“No! I can’t do this anymore!” Yujin screams as she runs her hand through her hair, ruffling her own hair.

 

“What?!” Hyewon, Yena, Chaeyeon, Wonyoung and Sakura all shout in unison, Hyewon even dropping her precious cake in the process.

 

“No, no, no, no, no, no Yujin,” Chaeyeon says, shaking her head as she moves to where Yujin was seated in the dressing room, massaging her shoulders slightly.

 

“You can totally do this,” Wonyoung says, but Yujin just stares at her in disbelief.

 

“Dude- I bought the most expensive for this! Backing out is not an option,” Yena complains, and Yujin clicks her tongue, leaning back in the swivel chair, eyes meeting Chaeyeon’s.

 

“What is it Yujin? Why are you becoming a chicken?” Chaeyeon asks softly despite her odd choice of words, and Yujin sighs.

 

“What if I mess up?”

 

“Oh come on Yujin! It’s just a few speeches! And a lot of ‘thank you’s’ and ‘is the food good?’ and ‘that’s lovely Aunt Karen!’ with the occasional ‘I love your outfit!’,” Hyewon blabbers, not even looking at Yujin as she stuffs more cake into .

 

“You talk like you’ve done this before!” Yujin says, exasperated at the older, but she just shrugs.

 

“Well I have! And you’re just like Yena,” Hyewon says, and Yena gasps in offense, lightly slapping her friend.

 

“Hey! I was just nervous! It’s not like I ‘couldn’t do this anymore!’,” Yena imitates the Ahn, making air quotes as Yujin throws a pillow at the duck, who hissed in retaliation.

 

“I can do this!” Yujin says, and they’re all silent, judging the vocalist silently.

 

A moment of silence.

 

Two moments.

 

Three.

 

“I can’t do this!”

 

“3 seconds?! That’s your worst record so far!” Yena scowls, and they all sigh at once.

 

“Why are you scared unnie? It’s not like you haven’t done this before,” Wonyoung comments, but they all shoot her questioning looks, yet the maknae simply shrugs.

 

“She’s never done this before?” Sakura says, as if confirming with everyone that she wasn’t the only one left confused.

 

“I mean- like- talking in front of everyone- she does that all the time!” Wonyoung argues, but they all shake their heads.

 

“You’re too young to understand Wonyoungie,” Yena says, shaking her head.

 

“What does that even mean?! I’m 33 unnie!” Wonyoung argues, and they all gulp, realising their baby maknae was no longer a baby.

 

They were old.

 

They were hags now.

 

“I think Yujin here isn’t really nervous about the talking part Wonyo,” Chaeyeon says calmly, and Yujin agrees internally, it was the aftermath of the talking that she was really worried about.

 

“It’s the responsibilities, the commitment and the possibilities that’s bothering Yujin right now,” Chaeyeon speaks for Yujin, and the younger is glad Chaeyeon understands what she feels without her having to say it out loud.

 

“Well- it’s not like Yujin wants to back out,” Yena says, and they all agree, it was just that Yujin was very jittery about the whole ordeal, though she knows it’s what she wants, yet fear still lingers in her. She has no clue on what the future holds- and she doesn’t have the wisdom of the past to help her this time.

 

Or does she?

 

“Have they come yet?” Yujin asks, sitting up from the seat, Chaeyeon letting go of Yujin’s shoulders, letting the Ahn ask her questions.

 

“Only like- 2 people,” Hyewon says nonchalantly.

 

“Were they a couple?” Yujin asks.

 

“By the looks of it, yeah,” Hyewon replies again.

 

“Did one of them look like the cutest person in the world?” Yujin asks, and Hyewon is confused for a second, but she nods, and Yujin jumps out of the seat, walking towards the exit.

 

“Excuse me, but I need to greet someone,” Yujin says boldly, and they’re all still staring at her weird, but they let her leave, figuring that whatever this visitor had would boost Yujin’s confidence again.

 

Yujin trots through the narrow hallways of the Grand Hyatt Seoul, making her way to where the eating part of the event would be held, the Waterfall Garden, she doesn’t find anyone though, and she clicks her tongue as she assumes Hyewon was playing with her- but a string of familiar laughter catches Yujin’s attention, and she walks towards the sound- and she spots her.

 

“Kim Jiwoo,” Yujin says as she sees the older spinning around with Ha Sooyoung on the ice skating rink, nearly crashing down after spotting Yujin.

 

“Ahn Yujin!” Jiwoo greets cheerfully, slipping around until she got to the edge of the rink, pulling Sooyoung behind her.

 

“It’s been a minute,” Yujin says, tilting her invisible hat as she approaches the outer part of the edge, and Jiwoo smirks.

 

“8,409,600 minutes to be exact,” Jiwoo says cockily, and Sooyoung chuckles, mumbling ‘nerd’ at her little soulmate.

 

“Hey~ I’ve been busy!”

 

“I know, the last time I saw you was at the wedding- but here we are again,” Jiwoo chuckles, leaning against the barrier. “And hey- you’re renting the entire Grand Hyatt- obviously you’d need to be hella busy to get that,” Jiwoo jokes, and Yujin sighs.

 

“That was all my mom's idea okay? I was just joking,” Yujin replies, explaining how on earth she ended up renting the whole Grand Hyatt for their event.

 

“You are a joke, Yujin,” Sooyoung snapped, and Yujin stuck her tongue out, Sooyoung retaliating the exact same way, causing Jiwoo’s eyebrows to crease.

 

“Yah! You’re 40!” Jiwoo playfully shoves Sooyoung but Sooyoung sticks out her tongue at Jiwoo instead, chuckling quickly after that.

 

Yujin smiles at the married couple, a part of her silently wishing Minjoo was here so that they could tease the two together. Alas, both Eunbi and her mom were against her seeing Minjoo at this time, so seeing Minjoo was not the biggest option right now.

 

“You’re nervous right?” Jiwoo suddenly says, and Yujin is taken aback.

 

“I mean, how could you not be?” Jiwoo jokes, and turns to her bag, which seemed a little off from the rest of her outfit, but she pulls out a leather bound book from it- and Yujin almost passes out.

 

“So I brought this to cheer you up,” Jiwoo holds it up high, and Sooyoung pulls her hand down a little bit, so no lurking eyes would see the book in public.

 

“Seriously?! Is that mine?!” Yujin panics a little- because this was exactly what she needed, yet it was all so sudden, it was almost overwhelming.

 

“No,” Jiwoo says, adding even more suspense to Yujin’s racing heart as she slides her hand off the spine of the book, revealing the name.

 

김 민 주

 

“No ing way,” Yujin says in shock, but Jiwoo nods her head.

 

“Yes ing way,” Jiwoo says, and Sooyoung speaks up, earning Yujin’s attention away from the book.

 

“Consider this a gift punk,” Sooyoung says, and she pushes Jiwoo out of the rink, and they all ended up on the expensive, well kept grass with the book in the middle of the trio.

 

“So, remember the last time we broke the law together?” Jiwoo asks as they open the book to the very first page, the first page showing a picture of Minjoo, the same way there was a picture of Yujin on her own book- Minjoo’s photo was done with immense detail, and Yujin couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the picture, she looked younger in the photo- like the day they’d first met, a day fresh in Yujin’s mind as if it had happened only yesterday.

 

“Vividly,”

 

“Remember how we skipped a whole bunch of pages?” Jiwoo says, nudging the younger slightly.

 

“You skipped a whole bunch of pages,” Yujin retaliates, but Jiwoo waves her off, proceeding to flip the series of pages to the second set of golden pages.

 

“We’ve had the same number of lives before?”

 

“Oh, that’s how you get a soulmate! Since both of you have new lives- it’s how the universe sorta ‘matches’ you together in a way,” Jiwoo explains, and Yujin finds that even at 34, she still couldn’t fully grasp the complete concept of past lives and soulmates.

 

“This is your second life,” Jiwoo says. “The one we haven’t read before,”

 

Jiwoo hands the opened book to Yujin, and Yujin takes it gladly, eager to read whatever contents the book had in store for her this time.

 

Please no death this time…

 

(A/n ^^ everybody’s thoughts when reading OS fiesta, and also, at the end of the fic there is a glossary for anyone who is unfamiliar with Greek Myths!)

 

The Second Life, the 12th Dimension,

200 BCE, Sicily, Ancient Greece.

 

Kim Minjoo was blessed.

 

Quite literally and figuratively too- she was a child of Aphrodite by birth- but her smarts and skill led her to become the somewhat adoptive daughter of Athena, as well as obtaining Persephone’s blessing to raise her own mighty garden in Sicily. It was just that Minjoo was such a kind and beautiful soul, the Gods wanted to test to see how many gifts she could receive before turning into an evil piece of scum- a thing that occurred regularly in Ancient Greece.

 

Though Kim Minjoo though, seemed to be plowing through her trials just fine, spending every day like any regular mortal, tending to her field, talking to the nymphs and chasing away annoying satyrs.

 

This unproblematic greek demigod behaviour though- it made all the Gods scratch their heads in wonder, trying to understand how a mere mortal could be so flawless. Thus, the King of the Sky, Zeus himself decided- that Minjoo Kim, was to be put to the test.

 

“Eros,” the God says, and Eros gulps, not wanting to be a part of Zeus’ foolish shenanigans anymore.

 

“Shoot her,”

 

“And with whom my Lord?”

 

“Her soulmate,” Zeus says, determined to ruin the Kim.

 

“Why? That isn’t so bad,” Eros comments, though he still aimed his bow and arrow towards the clueless mortal, waiting for Zeus’ answer.

 

“Kim Minjoo is a little more than meets the eye,” Zeus cackles as he says this, and Eros silently judges him, but he lets out a deep breath and closes one eye, releasing his arrow silently, letting it fly straight into his half sisters heart, but Minjoo remained unfazed, going about her day as usual.

 

Not for long though.

 

——

 

“The earth is so boring,” Minjoo says out of the blue, and Chaeyeon- the sea nymph- spits out her coconut juice, throwing her coconut across the array of paddy that Minjoo planted.

 

“HEY! DON’T MESS UP MY BABY RICE!”

 

“What do you mean the earth is so boring?!” Chaeyeon says angrily, the nereid splashing bits of salt water onto her unsuspecting friend. “You know I would kill to be an earth nymph! The earth has so many fun and pretty things! How can you be bored- Persephone literally gave you an island!” Chaeyeon rants as she stands up, Minjoo barely paying her attention as she looks out to the ocean, wondering what could be beyond the secure lands of the earth.

 

“Shut up Chaeyeon,” Minjoo says, and Chaeyeon shuts , unwillingly, but she does because one of Minjoo’s many abilities— charmspeak.

 

Charmspeak, the ability to charm anyone with only her voice, was one of the many things Minjoo could do, and it was what she was best at it to be frank, even Ares had once fell trap to Minjoo’s words, causing the God of War himself to go and catch a bunch of deers and cook them up for Minjoo’s dinner that night.

 

Aphrodite personally came to congratulate her daughter that same night, commenting on how well Minjoo would be able to seduce people in the future.

 

“I just wanna see other places you know?” Minjoo says, Chaeyeon listening intently.

 

“I’ve seen all seasons- I’ve seen nearly the entire world in daylight with Apollo and I’ve seen the entire world at midnight with Artemis,” Minjoo tells, and Chaeyeon nods, knowing Minjoo has been on countless adventures to learn more about the world she lived in.

