ʟᴏᴠᴇ & ᴡᴀʀ Ღ ʟᴇᴇ ʜᴀᴇᴄʜᴀɴ

Ikosi pente

"...and guess what he said next? Your mom is a goddess. Can you believe that?"

"And then I was like, sure she is. A goddess!"

"Not gonna lie, I thought my dad had lost it for a few seconds."

"But then my eyes started bleeding silver. I was relieved that my dad hadn't lost it, but hey, my eyes were bleeding silver!"

"Gliterry, but still!"

Donghyuck couldn't believe his eyes as he stood at a remote distance from the bar counter.

Echos of merry babbles whose timbre he'd recognize anywhere had seeped into his distressed reverie like invasive whirlpools, swallowing his thoughts into oblivion.

He propped himself back into reality, tottering as he regained his balance.

The tone of her voice became too sluggish, and her laughs frequent enough for him not to delay the investigation any further.

Ji-Ae was poised against the counter, her body comfortably sprawled on the very much occupied neighboring barstools as she sprouted incoherences to an attentive assembly.

Two Potamois- a close male equivalent of nymphs- nestled her sides, one whose hand raced gentle marathons on her arm.

The other had retailored his lap into a cathedra for her legs to rest on, his head bobbing to her every word like a nodding puppet designed for that sole purpose.

A third one stood behind the counter, elbows secured on the counter as he twirled her sallow fronds around his finger, his lips insolently hanging inches away from her face as he whispered sweet nothings into her eager ear.

Not sure she could understand anything, though.

Neck arched backward, the top of her head skimming the Calacatte gold marble surface as she swished what remained of the drink into sloppy spirals.

"How many drinks did she have?" The demi-god asked, snatching the glass from her hand and nudging it away on the counter. Her lack of reaction preceded the answer.

"She insisted on trying everything."The bartender said, his gaze flickering to the empty bottles beside him.

"Why didn't you stop her?"

The sudden switch in his demeanor put a comma to their amateur tryst, his eyes-hued of an ocean storm above a leaden sky- speared threats through their flesh, bull'seying their cores, and they simultaneously hurried to a collective withdrawal.

Everyone knew better than to mess with the gods of war.

"I apologize, but I cannot turn down orders from divinities." The bartender replied, fleeing the demi-god's gaze whose wrath transcended the layer of aloofness he forced upon himself.

"Bullshit." He scowled as he mounted the Half-goddess who'd dozed off on his back, his hands fastening her arms around his neck with a delicacy deemed inconceivable coming from a violent deity.

Donghyuck has been involved with the divine realm for far too long to be fooled by the filthy dishonesties of an envious inferior creature.

There was no such policy.

They had willingly cast this humiliation upon Ji-ae.

Witnessing gods' descents in times of vulnerability ignited vicious glimmers in their malice-ridden eyes.

Hatred threatening to emanate like an active volcano begging to erupt despite the angelic facade they wore so flawlessly around divinities.

As if the small lapse of gratification would amend the self-inflicted bruises that stained their egos and annihilate the differential gap between their two species.

"Hera will be hearing about this."

❂ ❂ ❂

The Demi-god walked toward the address where he'd previously dropped Ji-ae the last time she ended up on his back. His eyes trailed on the sky whose color converged to the fiery haze palette of nautical dawn, pensive.

The night offered him the consolation and comfort no being could ever provide. He'd spent most of the active days of his life venturing through the night in seek of evil like a forlorn vigilante.

His acquaintances often reminded him of their discontent with his way of life, how they saw it as meaningless and devoid of every aspect that made life enjoyable.

But the truth was, he didn't care one bit. It was in battling malevolence that he felt the thrill of being alive. Only then did he feel like he truly belonged to this world.

"I like raspberries." Her sudden words punctured the silence that had anchored itself in the atmosphere. "I only eat raspberry-flavored stuff, you know? Cakes, ice cream, drinks-you name it. Dad says I'm a picky eater, but I suppose I'm the biggest raspberry fan around. Don't you agree?"

A hint of a smile crept on his lips, and he craned his neck west to peek at her face.

The drunkenness hadn't worn off yet, it smearing hues of ripe cherries and rosé wine on her cheeks.

She kept her eyes shut as she judged the rays of the dim-lit lamposts above them too overwhelming for her drowsy eyes to adjust to.

"I think raspberries are great."

"Sometimes I wonder if I have siblings." Her voice took a somber tone.

"I don't know why it never occurred to me that my mother could have children with men other than my dad." She gulped as the thought came to life in vivid images in her mind, gross.

"It's a possibility."

"I wonder if she abandoned them, too. I'd be so pissed if she didn't, but also sorry for them if she did."

Donghyuck pondered in silence, his lips going through a rapid session of opening and closing again.

He knew the answer to her inquiry, yet deliberated whether it was more prudent to unveil the truth to her on the spot or let her find out by her own means.

He opted for the latter.

"You know, I like that you don't mind hanging with me for who I am. Most guys just hit me up for a hookup, and once they're done, they're gone. Nobody listens to what I have to say. But you seem to see past the pretty picture."

Her heartfelt revelation was met with a deafening silence that blended with the area's monotonous undertones, but Ji-ae swore she could feel his heart rate hasten for a brief moment through the many layers of fabric he was clothed in, and that gave her the closure she needed.

"Seems like your dad isn't home." He said upon reaching the door and knocking on it several times. His statement went unnoticed by both the closed door and Ji-ae who had slipped back into dreamland.

He stood by the door for a few more minutes, trailing the doorframe with his gaze as he continued his intermittent knocking.

The passing time only confirmed his suspicions. None was home.

With an exasperated sight, he turned around in his tracks, heading for his own house with Ji-ae still fast asleep on his back.

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