Work Text:
Jo Euishin sat over the edge of a rooftop, feet hanging languidly in air.
A shrill breeze ruffled his hair, the overcoat long folded by his side.
It was cold, but he found it tedious to wear it again. The cloth always weighed heavy on his shoulders, the burden of a happy ending he had to fulfill eerily clear on certain, quiet nights. Jo Euishin did not like the texture, nor the utter darkness of the coat, calling him into an unceasing void.
Classes must've ended already, he noticed when he saw the hue of the sky.
For today, he did not head back immediately. There was no reason in particular, except the way back to the dormitory was darker than usual, and he couldn't see well. He had rubbed his eyes, but it stung, and the wind was endlessly cold, so Jo Euishin had not went back, even though his clothes now reeked of blood.
He'd have to throw it away, when he returned.
If he returned.
It didn't seem like the stench would fade, no matter what he did.
Whoooosh
Jo Euishin closed his eyes briefly, then gazed at the abyss beneath.
He did not remember the height, except that it was high enough. For the breeze to be sharper than any other, and for the buzz in his ears to be muted out.
He leaned a bit further over the edge, though it wasn't a concern. Given his status as a Player, he wouldn't die falling from this height, or any other, mostly.
It was just, the view was entrancing.
Feet hanging, posture bare and slumped, as his eyes stared into a void, the welcoming kind. His heart throbbed dully against his chest, the noise faint. Noise, yes, because it was not a sound he felt inclined to hear. It reminded him, and Jo Euishin did not like to indulge in useless thoughts. Being reminded that he was alive—it was also useless.
A few curls poked his eyes, sticking to his face uncomfortably. His school uniform stretched thinly over his arms, torn at spots. Blood had seeped and dried, marring it into an odd jumble of colors, mostly obscure against the dim background.
Jo Euishin rubbed the dry red patches from his palm.
It did not fade, and a cut he had wrapped cloth around haphazardly began to bleed anew.
"…"
Jo Euishin stared for a moment, then pulled his arm back, leaning down.
It was a fine day, and the breeze was pleasant.
There was not much meaning in stopping by this place. He had impeded the Dark Mastermind's plan once again, and he wanted to be at a height, at a very faraway place, though his pace had faltered and staggered to a stop before he could get out of Eungwang.
But still, it wasn't anything grand.
For today, Jo Euishin did not find the thought of him standing beside his playable characters preferable. His plan had succeeded, so he wasn't useful anymore either, at least for the day.
Perhaps because of that, he did not feel much guilt. He could not recall where he had left his device, just that Hwang Jiho had been calling him the last he remembered checking it.
'I'm fine,' Jo Euishin had mumbled, forgetting to type it, or say it as a word. He had not picked up the call. His hands hadn't moved, so he had simply left.
But now, thinking back to it, it was probably fine. There was not much meaning whether he stayed or skipped class, not many things worth noting about him. The tiger had tried to reach him, and Jo Euishin appreciated that.
Though that was all.
He did not understand, and it wasn't worth thinking about.
His body quivered against the swirling gust, but the cold was familiar, and the pain was warm, comfortable in the same way that his body slumped without support, limp and detached, mostly not his own.
A fall from this height wouldn't kill him.
If so, wouldn't it be fine?
"…"
Jo Euishin looked further down, trying to make out what was on the ground, beyond the thin layer of fog and gloom.
Wouldn't it be fine?
"Jo Euishin!"
A roar startled him out of his daze, his figure nearly stumbling into the height before something infinitely warmer grasped him, holding him tight.
"Shit, you-"
Golden dust scattered in the air, the concentration so extreme Jo Euishin had to squint his eyes from the brightness.
'…huh?'
Unlike usual, the tiger's eyes and hair were golden too, even in his high school form. Jo Euishin blankly stared at the color, feeling his ears ring anew.
"Jo Euishin."
Hwangho's voice was hurried as he took off his coat. Euishin almost thought he seemed panicked, though he did not understand why.
"You-"
Fwish
"What were you…"
The tiger's words trailed off. Jo Euishin looked up, meeting his gaze.
"…?"
Hwangho didn't speak again, staring at his face.
Was there something on his face? Jo Euishin blankly wondered if some blood had spilled there too. It did not sting, so maybe the cut hadn't been that obvious.
"Jo Euishin…"
A sudden warmth wrapped around his figure as Hwangho draped his coat over him. It covered his figure completely, burying the smell of blood underneath.
Fwish
"…"
Steady arms rubbed his back in a circling motion, as the tiger held him in an embrace without saying a word. Jo Euishin heard him mumbling something about being cold. He did not know why the tiger had taken off his coat and given it to him when he was cold himself.
"Jo Euishin."
A warm hand touched his face just as the tiger let go. The sudden contact made him flinch, and he couldn't see what Hwang Jiho's expression had looked like.
"…How long were you sitting here, huh?"
The tiger tugged the coat on his shoulders, pulling it forward. Jo Euishin only noticed now that Hwangho was sitting right in front of him. It wasn't odd; it was just that he hadn't realised how close the other was, or that he himself had been sitting on the cold floor for a while.