 

“And you’ve brought me all over the sea with Amphirite- so I don’t really have anything else to do,” Minjoo says, reminiscing the time Chaeyeon brought her under the sea to see the brilliant colours of the corals and the scary yet cute looking sharks, after Minjoo begged (read : charmspoke) her into giving her the most grand tour of the ocean known to man and nymph alike.

 

Mayhaps you can tell by now, that Minjoo loves using her little powers to convince literally anyone to tell her about the wonders of the universe- learning little by little about how the world worked and such.

 

“Yes you definitely have no other place to go,” Chaeyeon says, determined to stop Minjoo from her addiction to convincing people to doing whatever she wished just because she was curious.

 

“Actually- there’s one more place I can go to,” Minjoo says with a smirk on her lips, and Chaeyeon gulps, blinking as she anticipated what Minjoo was going to say next.

 

“The library!” Minjoo says excitedly, and Chaeyeon lets out a sigh of relief as she holds her hand out to Minjoo, smiling softly.

 

“Alright, let’s go to the library then,” Chaeyeon says softly, Minjoo taking her hand, and they start walking away towards the sea, the vast blue calming Minjoo with each step she took.

 

They arrived at sea, and as soon as Minjoo stepped into it, the sea separated, as if running from the daughter of beauty.

 

But in all honesty, the sea was running from Chaeyeon.

 

“Come on now- to Alexandria!” Chaeyeon says, and the waves wrap around their legs, and the two are propelled across the ocean, the salty mist putting a smile on Minjoo’s face.

 

——

 

“Hi Archimedes!” Minjoo says as she walks through the doors of what would one day be known as an almost mythical library- the Library of Alexandria.

 

Minjoo spots a young girl at the middle of the main hall- tending to the fire that burned under a grandeur sculpture of Minerva, the Roman counterpart of her patron Goddess, Athena.

 

“Boo!” Minjoo exclaims, but the smaller Goddess doesn’t flinch, and Minjoo only pouts, sitting next to the Goddess, but she faced the other way- looking to Chaeyeon- who was arguing with some guards about letting them in while they were a tad bit wet from the sea water.

 

“Hello Minjoo,” Hestia, the Goddess of the Hearth says quietly, turning to look at Minjoo, who returns the smile Hestia was wearing. “You haven’t been here in a minute,” Hestia refers to Minjoo’s strong tendency to go to any open library, but Minjoo waves her off, denying her love for the papyruses and the stories they told.

 

“And also- you got here fast,” Hestia jokes again, and Minjoo chukles awkwardly, rubbing her nape.

 

“Sicily to Egypt is quite the stretch,” Hestia comments in a casual tone. “Even for me,”

 

“You know Chaeyeon is fast,” Minjoo says. “And anyways- do you have any recommendations?” Minjoo asks excitedly, knowing the flame in Alexandria was Hestia's favourite to tend to, because it gave her the opportunity to read what the mortals had written in the meantime.

 

“The hundred and fifth shelf, at the very end- it’s quite hidden- nearby the section built in Venus’ honour,” Hestia says softly, and Minjoo smiles at the mention of her mother’s Roman counterpart, nodding in understanding at Hestia’s instructions.

 

“I’ll check it out now!” Minjoo chirps, and Hestia waves her off, and the Kim walks over to Chaeyeon, gaining the attention of the guard she was arguing with.

 

“May I help you ma’am?” The guard says, clearly annoyed with the nereid by this point.

 

“We’re gonna go in,” Minjoo says softly, her lips curving upwards in a small smile.

 

Confusion, a cocked eyebrow and bewilderment.

 

Alas, comes Minjoo’s favourite part.

 

Acceptance.

 

“Yeah- definitely, go ahead!” The guard’s expression turns to be at ease, ushering the two into the first series of sections, which was one dedicated to Jupiter, or known as Zeus to the Greeks.

 

“Thank you! Have a nice day!” Minjoo continues her irresistible charmspeak, and the guard nods happily, but Chaeyeon scowls in disbelief, glaring at the two.

 

“Why didn’t you just do that thirty aeons ago?!” Chaeyeon says, unpleased with her friend, who just chuckles.

 

“Well you always seemed to love arguing- especially with a certain forest nymph,” Minjoo teases, and Chaeyeon is about to retaliate, but her expression turns confused.

 

“Eunbi or Sakura?” Chaeyeon asks, and Minjoo laughs as they take a left turn to where Venus’ sanctuary would be, where trillions of romantic poems and romance papyruses were stored- making it a heaven of literature for the hopeless romantic.

 

“Whoever you’re feeling today,” Minjoo teases, completely aware- as a child of Aphrodite- of the little love triangle going in between the three. Chaeyeon clicks her tongue at this, looking away from Minjoo as if trying to decide whether today was an Eunbi or a Sakura day.

 

Well- two is better than one right?

 

“Shush you, now I’ll be waiting out here- don’t go too long,” Chaeyeon says as she leans against a pillar, sliding her back against the white pillar, most likely to go to sleep. “We need to leave at dusk,” Chaeyeon reminds her, and Minjoo runs off the her goal—

 

“The Elysium of Romance,” Minjoo announces as she arrives at a section that was designed pure white, a small fountain in the center with lotus flowers and roses floating gently in the water.

 

On the fountain was a Satryress, snoring her face off as she slept on the edge of the fountain, and Minjoo chuckles at how one of the Satryress’ hooves was already halfway in the water, and Minjoo decides to wake her up, poking the half-goat spirit.

 

“WHERE’S THE ?!” The Satyress shoots awake, causing water to splash everywhere, Minjoo closing her eyes to avoid the water from getting in, though her dress was very much wet now.

 

“Kim Minjoo?” The Satyress says, nearly toppling over into the fountain.

 

“You know me?” Minjoo asks, and the Satyr nods, pulling her hoove out of the water.

 

“Technically- we are half sisters,” the Satyr says, and Minjoo is taken aback, but she believes her- God’s had the tendency to procreate with anything they deemed attractive.

 

“I am Chaewon,” Chaewon stands as she bows, raising one hand in the air to add dramatic flare to her welcoming, her horns nearly stabbing Minjoo if she hadn’t dodged them.

 

“Hello Chaewon,” Minjoo chuckles, and Chaewon smiles.

 

“I guard this place- so tell me- what can I do for you today?” Chaewon says, but Minjoo an eyebrow, putting Chaewon in an uneasy state.

 

“Do you? I’ve never seen you here before,” Minjoo asks, and Chaewon gulps in response. “Where have you been?”

 

“I am usually sleeping at the back,” Chaewon admits awkwardly. “But it’s hot today,” Chaewon decides to tell the truth- though it felt very much against her will.

 

“Ah- of course- do you know where the hundred and fifth shelf is?” Minjoo asks, and Chaewon panics.

 

“Of course! That way!” Chaewon points to a random direction, but Minjoo giggles at the satyr.

 

“Wrong- it’s actually that way,” Minjoo points out with a smirk on her face to a sign that said 100>. “Can’t you read numbers Chaewon?” Minjoo jokes as she walks over to the hallway that would lead her to shelf 105, the satyr raising her eyebrows in offense.

 

“I am illiterate,” Chaewon admits, but she clamps shut quickly after in blatant regret.

 

“You- mother gave you charmspeak didn’t she?” Chaewon snickers, and Minjoo widens her eyes.

 

“Sorry- did I use it on you? I didn’t mean to,” Minjoo apologizes, bowing slightly, guilt filling her heart. Her ability to charmspeak was incredible- but she lacked control over it, the sheer power of the charmspeak evident even in regular conversations.

 

“Tsk- whatever, just scream if someone comes to attack you,” Chaewon says casually, waving Minjoo off, turning back to the fountain, where she would go back to sleep and not have to care about all these words she couldn’t even read.

 

Minjoo is left alone yet again, and she frowns, walking up to where Hestia promised the scroll would be. She creeps to the very end, and pulls out the scroll that catches her eye the most-

 

Hyacinthus.

 

Minjoo unrolls the scroll, sitting cross legged on the floor, knowing who Hyacinthus was- one of Apollo’s past lovers, a man for that matter.

 

“Didn’t know they wrote a book about him,” Minjoo hums as she starts reading the first words of the book, diving deeper and deeper into the tale of Apollo’s greatest love.

 

——

 

Thus bloomed the great beauty of one Hyacinth- the first of its kind. A flower bloomed from death itself, yet it’s beauty transcending life itself.

 

Apollo, filled with his pain immortalised within him- it is in moments as such which he finds himself loving and craving the one and only thing every God and mortal despised with their entire beings.

 

He craved death.

 

“I love it,” Apollo says, caressing the flower slightly.

 

“I love death,”

 

“Well ,” Minjoo sniffles as she wipes the stray tears from her eyes, still in denial that Hyacinthus died out of another idiot’s jealousy.

 

“Goddamnit Zephyrus! Jealousy is never the answer! There are way more hot princes in the world!” Minjoo sighs as she chucks the unrolled sheets of papyrus to the side, leaning against the shelf.

 

While Minjoo debates on the quality of the story- if the tragedy was worth everything else that happened in the story. The sudden shuffling of footsteps interrupts Minjoo from her analysis, and she perks up, trying to identify who else was in the library with her.

 

Through the shelves, Minjoo could see pure black boots, with a black aura somehow radiating from them, and Minjoo’s eyes go wide, hastily crawling closer to the 106th shelf to get a better look at the darkness, proceeding to go wide in amazement at the literal physical aura emitting from the stranger.

 

“Do you need help?” A voice suddenly speaks, and Minjoo jumps. The daughter of love scrambles upwards, eyes meeting the much taller figure- her breath hitching as they locked eyes, the pure black meeting hazel.

 

Time seemed to have stopped at that very moment, the mysterious woman trapping Minjoo in a tantalising trance, the aura of sorrow and death giving Minjoo the out of place feeling of happiness and life, making her head spin with the intensity of this woman’s stare.

 

And for the first time for the greatest charm speaker known to have ever lived—

 

Minjoo couldn’t speak.

 

“Excuse me- but do you need any help?” The mysterious beauty asks again, and Minjoo is lifted off her trance- but she still feels giddy- her heart speeding up, tightening slightly, sweat beginning to trickle at the back of her neck, a nauseous feeling building up in her stomach, her head starting to spin and her breath being taken away.

 

Is it love?

 

Or is it just a heart attack.

 

Minjoo frowns at this realisation, but she looks back up at the big scary- and very hot- woman, and she smiles again. This woman- by this point- probably thinks Minjoo had gone mad, but she still waits for Minjoo’s response.

 

“What’s your favorite book?” Minjoo asks cheerfully, and the girl is taken aback, but Minjoo holds her ground, looking expectantly at the girl for an answer.

 

“I’m not here to read- I’m here to reap souls- but regardless, I love Medea,” the girl says, and Minjoo pouts as she disagreed with all the praise for Medea.

 

“Medea? But she killed her kids! She’s mean,” Minjoo says, but this mystery girl shakes her head, adjusting her hands- and Minjoo almost screams.

 

“A scythe?!” Minjoo shreeks in shock, and the other drops her scythe in alarm.

 

“Shhhh! Haven’t you ever been to a library before?! You’re supposed to shut up!” she whisper yells, and Minjoo clamps shut- but she still points to the fallen scythe, and the girl shakes her head.

 

“I am Ahn Yujin- or you may better know me as the Lord of Death,” Yujin says, and Minjoo almost passes out.

 

The Lord of Death.

