hold me 𐦍 yeonbin

022 ᯓᡣ𐭩

Soobin agreed to help a pixie get his wings back, not witness the entire sky go black. Whatever has the power to turn off the stars and scare Yeonjun like this is beyond what Soobin signed up for.

Siyeon is powerful. According to Yeonjun and Bora, one of the most powerful beings to exist is just a kilometer away and on his side. The thought brings him comfort. Somehow, Yeonjun is still panicking.

They make it to the gravel where the road meets the pier when Yeonjun stops, pulling Soobin into his shoulder from behind.

The stars appear again in front of them, golden and shining against a velvet blue robe draping so long it piles on the concrete. It's the student who found his bus ticket. The man on the Jack's card. The creature who stole the stars from his dream and his real life too.

"It's not often one finds a pixie on Terra," he says, his voice the sound of the velvet he wears and his eyes glowing gold like Yeonjun's. "Despite everything I taught you, you had to see the humans for yourself, didn't you?"

Behind the glare of the only streetlamp, highlighted from beneath by the stolen stars, the man who taught Yeonjun about humans looks like he stepped right off the playing card into the real world as a caricature of a fantasy wizard minus the pointy hat.

"You said you didn't recognize him," Soobin whispers. "I thought you couldn't lie."

"I said I had never seen the cards."

Yeonjun never directly stated he didn't recognize the man. Not as a human, anyway. Soobin wasn't observant enough to catch on.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were safer before you knew his name."

Soobin wants to argue that he did know his name. He knew the name Taehyun. He didn't know who the name belonged to, which is what Yeonjun was protecting him from.

"If I wanted to hurt the human, I would have snapped its neck already." He looks directly at Soobin with an exaggerated pout, but despite the theatrics the eye contact makes Soobin shiver. "You have no idea how hard it was for me not to break character in that library to run you through the heart with the dull end of a pen."

"Try it, asshole," Soobin snaps.

"Slow down, kiddo." Taehyun clicks his tongue and shakes his head, hands on his hips through the velvet fabric that somehow doesn't bunch up around his arms despite the volume, an infinite length. "This is what I meant about humans, you see? All bark and no bite. You don't even have fangs."

"I don't need fangs to rip off your head with my bare fucking hands-"

Yeonjun twists the fabric of Soobin's sleeve and yanks him further behind.

If Yeonjun is scared, his dust doesn't show it. He stands tall and stiff, keeping a vice grip on Soobin's sleeve.

"Put them back," Yeonjun says, his voice as steady as ever despite his trembling fingers.

"After we have a chat. May I have the human's name? I don't see a collar on this one." Taehyun taps his neck to imply the placement.

"No, you may not have his name."

"The muzzle is a nice touch."

Soobin starts to pull down his mask.

"Don't take that off," Yeonjun warns.

His grip becomes unbelievably tight around Soobin's wrist as he pulls Soobin further behind him using his own body as a barrier between Soobin and the star thief.

Hearing Taehyun's voice and seeing the way he carries himself, Soobin isn't surprised that he would have told Yeonjun all the nasty lies about humans. Whatever his agenda against humanity is, though unknown, petrifies Soobin.