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“What are you doing, laughing like that?”
Kim Hajin turns around and sees Boss, Yi Byul, peeking up from the bottom of the ladder. He smiles at her as she climbs the ladder to join him upstairs of the stronghold, away from the other members of the Chameleon Troupe.
“Getting mentally ready for the war that’s about to begin.” Kim Hajin pats the empty space next to him, an invitation for her to join him.
Kim Hajin might look like he is fooling around and wasting precious time while his friends are fighting for their lives, but in reality he is keeping a close eye on Baal through the Thousand-Mile Eyes. His lips turn downward into a frown as he sits there, unable to do anything but wait for an opportunity to kill Baal in one shot.
A difficult task, but surely not impossible.
“What about you, Boss? Are you ready?”
“...Yeah.” Yi Byul mumbles somewhat bitterly as she sits down next to Hajin. “I retrieved Yi Yeonjun’s corpse. I plan on burying him in Pandemonium later on.”
Hajin lifts the corner of his lips into a smile that he hopes doesn’t look as bitter as he feels. “Got it.”
Yi Yeonjun has done horrible things to Yi Byul, destroying the life that she could have lived, the childhood she could have experienced. But Kim Hajin couldn’t fault Yi Yeonjun for everything. After all, he is the author of this story, the one who planned and wrote each word that built Yi Byul’s life and created her.
“I might have led a normal life if it wasn’t for him,” Yi Byul mutters as she stares into nothing in particular.
Kim Hajin didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. He created her, wrote her story word by word, after all.
“But,” she takes a deep breath and turns to look at him, “I doubt that I would’ve been able to meet you if he didn’t.”
Staring into her eyes, Kim Hajin finds that he doesn’t know what to say. He can hear his heartbeat drumming in his chest; these feelings that she makes him feel, the urges that she brings out of him. Can she hear them, feel them? Can she see what she is doing to him?
“Boss.” Kim Hajin reaches for her hand, squeezing it. Only then he realises how close they are next to each other. He is able to see the specks of purple in her eyes, making them resemble jewels. Her eyes are as dark as obsidian, but Kim Hajin swears he is able to see her eyes shine as they stare at each other now. “You are beautiful,” he breathes, “have I ever told you that?”
Her ears turn a delicious shade of pink, and Hajin can’t help but wonder how sweet she will taste.
He leans towards her, feeling their breaths mingle together. “Yi Byul.”
Kim Hajin looks into her eyes, patiently waiting for a sign, for anything that says he can move closer. Her eyelids flutter shut under his gaze and she stays still, waiting. Feeling bolder than ever, he presses his lips to hers.
Fuck, she tastes sweeter than he could have ever imagined. Her lips are so, so soft and warm and it’s better than anything he could’ve imagined. Kim Hajin is unable to hold back a smile, warmth blossoming in his chest as Yi Byul presses her lips back against his tentatively. He feels her hand tremble slightly in his, and he tightens his grasp.
The sensation of her against him is dizzying. He can’t help himself from wanting more.
He pinches her skin teasingly, and she gasps. He takes the opportunity to slip his tongue past her lips, wanting to feel more of her. Their tongues swirl together. Kim Hajin pulls her closer to him, their chests pressing. He is able to taste their shared breath as they part, feel the thud of their combined heartbeat as he stares into her eyes.
“Kim Hajin,” his name on her lips are a mere whisper. She holds his face with both hands, their lips touching but not truly pressing against each other. “Kim Hajin,” she repeats louder. He is able to feel her lips move against his. “I don’t understand why you seem so worried, or why you seem…scared, perhaps. But no matter what happens, I will always remember you.”
His vision blurs, tears leaving behind a warm trail down his face. Kim Hajin loves his family - the one he had back from where he came from, the one he spent almost his whole life with. But he also loves this family, this criminal organisation that has been dubbed ‘the worst criminal group’ by both the Hero Association and Pandemonium. So when he’s finally reaching the end of the story, he can’t help but feel some sort of grief having to leave this world and the people that he’s come to love.
Perhaps Kim Hajin wishes to be something, someone, in this story, wishes to be more than something that will be ultimately erased and not leave a single trace. He doesn’t want Yi Byul to ever forget him and the moments they shared. He thinks he doesn’t want to leave Yi Byul at all.
But for now, he will grasp onto every second he has left.