was alive. 

Somewhere along the way, Wukong had carved a permanent place for himself in his heart. 

Looking at Wukong laughing felt like sunshine. Fighting back to back with Wukong, he had felt invincible, like they could have taken anything in the world and won. 

But that would have been too good to be true. The fight with the outers dragged on and on until they were left here. 

Exhaustion dragged at his every limb. It had been a long bloody fight. So many had died. 

So many that he could count on two hands how many were left alive on their side as they gathered in the same small clearing. He listened to the other high rankers talk and knew what was coming. 

He mustered whatever little strength he had left and stood up. “...I expected it but it's really going to be me, huh?”

“That's right.” Chronos confirmed. 

"Wukong was also a contender, so why me?” Why can't we go together? He didn't plead. 

Wukong was the one who answered and Yuwon would be lying if he said that he was listening to his words and not trying to memorize his voice. 

Hercules dragged his attention away when he clapped his hand over his shoulder. "When you go back, we probably won't have the same relationship we have now. So if we don't recognize you, just let it slide."

"Knock some sense into any of us idiots who give you trouble." Wukong added, smirk playful, but Yuwon saw how he meant every word. Out of everyone there, Wukong probably knew best what it would mean to him, for them to face him and not recognise him.

Yuwon looked at each of his companions, burning this image of them behind his eyelids, fervently wishing that this wouldn't be the last time they were gathered like this. 

Finally, he sighed. “You guys are never short for words.”

He turned towards Chronos and the man extended his hand towards his, something resembling a clockwork mechanism appearing over it. If he took it, it would be the last time he saw his friend. Chronos would wipe out his own existence for this chance. Yuwon would have to make sure to use this second chance well.

Once he went back, there would not be any place for regrets. With the plan they had concocted, it was very likely many of his current companions might even be on bad terms with him. 

So…wouldn't it be alright, if just this once…?

“Wukong,” he turned to his most important, most beloved companion, laying bare his emotions for him, “when you look at me right now, what do those eyes of yours see?” 

Wukong looked confused at his question but he nevertheless obliged. 

Yuwon saw the moment his idiot monkey realized it. Why was it anyways, that all this time Wukong had never noticed? Maybe because it had been a gradual change, because he had been there for all of it that he never noticed when things changed for him. When had Wukong gone from an irritable fool to an irreplaceable companion to him? 

Even he did not know, so how could he have expected Wukong to know?

His idiot monkey called his name with a shaky voice he really didn't want to ever hear from him again. 

Yuwon smiled and closed his eyes, reaching out for the time turner. 

“See you on the other side.”

Chapter Text

Seeing him again had been a blow and a balm all the same. 

When he had first noticed the man following him, he had pretended not to know. He had just wanted a little more time to prepare himself to face him. 

Since coming to this world, he had met so many people who had the same faces as his companions. But they had been different people, not yet marked by the war with the outers and there hadn't been a hint of recognition in their eyes. 

But that was fine. That was something Yuwon had braced himself for when he had accepted this role. 

Still. He hadn't wanted to face Wukong just yet. He wasn't ready to see him and not be greeted by being bodily tackled to the ground.

It had been too soon when he had needed to call Wukong for help. But nevertheless, he had been thankful for the battle, for it had let him see him without having to talk immediately.  

By the time he woke up and had finished his business in Camelot, he had steadied himself for their inevitable talk. 

Or so he had thought. He should have known better than to try to predict that unpredictable straightforward fool. 

He was so, so fond of Sun Wukong. 

In his own thoughts, he could admit that it had been somewhat a relief to tell him the truth. To just…stop pretending for a second. Of course, this Wukong didn't know him as his own had. But it was easy to fall back into old habits, to let himself believe, for moments, that this was still his dearest companion. It felt better than he thought it would, to just tell someone the truth and have them see him for what he was. 

And, if privately he was thankful that out of everyone, Wukong was the one who saw the truth of him, then that would remain a secret between him and the past. 

But still, he couldn't help but think of how once again, it had been the same man who had dragged him out of his loneliness. That, at least, remained a constant in both the worlds.