"What happened?"
"…"
"Jo Euishin."
He looked away, disinterested. The tiger had carved a barrier to shield them from the breeze. The cold was blocked now. It was not what he preferred.
"…"
Hwang Jiho did not say anything again. Euishin wondered in the dullest of his thoughts, if the tiger was irritated, but he did not look aside to check again. The tiger sat close, his arms still wrapped around his figure, one of them rubbing his back slowly, gently. Jo Euishin wanted to push it away, but it was bothersome, and his arms wouldn't move even if he tried.
'When will he leave?'
It was warm now.
Jo Euishin did not like feeling warm. He wanted to lie still on the cold pavement instead, and feel the breeze graze his skin, a tepid heat forming at the centre of his chest, the rest of his body frigid, unfeeling.
Perhaps noticing that his body was growing cold again, the arm that was holding onto the coat by his side pulled him closer, and Euishin heard a curse brush past his ears alongside a faint breath.
"Jo Euishin."
He did not look or answer.
"Did you eat yet?"
Fwish
"Have you eaten anything since morning?"
Hwangho's hand moved to cup Euishin's palm, the one which had been injured.
"…"
The tiger stayed silent for a moment. Euishin expected him to make a comment again, calling him reckless, but after a moment of silence, the tiger continued asking, his tone unbearably soft, akin to a whisper.
"You must've been tired, eh?"
Fwish
"Since you didn't take off the tracking device this time."
"…"
Jo Euishin stared at the wound that had stopped bleeding, and at his hand that stung no more.
"Did you treat the remaining wounds?"
His gaze flickered briefly, having assumed that the tiger wouldn't notice.
"It's okay. We can do that when he go back home."
"…"
"This one will cook a lot, so my benefactor should eat well later."
Fwish
"Okay? Jo Euishin."
He tried to peer far, lean down like before, but there was a golden sheen enveloping his vicinity, and the dome gleamed like stars against the obsidian sky.
Because Hwang Jiho was rubbing his back, holding his hands so softly as if it would break otherwise, Jo Euishin could not think again.
It stung, in a different manner than before.
The sky dulled before his eyes, and his gaze dropped downwards, a sudden lethargy overwhelming his limbs.
Without realising it, Jo Euishin leaned his weight against the tiger. Hwangho did not point it out, nor did he say another word.
'Why?'
A faint thought arose, as his breaths slowly stilled.
'Why did I come here?'
He remembered only then, that the class children had arranged an outing for after the classes ended, and that the tigers had also planned to hold supper later, and had already given him an invite a week ago.
Jo Euishin had forgotten.
Wallowed in his own pity he had not realised it, had forgotten to keep his promise yet again.
He opened his mouth slightly, the words scattered and bitter. When he breathed the cold air it made his body twitch, the empty spaces in his chest as if protesting in response.
"Jo Euishin?"
He swallowed with shame.
"Sorry."
His eyes stung, the dull throb in his ears making his breath hitch. Usually, he was not like this. Schedules with the class children were placed before his own plans. Never again did he wish to ruin someone's joy with his presence, keeping himself faint, barely there, but still there.
Jo Euishin had forgotten today.
He did not want to make up for it. He did not wish to show his face again.
"It's okay."
Something squeezed his shoulder, the force only enough to remind him he was alive.
"Why? Why is my benefactor sorry?"
Jo Euishin was about to say something when Jiho spoke again.
"Why?"
Whooooosh
"Why…?"
"…"
Because of the tiger's voice, he could not answer. It did not seem like something that he was supposed to answer.
"It's fine. If my benefactor is okay, then nothing else matters."
"…"
"Jo Euishin."
Fwish
"It's okay."
Hwangho uttered as if he understood. Jo Euishin could not refute the words, because it was the tiger who said so.
"It's okay."
"…"
The ache was keen and tearing, crawling through the crevices of everything he had buried deep beneath, carving its presence in spaces lodged securely in his mind, in his dreamscape.
It was dizzying, yet something held him steady.
The sky fell beyond his vision, yet a golden sheen still remained, and Jo Euishin realised that he wasn't alone again, bearing the aftershocks of something he could not name, could not pinpoint.
"…"
A quiet, calm breeze blew.
If his body shook the tiger did not comment on it, nor did he release his grip, patting faint reassurances even now.
Jo Euishin grasped the arm holding him close. He stared at the well ironed sleeves now crumbled underneath his grip for a moment, then closed his heavy eyelids, letting himself fall freely.
This time, it was with support.
Hwangho looked aside for a moment when a message chimed on his device. Two different group chats—one of class 0 and the other of the tigers, and many other, individual messages. All of them were concerned about the person who was curled in his arms, now asleep.
Normally, he would've ignored it, only replying to the class children, but the tiger briefly answered everyone back with curt words. It was because of the fear that had shaken him earlier, and the concern the others must've felt as well, that was surely no lesser than his own.
Closing the device quickly, he resumed rubbing Euishin's back.
It was only after he deemed that his benefactor's body was warm again that he picked him up, his coat wrapped around Euishin in a safe embrace.