It had been a week or two since the incident. The God of Darkness had been giving his persistent chaser the cold shoulder. He did not even attempt to hide. He simply treated the other as if he didn’t exist. He gave him…

The silent treatment.

The kind of treatment Woohyun detested the most. He would rather have people get angry with him or even beat him up, since at least they would be paying attention to him. At least they would be acknowledging his existence. Woohyun had always been an attention seeker; hence, the silent treatment was the worst form of torture for him. It irritated him to no end that he was receiving that kind of treatment from his hard-to-get friend, the God of Darkness. Yes, it was hard to get close to him as a friend. Woohyun didn’t want to lose his precious friend.

“Darky! Darky, Darky, Darkyyyyyy~” Woohyun cooed, with an exaggeratedly cute expression in an attempt to make Sunggyu laugh – or become disgusted by his actions. But like usual, Sunggyu didn’t even blink. It was even worse than when they had first met. Back then, at least he had reacted to Woohyun’s actions, be it positively or negatively. Now either he treated Woohyun like air, or he himself was like a mannequin.

After trying several failed acts, Woohyun finally gave up. He sighed dejectedly. His heart ached a little, watching Sunggyu staring off into the distance again.

“Sunggyu.” Woohyun reached out his hand unconsciously. He missed the other. He wanted to laugh, joke around, talk, and… touch the other. Woohyun loved skinship, and Sunggyu had never once complained.

“Sunggyu-ah— Argh!” The moment Woohyun touched Sunggyu, perhaps even before that, he was blown away by a dark force. Landing on the ground meters away, he cried out in pain as his fingers burned. Despite his cry, Sunggyu never even looked his way as he stood up and disappeared.

Woohyun sat on the ground, groaning in pain as he healed his wound. It appeared that Sunggyu had set up a barrier around himself such that if Woohyun ever attempted to touch him, not only would he be pushed away, the place where he had touched Sunggyu would be burnt. The force was no joke, since Sunggyu’s immense power was in it. Even if Sunggyu were the weakest God in Paradise and Woohyun the strongest, a tiny amount of Sunggyu’s power would still hurt him nevertheless, for he was his opposition. In reality, however, Sunggyu was the strongest male god in Paradise. Needless to say, the pain was agonizing for the God of Light.

A teardrop fell on the wound on his hand where he had touched Sunggyu. However, at that moment, Woohyun could no longer tell whether that single teardrop was due to the physical pain or…

Furious, he wiped his teary eyes harshly and screamed at the top of his lungs. “Just why are you so angry, stupid Sunggyu!!?”

Little did he know, the same question was running through Sunggyu’s mind.

↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭

Sitting alone on the top of the gigantic Banyan in the Thana Garden, his favourite garden, the scene of that incident ran through Sunggyu’s head.

“Never... Ever… Make me angry again.”

He frowned a little as he remembered his last words to Woohyun.

*Why was I so angry at him…?* Even Sunggyu was surprised at his own anger. But no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with an answer.

*Maybe my temper is changing after all those years with Jieun,* Sunggyu thought, and chuckled at the thought of Jieun’s protesting for putting her to blame.

Perhaps it was because he did not get angry easily, so when he did, it was terrifying and long lasting. There had been times when Sunggyu had planned to forgive Woohyun, but in the end, he simply could not bring himself to make the first move. As he delayed it over time, it became harder and more awkward to talk to Woohyun; meanwhile, ignoring him slowly became habitual.

The sound of Woohyun crying out in pain haunted his mind. Sunggyu bit his lip softly as he closed his eyes. His effort to shut out the sound was futile. Worried about the other’s condition, he regretted not looking at him at that time.

“Maybe… I was a little bit too harsh,” he mumbled. Feeling guilty, he laid down on the giant tree trunk that he had been sitting on.

“Harsh? Harsh about what?” A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. Opening his eyes, he saw Jieun sitting next to him by his head, looking down at him with a smile.

Sunggyu smiled back. “Welcome back. You sure took a while.”

Jieun sighed. “I know. The job given by The Great was so easy that it took me months and is still not over.”

