Death's Bow (Golden Child TAG X Female OC)

Ch. 24: Between Friends and Colleagues

"Ugh! I swear, I'm getting sick of all these people I get as apprentices! I mean, I get that all the people we all get are sinners, but why do I have to deal with the abusive ones??" Hyunjin whines as he throws his head back while leaning against the couch in the Bae family house, all while Suyeon comes into the living room holding three mugs of coffee in her hand.

An awkward smile rests on Suyeon's face in response to her friend's complaints, but it would be all mostly because she still doesn't fully understand how the grim reaper system works. "I mean, can't you just transfer your apprentices to someone else? If that's possible, that is."

"I really wish I could," Hyunjin replies with barely any energy, before flinching and sitting up straight when Youngtaek suddenly appears, standing near the couch beside him. "Gah! Can you not do that?! You can't possibly be doing that to Suyeon, can you?!"

"As a Messenger, one should expect you to be vigilant at all times, no?" Youngtaek replies to him, not showing much interest in his presence as he soon turns his gaze towards Suyeon, the latter of which is now sitting on the sofa beside where Hyunjin sits, sipping on her own cup of coffee. "Yumin is still asleep for now. She must be tired after the escape last night."

Hyunjin then interjects, seemingly still upset over the cold treatment he got from his fellow Messenger. "Yeah, well, shouldn't you have expected that since you decided to do it in the middle of the night?! She's still human, you know?!"

"Hyunjin..." Suyeon quickly scolds him with a low voice, which surprises her friend and sends him looking back at her in utter disbelief. "Be nice."

"'Be nice'?? Hey, do you even know how this guy isn't nice at all to anyone among the grim reapers, even more so, the Messengers?! And I'm literally your best friend!"

Once again, all Suyeon can do is smile awkwardly, because frankly speaking, what does she even know exactly about the relationship between the grim reapers and the Messengers? It takes one more second for her to notice another thing about Hyunjin's words, though. "Youngtaek isn't that nice to his colleagues? I mean, I get that he's naïve, but he's been pretty polite to me these days, though..."

Hyunjin isn't done whining, though. "You should really be considerate of me as your friend, you know?" the young man complains with almost a pout, which sends Suyeon laughing.

"Oh, come on! Stop with that. You're not a child anymore."

"I can tell you, he hasn't been one for over four hundred years either," Youngtaek adds in, making Hyunjin gasp as he looks towards him.

"Hey, that's not very nice of you either!"

Youngtaek shrugs, and Suyeon continues laughing, all unaware of how the red-eyed reaper has kept his eyes on her, watching the way her eyes crinkle and her hair bounce as her hand hovers over her mouth. This has been happening too often, but in a way, it's relieving that Suyeon has been able to smile more often.

And then Hyunjin clears his throat, catching the attention of the again and making them turn to him. "Anyway, since now that you've brought Misery's girl into your home, how long do you plan to make her stay? Especially, since... you know..." Hyunjin trails off, looking towards Suyeon with his lips pursed and a sad look in his eyes.

Suyeon's smile fades at the mention, and then she looks down before sighing. Of course, is there really even a way to avoid that topic, anyway? Sure, she's mentioned it casually a few times when talking to Youngtaek, too, but talking about it with an old friend just feels... even more painful. "... We'll see."

Hyunjin smiles sadly before approaching Suyeon and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure she'll be safe, either way."

Youngtaek's expression also disappears as he watches the two friends interact. Oh, but Hyunjin's definitely always been one of the more compassionate grim reapers. Of course, it would hurt him even more after finding out his close friend is close to her death.