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Han Yoojin was having a weird day. Weird week. Honestly, a weird month.
Starting from about a month ago, dangerous mythical monsters began appearing around Korea in events known as "dungeon breaks", and mysterious people going by "Hunters" popped up afterwards, wielding magical powers to defeat those monsters.
Some time after, he caught his younger brother, Yoohyun, uncharacteristically sneaking out at night for the first time. Yoojin had been hearing odd noises late at night from his room for a while now, but Yoohyun's always been so well-behaved. Who can blame him for giving the benefit of the doubt to the best younger brother in the world?
And just today, when walking to his part-time convenience store job after class, Yoojin had an inexplicable urge to take a shortcut he'd never taken before. His walk led him through an alleyway, where he found a strange pair of fingerless gloves that, despite having been on the floor for who knows how long, looked good as new and extremely high-quality. He had picked them up, thinking he could give them to Yoohyun or sell them for a decent price, and put them into his bag, forgetting them until now.
Yoojin had originally thought all these events to be unrelated, but the sight in front of him says otherwise.
The pair of gloves currently sitting on his desk has an elegant design of black leather with red detailing, almost reminiscent of lily petals. These are not the same gloves he had earlier.
And he's absolutely sure he would have remembered if there was a bright flash of light when he first picked them up. He should've known something was up the second he saw that those gloves didn't have a speck of dirt on them, but no, Yoojin, let's pick up the suspicious gloves in an abandoned alleyway.
The light disappears, and —
"Don't freak out, Honey!" A red glowing volleyball begins to speak, bouncing up and down from where it appeared, floating over the gloves still sitting on Yoojin's desk. He takes an involuntary step back.
"Sure," Yoojin says, freaking out, but you don't raise a kid on your own for a majority of your life without learning how to appear calm in some truly crazy situations. He still remembers the time Yoohyun came home, carrying a large tree branch like it was a bouquet of flowers; Yoojin still smiles at the thought.
And based on all the supernatural events that have shown up in the past month, Yoojin's pretty sure he knows, at least somewhat, where this is going. "Who, or, um, what? Are you? And… do you happen to be connected to the new 'Hunters' that have shown up in Korea?"
"Exactly!" The volleyball says, a smiling emoticon taking over its curved surface. "I'm Newcomer, and I'm the Transcendent connected to those gloves!"
"It's nice to meet you, Newcomer," he says politely. Let's act cordially to get more information first. "I'm Han Yoojin. What's a Transcendent?"
"Transcendents are the beings connected to Items, which can be used to transform people into Hunters and grant them powers to fight off dungeon breaks!"
"So anyone can be a Hunter? Wouldn't that be dangerous?" Han Yoojin thinks about how Yoohyun had slowly been coming home later and later, starting from a month ago. Around the same time that Hunter Yilin showed up. He's starting to think that Yoohyun may have been sneaking around more than he thought.
When Yilin had first shown up, Han Yoojin had thought that he looked suspiciously similar to Yoohyun. Not to mention Yilin's alias. It sounded very similar to what Yoohyun had named his pet lizard, Irin.
"Not to worry, Honey! Along with special abilities, Hunter transformations magically block out discernible features, protecting their identities! It only stops working once someone's identity is already known." Yoojin nods understandingly at that statement. That explains how, when Hunter Yilin first arrived on the scene, Yoojin only found him to be vaguely familiar, but now he could easily recognize him as his beloved baby brother.
Wait. "If anyone can safely be a Hunter, why my brother?" Yoojin scowls. "He's still so young, you know, and just started college, and you want him to spend so much time protecting Korea? Aren't there any older people whom you can pick?" He looks back down at the gloves, as if suddenly remembering their presence. "I'll take his place. These gloves are an Item, right? How do I transform?"
Suddenly, Newcomer looks a little nervous, at least as nervous as a volleyball can look. He's been steadily slowing down his bounces, but now he's completely stopped, just floating unmoving in the air, and the bright smiling emoticon he was using earlier had switched over to a meeker one with a quivering atmosphere.
"Um, about that. Honey, I don't think you should be transforming with me!"