“Eh? You’re not done yet?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. I’m only back temporarily, since there are things I need to investigate here. I told you. The job is soooo easy. Ugh.” Jieun rolled her eyes.

Sunggyu chuckled at her sarcasm. His laugh soon came to halt as he felt his alarm sense going off.

*Of course he is here. Jieun is back,* Sunggyu thought, frowning at his own thought. Closing his eyes, he laid there in anticipation of an interruption, but nothing happened.

Much to his surprise, he soon felt the alarm sense growing weaker rapidly. He lifted his head and looked around, but failed to find what he was looking for. When he felt his alarm sense disappear completely, he flopped back down onto the trunk half disappointed, half surprised.

*Why did he not show up even though Jieun is back?*

↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭

“Alright! The wound is healed!” Woohyun cheered happily as he stood up, not forgetting to fix his soiled attire.

*I’m going to try again, and again tomorrow, and the day after that. I’m going to keep trying until the end!* Woohyun noted to himself as he walked into the teleportation hole.

“Ayyyyy-la-hee!” Woohyun chanted as he jumped out of the teleportation hole to a gloomy garden. This time, the scene of the foggy forest had become too familiar to him.

“Of course, he is here,” Woohyun heaved a sigh. “Again.”

Many times he had questioned the God of Darkness about his attachment to the Thana Garden – a name that he learnt from Sunggyu himself – but not once had the latter ever answered his question. Instead, he would smile. Woohyun could have sworn that the smile became sadder and sadder every time he repeated the question. Eventually, he stopped asking. It bothered him that Sunggyu, a god, was displaying such a strong feeling of remorse. It was as if he had a tragic past, but what could it be? Having been born a god into the most luxurious lifestyle, how could he possibly have suffered at any point in his life? Did he perhaps remember his tragic life as a human? No, that was not possible. One could not remember one’s past lives after reincarnation.

A flock of fireflies flew past Woohyun, who was lost in thought as he wandered around aimlessly. The fluttering sound of their wings snapped Woohyun out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Aiya, why am I getting distracted?” Woohyun knocked his own head lightly. “Gotta find naggy Darky!”

Woohyun quickly made his way to the Banyan tree, without relying on his alarm sense. There wasn’t a need for the alarm sense, for he knew exactly where Sunggyu would be amidst the dark garden. He smiled when he felt his alarm sense getting stronger. How ironic it was that he felt happy sensing the danger coming.

“Ah! There he is—”

Woohyun’s voice trailed off and his words were cut short as he saw Jieun pop into the scene and sit down by Sunggyu. Sometimes, Woohyun wondered how she managed to find him without the alarm sense that only he had. He felt a pang in his heart when he saw Sunggyu smile sweetly at Jieun as the two conversed. The pain from the wound that he thought he had healed started to tingle.

Hidden behind the big trees, he stood there watching the engaged couple in silence. He didn’t even feel like dashing towards Jieun, whom he had been courting so desperately and whom he missed so dearly. In fact, sticking around Sunggyu was originally simply a plan to see her. But now… none of that mattered. All he could see was the two smiling at one another, and all he could feel was pain – from the old wound and his heart.

He didn’t know why he was feeling that way, nor did he want to find out. Smiling bitterly, he turned around and walked away from the scene with a blank mind. Despite his lack of knowledge about his own emotions, there was one thing that he was sure of: he didn’t want to see the hurtful sight anymore. When he arrived at a seemingly brighter place, the Holy Garden, Woohyun strolled around aimlessly before deciding to flop down by the water fountain.

“Woohyun oppa! Where have you been lately?! I missed you so—” A goddess in a short blue dip-dyed dress approached him with delight. However, as she got closer to him, she immediately noticed his solemn expression. Her footsteps slowed as she gradually sat down next to him in silence.

The poor goddess was fidgeting around, unsure what to do with an unusual depressed God of Light. With his head hung low, Woohyun completely ignored the goddess’s attempts to cheer him up. When it seemed as though she were about to give up, she suddenly began to sing. Her angelic voice echoed throughout the garden, and soon tiny droplets of rain began to fall in resonance with her voice – as if they were dancing to her melody. In the midst of the gentle song, all the other gods and goddesses who were present in the Holy Garden immediately put up a barrier to prevent themselves from getting wet – all but Woohyun.

