The Beauty, The Beast, and The Angel

VIII

Word count: 1,421 words

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Chapter 8
I was walking around the courtyard in circles, when I saw Yuki come up to me, pulling me by the sleeve. I stumbled, regaining my balance as he walked me over to a large tree with many protruding branches.

He grabbed the two nearest to him, then went up, disappearing into the branches and leaves. I tried to follow him, stepping on the widest branches, my heart racing when I almost tripped.

I couldn't catch up with him, he was obviously more experienced than I was, and my hand got in the way. The cut and burn had mostly healed, but it still ached. I'd told Jiwon that I cut my hand picking up my sword, and I scraped the skin off of the other by falling onto the dirt.

I finally reached him, as he sat on a branch, a small white butterfly on his finger. I found a suitable branch parallel to him, watching carefully as the insect crawled up his hand.

I found myself cringing as it went further up his hand, reaching his wrist, only fluttering away after it had gone up to his elbow.

"Why'd you bring me up here?" I asked softly, pulling him closer. He obliged, going over to sit on my lap. I threaded my fingers through his hair as he clung to me, resting his face on my neck.

"Everything has been so," he stopped for a moment, trying to find the word, "hectic. Everyone is in such a rush today, no one wants to sit still, there's no peace. Even Areum seemed agitated this morning, more so than usual, he wanted to get somewhere quickly."

He sighed, nuzzling deeper into my neck, "But you stay the same, that's what's calming about you. Your beat never falters, you never instigate or force or views on someone else, you're just, there, constant and steady."

I frowned, I didn't see myself as calm or steady, and definitely not unfaltering. I felt weak, I gave in too easily, I was naive, and easily manipulated. Yuki felt like the calm one, he never panicked or got angry, and he was always in control. Areum as well, though he showed emotion, it was either anger or irritation, but he never got carried away.

"Tell me what you've been thinking about lately," I said, in an attempt to take his mind off of the present. I'd seen his sitting on the bench in the garden, unmoving, staring off into the distance. I knew better than to bother him, so I let him be.

"Well, I've thought about what it means to be a man or a woman, or something else."
"What do you mean," I asked, puzzled, "you can only either be a man or a woman?"

He inhaled deeply, signifying that he was going to begin, so I stayed silent.

"People take being a man or a woman without thought, there's no room for wondering. We accept that a person with breasts is a woman, and a person with a flat chest is a man. However, what if we were placed in the incorrect body? What if in the cycle of death and rebirth, there was a mistake, and a man was born in a woman's body?"

"In the village, there's a man, whom I shall not name to respect their privacy, who has the parts of a woman, but he is a man. He works hard, caring for his crops and feeding our people, even if many do not accept him. He has only worked hard to help our community, so why should I scorn him? There are people in between the binary of man and woman, as well as people who shift between genders, and I will respect them as well. Calling a person by their name is something everyone deserves, whether or not they are good in your eyes."

"I haven't thought any further than this when it comes to this subject, but I will most likely tell you when I've completed my thoughts."

I hesitated for a moment, before asking, "Yuki? Are you someone who's in-between?"

"Why?"

"Well, you don't seem like the men here, who want to seem as masculine as possible at all times, but you don't seem like the women who wear loads of makeup daily. You wear loose skirts and take care of the garden, but I see you carrying sacks of flour to the hall and running around."

"Well, I don't believe in forcing men to be masculine, and forcing women to be feminine, they should be able to do as they please, but yes, I prefer to be called a person rather than a man."

"So, what do I call you?"

"A person."

"Yuki."

"A person."

"Yuki!"

He laughed, "I like being called they and them."

We disembarked from the tree, as they clambered onto my back, patting my butt as I grudgingly walked forward.

"Hyuuung, you're heaaavyyyyyy."

"Ack, don't pull my hair!"

"Mean. I'm not a horse."

When we finally got to their room, they pulled me to their bed and under the sheets. I spooned them automatically, my arms wrapped around their waist, our hands near their chest. They snuggled into me, slotting their legs in between mine.

"You're being touchy today," I commented, curious as of why they wanted all of this attention.

Yuki hummed quietly, moving a bit closer, "I like being held. I used to cuddle all of the time with another person here, but we stopped. I've been touch-deprived for years, since most people aren't comfortable with embracing someone with a male body."

I frowned, rubbing circles on the back of their hand, upset that no one here wanted to hug them, they were so sweet and soft.

"I have friends here, though," they clarified, then scrunched their nose, "well, acquaintances, but they know I exist."

I accidentally pulled their hair in frustration as they winced, rubbing at their head. I quickly moved to sooth them, gently massaging their scalp. I pressed a gentle kiss against their crown, only to freeze when I realized that Yuki wasn't asleep this time.

Shit, shit, SHIT! What if they think I'm weird, or what if they don't want to be around me anymore! I need to be more careful, I shouldn't even be kissing them in the first place, oh my god, what am I going to-

My internal rambling ceased when I heard little giggles under me, as I peered at Yuki, who was losing their mind.

"You're so cute!" they exclaimed, "I think it's adorable how you froze right after you did that. Your lips are very soft, too."

I blushed furiously, and even more so when they pecked my forehead. After processing that Yuki had kissed me, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, which was, "Your lips were slightly sticky."

"Yeah, I just ate some byeonggyul," they answered without missing a beat, "so my lips are covered in their sugar."

I felt extremely embarrassed, so I hid my face under the sheets in vain, as I was pulled up by Yuki, who clung onto me.

"Don't go under the sheets, if you do, there's less of you to hug," they mumbled, shy.
We eventually fell asleep, under warm covers, clinging to one another.

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I just realized that I end almost every chapter with a scene of Yuma falling asleep, but that probably won't change. This a filler chapter, sorry! I think the only major plot point that occurs here is Yuki coming out. You could consider cuddling and small kisses as development for the characters, but it was mostly because I wanted fluffy fluffy fluff.

I also have face claims for Yuma, Yuki, Areum, and Jiwon, but if I put it in the first chapter, all of the other chapters will be x+1, x being the actual chapter number, and that makes me feel uncomfortable, so I'll put it in after I'm finished with the book.

ALSO (Sorry this is so long) I'm going to put this book on my personal account @VesperAverSage, so if you see this book twice, please don't spam me with comments UNLESS it's another person, ok? (I'll probably do this next week)

If you'd like to talk about anything with me, please DM/PM (I'm not sure which one it is) me on my personal account! I'm a lonely cucumber, please talk with me.

Thank you for reading this book, I loOoOoOoOoOve you!