Yoojin squints his eyes at Newcomer, glaring. "Why? Didn't you just say that being a Hunter is safe? If my brother can do it, why can't I?" He grips onto the volleyball and raises his arms. For a second, he's taken aback by how easy it was to grab — it had looked almost like a hologram — but he's quick to start shaking it up and down.
"It's safe! It is!!!" Newcomer flails, expression queasy, and Yoojin lets him go reluctantly.
"Then what's with the caution?"
"Um, there are a lot of factors that come into play when determining the strength of Hunters, like physical constitution, mental stability, creativity," Yoojin nods; his brother is so amazing, being good at all three, so no wonder he was chosen to be a Hunter, "the strength of the Transcendent, and compatibility between the Transcendent and user." At the last bit, Newcomer's expression turns apologetic. "I'm sorry, Honey, but I have creation and crafting-based powers, and so I don't think my powers will be very compatible with you."
Yoojin winces, but he's not wrong. Many people have said… less than favorable things about his creative tastes, and that's not even starting on his abyssal detailed hand-eye coordination. "How about, um, Yilin's Transcendent? How are their abilities?"
The volleyball's expression brightens up again. "Your brother is very compatible with his Transcendent! Actually, that's probably how Young Chaos found him in the first place, since he's usually not so good at connecting with humans."
"…Young Chaos?"
"Yilin's Transcendent! Young Chaos is the Transcendent of the Encroaching Ruler's Sword. He's the oldest Transcendent, and one of the strongest, so your brother is perfectly safe, I promise!!"
"Still, I want to help him somehow," Yoojin says, lost in frustrated thought. "A support Hunter, huh? Isn't there any way I can use support skills to help my brother?"
"That's why we were looking for you!!" Newcomer begins to spin around excitedly. "We need someone to help us hand out more Items, so that more Hunters can help out your brother!"
Yoojin frowns. The need for more Hunters implies that whatever the greater threat is, it's too strong for the current Hunters to handle on their own. He can only imagine what greater enemies are coming, and he only wishes that his brother didn't have to get involved with it.
"How am I supposed to help you find new Hunters?" Yoojin says, instead. He'd like to help his brother more, but, loath as he is to admit it, Yoojin knows he's at a disadvantage in information. Let's not catastrophize and just focus on what we can do right now~
"Just follow your instincts, Honey!" Newcomer says, terribly jovial for how unhelpful that piece of advice is. "It's hard for us Transcendents to interact much with your world; it's why there are so few Hunters active — but you're the exception, so we really need your help!"
"If it helps my brother out, I can't say no," Yoojin sighs, then reaches for the gloves. He might as well put them on until he finds a proper Hunter to wear them. The gloves, despite looking deceptively simple, fill his body with a feeling of strength and energy after he's put them on. How convenient. Yoohyun's going to be home in a few hours, and Yoojin has a feeling he's going to need all the strength he can get for that conversation.
Han Yoohyun falls through his window, sprawling on his bedroom floor in a heap of limbs and grimacing at the loud thud that follows. He usually tries to take more care when sneaking home, but even he can only do so much with a sprained ankle. Still, Yoojin should be asleep by now, so—
"Finally remembered to come home, did you?" Han Yoohyun's hyung swivels around in Yoohyun's desk chair to face him, looking all the world like a thriller movie mob boss, complete with scowling cat on his lap. In all fairness, Peace makes a good show of being threatening, claws out and hissing, but his efforts are ruined by the white fluff ball sitting on Yoojin's head.
"Hyung, I-" Yoohyun starts — to say what, he doesn't know, neither brother has ever made a habit out of lying to each other — but he freezes as his eyes focus on where Yoojin's hands are carding through Peace's fur. Yoohyun's been so distracted by his brother's scolding gaze that he only just noticed the energy coming from the black leather gloves he's wearing. "Hyung, where did you get those gloves?" Yoohyun says, voice suddenly serious as he pushes himself to his feet.
Yoojin only raises an eyebrow in return. "Why don't you tell me where you got your sword from first, Hunter Yilin?" Yoohyun's eyes widen, just incrementally, but for how good he usually is at concealing his reactions, he might as well be waving around a white flag reading 'BUSTED' in all caps. Meanwhile, Yoojin continues, unaffected. "How long did you think you would be able to hide it for? You're not as quiet sneaking out as you think you are, Yoohyun-ah, and really, 'Yilin'? Anyone who knows about Irin would be able to figure out your name, or at least be suspicious."
