—☆☽ hello stranger, it’s been a while
feyjaeyong:
[...]
she asks him if he’s okay.
he takes a moment to pause and really consider it. there are the nightmares, and the trauma, and the paranoia, or reasonable fear, depending on perspective. however, there is also the love; he feels it more than he ever has in his life. he finally embraced his dreams of a warm future he used to be ashamed of, and he finally believes it might be achievable. he wants to marry huangjun, and move somewhere quiet, where all the blood and the violence must work harder to find them. he wants to build a peaceful life with him, and he knows the jaeyong of a year ago would mock him for it. he’s okay. he cares less about what that jaeyong thinks of him every day, and he knows he could mock him in return, over the fact that he was probably already in love without realizing, that he spent his entire life destroying his own heart and holding his breath. no, maybe he couldn’t. he feels sad for that jaeyong more than anything– mad that his parents forged him into something so cold.
his brother is in his life again too, even if it’s under tragic circumstances. they didn’t try to kill each other. jaeyong will never try to kill him again. he hopes not, anyway. with him comes complications, a werewolf boy that sleeps on jaeyong’s floor because it feels more like home to him now than a sofa or bed. jaeyong sleeps next to him these days, so he knows he isn’t alone, both of them buried under blankets. with it comes a certain distance between him and huangjun. it isn’t a rift; jaeyong knows it won’t hurt them in the long run. instead, it is longing.
he’s okay. something close to better than ever, maybe.
“yeah, i’m okay,” he decides with a grin that he hopes really sells it. “i know it might not be very convincing since it took so long for me to answer, but i was just thinking. wanted to make sure i meant it for once. some things still suck, but there are a lot of good things. more good things than i’ve ever had, maybe.”
sohye gasps, dramatically bringing her hand to her chest, very clearly faking her offence at jaeyong forgetting her. “you forgot me? how could you?” she exaggerates, before breaking into a laugh. “no, I don’t blame you, I’m sure you had enough going on. I will admit that being forgotten is not something I’m used to though,” she continues with a grin.
“you’re not the only hunter I’ve ever met you know, plus I have very good intuition, it wasn’t hard to figure you out,” she laughs, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. “although I was only about ninety percent sure until you confirmed it just now,” she adds, her grin widening. “I very nearly kicked you straight out the first time you showed up here you know,” she continues after a short pause. “but I’m a big softie. you were in pain and the store let you in, I figured I should do my job and help you.”
she’s not offended when jaeyong insists she try the mooncakes first, even when she sees through his joking smile. it makes sense for a hunter to be cautious around a supernatural, especially a hunter who’s clearly gone through a lot. so she doesn’t complain as she cuts a small piece from her mooncake. “I hope it’s not poisoned, I was pretty sure the customer who gave them to me was very happy with the wish I granted for her, but she could’ve been pretending,” she says, playing along with a joke, before popping the piece into her mouth. she chews, swallows, and washes it down with a sip of her tea. “I promise I’m not trying to kill you. I’m sure your ability to trust witches is, understandably, tenuous, but I’m not the killing type.”
she waits as he considers her question, sitting back in her chair and crossing one leg over the other. she understands, it was a big question, and perhaps she shouldn’t have started with it, but she hadn’t been able to help it. you don’t get the kind of wounds she’d seen him with, or change this dramatically, without going through something. probably a lot of somethings. and even if he’s, clearly, doing better than he was, she still wants to know if that better is also okay. lord does she know they’re not always the same thing.
but he answers, he’s okay, and sohye can’t help but smile. “well, I’m very glad to hear it,” she says, genuine. and maybe it’s a bit much, to care so much for the wellbeing of this hunter (ex hunter? another question to ask), this person she barely knows, but she can’t help her bleeding heart. she’s always cared too much too fast, it’s gotten her in trouble more times than she can count. but it’s also what makes her so good at her job. “not so much that there are still things that suck though, but I guess that’s life,” she continues. “there always has to be something shitty in the background to remind us not to take advantage of the good stuff.”
“speaking of good stuff,” she continues, the hint of a mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her lips. she has her next question ready, and maybe she should be saving this one, asking him about what’s happened to him since the last time she saw him, or finally asking the questions she never did back when she was treating his wounds, first. but she’s not sure if he would want to go digging around in the past, not so early into their conversation anyway. and besides, she’s way too curious about the answer to this one. “you still seeing that boy of yours?”


















