Warning: triple update, starting from ch.29 The Final War, this is the Lord's perspective from the very beginning...

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When he opened his eyes, the world was first black and white. His vision blurred in and finally, after a dramatic spin, the colors came back in a shocking speed of light.

Lord Chanyeol was so sure he had seen Joo Ri in the brotherhoods. But that dark-eyed beauty couldn't be his beloved. Her brunette hair fell above her waist in perfect finger curls. Her skin no fairer than the white snow. She looked like Joo Ri, and yet she wasn't. His heart took a painful squeeze and his left eye twitched.

She walked slowly, at first fearful, but her graceful movements gradually became more confident and bold. She looked at him defiantly, as if testing his reaction to her boldness. People said he would kill whoever dared to disrespect him in any ways. But perhaps a thousand year sleep had repaired and healed some parts of his very damaged heart.

Curiously, he watched her as she approached. The way she spoke in that cold, emotionless voice was saddening. A woman like her was rare in his olden days. Nobody talked back and got away without severe punishment as their lightest getaway, or getting their heads chopped off and eaten by the Zan River's cannibal fishes.

"Sora." was her name. A name that could simply meant the blue sky, or in the Demon language, a fighter. Indeed a suitable name for someone as hardheaded as she was.

Jinki had repeatedly mentioned Joo Ri name to him, and how this young girl was supposed to be a replacement. He never missed the sad glint in her eyes whenever Joo Ri's name was mentioned. That was her only vulnerability, he realized, to be mistaken for another. He understood it all too well. And he pitied her.

At first it was pity that made him tolerate her disobediences. Pity. The one word that kept his temper at bay. Whenever he got too pissed off, he thought back to her and calmed down. He couldn't understand why she had to pull the stunt and ran away after their first meeting.

From what Jinki had told him, Sora seemed to have come to terms that he was her betrothed. She didn't like it, but her family was indebted to him. If he'd remembered correctly, he was there at her house the night Joo Ri was murdered. He had sealed a deal that costed too much for a high-ranked Demon like him.

When she ran away, Lord Chanyeol went on a search, and found her in the loathsome human world. Instead of scolding her and bringing her back like he intended, the Lord stayed behind and watched. Call it stalking, he didn't mind. Besides no one knew. She was a joy to be around. She was often too scared, but her wild nature never allowed that timidness to come out. Sora put on a brave front for the world to see, but the Lord knew all too well the anguish and regret behind her life.

And so, even without her saying a word, he understood. He knew her history from day one and kept quiet about it. He knew her pain but said little to none in fear that it would bring back her worst memories. She was as damaged as he was, and Lord Chanyeol knew that what she needed was not a helping hand. What she needed was time.

Time was man's greatest treasure.

Time was immortality's greatest enemy.

He came to know that a thousand year of borrowed time could either prolong the pain or numb the sadness. Either it killed or it healed.

Sora's family was her greatest weakness and a forbidden topic to talk about. She was an entirely different person when it came to her parents. Lord Chanyeol could only guess what caused her parent's cruelty. Perhaps after the deal, they had treated her as a lesser human because she had the Devil's blood flowing inside her.

She had his blood inside of her.

Somehow that was the second reason why he softened and opened up towards her.

She was rebellious.

She was tenacious.

She was ridiculous.

Most of the young immortals her age would spend their lives wasted and tangled in matters too complicated to be solved. Not her. Sora spent her entire life searching for his body. Because she was indebted to him, and more so, because she was indebted to Jinki. Her loyalty to her mentor, albeit the constant eye rolling and snarky remarks, were truly remarkable. She was fiercely loyal. She went through Hell to find him, literally.

He was so very touched, though the jealousy in her eyes were so evident when she saw Joo Ri. That pleased him immensely. To know that beneath that facade void of emotion, was a woman who cared for him.

He didn't miss the desire pooling in her dark purple irises. Did she know her eyes turned almost iridescent blue-ish when she was ? Perhaps not, and he would never tell, because he enjoyed reading her mind, knowing that as an Alpha male, his pheromone was still functioning properly.

Byun Baekhyun would perhaps be his lifetime rival. And best friend, considering that Jinki acted more as a brother than a friend. Baekhyun knew his position in her heart, but the flame that burnt his heart was already set with passion so deep it could make hell paled in comparison. He loved her. She was clearly interested in him.

Since when did he care so much about the girl? She crept up his mind like weed. Addictive and poisonous.