"But- Hyung, you can't become a Hunter too! It's too dangerous for you." Yoohyun takes a step forward, to be closer to his brother. But the adrenaline is wearing off, he's putting his weight on the wrong foot, and before he knows it, he's tumbling to the floor again. As his ankle crumbles under the weight of his body, Yoojin launches out of his chair and grabs him by the arms, Peace having smoothly jumped away and meowing to Yoohyun's right. Chirpie, less smoothly, flaps around until he lands neatly on Peace's head.
"And it's not dangerous for you? How did this even happen? You've never had an injury this bad before, Yoohyun, you can't keep going out like this!"
"I'll be fine soon," Yoohyun dismisses, trying to get back on his feet, but Yoojin's already nudging him towards his chair. "The power of the Transcendents can speed up healing. I'm just tired right now." Too late, he realizes that just because Yoojin found an Item doesn't mean he knows what a Transcendent is, but Yoojin doesn't seem to look confused.
"I don't care. You're absolutely not allowed to go out tomorrow." Yoojin says, resolutely. "If a dungeon break happens, I'll go."
"What?!" Yoohyun would've jumped out of the chair if not for his hyung's hands on his shoulders keeping him seated. "You can't, I told you, it's dangerous!"
"So? It's better than you going out with a broken ankle. Have some faith in your hyung, and just focus on healing quickly."
"It's only a sprain," Yoohyun mutters, his voice borderline pouty.
"Give it up, already," comes a deep voice accompanied by the smell of firewood, and Yoohyun looks past Yoojin to see Young Chaos standing behind him, leaning against his sword where Yoohyun left it beside the window. Next to him is a floating red volleyball that Yoohyun assumes must be the Transcendent for his brother's gloves.
"You must be Young Chaos," Yoojin says, bowing, and Yoohyun mourns the loss of his hands on his shoulder as he walks over to Young Chaos. "Thank you, Elder, for taking care of my Yoohyun."
Young Chaos waves him off. "I've had worse students than Second."
"Second?" Yoojin mutters, but Yoohyun cuts in before Young Chaos can respond.
"Don't let my brother transform," he insists, even as Yoojin's face darkens.
"Yoohyun, you can't tell me what to do," Yoojin says, turning back to him, and even in this situation, Yoohyun can't help but relish in the full weight of his brother's attention on him. The dungeon breaks have admittedly left him busy, with less time to spend with his brother. "I'm not letting you go out injured, but someone needs to take care of the dungeon breaks, and you're not going to stop me."
"Just let Hunter Chain take care of them himself," Yoohyun responds, face twisting at the mention of the other Hunter. With all his banter and flirting during battles, Chain certainly has some questionable priorities, but his power and skills leave little to be desired. In all honesty, he would be able to handle himself fine for a fight or two. At worst, his mouth will get lonely from not having someone to bother, if no other Hunter shows up to provide backup. "Or any of the other Hunters. They don't need you, hyung. They won't even notice I'm gone. You could get in the way if you're not used to using the Transcendent's powers."
Yoojin smacks the back of his head, and he lets out an acquiescent oof, even though it doesn't hurt at all. "Don't be silly. You have a perfect attendance record for every dungeon break; I don't want anyone to be talking about you suddenly missing fights, not to mention the panic that might rise if people notice you're missing. I've seen the videos of every one of your fights, from every angle. I already know all of your moves by heart. No one will even be able to tell it's not you."
"It'll be better for Honey to interact more with the other Hunters, too!" The volleyball pipes up. Yoohyun didn't know it could talk.
"I'll whip First into passable fighting shape before he goes out," Young Chaos adds, ignoring Yoojin's quiet following mutter of First? as he switches the Encroaching Ruler's Sword into its key-chain form and tosses it at Yoojin.
Yoojin catches it with nothing more than a little stumble, then ruffles Yoohyun's hair. Despite his lingering anxieties, he can't help but smile and melt into the touch.
"Just leave it to Hyung, okay?"
Yilin is late.