So really, Yuwon had been satisfied with just this. He had been content even. Climbing the tower and seeing Wukong every so often, as the fool seemed to have made up his mind to keep an eye on him, was more than he had hoped for.

But after the fourth time he had caught the man trying to read past memories, he had to admit it to himself.

This was going to be a problem. And knowing Wukong's personality, the stubborn man was not going to drop this anytime soon.

Yuwon had been in the middle of a nap, much like the first time they had met, when the ranker approached him.

His presence, one that was as familiar to him as his own heartbeat, didn't register as a threat. And so when he was rudely jostled awake, eyes flaring cinder red as they met their twin, he was momentarily disoriented before he regained his bearings. 

Those few seconds seemed to have been enough, however, for something to slip through. 

“What are you doing?” He snuffed out to the lopsided face peering down at him, as he tried to blink the last remnants of sleep away. 

“I saw something just now.” Wukong seemed curious. “You showed my other self something. It looked like we were saying goodbye. and then you showed me something.”

Yuwon tried his best to keep his face neutral and his mind barriers in place. “It wasn't anything important.” He hoped he was convincing enough. “I just wanted to know if you thought I was going to be able to do this or not.”

Apparently, that had been the wrong move because Wukong's eyes narrowed. “Liar,” he hissed out and in the next moment he was crawling over Yuwon, sitting on top on him to pin him down. 

The foolish foolish man in love that he was couldn't help the noise he let out. He dearly hoped that Wukong was too focused on finding his answer to notice it. 

He carefully kept his hands fisted in the ground lest he did something stupid like set them on his friend's hips and dig in, never to let go. 

“I’ll find out whether you tell me yourself or not. So you might as well make things easier and just say it.” He suggested.

Yuwon couldn't help his smile nor the instinctual response, “When have I ever made things easy for you?” 

Wukong took it as the challenge it was and grabbed his face between his hands. His cinder eyes changed to a familar red and then Yuwon became too preoccupied with resisting the effect of the superior eyes to give in to the gay panic.

You have succeeded in resisting Cinder Eyes. Proficiency of Cinder Eyes has increased. 

Wukong huffed, even as he seemed impressed at his rapid improvement. 

Yuwon knew him well enough that to know there was no way Wukong was going to drop it now. 

He sighed. “Why is it so important that you know?”

“Why is it so important that you hide it?” The other returned the question, petulant as ever. 

Stubborn as he was, Yuwon had no doubt that one way or another, one day Wukong would get it out of him. And he would much prefer it to be on his terms than in a moment of weakness.

“You're not going to drop this, are you?” He asked, already knowing the answer to his own question. “Fine.” Yuwon sighed, this was going to be mortifying. 

He activated cinder eyes again, this time with no resistance and thought back to that last day in his world. For the first time, since he stepped into this new world, he also let himself feel everything - the love that felt like a raging thunderstorm in his chest and wouldn't quieten even after he convinced himself that there was no hope, and the regret, going deep like an endless chasm, that he hadn't said anything sooner. 

Seeing the realisation on this Wukong's face, identical to his Wukong's, was too much. In the next second, he flipped them, and now Yuwon, was the one hovering over his companion who was looking increasingly dazed, and not just because of the position switch. 

“Are you satisfied now?” Yuwon let himself give in, and brushed a messy strand away from Wukong's face, before twirling it around his finger. 

“You-you-” For once, it seemed that Yuwon had managed to get him speechless. 

“Me.” He agreed, amused at seeing his companion who always had an answer for anything, speechless for once.

Then, just because it was fun to see his friend so flustered and also because he could would allow himself just this once, he brought the strand to his lips, while not once looking away from Wukong. 

And that seemed to be more than enough for his monkey to stop his attempts to formulate a sentence. 

Yuwon took a few seconds to take in the sight before he rolled off the idiot to instead sit with his back to him.

For a few blissful moments, there was silence and then Wukong was up and spluttering. “Is that it?”

Yuwon looked back at him over his shoulder with a half smile. “Were you expecting something else?”