He almost lost his mind when she kissed Byun Baekhyun full on the lips in the sparring sheet. He was black in furry, and nothing in his thousands years of life had came close to something as maddening as this.

He thought of ways to kill him, some of which were too gruesome to be described. Anything to rip her off of Byun Baekhyun's goddammed biceps. Damn him. The Lord wanted to kill. His jealousy was so sickening that it left a very very bitter aftertaste. her and her ways of making him insane.

"Have you had enough?" Jinki panted, his ribcage was ripped opened by the Lord's sharp claws. He had taken his anger out on Jinki, as usual. But his wingman healed fast. He worried for a second, then no more. ", that hurts."

"Seriously, my Lord, I can't read what's on your Goddamned mind when you decide to have a sparring off the matt. This is utterly insane. You literally tried to rip off my throat had I not grabbed the sword and threatened your hands off of me."

Silence. Somehow he hated this.

"Is it Sora?"

And Jinki had hit the mark, as usual. He'd missed nothing. But then again, why would he when it was so blatant and obvious?

"I should kill Byun Baekhyun when I have the chance."

Pitiful jealousy. jealousy.

"And why would you do that?"

"Just because."

Perhaps Jinki had forgotten how the Lord used to kill for fun. Maybe he had become too softhearted recently. All because of a certain woman that couldn't seem to get out of his mind. Damn, he even had her scent memorized if that was not creepy enough.

"Just because is not a good enough reason," Jinki bit back the chuckle in his throat. He did it for the sake of his ribs. "Just give it time. Sora will eventually come to you." Then murmured not-so-accidentally, "I thought she and the boy were buddies before. Thank Lord they weren't."

Lord Chanyeol gripped onto the shiny part of the sword and let his hand bled. His vision was red and boy, was he angry.

"My Lord," Jinki lied back on the floor, "You can't expect Sora to be a hundred year old , can you? I mean... How old were you when you first ed?"

Fifteen. He was so young. But that was out of the question. Besides, his partner-slash-one-night-stand-buddy Eve had liked it a bit too much. If God didn't intervene, who knew what else would have happened.

Still. He wanted to be Sora's first.

"Did they before?"

Jinki was silent. He knew the answer but he wanted to tease the Lord a bit more.

"No."

"You sounded unsure."

"Fine then yes," Jinki faked a dramatic sigh but was utterly stunned when the Lord slammed his palm against the solid ground. His look was one of fury and disappointment. Jinki was regretful that he had spit out his thoughts to the Lord. He had forgotten how protective Lord Chanyeol could be. “But that’s just a wild guess. They never got too close. Sora wouldn’t allow that to happen because she knows she would be with you.”

Jinki’s words were no consolation to his jealousy. Besides, Sora hadn’t come out of her room for three days. She didn’t eat, didn’t drink, didn’t do anything outside. It made him worry to the extent that he sneaked in one night, sat in the balcony and accompanied her to midnight. He couldn’t help himself but read all her thoughts and found out why she was so upset.

That mothering Byun Baekhyun had taken her first kiss.

He wanted to kill that guy.

But he got his retribution at the night of the grand gala.

When she appeared in that turquoise-colored gown, her beauty outshone everyone else. For a momentary seclusion, he had looked at her with adoration so profoundly; it could light up a room. The admiration was so obvious to everyone else but them. Lord Chanyeol sighed and realized on the very night. He had fallen for her. Hard. And there was no turning back. No. He couldn’t, and he wouldn’t.

He didn’t know when it happened. Maybe it was the dress. Maybe it was the moonlight nights before that night. Or maybe he had fallen for her on the first stare, on the first word, or on the first meaningful conversation they had sometimes ago.

And suddenly, the whole world seemed to revolve around her. His feeling for Joo Ri was a deep, scarring love. But what he felt for Sora? He couldn’t describe it. It was catastrophic. It was a natural calamity. He grew to love every single thing about her. Enchanting purple eyes, cute little nose, red alluring lips he never seemed to have enough of, to the twitch in her eyes when she laughed, or burping noises she had when she snored.

Indeed, to love was to destroy.

Love was not a loss nor a victory, but withdrawal symptoms.

One day, when he needed to remind himself of the words ‘I love you’, he would say it to her face, and told her just how much she had changed him, whether it was accidental or intentional. He would spend his forever with her, even if it meant giving up the world he had built up for so long.

As he closed his eyes, a smile hauntingly graced his features for one last time.

If only forever was enough…

Yo peeps, I got three more chapters to go. Will update them this afternoon and tomorrow morning.