Compared to all the dungeon breaks Sung Hyunjae has already been through, this one is relatively tame. For all intents and purposes, he doesn't need Yilin's assistance, but for how diligent the young master usually is, it's odd that he's not here yet. Most of the other Hunters have missed a fight here and there, but he and Yilin have been at every single one.
He's about to all but wrap up the raid himself when the group of dungeon monsters coming from his left bursts into flames, and the smell of smoke begins to waft towards him. Has the young master decided to show his face after all?
Sung Hyunjae turns around and, to his surprise, is met with a wall of dark purple flames instead of the bright blue that usually follows Yilin. More curious is the unfamiliar Hunter wielding them, a man with short dark hair and black studs. His face is framed by a mass of flickering dark flames, casting any identifying facial features in shadow. In his hands is a familiar flaming black sword, marking him as the current host of the Encroaching Ruler's Sword.
That's clearly not Yilin. For one, he's almost a whole head shorter than the Hunter that Sung Hyunjae is used to working with. And yet, he doesn't appear to be a new Hunter either, controlling the flames with much more expertise than Sung Hyunjae would expect from a new Hunter, complete with a different technique. It's not entirely unfamiliar, though, almost like a modified or evolved form of how Yilin usually swings his sword.
"Sorry for the delay," the man starts, wiping out the last of the monsters before landing on the rooftop next to Sung Hyunjae. "I had a bit of a hard time getting over here." Despite those words, the man hardly looks out of breath or confused at all. Even Yilin had looked more off-kilter when they first met, at the start of the first dungeon breaks.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure? It's hard to believe someone as hot-tempered as Yilin would pass on his Transcendent to someone else."
The man scowls. "Yilin is perfectly good-natured. You know, it's not right to talk about other people's younger brothers so disfavorably." Right after he says this, he curses quietly, eyes shifting like he revealed a secret he wasn't supposed to. How intriguing.
His voice is also a pitch higher than Yilin's, but that's far from the most unusual thing about it. Rather, it's the inflection that makes Sung Hyunjae feel as if he's being… reprimanded. Not by a superior — not that that's a position Sung Hyunjae has ever found himself in. Instead, it's as if he's being scolded by a kindergarten teacher, or maybe a children's sports team coach. It's a novel experience, turning what was previously a routine fight into the most interesting conversation Sung Hyunjae's had all week.
"Does this make you Yilin's older brother? Who knew the young master was hiding such a delightful sibling all this time." Sung Hyunjae makes sure to smile pleasantly, the corners of his eyes crinkling from even behind the linking chains that obscure his face, but the man only seems to glare harder.
"Don't get any weird ideas. I'm just filling in for him this one time." He holds his hand out in the perfect position for a handshake. "Um, you can call me, errr… Honey?" His face twists, seemingly hesitant, or at least unsure, over the code name. It's as if he wasn't expecting to have to offer one, and had to come up with it on the spot.
"What a fitting name for this sweet encounter I've had today," Sung Hyunjae says, taking the offered hand. However, rather than shake, he turns Honey's hand over, palm down, and leans down to lightly kiss the back of his hand. "I'm sure I need no introduction, so you may call me whatever you like."
The reaction is instantaneous. Honey pulls his hand back, swinging it around and wiping it down his coat, before apparently deciding it's not clean enough and setting his entire hand on fire instead.
"What the- What's wrong with you, crazy bastard!" he all but shrieks as he jumps back. "Aren't you supposed to be in love with Yilin?"
Sung Hyunjae can't help the way his smile freezes at the reminder. Ever since all the Hunters that had separately popped up in Korea first decided to reluctantly work together a little over a month ago, news stations all around Korea have been desperate to get any information on the mysterious people protecting Korea. And, after Chain was caught on camera flirting with Yilin, there's been no end to the speculation on the possible budding romance between Hunter Yilin and Hunter Chain. Admittedly, Sung Hyunjae isn't completely blameless; he easily could have flirted with Yilin more obscurely, or at the very least, away from the eyes of the media. But, well. He at least needed something to make their flirting not a completely worthless, utter bore of an experience.