“That-”, there wasn't really a way to finish that sentence. Wukong closed his mouth so hard that his teeth clicked. But then, “You're in love with me.”

Yuwon looked away, closing his eyes in despair because of course that idiot would ask, of course now of all times, he wanted to communicate instead of fighting it out. 

“No.” He said finally. “I'm in love with the you that was from my world.”

Wukong scrunched his forehead in confusion. “Is there a difference?”

“The person I was in love with,” Yuwon finally replied after a while, finding it difficult to talk about this for the first time, and to Wukong himself of all people, “he was someone I had spent decades with, learning each other, fighting back to back. That's…not you.”

Wukong was silent for a moment before he blurted the words out. “He loved you too, you know. That moment when you let him see, it was obvious on his face. There's no other reason he would be that desperate.”

“I know.” And he did, he just hadn't wanted to admit it to himself. That last moment where he had shown Wukong his feelings, he still didn't know what he had expected from it. Maybe it was just so that he could have no regrets or maybe he was hoping for something, but what that was, even he didn't know. 

Seeing Wukong's face in that moment had been agony. Would it have been better after all if he hadn't known? Because now he had to live with the knowledge that if either of them had gotten the courage to confess, things could have been different. He could have had Wukong, for a while at least.

But then again, if he had gotten that happiness only to have it snatched away, he couldn’t imagine how much more pain he would be in.

Yuwon sighed, scrubbing at his eyes. There was no use thinking about that now. “Anyways, that's the last of my secrets. Don't go poking in my head again. If there's something you want to see, just ask me.”

He chanced a look back at his companion and almost wished he didn't because the ranker was looking at him with too perceptive eyes. But, “Alright.” He agreed to his request, strangely obedient for once. 

And suddenly, Yuwon couldn't wait to get away. “I'm going to keep climbing.” He announced. “I'll see you soon.” And before Wukong could say anything, he had contacted an administrator to teleport away to the next stage's test area.

Chapter Text

“You've been avoiding me.” A familiar voice spoke as a heavy grip grabbed his shoulder. Yuwon thanked his years in combat for the fact that he did not jump away because it might have been true that he was avoiding the ranker but like hell was he gonna admit that. 

“What reason would I have to avoid you?” He hoped his tone was indifferent even as he knew that it was a hopeless wish as that bastard could see through the best of poker faces with a glance of red eyes. 

He kept his eyes on the battle plans he had been discussing with Hargraan and Hercules even as he ignored their curious gazes directed towards him. 

When an answer didn't come, he titled his head to look at the face of the person who had once been of his oldest companion. 

He regretted it almost immediately when he was faced with the same knowing eyes that had made him flee in the first place. 

“I can think of a few reasons.” Wukong finally commented wryly.

Yuwon looked away from him. “I'm not avoiding you, I've just been…busy.” He motioned to the rest of the room which contained a lot of the work he had done towards preventing the second Gigantomarchy. 

“Is that why you're avoiding my eyes?” Of course the perceptive fucker had to call him out.

Yuwon was feeling more than a little annoyed. “Maybe I would be more willing to meet your eyes if your newest past-time wasn't to dig into my memories.”

“I-fair enough.” Wukong conceded.

Yuwon was instantly suspicious. He turned around, preparing himself for whatever the man would spring up on him. “What are you up to?”

“What do you mean?” The man had the audacity to try and look innocent, as if Yuwon didn't know him like the back of his hand. 

“You're never this agreeable. You want something, what is it?”

“I'm not up to anything.” The idiot refused to admit. “I just feel bad about it. I shouldn't have done that.”

“If you're gonna lie to me, at least choose a better one. I know you better than that.” Yuwon reminded him. 

He had a bad feeling. The last time Wukong had acted so agreeable towards him, the next day the fool had tried to sneak into Outer territory and almost got killed in twelve different ways before Yuwon dragged his ass back to safety. 

“I'm not lying.” He seemed offended that Yuwon didn't seem to believe him but the regressor just stared him down. 

Wukong frowned in that particular way that made him seem like a petulant child. He was about to do something impulsive, Yuwon was sure of it.

