𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 • 𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐥

XIX

as soon as the idiotic trio were rescued, mingyu escorted jisoo and seungcheol someplace else to get oxygen, and jeonghan stayed with chan.

as soon as the two were alone, chan turns to jeonghan, and slaps him loudly across the face.

chan was clearly furious, and was glad that he had the chance to do that to the god. on the other hand, jeonghan didn't flinch, letting chan hit him. i deserve that.

"i don't know what you two and gramps had, but, fuck you two." chan strongly started off, staring angrily at jeonghan. the god felt ashamed. "you made him run into that fucking fire thing—that hell! he ran straight into the ruins of your burning house!"

jeonghan knew that they weren't so special that jisoo had to do that to save them. jeonghan knew chan was more special to jisoo, and if jisoo ever died in the flames with them, he'll never forgive himself for taking away the only thing a kid had in his life.

"i have no excuse. i am sorry." jeonghan kneeled in front of chan, clasping his hands together and looking down on the soil. "i am very, very sorry."

"n-no need to kneel! i accept it! i accept!" chan suddenly sounded flustered, reminding jeonghan of the boy's cousin. a little smile broke out. "stand up! stand up!"

"as you wish," jeonghan muttered, standing up as chan said. he was flustered, as it seems. jeonghan found this little boy cute. (don't get familiar, you still have an offense!) "i promise i will never do that again to your cousin."

"i accept it. i was just worried. sorry for slapping you, too," chan rubs his nape, chuckling at jeonghan. "i was just fired up. oops—i shouldn't have said that word. sorry."

jeonghan laughed along with chan, observing how frequent this boy's feelings change. quite like his cousin, huh?

"it's just that.. his heart is weak," chan states, sighing before he continued. "when i was really young, i remember writing so much 'get well soon' letters for him. i didn't want to risk it. if he doesn't die from burning alive, he'll die because of an underlying condition."

jeonghan's smile fades, replaced by a worried expression.

so... all the times he'd said jokingly that his heart was weak, it was real?! that writer, seriously! he's treating this like a joke! he likes keeping secrets, huh?! well—they were not very close yet for jeonghan to feel betrayed that he didn't know this, but it was an important piece of information he always joked about!

jeonghan just feels more guilty now. he's a monster who deserved to just die in those flames. jisoo and seungcheol never deserved this.

(see, jisoo's told you that so many times and you weren't paying attention! these readers, really. jisoo shakes his head at you.)

speaking of monster... "kid, you do see my appearance, right?"

"course i do," chan deadpanned, narrowing his eyes. "your hair looks short but at the back there's and awfully long chunk of hair. is that trendy?"

jeonghan chuckled, raising his eyebrows. is he not really seeing the..? "you don't see my scars and stitches? i look like a patched up ragdoll. aren't you.. scared?"

"yeah, 's cool!" chan exclaimed, eyes widening and shining like a child amazed of magic. "your dress, too. hmm... should i start trying out making dresses?! i know! make it up to me by helping me make dresses!"

interesting. three human beings now. three human beings that don't see him as a monster. four, well—there's mingyu, too.

really? jeonghan doesn't believe it. chan seemed so genuine, but jeonghan feels like it's too good to be true. chan hates him, doesn't he? but it seems like he doesn't now. yet, he's not scared of jeonghan's appearance. how curious.

is he, after all, still worthy of his title?

"i'm glad. so glad." jisoo says, sitting on a chair as he watches seungcheol get an arm bandaged. oof, that's probably a burn. "thank you for not dying, pri—cheol,"

wow. a chapter of dramaticness and tears only for jisoo to do this slipping and stuttering shit moments later.

"i'm sorry that i left. i felt.. i felt like you two were just messing with me, and i didn't want to fall... i mean, i didn't want to grow attached to you two because i'm going to leave anyway." says jisoo, looking at seungcheol through his tired eyes.

say something, handsome prince! what if jisoo broke him?! come on, jisoo. do better! you've embarrassed yourself millions of times! psh, like earlier: you were crying, thinking they were dead, only to find them under a goddamn bookshelf, still alive. yikes. sucks to be you, jisoo.

"what makes you think that, jisoo?" oh shit it's not little human—"jeonghan trusted you, letting you see his whole appearance and laughing and smiling—he never thought of you as just a pastime, stupid little cranky human."

ouch, it got longer now? jisoo pouts. "and you?"

"i like pestering you." tsundere. "so, don't ever think that way again. also.. it's not your fault, little human. so, can i see that smile again?"

AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!

jisoo's eyes welled with tears again, bursting in less than a minute. sorry, it's not you, seungcheol—partly, yes—jisoo's just being so emotional right now. "sorry, uh, you told me to smile right? fuck, it's just overwhelming. thank you, and sorry."

the corners of jisoo's mouth curl up, his eyes turning into small curves, laughter coming out of his mouth once. it looked weird since jisoo was still being a snotty crybaby.

"there, there." seungcheol smiled slightly, walking over to jisoo to pat his back once. do it more times, o handsome prince! "that's nice."

"but you're homeless now, and i'm embarrassing myself again!"

"you think i'm not used to seeing you getting humiliated?!" snarled seungcheol, making jisoo's smile grow wider. "but.. i do admit that i am not used to being homeless."

jisoo wanted to smirk. he knew damn well which arc they were entering. he knows seungcheol does too. take a guess!

"i do have a home, but it's far out in the urban areas." jisoo says, looking up at seungcheol. "you think jeonghan will like it there?"

"no."

"eh... reasonable," jisoo shrugged, nodding. nope, no domestic romance arc. no 'introducing grannies to the new world and them liking gadgets or something'. sorry.

"but it's our only choice."

WELL THEN JISOO TAKES IT BACK! GUESS WHO'S GOING TO GO THROUGH ANOTHER GOD-TIER ARC AGAIN?!