Oppa, you don’t have to tell me your story, but I hope this will ease your pain a little. Let the rainwater be a substitute for your tears.

Woohyun finally smiled when he heard the Goddess’s telepathic voice in his head. Closing his eyes, he faced up towards the sky, feeling the drops of rain landing on his flawless profile. He, who normally cared so much about his appearance, was enjoying every moment of the rain that was ruining his outfit.

“Thank you, Mijoo-ah,” Woohyun whispered.

Mijoo the Goddess of Water smiled when she heard his words of gratitude.

“Those were the most sincere words I have ever heard from you, oppa. Now you owe me one,” Mijoo said with a wink.

Woohyun chuckled and waved his hand around. “Don’t stop singing. Sing me another song.”

Mijoo pouted at Woohyun’s attitude. “Do you still want the rain though? You’re completely wet.” She reminded him of his current unsightly appearance.

His eyes shot open, as if the thought had just hit him. Looking at his now wet outfit with disdain, Woohyun replied,  “Maybe not.” With a snap, he immediately dried himself, even changing his outfit.

Mijoo giggled. “Roger.”

↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭

“Oppa. Sunggyu oppa.”

“Hmm?”

“Did you fight with the God of Light?” Jieun asked.

Sunggyu’s body tensed as he cleared his throat. “Ahem! Not really? Why do you ask?”

Jieun instantly recognised the tone. Sunggyu the God of Darkness changed his tone whenever he lied. “It has been several days since I’ve returned, and he hasn’t disturbed us once.” Jieun giggled. “Although I’m happy that he is gone, it’s strange for him to disappear like this.”

“So, what did he do?” Sunggyu coughed and looked away when Jieun pressed the question further. Jieun stared at him in silence for a while before shrugging her shoulders.

“Well, whatever he did, he must have crossed the line.” Jieun glanced at Sunggyu, who was clearly reacting to her words. “For him to disappear for this long… that means you must have gotten reallyyyyy mad.” Sunggyu coughed yet again.

“Ahem!” he cleared his throat.

Jieun giggled at the honest Sunggyu. “I don’t blame him. You’re really scary when you’re mad.”

Sunggyu frowned. “Am I really?”

Jieun raised an eyebrow. “Let’s see… if I had to describe it, your anger is like a little puppy that suddenly turns into a fierce beast.”

“…what?” Sunggyu was taken aback by Jieun’s description.

Jieun grinned. “Don’t believe me? The fact that Woohyun never appeared in front of us again is the proof—”

“Jieun-ahhhhhhhh!” A loud, cheerful voice interrupted Jieun’s words. Both of them turned around to see Woohyun running towards them with a bunch of flowers.

Sunggyu turned back to Jieun and grinned. “You were saying?”

“Never mind, I spoke too soon.” Jieun’s expression turned grim as she watched Woohyun coming closer.

“Jieun, look! I brought you rare flowers from the Water Palace! Welcome back!!!” Woohyun said as he handed over a bouquet of flowers, each a different shade of blue – from the deep blue of the ocean to the light blue of the sky. The water droplets lingering on them sparkled like diamonds. All in all, the bouquet was one of a kind and was without doubt extremely mesmerising. Jieun was no exception, as the God of Death, who never cared so much about flowers, was staring at them with interest.

Seeing that Jieun hadn’t perished the flowers yet made Woohyun smirk. Secretly, he thanked the Goddess of Water in his mind. *Thank you so much for this, Mijoo-ah.*

He was even more delighted when Jieun wordlessly took the bouquet from him to admire the art of nature. As happy as he was, there was a constant tugging in the back of his mind and heart. Cautiously, he stole a glance at the God of Darkness.

It had been forever since the last time Woohyun had seen Sunggyu smile up close (except the time he had secretly watched them in the Thana Garden). He was instantly hypnotized by the smile he had longed to see for so long. Yet as he followed the God of Darkness’s line of sight, he was forcefully dragged back into reality. The reason why Sunggyu was smiling was not because him. His blood boiled, and his head was clouded with ominous thoughts as he watched Jieun turning around and showing off the bouquet to Sunggyu, beaming with excitement. For a split second, Woohyun’s eyes flashed red.