“Fine.” He huffed. “About what we talked about last time, I want to say-”

But he was not able to finish his sentence, because Yuwon had jumped forward to clamp his hand on the fool's mouth. 

Yuwon was mortified. “For once in your life, have some goddamn tact.” He stared at the man he was hopelessly head over heels for with disbelief.

Even after so much time had passed, the idiot didn't cease to suprise him. Unfortunately, they tended to be less pleasant surprises and more heart attacks.

Of course, the idiot would try to talk about this in front of other people. Of course, because why not? This monkey was determined to test his sanity. 

He took a deep breath trying to gather his patience. “We'll talk about it. I promise we'll talk about it. But, after. Please.”

Wukong pulled off the hand that was on his mouth. “And you won't run away.”

Yuwon sighed. “I won't run away.”

Wukong seemed a satisfied but then he narrowed his eyes. “Wait. After when?”

At those words, he was reminded about how even at the beginning, they had been able to read each other, to their constant bafflement. 

“After I'm done dealing with this war.” He tried, despite knowing that it was unlikely Wukong would agree to this.

“You don't even know when that will be.” He hissed. Well, that had kind of been the point, but Yuwon knew better than to say that.

“When then?” He admitted his defeat. 

Wukong looked at him again, in that particular way that made him want to be anywhere else please and thank you.

“The fortieth floor.” He began but Yuwon immediately understood what he meant. 

“I haven't forgotten. There's just some things I need for it. I'll be ready in three days.”

“Three days.” Wukong repeated.

Yuwon knew what he wanted to hear. “Three days. We finish what we have to do on the fortieth floor and then we talk.”

Finally, Wukong seemed satisfied. “I'll see you in three days then.” And then, he was gone as fast as he had appeared. 

Yuwon rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand and tried to get his head on straight. But of course, it couldn't be that easy.

“Sooooo.” A golden haired menace piped up. “What was that about?”

“Not. A. Word.” He turned back to the table trying to remember where they had left off.

“I've never seen you like this.” He sounded intrigued which was very bad for Yuwon's sanity. 

“Shut up Hargraan.”

“Fine.” He huffed. “But I'm gonna find out.”

Yuwon looked up exasperatedly and caught the amused look on Hercules face. 

Assholes. All his friends were assholes. And the worst of them all was Wukong. 

He really really was not looking foward to what Asshole Number 1 wanted to talk about.

Chapter Text

One would think that anything that The Great Sage Heaven's Equal would need help with would be something of immeasurable difficulty. 

But in actuality, the first time Yuwon had freed the fool, it was while finishing a quest— and it had been completely unintentional. He had thought he would get a miserable reward for how easy it had been to complete it and instead he had found Wukong. And now that he was there, while already knowing that to do, it felt like a child's game. 

So, helping Wukong get his main body back took less time than he hoped it would and all too soon it was time for the dreaded conversation his fool monkey wanted to have. 

It had been days since the other had expressed his wish to have a conversation and Yuwon still didn't understand why in the world Wukong had chosen now of all time to adopt the healthy habit of communicating. 

The worse thing was that neither of them had said a word since they had sat down to talk in the same clearing where they had stayed in the first days of their acquaintance. 

Wukong had been staring at Yuwon like he would be able to see more of him with his own eyes while Yuwon was doing his best to look at anything else but Wukong. 

He was tempted to look though, because for all that Wukong's replicas were life like, they couldn't accurately replicate the original. His main body had a different aura altogether, his power seemed to ripple under his skin with every movement and everything in general seemed more defined. 

Yuwon was so used to seeing his true form that he could catch which was clone and which wasn’t at a glance. It was also why he was pointedly not looking at Wukong, he hadn’t realised how much he had missed the bastard’s true face until now.

So caught up in his thoughts, he did not notice that Wukong had gotten up and was walking towards him until he was standing right in front of him. It was likely that Wukong had done it on purpose too, the monkey could be surprisingly stealthy when he wanted to be.

