Chapter Text
The room had calmed to a gentle lull as the celebration drew to a close. Hwaryun looked around, taking note of her remaining teammates. Shibisu sat slumped over on a table with a dopey smile and a hand wrapped around a bottle of soju. Endorsi and Anaak rested on the lounge chairs in the corner, pointing at him as he ended up drunk at yet another party. But, at a closer glance, Hwaryun noticed that Endorsi’s glass had tendrils of liquid leaking down the side of it, suggesting the woman likely fared no better than the man she chastised. Rolling her eyes at them, Hwaryun turned to leave. Nearly everyone had left the party already, but as she was leaving, Hwaryun spied Hatz cuddling his sword in a chair at the opposite corner of the room and Rak still shoving chocolates into his mouth beside him.
Every one of Viole’s teammates were accounted for except those two . Of course, they’d gone off on their own. They’d been disappearing more frequently since passing the 96th floor. Hwaryun tapped her foot and glanced around the room once more in search of where they might have snuck off to and found that the door leading to the kitchen stood ajar. They must have gone back for snacks. Viole did have a huge appetite and Khun always followed where he’d go. So, she made her way across the room and peeked through the crack. As she peered inside, Hwaryun’s eyes fell on the two men talking in hushed tones.
”Khun, we’re going to make it. I know we will.” Viole’s voice reverberated around the room with excitement.
”I know, but we have to think about our next move before they can catch up to us.” He was right, of course, but little did he know that she and the little god had made plans already. Ones he wasn’t privy to.
“Can’t we just be excited and enjoy tonight?” Viole whined.
”We can’t let up, Baam. We have to get ahead of this before—”
”Khun, please?” And the pleading tone of his voice nearly made Hwaryun believe that Viole was just a man. The way he desperately looked at Khun, asking for something so small, a god needn’t ask. Yet, in quiet moments like this, even she wondered if Viole was neither angel nor demon but human like the rest of them. The way his voice softened and his eyes tenderly looked at the man standing across from him, Viole appeared to be nothing more than that. But, just as she started to believe, visions of his prowess on the battlefield invaded her mind. Watching them flash before her eyes, she’d remember that he wasn’t like any of them at all.
So, how was it possible for the tips of Viole’s ears to redden and his face to flush pink in Khun’s presence? What could a mere human do to fluster her god?
Despite the wings, horns, thorns, and divine power to nearly smite anything in his path, maybe she could admit that Viole was closer to the rest of them than she expected him to be.
At first, he’d been a boy with the heart of an angel, but after she dragged him to FUG he’d been trained, tortured, crafted into one of the strongest demons they’d ever seen. He’d ripped through tests and trials like his life depended on it and she bore witness as his hopes of freedom were plucked feather by feather until his dream of climbing the tower was nothing but a soiled wish, cleanly squashed underfoot of FUG.
But now, on the other side of the door, Viole tenderly reached out to Khun as if those memories had faded away and she’d been left to remember them alone. Witnessing his gentle touch, Hwaryun almost felt guilty for dragging him to that hell. A knot twisted in her stomach as she imagined what fate might have awaited him had they stayed. She blinked away the thought, deciding not to dwell on it because, without FUG, they likely wouldn’t be standing here right now. So, despite all of the torment that transpired in those 6 years, she couldn’t count herself wrong in her path as a guide.
Quietly pressing herself against the door, Hwaryun continued to watch as Viole pulled Khun closer. Maybe she’d been watching them for too long. The subtle shift from Viole touching Khun’s hands to holding him like a lover nearly convinced her to step away, but something about the intimacy of it made it hard for her to leave. She watched as Viole’s fingers brushed through Khun’s hair, tucking a bit of it behind his ear. Had they always been this close?
Khun sighed as Viole interlaced their fingers and the Light Bearer leaned into the palm of her god’s hand. The two of them always seemed to have a close skinship, but she’d never seen them quite this close. When had their dynamic shifted to this? And why hadn’t she been aware of it?
Too lost in her own thoughts about how this happened without her knowledge, Hwaryun nearly missed Khun’s whispered, “Kiss me,” before Baam drew him in and planted his lips chastely against the Light Bearer’s.
Her cheeks flamed at the sight. She’d seen more of her god’s personal life than she should have and carefully pulled the door closed. As much as it felt like a sin to have witnessed such an intimate moment, Hwaryun would never forget the sight of Khun melting into Viole’s embrace.
But time had been unkind and just as Khun had melted into Viole’s arms back then, she watched him melt into the dining table the same way. Except, this time, instead of in the arms of her god, he melted under a stupor of wine he used to forget him instead. She pitied the man Khun had become and wished she could watch Viole hold him like that again, even if it was a sin for her to witness.
Secretly, tenderly, lovingly, she longed to see her god’s lover whole again.