(LeoN/NEO) The World of Us

[Chapter XXXIX] A Love to Kill

Hakyeon woke up one morning to see that the bed next to him was empty. The younger must have woken up early and left to train again. Hongbin has been keeping himself busy with his training in order to be of use to Hakyeon even though Hakyeon himself, did not want the younger to strain himself.

Hakyeon still couldn't believe how merciless and cold Taekwoon has become. He's heard enough stories from others by now to know what to expect but to actually witness it with his very own eyes was quite frightening. He could still remember his body trembling from the latter's intense gaze. Once more, Hakyeon could not help but feel apologetic to those around him for Taekwoon's change. He was the one who triggered such darkness in Taekwoon after all.

"Morning!" Jaehwan greeted him.

"You look a lot better today. Are you okay now?" Hakyeon asked him while he went into the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Mhmm. Seems like our brilliant Wonshikkie finally found a good enough cure for my strange fevers. I'm feeling a lot more energetic today!"

"That's good." Hakyeon was relieved.

"So, I heard about what happened yesterday. Seems like Kong's been taking it really hard. Are you okay?"

Hakyeon obviously wanted to nod 'yes' so that Jaehwan doesn't worry about him but he couldn't lie to himself. It doesn't seem like Jaehwan would be so easily fooled by his act anyway.

"Not really. I just... can't believe that Taekwoon has changed this much. I saw him raising a blade against an innocent child and his mother. He wasn't like this before. But now, he doesn't even hesitate when he tried to swing his swords at them! And even during his fight with Hongbin, if Hongbin was any weaker, Taekwoon would've killed him already."

"Well, I'm glad your training seems to have shown some good progress. I know Kong is taking his defeat quite harshly but the both of you came back in one piece and that's all it matters." Jaehwan gave Hakyeon a pat on the shoulders to comfort him.

"If only I wasn't so stupid back then, this would never have happened in the first place. How could I have been so blind that I-"

"It's okay." Jaehwan cut off what Hakyeon was trying to say. He didn't want Hakyeon to hate himself as much as he already does. He knew that the more doubts and insecure Hakyeon were, the easier it was for him to fall into darkness.

"We can make things right again. Just believe in yourself."

"But how?"

"Get stronger. Be more confident. I'm sure you can do it. I'm sure that one day, you and Taekwoon would be able to return back to the way things were."

"But how can you be so certain? So positive?" Hakyeon questioned.

"You know... I used to think exactly like you. One way or another and for the longest time, I was afraid of consequences, of change, and everything else around me. I didn't have the courage to fix my mistakes or even clear up simple misunderstandings. I gave up trying and I regretted it so much. But it was thanks to you as well as everyone else in Pinewoods that changed me. To be honest, I hated humans for a very long time because you guys were able to easily gain the affections of him instead of me."

"What do you mean?"

"Me and Wonshik have been friends for a very long time and we've known each other since we were kids. But Wonshik's love for humans, well... it made me jealous. I didn't understand what was so interesting about humans for him to love you guys so much."

"You were jealous?"

Jaehwan laughed.

"Yeah. I love him." He confessed. "But because I was too afraid to speak up and wasn't confident in myself to clear up the misunderstandings between us, the two of us drifted apart. Do you know how Wonshik ended up in the Underworld in the first place?"