 

The sole demigod daughter of Thanatos. To draw a picture on how powerful she was, she had to be born in the Underworld, and her mother- to survive had to bathe in the river Styx in order to gain invincibility. Even with that, she still died. Rumour has it she died because- it was impossible to create life with Death. So quite literally, her mother sacrificed her life to birth the Lord of Death. According to the stories Athena told her, this Yujin was the demigod that was more of a God than a human.

 

She worked as her father’s lieutenant, taking souls away, and though she wasn’t immortal, she was very much invincible, being born from the Styx.

 

“As expected, you are scared of me,” Yujin chuckles, and the scythe flies into her hand.

 

“Now, if you excuse me,” Yujin says, turning away from Minjoo. “I have to be back in the Underworld now- taking souls isn’t as easy as it used to be- there’s papyrus work and file sorti-”

 

Underworld.

 

“Wait!” Minjoo shouts, and Yujin snaps her head back to the daughter of Aphrodite.

 

“Which part of ‘library’ and ‘you’re supposed to shut up’ did you not understand?” Yujin says in frustration, but Minjoo ignores her frustration.

 

“Don’t go,” Minjoo begs, and she doesn’t actually know why she wants Yujin to stay.

 

She just wants her to stay.

 

“Why? I have work to do!”

 

“You haven’t told me about Medea yet! Why do you think she isn’t a wretched villain?” Minjoo says, her charmspeak laced all over her tone.

 

“Well- first of all- society was her villain,” Yujin says, and Minjoo slowly sits back down on the floor, and Yujin mirrors her actions, the two sitting cross legged on the floor, facing each other through the shelf as they leaned on the other shelves.

 

“She had no choice,”

 

——

 

“And that’s on Antigone,” Yujin says with a smile on her face, and Minjoo lets out a sigh of relief.

 

“I am so glad we agree on that,” Minjoo says in an over dramatic tone, and Yujin nods in agreement.

 

Chaeyeon was going to kill her.

 

Dusk had fallen a long time ago, and Yujin and Minjoo have already talked about enough books to take up twenty dawns of their time.

 

“Oh my Gods,” Yujin says out of the blue, and Minjoo puts her full attention on Yujin, forgetting completely about Chaeyeon yet again.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“We’ve been here for a very long time,” Yujin says, but Minjoo shrugs.

 

“I have to go back to the Underworld now,” Yujin says, standing up- but even after all those conversations-

 

“Don’t go,”

 

“Are you crazy? People need to die- and I need to take their souls,” Yujin explains, but Minjoo clicks her tongue.

 

Then a mad idea comes to her.

 

The one place she never explored.

 

“Take me to the Underworld!” Minjoo says, and Yujin literally jumps.

 

“You are crazy!” Yujin says, shaking her head in absolute disbelief.

 

“The Underworld is dangerous! Not a place for pretty looking Aphrodite offspring like you,” Yujin says, but Minjoo pouts, standing up to walk around the shelf, aiming to get closer to Death.

 

“Don’t come close! I can reap your soul!” Yujin threatens, aiming her scythe at the older.

 

“Would you really? After all those books we agreed on together?” Minjoo asks, a smirk on her face, and Yujin rolls her eyes, aiming her scythe away from the girl.

 

“Thought so,” Minjoo smirks. “Now take me! I want to see the place where Orpheus lost Eurydice,” Minjoo an eyebrow, and Yujin shoots her a confused look.

 

“Out of all the places where romantic stories have taken place- you want to visit the Underworld?” Yujin says, not at all able to comprehend this girl.

 

Minjoo nods, and Yujin groans.

 

“Fine,” Yujin says, and she bangs her scythe against the floor, and the ground opens up below them, and Minjoo is shocked at how deep in hole was, constantly altering her glance from Yujin to the floor.

 

“Scared yet?” Yujin wiggles her eyebrows, but Minjoo shakes her head almost immediately.

 

“Excited,” Minjoo says, and Yujin is amazed at how idiotically brave this woman was.

 

“Hold on tight,” Yujin says as she holds out her hand, and Minjoo takes it. Unannounced, Yujin pulls the older into her arms, and Minjoo yelps in shock- but Yujin proceeds to dive headfirst into the hole, and Minjoo screams, desperately gripping the material of Yujin’s coat in a mad attempt to feel safer.

 

Though she believed she felt much too safe for someone plummeting head first into hell with the human personification of Death herself.

 

Hey, at least Chaeyeon can’t scold you if you’re dead.

 

——

 

“We’re here,” Yujin says, but Minjoo still keeps her eyes clamped shut, wrapping her arms tightly around Death, even her legs were situated comfortably on Yujin’s waist, and Yujin tries shaking her off- but to no avail.

 

“Are you a monkey? Get off please,” Yujin says, frustrated with the daughter of Love, who finally opens her eyes- but there was no difference.

 

“This is so dark?!” Minjoo says, audibly confused with her surroundings, proceeding to cling tighter to Death, (if that was even possible) who sighs, simply walking over to a table situated on the corner of the pitch black room, Minjoo still stuck on her.

 

“These are the halls of Night- or Nyx- or my grandma,” Yujin explains, and she grabs a lamp she’d last used when she was 10, lighting up with the last match she owned, Minjoo finally able to see the room, and the sight of it- it took her by shock.

 

It looked like a normal room.

 

“Hey! This is nice!” Minjoo says as she slowly plants her feet on the wooden floor, looking around at the various things that made up Yujin’s room. There were a few chests here and there, with a shelf filled with hundreds of papyruses, a closet placed next to a table- and of course there was a bed.

 

“I am a human being too, you know,” Yujin says bluntly. “I still do human being things,” Yujin takes Minjoo’s hand, and places the lamp on her hand.

 

“But you can see in the dark?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin nods.

 

“I’m one of the children of the Night,” Yujin answers. “It’s like a package deal,”

 

“Now Minjoo, look up,” Yujin says, and before Minjoo could calculate anything Yujin said, Yujin holds her chin, forcing her to look upwards at the ground, that cracked open to reveal the billion of stars that decorated the night sky, and Minjoo’s mouth went agape in amazement.

 

“You sleep here every night?!” Minjoo says excitedly, fighting the urge to hop in her spot.

 

“Sometimes I don’t sleep- but yes- when I do, I sleep here,” Yujin says with a soft smile, also admiring the ever changing beauty of the night sky.

 

There was silence for a moment, or mayhaps a few, but Minjoo suddenly spoke up, and Yujin nearly choked.

 

“How do you know my name?!” Minjoo says sharply, her eyes going wide, and Yujin thinks she looks hilarious, but her long training to constantly live up to her name- Death, allows her to remain silent, keeping all the jokes regarding Minjoo’s expression to herself.

 

“You’re a popular demigod,” Yujin says, shrugging at her words.

 

“Like Heracles,” Yujin says- her tone turning condescending, not one to enjoy the hype all these popular demigods received.

 

Though Yujin thinks a girl who read all three of Dante’s Divine Comedies, was definitely worth all the hype.

 

“Well we are related! He’s my half brother- I think- wait- no,” Minjoo thinks again, picturing the disgustingly long family tree Athena showed her once- placing her and Heracles into the equation.

 

“UNCLE! He’s my uncle- I think,” Minjoo says proudly, albeit the tinge of confusion, and Yujin smiles only the slightest bit, internally agreeing with Minjoo on how the Olympian family tree was something gravely confusing to any mind,

 

“Right,” is all Yujin says, and she takes off her coat, revealing the massive wings on her back, stretching the two muscles, one wing large enough to wrap around Minjoo entirely, and the older gasps, hung wide open- the ever so prim and proper Kim Minjoo covering with her hand, and Yujin and eyebrow, looking to Minjoo as if the older had gone mad.

 

Yujin was really trying hard not to laugh.

 

Not batting another eye to the other girl, Yujin rips her shirt off, revealing nothing underneath but a cloth that was wrapped tightly around her chest area, resembling bandages, except that the cloth was pure black. Minjoo yelps in surprise, debating whether she should look or not. Yet the debate was proven useless as Minjoo couldn’t but stare at the other’s body, her breath hitching at the sight of the younger’s near shirtless body.

 

“Meneotes! Where’s my shirt?!” Yujin calls, and a random man appears out of the darkness, tossing Yujin a shirt that looked almost identical to the previous one, but Minjoo could feel the magical properties that the shirt had, most likely to either conceal her wings or allow Yujin’s wings to pierce through.

 

But screw the magic shirt- with abs like that? Shirts should be banned from ever being within a three meter radius of—

 

“What are you looking at pretty monkey?” Yujin says threateningly, but Minjoo shoots her eyes up from her abdomen to her wings, erasing any unintended thoughts from her head, ignoring the fact that Yujin just called her a monkey.

 

I mean- she did call me pretty...

 

“Oh my god! You have wings!!” Minjoo says, begging her own mind to change the topic, touching the black feathers that adorned Yujin’s back, the younger pulling her wings higher so Minjoo couldn’t touch them.

 

“Stop that— it’s ticklish,” Yujin spites, but Minjoo still hops around, trying to touch the talon that was attached to Yujin’s wing.

 

“Can you fly?!” Minjoo asks excitedly, and Yujin sighs.

 

“No, these are clearly for swimming,” Yujin deadpans, but Minjoo is silent, giving Yujin a questioning look as if wondering whether the Ahn was lying or not.

 

“Yes Kim Minjoo of course I can fly,” Yujin says as if it couldn’t be anymore obvious, and Minjoo claps her hand, giggling slightly.

 

“I was just teasing you- of course you can fly,” Minjoo admits. “Now take me flying!” Minjoo demands, and the so-called Lord of Death almost snaps Aphrodite’s favorite mortal into half.

 

“You are so annoying!” Yujin scowls at the chirpy Minjoo, but she just falls into a fit of giggles, and Yujin squints at her judgingly.

 

“Why are you laughing?” Yujin asks, cocking an eyebrow.

 

“Because I like you,” Minjoo says, not even realising her words until she said them, taking the both of them aback.

 

“What?” Yujin questions the strange girl- but she figures that all children of Aphrodite were absolute flirts.

 

She uses Minjoo’s brief silence as an opportunity to put her shirt on, and Minjoo is disappointed- but just a little bit.

What the— oh Gods I’m turning into mom…

 

“Okay listen,” Minjoo says abruptly, taking her mind away from the ridiculous topic her mother planted into her brain. “You take me on a tour around the Underworld- and I’ll bring you to the best garden on earth,” Minjoo says with excellent conviction, a loopey smirk on her face.

 

“I don’t care about gardens,” Yujin sticks her tongue out, as if mocking her garden.

 

“And even if I did- we have plenty here- Persephone herself plants them,” Yujin boasts, but Minjoo rolls her eyes.

 

“Our styles are different! And besides- I have an ocean! You only have sad looking rivers,” Minjoo argues back, crossing her arms to assert some form of dominance.

 

“Hey! Our rivers aren’t sad!” Yujin argues, recalling her times as a young Death near the river Lethe, or the river of Oblivion- or Unmindfulness. “The yellow colour of Lethe is very admirable if you ask me,”

 

“Really? Then prove it!” Minjoo says, cocking her head slightly.

 

“It’s too dangerous for a pretty monkey like you,” Yujin mocks, and Minjoo gasps in offense.

 

“Oh come on! I beat Ares in a fight! I can take on anything,” Minjoo boasts, and Yujin gives her the benefit of doubt.