Jealousy.

That was the name of his emotion. Jieun was smiling, but he was not happy – because Sunggyu was smiling at her and only her. The sudden deja-vu reminded Woohyun that Sunggyu had always been smiling for Jieun unconditionally. It hadn't mattered then, since he had been solely focused on Jieun, but now that Sunggyu was in the picture – things had changed. Things changed because he had realized he made a fatal mistake.

As if time had stopped, he stood there frozen at his realization. If only he hadn't been so persistent in sticking to Sunggyu for those months Jieun had been gone, this would not happened, but it already had. If only he hadn’t gotten too close to the God of Darkness and had simply stuck to him, this would not happened, but it already had. He knew it already had. The womanizer was no fool in love.

Woohyun the God of Light knew he was in love with Sunggyu the God of Darkness.

It wasn’t like a shy and embarrassed realization that one was in love. His was full of bitterness and cruelty. He had heard of a human story, ‘Romeo & Juliet’, and thought it was a fairly nice tragic love story, but at the same time ridiculous. He blamed them for being foolish in falling for the enemy. What should or could he do now that it was him? Suddenly, he felt like a hypocrite.

Putting that aside, right now he felt like he couldn’t breathe. All the frustration and anger came to him at once. It was then that Paradise was shaken vigorously, as if an earthquake had occurred, except they were not on Earth.

“WARNING. PARADISE HAS BEEN INVADED. INVADER IS UNKNOWN. ALL GODS AND GODDESSES ARE TO UNLEASH THEIR POWER AND BE READY FOR DANGER. REPEAT. PARADISE HAS BEEN INVADED.”

A voice blasted throughout Paradise. In minutes, explosions could be heard and the sound of clashing of power was crystal clear. Paradise, a world of absolute power, had been invaded by an unknown force. Other than the records of major clashes of power among gods or/and goddesses, Paradise had never truly been in danger. The worst ever recorded had happened back in the 500’s and had nearly destroyed Paradise. Nonetheless, it had been the work of two gods then. This time, however, the cause for the chaos was an unknown invader. If one were to compare it to Earth, the danger was almost on par with a World War.

Though gods were immortal, they still could feel pain. God or humans, no one wanted to get hurt. If they were to be gravely injured, depending on the element used by the attacker, they could actually die. Furthermore, they would also be exposed in a vulnerable state and, should their opposition appear, there was no guarantee they would live.

Setting the bouquet away in a safe place, Jieun immediately released her power. A black aura donned with silver sparkles surrounded her body, while Sunggyu was covered in a purple-black smoke-like aura. Standing side by side, they were highly aware of their surroundings. As Sunggyu looked around, his eyes stopped over a figure who seemed like he had lost his mind. His eyes widened, and another vigorous shake could be felt.

“Woohyun!” Sunggyu shouted from a distance. “What are you doing? Release your power!” he screamed, but the figure remained lifeless.

“Oppa! They are close. I can feel their energy,” Jieun said to Sunggyu as they stood back to back. Jieun raise her arms, and a dark spherical barrier was immediately formed, protecting both of them. But the warning words did not reach Sunggyu, whose attention was completely on the defenceless Woohyun.

“YA! WOOHYUN! YOU HEAR ME?!” Sunggyu screamed. Woohyun’s lack of response was driving him crazy. “YA!”

Woohyun, at this time, was busy fighting his own emotions and the ugly realization. He was not one to be in self-denial, but nevertheless, he had trouble accepting the fact that he was in love with his opposition. There was something that swirled deep in his chest. It wasn’t heartache. It wasn’t jealousy either. One should be happy knowing they’re in love, but he wasn’t. Was it disappointment or fury? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that it felt like a black hole in his heart. A void he needed to fill up to feel whole.

The sound of heavy footsteps came closer, but Woohyun paid no attention to it. Sunggyu’s worry intensified; still, he was hesitant to leave Jieun’s side. This was a time of crisis. What kind of a fiancé would he be if he left her alone? Even though she was more than capable by herself, it didn’t feel right to leave her side. Furthermore, the barrier she had put up not only stopped things coming from the outside but also from the inside. He couldn’t get to Woohyun with the barrier up. Even if he did, he himself was a deadly weapon to Woohyun with his power mode on.

