Yoonji may have only known the boy for a little over an hour, and actually interacted within the span of a few minutes, but for reasons she could not decipher, she had grown incredibly attached to the individual. So attached that she spoke what her mind was screaming, out loud, with no intention of doing so.
Just mere minutes earlier, the girl had been fighting to escape death. Long story short, the girl had traversed into an area she did not mean to go into, leading a small group of contestants to become defensive of their territory being barged into, and chased her across the small village in hopes of… she did not know what. Robbery, murder, robbery and murder…
Her… savior of sorts, for lack of a better word, had appeared practically out of nowhere. She did not know who he was, granted he did appear familiar; she may had seen him once or twice in the island. She did not have time to think of that at the time, however, so the idea was immediately rejected.
Thankfully, the boy ushered her into a secure hiding place (a crawlspace under some broken appliance in an old house), where she hid for over the time span of an hour as the boy somehow managed to distract her attackers, sending them back into their self-proclaimed ‘territory’, and causing them to forget about Yoonji’s existence.
The boy eventually did return for her, and her heart beat out of her chest as she saw the man once more. His immaculate features were burned into her memory, his eyes staring into her soul, as cheesy as that sounded.
“T..Thank you,” the woman whispered as she was helped out of the crawlspace by the help of the other’s hand, a bright blush forming on her cheeks. His scent was strong, rather sweet and almost of…strawberries, and sugar. Lots of sugar. Damn it, Yoonji, what is wrong with you…
“I hope things work out with you and in your life.”
W-Wait, was he leaving? He couldn’t just leave after—wait, of course he would just leave her, it only would make sense, he didn’t know her or her abilities, she could look like a threat to him—but could she at least be escorted out of the town so she wouldn’t be ambushed again or something? And why did he even try to protect her in the first place?
The world stopped then and there, maybe for only a few seconds, but to her, the time stretched for hours. She messed up, hardcore, and the deafening silence that enveloped the small room showed for it a bit more than she may have wanted.
“I… I mean…” the woman stammered, regret pooling in her cheeks in a bright red blush. “I… never mind. You too.”
[ ☆ ]---if there was one thing he hated the most, it was seeing a girl in trouble.
it was a stark coincidence--destiny, if you were of the more romantic type--that he was passing by that decrepit village after a hunt. he was fresh from a bath by the nearby stream (a habit he had garnered every time he had gotten blood on himself; long baths like those the only luxury he could afford in the damned island), and he decided that he had the time to take the scenic route back to their altered base.
but lo. the only scenery he managed to chance upon was a bunch of thugs picking on a seemingly helpless lass (seemingly, as all who found themselves here were their own images of death, in one way or the other) like a bunch of bullies gawking at a junior for some lunch money. as merciless as he was, haejin cannot bear to see a woman abused, so it was only expected that he rush to her help without any sort of question.
it was easy to make her obey, his hold on one’s social responses coming in handy as he ushered her to some form of makeshift safety, thanking the heavens for the presence of a run-down shelter in the nearby vicinity. he made sure that her body and mind felt that it was natural to go his way, and he slipped in a few calming pheromones to her pores as he held her hand as a form of assurance, even offering a charming grin before he left her in the house so he could deal with her pursuers.
but it was much easier to make the thugs go away, as a few sweet smiles and some twists on their pheromones made them think that it was only proper to put their hunt somewhere else. he had no time to dull his blade on their unworthy blood--he was, after all, preserving its lovely sharpness for someone much bigger, more sinister than countryside delinquents. and he had just taken a bath, after all. they had just been lucky that the infamous altered named disglair was not in the mood to dirty himself with the remains of petty men.
he meant to check on her one last time, and the parting words he gave were enough to signify his goodbye. he hoped to never see her again after this, as fate may not be as kind the next moment they meet.
haejin could only smirk at the exclamation, an inward curse thrown upon his blasted abilities to make anyone fall for him in a split second. he stopped in his tracks, yet he made no move to go nearer, the sun’s rays bouncing off his silhouette as he stood by the shelter’s decaying door frame. he did, after all, have a thing for coincidental dramatics.
“i believe you trust too easily, miss.” his voice was soft yet commanding, his eyes gentle yet stern. song haejin was a walking contradiction, a value his mother had ingrained into his psyche ever since he was small. “you must be forgetting that all of us are killers in this place. i may have saved you now, but, fate is rarely kind the second time around.”
perhaps it was because he had six sisters whose probable deaths he had yet to mourn, but haejin did not make any effort to leave the girl after her desperate plea. he always did have a soft spot for helpless women, and he may be able to use this as leverage when he needed some help in the future. plus, he did have the perfect excuse. “these parts of the island are still filled with thugs like the one you encountered, and it is safer to travel with a companion.”
he raised an open palm, beckoning for the other to take it. “i am disglair, and i can assure you of your life and your safety until the moment we part.” his tones carried sureness and calm. “as long as you bring me no harm in our journey.”