 

Minjoo shoots the winged demigod the best form of puppy eyes she could muster- and Yujin sighs in defeat.

 

Because to Ahn Yujin, Minjoo’s Puppy eyes worked a million more wonders than her charmspeak ever could.

 

And Yujin doesn’t even know Minjoo could charmspeak.

 

——

 

“Asphodel is sadder than I thought,” Minjoo says as they fly through the great Underworld, Minjoo having asked nearly a million questions about the rivers, punishments and the souls.

 

Minjoo’s hands were buried into the softness of Yujin’s wings, gripping on tight as Yujin brought Minjoo on a bird’s eye tour of the entirety of the underworld, they stopped at multiple places- Minjoo even greeting Cerberus with a random bone she’d found on the floor, the three headed beast enjoying her brief company very much. They’d creeped around the Palace of the Dead, checking out the new souls that had just kicked the bucket. They went to Tartarus, Minjoo almost crying at the sight of all those people being tortured to no end. Minjoo nearly fell into the pit of Tartarus twice and Yujin reminded herself to grip onto the older tight when they walked along the riverbanks of Lethe, not wanting Minjoo to lose all her memories just yet.

 

So now they were back up in the gloomy sky of the underworld, searching for more places Minjoo would deem interesting to her adventure through the Underworld.

 

“Where’s Hades?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin feels like replacing Sisyphus right then and there.

 

Pushing boulders for eternity was better than answering this pretty monkey for even an hour.

 

“Probably on his throne, doing nothing,” Yujin answers truthfully. Hades was never really the scheming villain mortals painted him out to be.

 

“What’s that?” Minjoo asks for the billionth time, and Yujin looks at her, and she was pointing to a well lit section of the Underworld, the bright green standing out amongst the dull brown and occasional orange.

 

“Groves of Persephone,” Yujin answers simply.

 

“Can we see?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin bites her lip, debating as to whether poking around in Pesephone’s groves was a good pastime for the pretty monkey.

 

“Hey, Persephone is one of my patron Goddesses! I’m sure she won’t mind,” Minjoo says, and Yujin sighs- finding herself with no choice other than to give in to the older girl.

 

Yujin glides downwards to the grand groves of Persephone, and after a while of looking at dirt and dead people, the fresh smell of life and grass put Minjoo at ease, the demigod letting out a sigh of contentment.

 

“Wow,” is all Yujin says as Minjoo hops off the taller girl, and Minjoo shoots her a look.

 

“Have you never been here before?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin nods.

 

“I have no business here,” Yujin remarks. “I am Death, I don’t have any business to be surrounded by life,”

 

“Psht- you make it sound so emotional,” Minjoo says teasingly. “Didn’t you say you were also a human being earlier on?” Minjoo points out, and Yujin is speechless.

 

“Well- I mean- I am- but I’m not a normal human being you know?” Yujin says, though she doesn’t exactly have a point she wanted to get across.

 

“So am I Yujin- neither of us are,” Minjoo says endearingly, thinking about the many times she’d been deemed an outcast for her so-called witchcraft that nested in her voice, it had happened so many times- from Athens to Sparta to Corinth, acceptance of a sorceress wasn’t a popular trope among people. Until Persephone offered her Sicily after she harvested an entire field of paddy for the orphanage- Minjoo had never been accepted within a community of human beings, all of them deeming her inhumane and undeserving of a life.

 

“But that doesn’t mean you have to limit what you do for who you are,”

 

“I have wings, Minjoo,” Yujin states the obvious, but Minjoo sighs.

 

“You literally hid them from me for almost 12 hours,” Minjoo says. “You think mortals could catch that?” Minjoo asks, slightly nudging the younger to knock some sense into her.

 

Yujin deserved so much more than darkness and death.

 

“Besides, you have magic shirts,” Minjoo gives Yujin a loopy smile, and Yujin returns the smile, the muscles on her face unfamiliar with this action, causing Yujin to tense up the slightest bit.

 

“There’s only grass here,” Minjoo points out to the overgrown grass that spread out through the entire grove, equally as green trees decorating certain parts of the grove. It was simple, but beautiful despite how unkempt it was. Minjoo assumed it looked like that because it was currently spring- and that meant Persephone wasn’t around to maintain the quality of the grove.

 

“Yes, very green,” Yujin remarks. “There’s usually more colour when her Majesty is around,” Yujin comments, and Minjoo nods in understanding.

 

“Do you want to see it?” Minjoo asks.

 

“See what?”

 

“The colours,”

 

“And why should I?” Yujin asks.

 

“Well for starters, it could really improve your wardrobe- your clothes are all black! I think you should mix it up a little- maybe some pink, purple- or orange!”

 

“Seriously? You couldn’t name uglier colours,” Yujin scoffs, and Minjoo gasps in offense.

 

“Really then? What’s your favourite colour? And don’t say black,” Minjoo asks daringly, and Yujin thinks for a moment.

 

“Blue,” Yujin replies, and Minjoo is taken aback, trying to find something blue that Yujin or may not love.

 

“I know just the place for you,”

 

——

 

“I’ve always wanted to be a child of Poseidon,” Yujin says, her toes dipped into the ocean, Minjoo copying her actions.

 

“Why Poseidon?”

 

“I mean- he’d be the perfect parent! He doesn’t cause trouble, his powers are amazing, if I could choose, I’d definitely pick him,” Yujin replies, her wings flapping slightly in excitement.

 

“What about you?” Yujin asks with genuine interest.

 

“I’m happy with mom,” Minjoo says honestly. “But if I could choose, Apollo maybe? I love music,” Minjoo answers and Yujin nods slowly, wondering about how Minjoo came to love music.

 

“I’ve always wanted to play the lyre and the syrinx- or maybe even the kithara!” Minjoo says excitedly, and Yujin nods in understanding, she herself fascinated with music and the ways it moved not only people- but also nature and it’s Gods.

 

“You’ll get it someday,” Yujin remarks, and Minjoo sends her a questioning look.

 

“What does that mean?” Minjoo asks.

 

“It means- one day you’ll play- and I’ll watch you,” Yujin says with slight determination, a tiny smile on her lips.

 

“Would you?” Minjoo asks, hopeful as her lips curve into a bright smile.

 

“Of course,” Yujin says.

 

“Though it may take a few lifetimes before you even touch an instrument,” Yujin teases, a string of chuckles leaving .

 

“Seriously?!” Minjoo groans, swatting Yujin’s shoulder lightly, the younger still laughing.

 

“Anyways- where’s the blue? This is all black,” Yujin comments, and Minjoo squints her eyes at the Ahn and her lack of ability to detect colours.

 

“This is dark blue Yujin,” Minjoo explains. “Soon the sun will come up and you can see the lighter blue,” Minjoo says.

 

“And well- in the meantime- do you want to plant a flower?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin shoots her a look of confusion- before she began howling in laughter.

 

“Me? You want me— the Lord of Death— to plant a freaking flower?” Yujin is cackling as she says this, but Minjoo is confused.

 

“What? Being the oh-so-feared Lord of Death doesn’t mean everything you touch dies- I am very much alive if you ask me,” Minjoo retaliates, sliding a hand into her pocket and pulling out a pouch.

 

“How do you know that? I’m not the Lord of Death for no reason,” Yujin says with overconfidence oozing from her tone, but Minjoo simply rolls her eyes. “Maybe you are dead! Maybe I just reaped your soul and this is your eternal punishment in Tartarus!” Yujin says slyly, crossing her arms.

 

Then why do I feel like I’m in Elysium.

 

“Psssht- whatever- you’re in my world now- so here’s a seed!” Minjoo says, pulling out a seed from the pouch and forcing it into Yujin’s palm.

 

“Now- what seed is this?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo shrugs.

 

“It’s a magic seed,” Minjoo says bluntly, but Yujin laughs at her, and Minjoo sends her a questioning look.

 

“Sorry, you just- you looked so serious talking about the seed,” Yujin tries to stop laughing, but she’s holding back a toothy grin, her dimples showing- and Minjoo can’t help but smile back at the horribly mundane thing.

 

And they both start laughing.

 

It wasn’t clear as to why exactly they were laughing- but one thing was clear-

 

They were happy.

 

“Hey! This is very important! You need to think about a flower- and it’ll bloom!” Minjoo says proudly, and Yujin doesn’t believe her for one second, but she decides to trust her, thinking of any flower that could come to mind. Minjoo takes Yujin’s hand, closing her palm into a fist so that she would grip the seed.

 

“Did you think of one yet?”

 

“Yup,” Yujin says, popping the p.

 

“Open up!” Minjoo chirps, pulling Yujin’s fist apart so she could take the seed, and proceeding to plant it into the sand, which made Yujin’s eyebrows crease in confusion.

 

“I don’t think the flower I thought of can grow in sand,” Yujin points out, but Minjoo waves her off.

 

“Shhhh, these are magic,” Minjoo says as she covers the seed with sand, creating a tiny hill on the seed.

 

“And why should I believe in your magic?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo thinks Yujin is silly.

 

“You have wings,” Minjoo says bluntly, and Yujin can’t deny that, so she remains silent.

 

“So how long does it take?” Yujin asks, helping Minjoo shape the tiny hill.

 

“Well, it depends on what flower you asked for,” Minjoo replies as she dusts her hands, turning to look back at the sky and sea, the former turning a shade of orange as the sun began to rise.

 

“Huh,” is all that comes out of Yujin’s mouth as she turns to face the same way as Minjoo, eyes trained on the sun as it slowly made its way up into the sky, Yujin trying to spot Apollo’s chariot from where they were sitting, but her eyesight was rather poor, and all she could see was the blinding orange, it’s light making the sky dance with colours.

 

A hint of blue began to show itself in the sky, and Minjoo taps Yujin in excitement, and Yujin can’t help but chuckle at the older, holding her gaze on the hand on her thigh, excitedly drumming her fingers on Yujin.

 

“Tell me about it,” Yujin says, and Minjoo is surprised at the request, not fully grasping Yujin’s words. “How does the sky go from orange to blue in seconds?” Yujin clarifies, and Minjoo seems happy to talk about it, and she starts.

 

“Well, light from the sun is naturally white,” Minjoo says. “In white light there actually seven colours, the ones you see in rainbows,”

 

“The sky has this thing called an atmosphere, and there are tiny particles that make the light scatter all over the place, making to colours ‘come out’ of the white light- blue is the colour with the shortest wavelength, so it can scatter the easiest- and that’s why we see it most during the day,”

 

“Eventually, when the sunrises and or sets, the sun is further apart from where we are- so the wavelengths of red and orange can scatter more, and so it turns red and orange,” Minjoo explains happily, and Yujin nods in understanding, though she’s not entirely sure what a wavelength is.

 

“It’s blue now,” Minjoo points out, only a tinge of orange remaining in the sky.

 

“It’s pretty,” Yujin says as she faces Minjoo, and though her main focus was on the sky behind her- Minjoo just seemed to make things look prettier.

 

While they were busy admiring the rising sun laid out in front of them, they couldn’t help but notice the buzzing sound coming from the ocean, as if something was speeding towards them, cutting through the sea.

 

“Do you hear that?” Yujin asks, putting her hand on Minjoo’s thigh protectively, her wings appearing behind her in reflex to danger.

 

“Uh, yeah,” Minjoo says, though most of her mind was panicking because of the hand on her thigh and not the possible incoming threat.

 

“It’s coming from- the sea,” Yujin says as she adjusts herself, kneeling on the sand.

