The Messenger - Daerin

Epilogue - Haerin

Epilogue

Haerin studied how the blinding light reflected off the water of the translucent lake. She loved how familiar it all felt.

"Do you remember when we were first here?" Danielle asked, her hand interlaced with Haerin's.

"Of course," Haerin responded as if it was obvious. The memory of her and Danielle getting drenched in the water under the rain, which still gave her butterflies, would never fade.

Danielle smiled. "I do too. I think that's when I knew I fell in love with you, baby." Haerin felt her heart warm with Danielle's words but noticed a word that stuck out. Baby? Did Danielle think she was a baby? She practically saved humanity, and her chubby cheeks had gone years ago (Danielle would disagree with that last statement).

"I'm not a baby," Haerin defended, and Danielle laughed at the feline girl's cuteness, bringing her hands to cup her girlfriend's cheeks. She decided to continue to have a little more fun teasing the feline girl.

"You can't deny it, Haerin-ah," Danielle said, watching Haerin pout her lips, which she brought into a kiss seconds later. God, Haerin loved Danielle's soft lips and the way they delicately met hers. Closing her eyes, the feline girl kissed back, bringing her hand to Danielle's jaw. But just as Haerin deepened the kiss, Danielle pulled away, a little too soon in her opinion.

"Later, baby," Danielle said as a pout reappeared on Haerin's lips. The girl laughed a few moments later, and Haerin tilted her head. The wavy-haired girl smiled, playing with the blades of grass with her fingertips. "Who would've thought?"

Haerin asked, "What?"

"That I'd fall in love with a goddess."

. . .

Haerin let the tiny brush carefully outline the canvas while thinking back to a moment from a few months ago. Danielle had explained to her what pet names were, and she still flushed from her cluelessness in the memory. But, the embarrassment had all disappeared when she called Danielle 'baby' the next day while whispering into her ear with a deep voice and saw the extremely red blush that spread on the wavy-haired girl's face.

She pushed the brush just above her ear, looking at the painting on the canvas with narrowed eyes. Danielle had given her a tiny space in her dorm for all the feline girl's arts. Haerin stayed over at Hanni and Danielle's dorm so often, that she could basically say she lived there ('I can't believe I was replaced by Haerin' 'Just move in with Minji'). But, as the messenger, she still didn't stay in the mortal world every day, continuing to head up to the divine world every so often to deliver and receive messages.

Haerin discovered she liked painting. It was a form of expressing herself quietly as she didn't really find herself to be good with words. She could carefully paint for hours, her expression scrunching as she concentrated on what color to choose (Danielle loved her concentrated face).

As she brushed her hands on her apron, both stained with colors, the door creaked open from behind.

"Hey, baby!" Danielle exclaimed, running over to her girlfriend. She hugged Haerin tightly, making the feline girl smile to herself. She didn't think Danielle would ever understand just how much she loved her hugs. The smiley girl pulled away, and her face lit up. "Oh! This is beautiful, Haerin-ah."

Danielle stared at the warm colors splattered half-hazardly, but also somehow perfectly onto the canvas, revealing a single cabin sitting in the middle of a snowy field. The house emitted pink, orange, and yellow hues and was scattered with additional splotches of vibrancy.