He looked up and immediately felt the all too familiar feeling of dread he felt whenever this bastard was up to something. Remembering the last time he and Wukong had been alone, Yuwon jumped up to his feet but he wasn’t able to do much more than that because in a move, the other had his arm in a grip.

“You said you wouldn’t run.” 

And that. Was. Annoying. It’s not like Yuwon ran from many things. He feel like he should get a pass for this situation. “I’m not running. I just feel like you’re up to mischief again.”

Wukong offered him a guileless smile that he did not believe for a single second. “I just want to talk.”

He narrowed his eyes at him. “Then talk. You’re the one who hasn’t said a word since before.”

“Fine, then tell me something.” He spoke slowly, as if trying not to spook Yuwon. “Before, you said that it isn’t me that you are in love with, is that really true?” 

It wasn’t really a question. For all that people thought Wukong to be an impulsive reckless idiot, thanks to his eyes, the bets he took rarely ever didn’t pan out. If he was asking this question in the first place, Yuwon knew that he must already have an idea of an answer. 

But still, Yuwon didn’t feel ready to simply answer the question. “What’s even the point of asking me this?”

“I think it’s a conversation we need to have if I want you to stop being awkward around me”. Even though his tone was sardonic, he could see that Wukong was being  uncharacteristically serious for once. 

Wukong was probably right but that didn't mean he had to admit it. “Just…give me some time to lick my wounds. You took me by surpise. I handn’t prepared myself for you to rip that out of me.” 

Yuwon didn't know what kind of reaction he was expecting from Wukong but this wasn't it. The other man tightened his hold on his wrist and pulled him closer to gently bump their foreheads together. “Yuwon,” he said with that same dogged determination that had always been a characteristic of his. “You haven’t answered my question.” 

Yuwon tried to read his face, for any hint of what was going on in his mind, to no avail. After a few moments of silence, he resigned himself. 

“You're not the person I fell in love with.” Yuwon said finally. “But you have the same soul. You hold the same traits I fell for in the first place. That didn't change even throughout the war nor after I came back. So, I am in love with you.” He closed his eyes. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Yes.” said Wukong and the next thing Yuwon knew was that there was a pair of lips on his. 

For a few seconds, Yuwon was still as his brain restarted and as soon as it did, his hand raised up to rest on Wukong's chest to shove him away.

“What do you think you're doing?” His voice came out shaky. Wukong seemed shocked, probably because he hadn't expected the mixture of hurt and anger he saw in the other. 

Well good, because Yuwon hadn't expected Wukong to make light of his feelings this way either.

“Yuwon-” Wukong seemed almost panicked as he reached foward to grasp his shoulder but he faltered in his attempt when Yuwon flinched away from him. 

“What is this?” The usually calm man had a hysteric edge to his voice. “Do you think this is funny? Or did I seem that pitiful?” He didn't wait for an answer before he turned around and started walking away.

“Yuwon wait!” The ranker leaped foward and gripped Yuwon's arm to stop him. Knowing that at this point in time, he could not measure up to Wukong's strength, he made no move to free himself but he resolutely looked away from Wukong.

“Sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. At least not like that. I should have thought this out better. I didn't mean to hurt you. “ The sage seemed to be struggling with his words, wanting to make sure that he said the right thing this time. 

He seemed to have been successful because Yuwon deflated and finally looked up at Wukong. “What did you mean then?” He asked wearily. 

The other opened and closed his mouth a few times, seemingly trying to decide what to say. Finally, he made up his mind. “I told you previously that I loved you in the other timeline. That wasn't a guess. When…each time you show me a past memory, I feel what the past me felt in that moment.”

Yuwon felt terribly hopeful for a moment even as he tried not to be. “Is there any chance you're….remembering?”

Wukong shook his head. “I don't think so… from what you told me what Chronos did;” he furrowed his brow, speaking slowly, like he himself was only now figuring it out, “...Only time turned back. So I'm still that person - my soul is still the same and it…experienced these things.” I might not remember on my own but when I see these meories, it's like, like echoes of my emotions and thoughts from then.” 