 

Yujin squints at the ocean, and Minjoo follows suit, Minjoo able to spot a single figure emerging out of the ocean, her hair long and the waters- carrying her directly towards them, and she had a menacing look on her face.

 

“Oh my god it’s Chaeyeon!” Minjoo tries to scram from the place, but Yujin holds her down, still looking at the nereid speeding their way.

 

“What’s a Chaeyeon? Is it a beast of some sort? A water spirit?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo begs Yujin to not have so much curiosity at times like this. Though it really just was because Yujin could barely see this so-called threat, all those times she spent in the dark really did take its toll on her eyesight.

 

“It’s something that we have to run from!” Minjoo warns, tugging on Yujin’s sleeve so that they could run away from the angry nereid she left at Egypt.

 

“No, no. I’m sure we can defeat her- I can just reap her soul—”

 

“No! Don’t reap her soul!”

 

“But if we just run from her then won’t she just come back?” Yujin questions, still kneeling firmly on the ground as Minjoo attempts to pull her from the sand, already on her knees and ready to make a run for it.

 

“No, no, no, no- we are not killing Chaeyeon,” Minjoo says, and Yujin doesn’t understand why Minjoo refused to get rid of Chaeyeon if she was threatening.

 

“KIM MINJOO!” Chaeyeon is only a stone's throw away from them now, and the wave she was conjuring up was large enough to engulf a whole goat.

 

“SHE KNOWS YOUR NAME!” Yujin says, far more alert than before, Chaeyeon speeding at inhumane (or should I say- innereid) speeds towards them.

 

“Yujin let’s go!” Minjoo begs, but Chaeyeon is already here, and a large splash of water is audible, and Minjoo shuts her eyes tight, deciding the next thing she should invent is a waterproof dress.

 

But she opens her eyes, and she’s fully dry, a multitude of feathers wrapped around her, keeping her so.

 

“WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN?!?” Chaeyeon scolds as the wing around her uncoils, causing Minjoo to gulp in panic.

 

“I- I was-”

 

“I kidnapped her,” Yujin suddenly says, boldly standing up to tower over Chaeyeon, and Chaeyeon jumps backwards, causing the salt water to splash on Yujin, the younger pushing Minjoo backwards with her wing so that she wouldn’t end up drenched because of the angry nereid.

 

“Why?! Who are you?!” Chaeyeon says defensively, the waters behind her rising, preparing to drown Death.

 

“I’m Ahn Yujin,” Yujin says sharply, and Chaeyeon hurls an entire wave on top of Yujin, causing the girl to clench her hands into fists as she let the water flow off her eyes, not wanting the salt to sting her eyes.

 

“Chaeyeon! Stop!” Minjoo interrupts before Chaeyeon can hurl the entire ocean on Death, and Chaeyeon stops.

 

“What?! She kidnapped you!” Chaeyeon protests, and Minjoo pulls Yujin backwards, standing boldly in front of the winged demigod.

 

“I wanted to spend more time with her,” Minjoo says, grabbing Yujin’s hand from behind, causing Chaeyeon to squint in confusion.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because she’s a nice person! She’s a demigod, like me,” Minjoo says. “You know I’ve always wanted a demigod friend,” Minjoo says with the softest smile on her lips, and Chaeyeon doesn’t know if she should slap herself or Minjoo.

 

“Kim Minjoo,” Chaeyeon says, summoning yet another wall of water behind her.

 

“You are so lucky I love you,” Chaeyeon sighs, the wall collapsing immediately as she walks onto the shore, walking towards the coconut tree where Minjoo had assembled a hammock for her, shaking her head as she drags herself to the hammock.

 

“The daughter of Death? Seriously?! She could do so much better than that,” Chaeyeon rumbles to herself, and Minjoo chuckles a bit- but Yujin is standing behind her, very much confused- and a little hurt at Chaeyeon’s words.

 

“Uhm,” Yujin says awkwardly, scratching her nape. “You know the nereid?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo spins on her heel, placing both her hands on Yujin’s shoulders.

 

“She’s my friend- and caretaker- Chaeyeon,” Minjoo explains, staring intensely into Yujin’s eyes for no clear reason. “She guards the waters around Sicily,”

 

“Cool,” is all Yujin responds with, removing the hands on her shoulders with a slow and awkward motion.

 

“I think I should go now,” Yujin says, stepping away from Minjoo. “You and the nereid seem to have a lot to talk about,”

 

“What? No- stay please~” Minjoo pleads, and Yujin shakes her head, trying to resist the older’s puppy eyes.

 

“Sunrise is almost over,” Yujin says, continuing to shake her head. “People need to die,”

 

“But Yujinie!” Minjoo begs, her herself not knowing why in Zeus’ name she wanted Yujin to stay.

 

“And you can’t make me stay,” Yujin says, swiftly turning to avoid Minjoo’s hypnotic gaze.

 

Yujin stomps on the sand, causing the ground to open up, the Ahn spreading her wings as she jumps into the hole, spinning around so her gaze would meet Minjoo’s.

 

“Let’s not meet again Kim Minjoo,” Yujin says, dead serious- Minjoo able to feel her heart sinking at Yujin’s words.

 

“Life and Death are never a good combination,”

 

——

 

Let’s not meet again.

 

Well jokes on you Ahn Yujin.

 

Even if every God forbid it—

 

We are so meeting again.

 

Minjoo hums to herself as she deliberately plans on how she was going to ‘capture’ the Lord of Death and bring her to her island. She doesn’t know what got into her, but she finds herself obsessing and thinking about the winged demigod all day, only stopping when she immersed herself in a book or when she was arguing with Sakura.

 

She doesn't know what the source of this obsession was, but if it was anything, Minjoo strongly believed that this was what the philosophers named ‘Love’. She of all people should know what ‘Love’ was. She was Aphrodite’s most blessed daughter anyways.

 

“Hello mother, it’s me- Minjoo,” Minjoo says as she tossed a coconut into the fire that Sakura started, making the coconut a small offering to gain her mother’s attention.

 

“I think I am in love with someone,” Minjoo says casually. “Please guide me,” Minjoo continues, looking up to the sky, hoping for any sign from her mother.

 

“Minjoo!” Sakura says, carrying two chickens by the neck, the chickens clucking aggressively due to the lack of oxygen they were receiving.

 

“Sakura! Stop torturing those poor chickens!” Minjoo scolds as Sakura pouts, tossing the two chickens into a cage Minjoo had made out of rattan.

 

“It’s alright, we don’t need them alive anyways- we’re gonna eat ‘em!” Sakura says giddly, clearly excited to eat the poor chickens, who gave Sakura an aggressive cluck in defense.

 

“Yeah yeah- you shut it! Regardless what Eunbi thinks, You’re the tastiest meat alright!” Sakura yells at the chickens, both the animals clucking back in anger.

 

“What do you mean you think humans have the best meat?! No we are not eating Minjoo! Stupid chickens and your stupid chicken sized brains!” Sakura yaps at the chickens, and Minjoo can’t help but giggle at the nymph.

 

Before I forget to mention, Sakura can talk to animals and wildlife, so don’t be surprised if you catch her having an argument with a goldfish.

 

“Gosh Sakura- don’t you remember we’re eating fish today? Eunbi and Chaeyeon are out choosing fish at the big rock,” Minjoo reminds, and Sakura gasps in shock, the chickens making noises as if they were laughing at the nymph.

 

“Eunbi and Chaeyeon are alone?! Together?! Have I not given Aphrodite enough offerings this week? Gods!” Sakura says in panic, and Minjoo is quite confused, even more so as she watches Sakura run at light speeds towards the big rock, the chickens howling with what would pass as laughter for chickens.

 

“Ah Sakura, you forgot to give me an offering on Wednesday,” a new voice suddenly says, and Minjoo wears a bright smile, her head snapping to the source of the voice.

 

“Mother!” Minjoo says, excited that her mother came to visit.

 

“Hello daughter,” Aphrodite says, joining Minjoo on the hammock, bothe their feet buried in the sand. “I heard your prayer,” Aphrodite says with a smirk, and Minjoo is a little nervous, getting advice regarding love from the Goddess of Love herself wasn’t something you could get everyday.

 

“Can I know a name?” Aphrodite asks, cocking an eyebrow, and it’s in times like this where Minjoo really sees her resemblance to her mother.

 

“Y-Yujin,” Minjoo says shyly, and Aphrodite looks more than pleased.

 

“Ahn Yujin?” Aphrodite says with great interest, and Minjoo nods slowly, slightly surprised that her mother knew exactly which Yujin she was talking about.

 

“Oh my me! You two would look so cute together! She’s really tall right? I remember the last time I saw her when she was reaping the souls of this pairing I kinda hated together- her wings are really big too right?” Aphrodite says at an ungodly speed, and Minjoo just nods at everything, and it didn’t seem like the Goddess was going to stop soon.

 

“Oh wow! Imagine her hugging you and your head being buried in her chest and you can hear her heartbeat and you tip-toeing to kiss her on the temple and her putting things on the tip of her wing so you wouldn’t be able to reach it and the both of you flying around together on a date! I love it! I love it already! I think you two are a perfect match,” Aphrodite babbles, not aware of Minjoo’s face going dark red in embarrassment, especially since they’ve already done one of the many things Aphrodite mentioned.

 

“Mom~ that’s embarrassing,” Minjoo says, trying not to make direct eye contact with her mother.

 

“Oh don’t be shy Min- just tell her how you feel!” Aphrodite says, and Minjoo lets out an exasperated sigh.

 

“But she doesn’t want to see me again! She said ‘life and death don’t go well together’,” Minjoo complains, pouting slightly. Aphrodite is slightly shocked at the words, a serious look flashing on her face before she slipped back to normal.

 

“Aww~ lovers quarrel already?” Aphrodite coos, holding Minjoo’s chin in her hand so that they would lock eyes. “It’s alright- true love always finds a way,” Aphrodite says, but Minjoo is barely convinced.

 

“Okay- I have just the idea for you,” Aphrodite says, and Minjoo is all ears, her expression turning hopeful in seconds.

 

“We’ll do it just like your uncle Hades,”

 

“Write a romantic letter for her professing everything you’ve ever felt for her-then kidnap her and make her live the rest of her life with you in Sicily- then make her fall in love you— in no specific order of course” Aphrodite says casually, and it takes a few moments for Minjoo to process the plan, her eyes going wide as she tried to decipher Aphrodite’s quick explanation.

 

“Uh- sounds foolproof to me,” Minjoo says with a lack of confidence.

 

“Of course! I made the plan. Now I’ll let you figure out the details, I have to get going now- before your loyal guardians find out that it was me who left the little present for them.

 

“What? What present?” Minjoo asks, but Aphrodite simply gives her a sheepish smile, mouthing a quick ‘good luck’ before she vanished into thin air, leaving Minjoo to ponder on her own.

 

“Hey Minjoo! Look! We found a cute demigod on the beach! Her name is Hyewon! She’s Poseidon’s kid!” Eunbi suddenly yells from the distance, and Minjoo wants to slap herself.

 

Was a love triangle really not enough for you mother?

 

——

 

“Hello Ahn Yujin- I am in love with you,” Minjoo says, and Sakura hisses, shaking her head.

 

“That’s so cheesy,” Sakura cringes, pushing Minjoo’s quill away from her, the daughter of Love glaring at the nymph.

 

“Then what do I do?” Minjoo protests, Hyewon continuing to munch on the grapes Minjoo grew out of the ground a few seconds ago.

