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____𖤓✭____ "Out," Y/N said sharply, pointing toward the trees with a glare that could've scorched the clouds from the sky.
Macaque blinked at her, hands still raised, and gave a sheepish grin. "Alright, alright. No need to boil me alive, Princess."
"Out."
With an exaggerated sigh and a lazy wave of his tail, he turned and disappeared into the shadows, melting into the trees like a ghost in the fog.
Y/N groaned and quickly got out of the hot spring, wrapping a robe around herself with a swift motion. Her face was still hot—from the steam, obviously. Not because that smug, cocky trickster caught her off guard.
Definitely not that.
Once dressed, she stepped out of the hot spring area, planning to march back to the shrine and wipe the encounter from her mind. But as soon as she turned the corner— ___✧𖤓
He was there.
Leaning against a tree. Arms crossed. Looking like he hadn't moved at all.
"Seriously?" she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Macaque raised an eyebrow. "You always were quick. Thought you'd take longer."
She approached him with a glare sharp enough to cut through solid rock. "You had no right to be there. That was rude, even for you."
He held up his hands again. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Kind of. Not really."
She crossed her arms and tilted her head. "That doesn't sound like an apology."
"You got a robe on now, don't you?" he smirked. "Crisis averted."
She stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. "Why are you here, Macaque?"
He leaned off the tree with a stretch, tail swaying lazily behind him. "I was wandering. Thought I'd take a dip. Didn't expect company."
"This isn't your mountain," she snapped. "You're not supposed to be here."
He gave her that infuriating grin again. "You've been asleep a long time. Figured you wouldn't mind a visitor or two. Besides..." __✧✥
He stepped closer, the mood shifting slightly, his voice dropping lower. "Do you even know what's been going on while you were out?"
She stiffened. There was something in his tone—something serious.
"I know enough," she said carefully.
His eyes glinted. "Do you?"
Y/N didn't answer. She didn't trust him. Macaque always had a way of twisting truth and fiction together until it was impossible to tell one from the other.
"I'm not one to trust a trickster," she said, brushing past him. "Especially one who spies on women bathing."
"Ouch," he chuckled. "Fair."
She was nearly out of sight when his voice echoed behind her.
"Meet up with me sometime. I'll fill you in on what your dear Monkey King conveniently left out."
She groaned loudly and turned—
But he was gone. Not a single leaf rustled where he'd stood.
She scowled at the empty space. "Still dramatic as ever..."
And yet...
As she walked back to her room to fully dress, her mind couldn't stop racing.
Wukong hadn't told her everything. He kept brushing things off, changing the subject. Samadhi Fire. The Lady Bone Demon.
Now Macaque was hinting at more. Things even she didn't know.