“I….see.” Yuwon was thoughtful, seemingly having forgotten about their previous discussion but Wukong wasn't about to let that happen.  

“I loved you.” He said, getting straight to the point. “When I first felt what past me was feeling I thought I could drown in the depth of his feelings. “

Yuwon already looked devastated at that revelation but Wukong wasn't done. “Then I felt your emotions too. And,” He took a deep breath, seemly bracing himself. “You loved him, you loved me - just as fiercely.”

Wukong reached up to cup Yuwon’s face between his hands. “That last moment, when you let him know. He was…he felt desperate…he thought about all the chances you had missed - all that time you could have had each other. If only either of you had said something earlier. I don't want to have those regrets.”

Yuwon looked a bit like he could break down crying at any moment, but still he spoke. “That's not enough. Wukong you barely know me. You can't decide something like this based on his feelings. What if you never feel that way?”

“It's true that I don't know you as well. But Yuwon,” Wukong smiled helplessly. “I'm already falling for you.  Given time, I don't doubt that I will love you as deeply as he did. And then, even more.”

Yuwon closed his eyes like had received a blow. He reached up to grap Wukong wrists, looking at him in his eyes, eyes going red. 

“You have to be sure.” His voice quivered. “Wukong, you have to be sure that this is what you want. Because if I get to have this and then you change your mind, I don't know if I'll survive letting you go a second time.”

“Yuwon,” Wukong's voice was so soft that Yuwon really felt like he was going to start crying. His companion leaned foward to touch their foreheads, “I'm sure.”

And really what could he say to that? Yuwon wasn’t fool enough to let a second chance go to waste. He leaned foward and wrapped his arms around his partner, burying his head in the crook of Wukong's neck. Wukong hugging him back felt a lot like coming home.

“I love you.” Yuwon said for the first time, with no ifs, ands, or buts. “I really do love you idiot monkey.”

Wukong made an offended noise, even as his tone was tinged with amusementf. “Did you have to add an insult in?” He pulled back slightly to look at Yuwon, relieved to be able to go back to their usual banter. 

Meanwhile, all the latter could think of was that Wukong's smile was beautiful and that he really wanted a redo of that kiss earlier. 

Yuwon realised that there was nothing stopping him from following through on that urge for once and so he leaned in and pressed their smiles together.

Wukong froze for a second before he relaxed. His arms snaked around Yuwon’s waist to pull him closer. 

Kissing Wukong, Yuwon thought, was something he could never get enough of. Even so, when the other tried to deepen the kiss, Yuwon pulled back. 

Wukong let out a noise of complaint and Yuwon couldn’t help but laugh. The fearsome ranker looked like nothing more than a petulant child at that moment. Yuwon ran his fingers through his hair like he had dreamt of doing so many times before.

“I do think we should take this a bit slow.

Wukong immediately seemed to understand what he was getting at but that didn’t stop him from looking mullish. “Do we have to?”

“I know what you said and I know you’re determined but I’m still a bit worried that I might overwhelm you.” Yuwon lightly knocked their heads together, “Also, hmm, I need…some time to get used to this you.”

The ranker let out a long sigh. “Fiiiine.”  Normally, the Wukong Yuwon knew would not back away from something he wanted, but maybe because of the way he had reacted previously, Wukong seemed to be willing to take it at his pace.

Yuwon knew that Wukong was a little worried about him. About his plans and about his mental state after coming back. The man could be subtle when he wanted to be but Yuwon had never needed cinder eyes to read through him like an open book.

If they really wanted this to work, then Yuwon would have to try his best to reassure him. It wouldn’t do if Wukong kept walking on eggshells around him after all. Yuwon still couldn’t believe he really got to have this.

His train of thoughts was cut down when he was pushed down, Wukong tackling him. Unlike last time, Yuwon didn’t hesitate to place his hands on the other’s waist. 

Wukong leaned on his hands on either side of Yuwon’s head. “Stop thinking. Focus on me.” Yuwon couldn’t help but laugh.

But somehow, Yuwon thought as Wukong leaned down to swallow the sound, he knew they were going to be alright.