 

“Anything but that,” Chayeon adds, shaking her head as she summoned another fish from the depths of the sea, throwing it back into the ocean after finding herself unsatisfied with the size of the fish.

 

“Chaeyeon! If you’re trying to find the biggest fish in the world in the Mediterranean sea- we’ll never eat!” Eunbi protests, but Chaeyeon continues what she’s doing, not listening to the nymph.

 

“Ugh, let me do it,” Hyewon says, closing her eyes tightly, as she raised both her hands, an enormous tidal wave beginning to rise at Hyewon’s will, numerous amounts of fish visible through the clear waters.

 

“Which one?” Hyewon asks, and all of them have their eyes and mouths wide open, trying to pick one out of the many fishes available.

 

“Wow~ can’t you do anything like this Chaeyeon? It’s like a whole buffet!” Sakura complains, and Chaeyeon hisses in protest.

 

“Of course I can! I’m just not a showoff,” Chaeyeon argues back, but Hyewon only chuckles, taking no offense whatsoever.

 

“Let’s get swordfish!” Minjoo says excitedly, not noticing the charmspeak slipping through her words.

 

“Swordfish it is,” the rest of them say at once, a group of swordfish swimming towards them quickly.

 

“Come here swordfish!” Minjoo commands, and all the swordfish swim desperately out of the water, flopping onto the sand as they flipped themselves towards the five of them.

 

“Minjoo! Why’d you charmspeak the fish! They might kill us!” Chaeyeon scolds, standing up to run from the incoming school of swordfish.

 

“Oh crap- stop!” Minjoo uses her power again, and all the fish stop hopping, staying still as they awaited their inevitable deaths.

 

“Woah,” Hyewon says in amazement, dropping the chunk of ocean she’d picked up.

 

“You are crazy powerful,” Hyewon says, breathless from holding up the ocean while Minjoo gave her a sheepish smile. “You could charmspeak anything if you tried!” Hyewon says, patting Minjoo on the back slightly.

 

“Then kidnap her and make her live the rest of her life with you in Sicily,”

 

Gods, why is it I cannot for the love of Athena conjure up a letter- but of course I have the perfect idea on how to kidnap the Lord of Death.

 

——

 

Persephone was her patron Goddess. She was and always will be the greatest charmspeaker to have ever lived. Athena blessed her with an intellect like none other—

 

Though what she was attempting to do really seemed like more of an idiotic thing to do right now, that didn’t matter.

 

Afterall, she was Aphrodite’s daughter before anything.

 

“I need you to bring her to me,” Minjoo says as she stares intensely at the ground, willing for it to open up and bring her the so-called love of her life.

 

“Please,” Minjoo asks again, hands digging into the soil, the dirt slipping into her nails, the light from the moon slightly illuminating the beads of sweat trickling down the side of her face.

 

“Bring her to me,” Minjoo orders this time, putting all her focus onto the earth, every vibration from her soft voice oozing with charm and power, Minjoo could feel herself getting dizzy from the sheer amount of power she was using, and she says it one last time-

 

“Bring her to me,”

 

And with those four words- her world goes dark.

 

——

 

Minjoo wakes up to the sound of fire gently cackling in her little hut, a fleece wrapped around her body as she caught sight of the two large wings sitting on a stool, and she smiles to herself, despite the pair of deadly eyes glaring at her from the stool.

 

“Well good morning to you too Yujinie,” Minjoo says sweetly, and Yujin doesn’t want to admit, but Minjoo’s raspy-out of bed voice is doing a lot of things to her.

 

“It is morning- but not good at all,” Yujin says sternly despite Minjoo’s loopy smile directed at her. “How did you do it?” Yujin asks.

 

“I was standing on the banks of river Styx, minding my business, when all of a sudden the ground literally lifts me out of the Underworld and onto your front porch, where you were passed out looking absolutely pathetic,” Yujin rants, pacing around the hut where her wings nearly hit the roof, the only reason the wings weren’t piercing the hut being the fact they weren’t fully extended. Yujin’s blabbering caused her to fail to notice Minjoo rising up from the bed to pick up a bundle of rope on the ground.

 

“That’s manic! How in the twelve Olympians names did you even manage to conjure such power ‘til it seeped into the land of the freaking dead?! You are a witch I tell you Kim Minjoo— HEY! WHAT THE HECK?!” Yujin stops her ranting midway as she finds Minjoo tieing both her hands to the rope, and Yujin is too stunned to say anything as she watches Minjoo finish the knot, both her hands tied together as if she were a prisoner- and mayhaps she was.

 

Yujin finds it annoying how devilishly attractive Minjoo looked with a rope in her hand, completely able to pull Yujin wherever she wanted at will.

 

“I have kidnapped you,” Minjoo says with a victorious smirk on her face, and Yujin doesn’t know if she wants to slap her or kiss her.

 

“Yikes-Sicily’s number one garderner has kidnapped me! How scary!” Yujin says with so much sarcasm, Minjoo yanks the younger towards her causing Death to nearly trip over herself.

 

“Listen- I control you now- I control death- basically I am currently the most powerful person in the world,” Minjoo says with confidence as she shrugs slightly, and Yujin an eyebrow, doubting Minjoo could fully ‘control’ her.

 

“The only thing more powerful than words is the author who chooses them,” Minjoo says with a smirk, and it takes a few moments for Yujin to fully register what she meant. Yujin finds that she now completely believes that Kim Minjoo’s patron Goddess was Athena.

 

Her way of words just seemed to get to Yujin- if that made any sense.

 

“It’s a saying,” Minjoo clarifies, and Yujin nods to which Minjoo is very pleased to see, and she yanks Yujin out the hut, the rays of sunlight nearly blinding the granddaughter of the Night.

 

“Oh my gods! Why is there so much sun up here?!” Yujin tries to shield her eyes from the sunlight as she hisses at the light, but Minjoo pulls her hands downwards, causing Yujin to cower behind the older.

 

“Welcome to earth Yujinie! I’ll give you the grand tour,” Minjoo says as she pulls Yujin along, walking towards one Minjoo’s favourite fields- the daffodil fields.

 

Persephone was the one who planted the very first daffodil in the field after she’d married Hades, and continued to place another daffodil sapling for every time Hades did something that moved her heart in ways she could never imagine the God of the Underworld doing. It was something that warmed Minjoo’s inner Aphrodite to see- a garden bloomed out of love.

 

Minjoo glances back at the gloomy death angel behind her, Yujin’s wings dragging on the moist soil.

 

“Walk next to me,” Minjoo asks, tugging on the rope that kept them close. Yujin’s eyes meet with Minjoo’s, and the older finds that Yujin resembled a puppy, the only thing she was missing were cute little puppy ears.

 

“Okay,” is all Yujin says as she walks next to Minjoo, staring at her intently as if debating on what to say next.

 

Minjoo lets go of the rope and moves to hold Yujin’s hand instead, to which Yujin awkwardly adjusts her hand so that Minjoo can hold both her hands comfortably.

 

“There’s so much colour here,” Yujin speaks up after a few seconds, looking around at all the fields and gardens that decorated the land that Minjoo called home.

 

“Well then, you should get used to it,” Minjoo says as they take a left turn towards the garden of daffodils, and Yujin gasps a little bit.

 

“Well,” Yujin says as she looks over the abundance of yellow and white that were scattered around the garden. “I could get used to this,” Yujin says as she nods her head slightly, the yellow and white bringing a sense of harmony to her eyes she never really felt being underground most of her life.

 

“There’s a little gazebo there too! Sakura made it for me,” Minjoo says as she drags Yujin deeper into the garden, pointing towards the wooden gazebo that was decorated with grape vines, Yujin having no choice but to follow the older.

 

“Wait,” Yujin says, and Minjoo stops, looking at Yujin with a questioning expression.

 

“T-tell me about the flowers first,” Yujin says, knowing Minjoo loves talking about her passions- which of course- included gardening.

 

“Really?” Minjoo asks, a slight glint visible in the corner of her eye.

 

“Well, these are daffodils, and well- they come in a few colours, but yellow is their most popular breed. They’re also known as Narcissus flower, some people say they’re different flowers but they’re actually the same thing,” Minjoo begins. “They’re usually planted in the autumn since they bloom in the spring,” Minjoo says happily, and Yujin nods with interest, crouching down to caress the flower.

 

“What do they symbolise?” Yujin asks as Minjoo crouches down with her, holding the stem of a single flower.

 

“Life,” Minjoo says simply. “Rebirth? Something like- new beginnings,” Minjoo explains a bit more, tilting her head slightly as she did so, plucking a single daffodil from the ground, Yujin keeping her eyes on the flower as Minjoo removed a large portion of the stem.

 

“That’s when- there’s multiple daffodils of course,” Minjoo says, averting Yujin’s attention from the flower to Minjoo.

 

“If there’s only one of them—” Minjoo says, placing the flower in Yujin’s hair, gently caressing Death, the younger taken aback by Minjoo’s sudden actions, blushing furiously.

 

“They symbolise death,” Minjoo says with a small smile, and Yujin let’s out an airy chuckle. “It’s funny actually,” Minjoo adds.

 

“They never told me death could be this beautiful,” Minjoo says with a slight smirk at the double meaning behind her sentence, but Yujin takes another, placing it in Minjoo’s hair, the older blinking in confusion.

 

“Now I’m alive,” Yujin said, and Minjoo blinks, not completely understanding what Yujin meant.

 

“Are you referring to us as daffodils?” Minjoo asks. “Alive together?” Minjoo puts two and two together, Yujin smiling at the way Minjoo’s mind worked.

 

“Perhaps,” Yujin says. “Daffodils could be our hyacinths,”

 

“What?! You read Hyacinthus and you didn’t tell me!?”

 

——

 

They end up sitting opposite each other in the gazebo talking about more books, and random flowers. Midway through their conversation, a crow stops by the table in between them, and Minjoo can’t help but chuckle at the uncanny resemblance the crow’s wings had with Yujin’s.

 

“Haha! Your wings look like a crow’s!” Minjoo exclaims happily as a fit of giggles left , Yujin giving the crow a look of endearment.

 

“Ah yes, the crow,” Yujin says. “A symbol of death, mystery, magic, good luck and prophecy,”

 

“All of those things I somehow am,” Yujin says, biting her lip at the realisation as she struggled to pet the crow, the crow very much enjoying the warmth from it’s new companion.

 

“Good luck huh?” Minjoo asks, slightly tapping the crow as a means to pet it, despite the crow trying to dodge Minjoo’s touch. “Heh- no luck with this crow though,” Minjoo pouts, a blue butterfly suddenly hovering over Minjoo’s hand, shocking the girl senseless.

 

“Hey! Calm down, it’s just a butterfly,” Yujin says, gesturing for Minjoo to sit down with her head since her hands were still tied up.

 

“I know, I know- just- surprised,” Minjoo says, letting out deep breaths as the butterfly settled on Minjoo’s hand, the crow looking at it with much interest.

 

“Strange isn’t it?” Yujin says. “A butterfly and a crow,” Yujin says with a soft smile as the butterfly hovers around the crow, the crow very much confused with how strange this butterfly was acting.

 

“Rather odd indeed,” Minjoo agrees. “But they are a good combination” Minjoo says, though she’s looking at Yujin now, while Death softly pets the crow, and something about how Yujin looked like in that moment- soft, the slightest bit vulnerable- human above all—

 

It made Minjoo smile.