Clicking his tongue, Sunggyu was about to shout again when he was surprised by an impact of power on his back. The enemy was already here.

“Oppa! They are here!” Jieun shouted as she chanted a spell, calling forth dark spears that were shaped like thunder and pierced through their enemy.

The enemy was not like any mythical animals they have ever seen before. They were simply a bunch of half-solid, half-gas substances in the forms similar to that of a human. Everything about them was full of negativity energy, like anger, despair, and wrath altogether.

Luckily, they seemed to be coming from only Jieun’s and Sunggyu’s side; hence, the defenceless Woohyun was safe for now. However, the situation was not looking good with the number of the enemy increasing exponentially.

“Where are they all coming from?!” Jieun said in annoyance as she pierced the enemy with her endless spears, but as if they could revive, the number came back doubled.

Meanwhile, Sunggyu was silently attacking the enemy with his power while keeping an eye on Woohyun, who still had not released his power. Suddenly, the thing he feared most happened: an enemy appeared by Woohyun’s side and seemed to be ready to attack him.

“Jieun! Take down the barrier! NOW!” Sunggyu shouted, surprising Jieun, who immediately obeyed without a word.

The moment the barrier was down, Sunggyu dashed out like a madman. As he ran, the aura around him diminished, signifying a decrease in power he released. He had to keep his power to a minimum in order not to harm Woohyun. It was no easy task to do so. When gods were in their power mode, it unleashed their full power. To suppress their power required a strong determination and manipulation skill. Therefore, either they released their full power in their power mode or shut it down completely, leaving them able only to use a very limited amount of power needed in daily life, not combat. Having said that, Sunggyu had to perform the impossible task in order to defeat the enemy while staying close to Woohyun. A moment of distraction and he would get hurt due to his lack of power, or Woohyun would if he increased his power in power mode.

Sunggyu quickly stood between Woohyun and the enemy and put up a barrier. However, the barrier was weak and did not have a spherical shape that could cover up both of them in all directions. In other words, Sunggyu could not summon a full protective barrier like Jieun could. All he could do at that moment was summon a shield, and even that shield was weaker than it usually was.

“Woohyun! What is wrong with you?!” Sunggyu shouted as he struggled to guard against the enemy’s attack, which was all he could do with his very limited power. “You want to die or something?! Release your power and help us out!” The shield cracked.

“WOOHYUN!!”

*Die? I wish I could die. I wonder if the pain of dying will hurt like this too?* Woohyun thought as he half listened to Sunggyu. His eyes were hollow. It was almost as if he was an unable to break free from the shock.

“Argh!”

Suddenly, he heard the sound of something breaking and snapped back into reality. Sunggyu’s shield had completely shattered, and the God of Darkness took a hit in the shoulder as he covered Woohyun. The trails of blood dripping down to the ground endlessly made Woohyun pale. In panic, he immediately caught Sunggyu as he fell down on his knee, losing his strength. At this point, Sunggyu’s power had completely shut down.

“Oppa!” Jieun shouted. She fired a spear at the single enemy before Sunggyu and made her way towards the two gods.

“Don’t come closer!” Sunggyu shouted in pain. “You’ll hurt him!”

Jieun halted, understanding what Sunggyu was implying. Biting her lip, she turned around and dealt with the enemy on her side, stopping them from coming towards Sunggyu.

“Sunggyu! Y-You okay?” Woohyun asked, panicking.

Sunggyu scoffed a laugh. “Do I look like I’m okay?” he showed off a hand covered with the blood dripping from his shoulder. So much blood was flowing out mercilessly, and Sunggyu’s face became paler minute by minute.

Tears threatened to fall down Woohyun’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Darky.”

Sunggyu forced a smile. “You can explain to me later. Just don’t get yourself killed now.”

It was then that Woohyun finally realized the situation they were in. Suddenly, he heard more footsteps coming, this time, to his side. He then turned around and inspected the smoke-like figure and smirked.