Based on his reactions, Yilin probably likes being flirted with about as much as Sung Hyunjae likes flirting at him: that is, not at all. But it can't be helped. Any information Sung Hyunjae has been able to find on the dungeon breaks, Transcendents, and Items, all say the same thing: that the only way for a Hunter to forcibly break a bond with their Transcendent is with a kiss, given freely by a host of the oldest Transcendent. The oldest Transcendent, who just so happens to be the Encroaching Ruler's Sword wielded by Yilin.
Quite frankly, he has no interest in kissing Yilin. But he has even less interest in being stuck with Crescent Moon and the Refined Seeker's Chains for the rest of his life. And seducing, or at the very least annoying, a prickly young man into kissing him had a higher chance of success in breaking that connection than any other plan he had. Until now.
This new Hunter, Honey, as another host of the Encroaching Ruler's Sword, gives Sung Hyunjae a new option. How did Yilin manage to hide such an amusing older brother for so long? If only he managed to find out Yilin's civilian identity back when they first started working together. He might just have to try searching for him again.
"And now you're flirting with me, even though we've only just met," Honey continues. "If any news outlets were here, they would be disappointed to learn what this means for their favorite Hunter couple."
To be completely honest, Sung Hyunjae's not exactly excited about the idea of kissing either brother. "Perhaps those news outlets will be able to find a new Hunter couple to support. After our meeting, I only have eyes for you now, Honey." But if he had to pick, he'd rather get a kiss from Honey than Yilin.
"Or maybe they'll stop praising you once they learn that the famous Hunter Chain is nothing more than an insincere and flighty flirt that hits on any new Hunter he meets." Honey takes a step closer to jab a finger into Sung Hyunjae's chest. "Stop stringing my brother around." There's an odd feeling spreading in his chest from the spot where Honey's finger is. A feeling that, for once, leaves Sung Hyunjae at a loss for words.
Most people would rather step away from Hunter Chain than step closer, much less touch him. The other Hunters are reluctant to get close to him, and even as a civilian, people are admiring but wary of Sung Hyunjae.
This brazen touch, and a hostile one at that, from a Hunter that's never been seen on the field before, who's aware of Chain's power and reputation and doesn't hesitate to touch him anyway… His heart rate speeds up by a beat — a rate that for anyone else would be the equivalent of a racing heart.
"Perhaps you would worry about yourself more, Honey," Sung Hyunjae responds, an edge to his voice. "I currently find you much more intriguing than your brother."
A slightly horrified look takes over Honey's face, and Sung Hyunjae can't help the disappointment that blooms, a chill taking over the warm spot in his chest from earlier. This is it. Another person who can't handle his presence, and goes to acting meek around him, the same as everyone else does. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. All of his entertainments are fleeting.
"Don't speak nonsense," Honey starts, and Sung Hyunjae re-resigns himself to a boring existence. "My brother is much more entertaining than me!"
Sung Hyunjae blinks. What?
"He's so strong and capable, you know, if it weren't for you, he'd be the best Hunter in Korea! And he's so responsible too, showing up to every dungeon break and efficiently dealing with every monster that shows up. Not to mention what a wonderfully doting younger brother he is! Always talking about how he wants to get a good job to help out his hyung, isn't Yo- ah, Yilin-ie the best?"
Honey says, and Sung Hyunjae kindly doesn't mention how those first few traits apply to him too. He almost thinks Honey's talking about a completely different person. The image of this sweet, caring younger brother is at complete odds with Yilin's harsh fires. Honestly, the number of words Sung Hyunjae has heard Yilin say over the course of their partnership could probably be counted on one hand.
"Ah, I've already been out here too long! Yilin's going to worry if I'm out too long, especially since the raid was wrapped up a while ago," Honey coughs suddenly, completely ignorant of Sung Hyunjae's current cognitive dissonance. "I, ergh, hope to see you around next time, Hunter Chain," he finishes, through gritted teeth and an expression of faux politeness.
There's a rush of dark flames, and Honey's gone, leaving behind only the smell of smoke. Sung Hyunjae hadn't quite noticed earlier, but the smoke is scented with sweet undertones, like the remnants of marshmallows melting over a campfire.
"I will look forward to our next meeting," Sung Hyunjae says to the empty night, then disappears with the rattle of chains, the movement framed only by the ever-glowing light of the crescent moon.