 

“Woah~ I didn’t think you’d be into accessories,” Minjoo points out all of a sudden, her eyes tracing down to Yujin’s neck, where a simple pearl necklace hung.

 

“What?”

 

“That necklace,” Minjoo says, pulling on the rope so that Yujin would surge forward, allowing Minjoo to get a closer look. “It’s pretty,”

 

“You like it?” Yujin asks, raising her hands to pull the neck forward, but Minjoo pulls them back down, inspecting the necklace herself.

 

“Hmmm,” Minjoo nods, and Yujin sighs. “My mother left it for me, she told me to do something with it,” Yujin explains, and Minjoo’s eyes meet Yujin’s, as if asking more about the necklace.

 

“But that doesn’t matter now- it’s yours,”

 

“What?!” Minjoo says, letting go of both the necklace and the rope. “But your mom gave that to you!” Minjoo complains.

 

“Yes, and now I’m giving it to you,” Yujin affirms, but Minjoo is still shooting her a look of disbelief.

 

“Can I know why you’re giving it to me, your kidnapper, of all people?” Minjoo slams her hand on the table, cocking an eyebrow, though her heart is jumping at how willing Yujin is to give the necklace to her.

 

“Listen,” Yujin says. “If I give you this necklace- promise me you’ll release me?” Yujin reveals her true intentions, and Minjoo kicks her under the table, disappointed at Yujin’s attempt to bribe her.

 

“You think I’ll release you for a necklace? Of course not,” Minjoo spites. “I could ask Chaeyeon for much nicer pearls,” Minjoo boasts, and Yujin groans at her failure, leaning back on the wooden chair, tilting her head upwards, the sky visible through the poorly fixed roof.

 

“Pffft,” Yujin suddenly laughs at the horribly attached gazebo, though it did give a nice aesthetic to the place, with leaves and vines growing on the wood- but it didn’t prove itself practical for rainy days.

 

“What? Regardless of how cute you are- you will not be released,” Minjoo says, and Yujin straightens her neck, looking directly at the older.

 

“Your gazebo’s roof is nonexistent,” Yujin deadpans, and as if on cue- rain starts to pour down, as a drizzle at first, but the sounds become louder, and the hair on Minjoo’s head becomes heavier by the second.

 

“Hey! How in Zeus’ name did you make it rain all of a—” as Minjoo struggles to keep her head covered with her hands, a sudden shadow starts to shield over Minjoo, and Minjoo stops her rant for a moment, looking up to find a large feathery wing above her head.

 

Minjoo turns to look at Yujin, who is covering her own head with her left wing- shielding Minjoo with her right. Minjoo blinks aimlessly as she somehow loses herself in Yujin’s eyes, holding the younger’s strong gaze while the sounds of the rain matched with her heartbeat.

 

“I can’t do this forever monkey,” Yujin remarks. “Feathers aren’t waterproof,” Yujin says in a sarcastic tone, and Minjoo nods.

 

“Right, let’s go then,” Minjoo says, turning away as she pulled on the rope, pulling Yujin beside her, as they walked back where they came from, and to the little hut Minjoo called home.

 

——

 

“So~ when do I get to leave?” Yujin asks as she shakes off the rain from her wings, nearly drenching Minjoo if she didn’t run to the side of her bed.

 

“What? No, you have to stay here! I’ve kidnapped you!” Minjoo exclaims, and Yujin nearly flips the house upside down.

 

“Seriously?! In this- ridiculously colourful- very bright island?!” Yujin complains as Minjoo ties the other end of the rope to her bed.

 

“Do you hate me or something?” Yujin groans, crashing onto the bed without Minjoo’s permission, spreading her wings out.

 

No- I ing love you.

 

“I can’t believe I got kidnapped by a freaking gardener!” Yujin sighs in distress. “And all her gardens are sunflowers and daffodils and bright pink roses! Where is the nightshade! The asdophel! EXCUSE ME- BUT DEATHBELL?! What a horrible gardener,” Yujin complains endlessly, and Minjoo just chuckles as she lights a match, creating a gas fire to boil some water.

 

“Well someone knows their plants,” Minjoo complements, but Yujin just groans.

 

“Yes yes, I know them because they’re the most popular ones in the Underworld- Hades boasts about them in his garden,” Yujin tells, and Minjoo hums as she watches over the flame, barely paying attention to Death.

 

“The thing you call deathbell is actually quite pretty, mayhaps I’ll consider getting some next time,” Minjoo says with a smile- since she now has the Lord of Death quite literally wrapped around her finger.

 

Kidnapping… so romantic…

 

Minjoo thinks as she grabs a series of dried tea leaves to boil into tea- yet a bony tap on her shoulder causes her to jump- nearly passing out when she turns around.

 

“Skeletons?!” Minjoo says with clear confusion- but she sees the smirk on Yujin’s face and the closing hole in the ground- and she knows exactly what this is.

 

“Stop messing around! Get off my island!” Minjoo commands the two skeletons, who look at each other with confusion for a second, their so-called expressions turning into guilt as they turn towards the door, Yujin looking at her minions in disbelief.

 

“What in Hades’ name?! Get back here! Capture her! Hey! Listen to me gods damnit! Stupid skeletons! I knew I should’ve called the zombies instead!” Yujin scoffs, attempting to cross her arms as she lies back down on the bed, Minjoo laughing and dancing at Yujin’s clear failure to escape.

 

“Trying to assassinate me with skeletons Yujinie?” Minjoo teases as she sticks out her tongue, using a stick to mix the leaves together while her feet danced to an inaudible celebrative tune.

 

“Don’t you Yujinie me gardener,” Yujin retaliates, looking away from Minjoo who looks back at Yujin just to chuckle, making a brief comment.

 

“Why? Does it make your heart flutter Yujinie~?” Minjoo asks, and she’s not sure if Yujin scoffs or chokes, but it’s somewhere in the middle.

 

“Just make your leaf water quietly gardener,” Yujin spites again, turning her entire body to face away from Minjoo, assumably going to sleep.

 

“You make my heart flutter Yujinie,” Minjoo says under her breath, but Death turns back to her at words, eyeing the daughter of Love suspiciously.

 

“Why do you like me Minjoo?” Yujin asks straightforwardly, and Minjoo is stunned, only able to stir her tea in a repeated motion.

 

“I- I don’t have a lot of human friends,” Minjoo says. “I have Hyewon- but a lot of her time is occupied with those three nymphs,”

 

“And- do you even need a reason to like someone?”

 

“I like you because you’re you Ahn Yujin,” Minjoo speaks clearly, turning to look at the younger with an indescribable intensity.

 

“Liking you won’t get me into Tartarus,” Minjoo says as she leaves the fire on, needing it to warm the hut through the night. She places the pot on the counter, quickly approaching the Lord of Death.

 

“And if it does?” Yujin asks, cocking an eyebrow.

 

“Well then at least it felt like Elysium,” Minjoo retorts with a certain kind of confidence that brings Yujin to believe her.

 

And it wasn’t the charmspeak- no it wasn’t that at all. It was something Yujin couldn’t pinpoint exactly yet, it was more of— well- perhaps love?

 

“Pfft,” Yujin says to her own thoughts, children of Aphrodite were surely all the talk and none of the walk.

 

Though wasn’t it nice to go on a literal walk with Kim Minjoo?

 

“Do you think the gays go to Tartarus Yujin?” Minjoo asks, as she sits at the very edge of the bed, careful not to sit on Yujin's wing.

 

“Of course not- only stupid people go to Tartarus,” Yujin deadpans, pulling her left wing in so Minjoo could lie down on the bed.

 

“Good then,” Minjoo says. “Let’s go Elysium together, and we can do the garden all over again- with more deathbells this time- and umm- daffodils?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin doesn’t know how to respond, because one moment her life is a death and darkness and the second Kim Minjoo steps into it with her fancy books and poems- all of a sudden it becomes a garden of life.

 

“The daffodils are pretty too,” Yujin says softly, and Minjoo’s eyes turn into crescents at Yujin’s words- and for someone who spent her entire life in the nighttime- the moon had never looked this pretty.

 

“Right yes, the blue and white daffodils would complement each other well!” Minjoo continues to blabber about their afterlife, but Yujin stops her.

 

“Why can’t we just do that now?” Yujin asks.

 

“I mean we can but I’ve already planted so much- so there isn’t much space,”

 

“I don’t mind a small garden,” Yujin says. “In fact, I think the smaller the better!” Yujin exclaims happily, though Minjoo slaps the side of her hand, earning a yelp from the younger.

 

“Oh no~ the gardener is mad, how scary,” Yujin speaks with sarcasm, earning another hit from her companion.

 

“Well- I do have to be honest with you though, I do have an idea for a small garden- but it’s a little uphill- if you don’t mind the walk?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin just stares at her in disbelief.

 

“I can fly,” Yujin says, but Minjoo clicks her tongue.

 

“No, no- it’s a nice walk! It’s part of the adventure,” Minjoo explains, and Yujin lets out a brief sigh.

 

“Fine, it’s not like I can fly with you tying me up anyways,” Yujin speaks defeatedly, turning over to sleep on her back. “Goodnight gardener,”

 

“Night acacia,” Minjoo says with a certain sweetness in her tone that makes Yujin cringe in return.

 

“What? What does that mean?” Yujin asks, turning her head to the older, whose eyes are already closed.

 

“Hmph, you’ll know soon enough,” Minjoo says, proceeding to fake a snore, causing Yujin to groan in absolute defeat.

 

I cannot believe I’m losing a game to a daughter of Aphrodite.

 

——

 

Minjoo can’t believe she’d forgotten her tea.

 

Minjoo stares emptily at her cold, cold, leaf juice abandoned on the counter as she finds herself trapped in between two feathery contraptions, Yujin nonchalantly cuddling the older with her wings. Because of this, Minjoo isn’t even sure if she still wants her tea, with Yujin cuddling her like this? The leaf juice could wait its turn.

 

Alas, as all good things come to an end, Yujin begins to stir in her sleep, sitting up on the bed as the softness of her feathers leave Minjoo’s body.

 

“Gods,” Yujin says. “That was really nice,” Yujin suddenly says, and Minjoo turns to Yujin, who wore a pleased look on her face.

 

“What was?”

 

“The sleep,” Yujin says, turning her head to Minjoo. “Even though I was tied up- it felt nice,” Yujin says, lifting her still tied up hands in the air, Minjoo gulping at the sight.

 

“Sorry about that,” Minjoo says as she sits up, scratching her head slightly. “I’ll untie it for today,” Minjoo continues, scooting over to the younger.

 

“Really?” Yujin asks. “You trust me?” Yujin asks, holding out her tied hands to Minjoo.

 

“You have wings that can carry up to two times your body weight,” Minjoo says based off her observations. “If you wanted to run you would’ve done it hours ago,” Minjoo says with a smirk, and Yujin gasps in realisations- that she had nearly four times Minjoo’s strength- she could’ve just flown away.

 

But does she want to?

 

“And also-” Minjoo adds. “I trust you,” Minjoo says with a smile this time as she finishes untying the knot, Yujin’s hands free to move about.

 

“Thank you,” Yujin says. “So- are we making a new garden?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo’s smile becomes brighter as she stands up, dusting her hands as she gives Yujin a little nod.

 

“Do you shower?” Minjoo asks, cocking her head a little.

 

“Do I what?”

 

“Shower? Are you hygienic?” Minjoo asks, and she’s dead serious.