“I see why you two are having trouble fighting these things,” Woohyun said. “They won’t die completely with your destructive attacks. Furthermore, they are made of a similar dark element to you two.”

Sunggyu raised an eyebrow at him. “We both knew that from the start. You don’t need to explain.”

Woohyun coughed at the failed attempt to be cool. “Ahem! Darky, can you move?”

“Sure, I can. If you let go of me.”

It was at that moment that Woohyun realised the reason why Sunggyu hadn’t moved wasn’t because of his injury, but because he was holding onto the guy so tightly. Embarrassed, he let go of Sunggyu and smiled sheepishly.

“Go back to Jieun and ask her to put up a barrier.”

Once again, Sunggyu raised an eyebrow at the guy. “I can put up my own barrier. Thank you.”

“Oh. But–”

“Ya, Woohyun! The reason why I couldn’t attack before was because I couldn’t use my full power. You think I would be so weak as to let those things harm me?”

“But they did injure you…”

“Were you not listening? I said it’s because I couldn’t use my full–” A dark spear came flying before their eyes, cutting Sunggyu’s words off.

“How about helping out first, you two useless gods?” Jieun scowled at them, being the only one attacking the enemy. The male gods gulped at her fury.

Woohyun could hear the footsteps getting closer to his side. He quickly stood up and walked away from Sunggyu. After making sure he was a distance away, he released his power. A golden aura wrapped around his body, making him shine amidst the gloomy, foggy garden and the dark force.

He nodded at Sunggyu, who also had already released his power. The latter understood his signal and put up a dark spherical barrier around himself. Jieun soon did the same when she received Sunggyu’s signal.

Woohyun waited until the dark force on his side had arrived, completely surrounding them. In the centre between Jieun and Sunggyu, he then chanted a spell.

“Heed my call,

O the holy light in me.

Reveal thyself before the enemy,

Purify the land and perish the dark force.”

His golden aura expanded and the brightness increased rapidly until it became blinding. By the time the light faded away, the smoke-like enemy had perished into thin air. Woohyun the God of Light attack’s element was light, their opposite, and hence had the strongest impact on them among the three gods present.

The gods stayed on alert until Paradise had quieted down. After a while, they all shut away their power and Jieun immediately rushed by Sunggyu’s side.

“Oppa, how’s your wound?”

Sunggyu grinned at her. “It’s alright. Look! It’s almost healed.” The wound by his shoulder was indeed looking much better, and the bleeding had stopped.

Sunggyu then looked at Woohyun, who was watching them from afar. The latter smiled at him and slowly walked towards him, but Sunggyu could have sworn he saw sadness in the other’s eyes for a split second.

From Woohyun’s hand appeared a glass bottle. “Here.” He opened the bottle and crouched down beside Sunggyu. “It’s a healing magic bottle. Don’t worry, it’s made of water element, not light. It shouldn’t be harmful to you.”

As he was about to treat Sunggyu’s wound, Jieun took the bottle from him. “You go to the Holy Palace and find out what’s going on. I’ll treat his wound.”

Woohyun sat there, stunned at Jieun’s actions. Annoyance almost showed on his face. Masked with a smile, Woohyun patted Sunggyu softly.

“Right, I should let your fiancée do the job. I’ll go find out about the situation. Rest well Darky~” With that, he turned around and walked towards the teleportation hole he had opened.

Standing before the hole, he stole a quick glance at the other two. Smiling bitterly, he stepped inside the hole and stepped out at the Holy Palace. He had no energy to jump and make a grand entrance with his favourite chant, like he normally did. All that was in his head was a bitter realization.

Woohyun the God of Light was in love with Sunggyu the God of Darkness, who was betrothed to Jieun the Goddess of Darkness.

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Phew~ that was a long update, wasn't it? Bad news: this will be the last update for my winter break :( It will be a while until the next update since I have a lot to deal with once the semester start (tomorrow). I'm amazed that I managed to update twice before the break is over! Thank you for supporting the story guys~ I love you :3 

Congratulation to ilovesungyeollie, Tally1203 and flying13bear for getting a 950 words spoiler and inspiritly_beauty for getting a 500 words spoiler :) Continue to comment regularly and who knows, you might get to peek at the story earlier! 

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