 

“Of course I shower,” Yujin says with her eyes squinted. “Wings are quite hard to maintain,” Yujin explains, but Minjoo seems unsatisfied with her answer.

 

“How did you get water in hell?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin pauses for a bit.

 

“I shower in the river Styx,” Yujin says casually, and Minjoo gasps.

 

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Minjoo asks, her eyes going wide.

 

“No? I was born in the Styx, remember,” Yujin says, shrugging.

 

“Well- I guess- you’ll have to take a regular shower here- with regular water,” Minjoo says.

 

“Well I have nothing against that,” Yujin says casually, and Minjoo nods.

 

“I’ll show you,”

 

“How to shower?” Yujin asks suggestively.

 

“No! I mean like- where the water system is,” Minjoo retaliates with a flushed face, brushing the idea off.

 

“Of course,” Yujin says, standing up.

 

“Let’s go,” Yujin says, and Minjoo leads the way out of the hut and to where she invented a fully functioning shower, a small stall meant to accommodate only one person at a time.

 

They both stare at the small wooden stall, a myriad of pipes and mechanisms sticking out from the back of the stall, all the pipes leading to a well dug out a few meters away.

 

“Don’t you think showering together would be more effective?” Yujin whispers into Minjoo’s ear, earning a slap on the wing from the older.

 

“Shut up!”

 

“What?! I thought you liked me?”

 

“I won’t repeat myself!”

 

——

 

“We did it!” Minjoo cheers excitedly as Yujin hammers in the bench to the ground, finishing the miniature garden, located at the edge of a cliff, a place where one would be able to feel the taste of the salty breeze on their tongues after a few minutes of being there. The duo decorated it fairly well, with the deathbells and hyacinths Minjoo bought from a gardener at the marketplace on the island while waiting for Yujin to finish showering.

 

“Oh my gods,” Yujin sighs, jumping to lie down on the bench, looking up to the sky, where the sun was at its peak. “How do you gardeners do it?” Yujin asks after catching a breath.

 

“Well this one was fairly easy since you carried all the heavy stuff,” Minjoo says with a teasing smile, sitting on the remaining space above Yujin’s head, softly caressing her wings.

 

“Ah, yes,” Yujin agrees, looking at Minjoo instead, who was looking at the blue of the ocean. “The deathbells are heavier than they look,”

 

“Actually, those aren’t deathbells,” Minjoo says with a chuckle, and Yujin sits up immediately, turning to the older, expression demanding an answer.

 

“You can’t grow deathbells on earth- these are cerinthe- or honeyworts,” Minjoo says happily, but Yujin is confused, jumping off the bench to take a closer look at the flowers.

 

“Honeyworts is such a horrible name!” Yujin complains, shivering in dismay as she taps the flower.

 

“It’s cute! Now stop bothering the flowers,” Minjoo says, getting up to yank Yujin away from the flowers and towards the edge of the cliff, where they both let their legs dangle at the edge, Minjoo suddenly clinging on to Yujin tighter than before.

 

“Scared?” Yujin asks.

 

“No, it’s all water down there, if we jumped we’d be alright,” Minjoo says casually.

 

“How do you know that?” Yujin asks. “There could be some sharp rocks,”

 

“That’s where Chaeyeon was born,” Minjoo says, gesturing to the little opening at the bottom of the cliff. “There’s a beautiful grotto down there,” Minjoo smiles at the memory of meeting the nereid for the first time- when Minjoo fell off the cliff and nearly drowned.

 

It’s always nice to meet people who save your life.

 

“Grotto?”

 

“It’s like a cave but with more water,” Minjoo explains simply, and Yujin tries to grasp the concept, and it’s almost like Minjoo can hear the gears in Yujin’s head trying to conjure an image.

 

“You know- you know a lot- but you haven’t seen a lot have you?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin nods slightly.

 

“More or less,” Yujin replies, and Minjoo stands up, gesturing for Yujin to take her hand and do the same.

 

“What are you doing now gardener?” Yujin asks, taking both of Minjoo’s hands.

 

“Jump with me,” Minjoo says. “Close your eyes until you float,” Minjoo warns, since the water was salty and would likely sting their eyes for a bit.

 

“O- ok-,” Yujin screeches when Minjoo pushes the both of them head first into the ocean, the sound of them crashing into the waves breaking the serene silence of the cliffside.

 

Everything was blurry for a moment, Minjoo swimming to where she presumed was upward- her head escaping the deep waters, both her hands and feet flailing around to keep herself afloat.

 

“Y- yujin?” Minjoo looks around, spotting two pairs of wings flapping themselves in an attempt to stay afloat.

 

“Minjoo? Holy ! That was nuts! I almost died from a heart attack!” Yujin complains as she turns around, taking deep breaths- her voice sounding unclear due to the echoing from the top of the cliff and the entrance to the grotto.

 

“Oh come on- you’re just being overdramatic,” Minjoo complains, swimming closer to the younger.

 

“Now come on- this isn’t the best part yet,” Minjoo says calmly as she pulls Yujin into the opening of the grotto, Yujin following quickly.

 

“Close your eyes,” Minjoo says, and Yujin does as told while Minjoo guides her into a small entrance into the depths of the grotto, finally stopping when she felt satisfied with how deep inside they were.

 

“Open,” Minjoo says, and once Yujin’s eyes adjust to place, and she marvels are the pure azure blue that was the colour of the water- bluer than anything she’d seen before. It was beautiful beyond words, the way the minimal sunlight reflected against Minjoo’s skin- the glowing blue of the water making the situation look all too beautiful, as if they were swimming in the lakes of Elysium.

 

It was so beautiful. Yujin barely had words for the place- it was breathtaking, capable of taking away even the deepest of breaths.

 

“I love it,” is all Yujin says, smiling as she ran her hands through the seemingly blue water.

 

“The natural sunlight from outside reflects against the white sand- making the water look like this,” Minjoo explains without Yujin having to ask, and they’re both smiling like fools as they play in the water.

 

“Though if you ask Chaeyeon- she’ll say it’s because she blessed this place,” Minjoo adds on and Yujin wants to do something- anything to show how grateful she was to be here, with Minjoo of all people

 

“I love it,” Yujin says again, and Minjoo lets out a short giggle.

 

A place where the sunlight- the known giver of life- met darkness. Was it not the perfect place for a person like Yujin and a Goddess like Minjoo?

 

Where light and dark would touch to make something beautiful.

 

It was indeed the perfect place.

 

“Me too,” Minjoo says, playing around in the water, swimming closer to Death.

 

“It’s so beautiful,” Yujin says, looking to Minjoo softly.

 

“You look beautiful like this,” Yujin says, and there’s a brief silence as they stare into each other’s eyes, words not enough to explain the feelings within them.

 

“And besides, this will clean my wings better- that stall of yours was so small- I could barely fit one wing!” Yujin complains, and Minjoo splashes some water on the younger in retaliation.

 

“Well is that my fault your wings are so big?” Minjoo argues, though there was a smile on her face as she wraps her arms around Yujin’s neck, causing the younger to suddenly tense up at Minjoo’s actions.

 

“It’s your fault that the stall was too small,” Yujin says, though all confidence seemed to have drained out of her, her eyes stuck on Minjoo.

 

“I’ll make a bigger one then,” Minjoo says, her tone sure.

 

“Only if you promise to stay?” Minjoo asks, bringing Yujin closer, burying her head in Yujin’s neck.

 

Yujin looks around, in the sacred grotto, the sheer beauty of it clearing her head, the feeling of Minjoo’s bare skin on her bringing in a feeling she’d never felt before- her heart beating in a rhythm she’d never heard before- and she knows her answer.

 

“I’m not going anywhere,”

 

——

 

Yujin can’t believe she’d been stuck in Sicily for a month.

 

She doesn’t believe her father was worried sick but she does believe her father was cursing her for not reaping any souls the past month or so.

 

Though to focus on the current, there was an undisputed tension between her and Minjoo within the past week or so. They haven’t done much, only the regular human things- sometimes spending their free time in the garden or the grotto whenever they felt like it. Yujin can’t exactly pinpoint where this certain tension stemmed from, but she is curious about it.

 

It could be one of their arguments- but it couldn’t possibly be that- they argued all the time about the most tedious of things. Mayhaps it had something to do with how horrible Yujin was at household chores? It couldn’t be- Minjoo’s hut was too small to be considered a house.

 

“Yujin,” Minjoo calls, breaking Yujin from her line of thoughts, the younger turning away from the ocean.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Dinner,” Minjoo says as she gestures towards the hammock, where Eunbi, Hyewon, Chaeyeon and Sakura sat, frying the chicken with certain salts and spices.

 

“Wait Minjoo,” Yujin says, grabbing her wrist before Minjoo could walk away.

 

“What?” Minjoo asks softly.

 

“Are you mad at me?” Yujin asks directly, and Minjoo seems confused.

 

“No? Why would I be?” Minjoo returns the question, and Yujin is stunned for a moment.

 

“I- I just feel- weird lately,” Yujin says. “Like I’m doing something wrong,” Yujin explains, her wings tensing up as she did.

 

“Why? D- do you want to go back?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin shakes her head abruptly.

 

“No, I just-” Yujin tries to form a reason as to why she felt the tension, but she can’t.

 

“To be honest with you Yujin- there is something that’s bothering me- but I’m not mad about it,” Minjoo admits looking at the sand, and Yujin’s wings perk up at this, the younger meeting Minjoo’s averting eyes.

 

“What is it?” Yujin asks, genuine concern laced around her tone.

 

“I-”

 

“Hey lovebirds! Get your here or we’ll sacrifice this to some God instead!” Hyewon calls out, and Minjoo turns sharply.

 

“One second!” Minjoo yells back. “The audacity of her! When she’s blatantly flirting with 3 nymphs at the same time,” Minjoo complains as she stomps back to the campfire, dragging a bewildered Yujin behind her.

 

How in Gaia’s name am I supposed to eat with that conversation lingering in my head?!?

 

——

 

“Minjoo,” Yujin calls, the older nearly done rearranging her personal papyruses.

 

“Yes?”

 

“You said that something was bothering you earlier,” Yujin reminds. “What is it?”

 

“Oh, yes,” Minjoo says, turning away from the shelf to sit down on the bed next to Yujin.

 

“Do you like me?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin’s head begins to spin, trying to register the question without her heart bursting out of her chest.

 

“What?”

 

“Whenever we're at the grotto- I always wrap my hands around your neck,” Minjoo reminds, and Yujin recalculates their most recent visit to the grotto- and indeed, Minjoo clung to her exactly like that.

 

“And you let me,” Minjoo points out. “Do you let me because you like me?” Minjoo asks.

 

“And- and you always listen to me,” Minjoo adds. “You always listen to my theories about mechanics and engineering- even if you don’t get it,”

 

“You ask me to tell you about flowers and their species and the lights and their colours- machines and how they work,”

 

“As long as it’s me talking- you listen,” Minjoo says with great diction and clarity, each word twisting Yujin’s heart into a series of realisations.

 

“You stay on the ground with me when you have wings to fly,” Minjoo speaks softly now, her tone matching her eyes.

 

“Do you love me?” Minjoo asks a different question now, and Yujin feels her world stop.

 

“My father warned me not to love,” Yujin replies the second thing that comes to mind. “He said great love can get you in Tartarus,”

 

“But even worse- it gets you into a living hell,” Yujin adds. “He said- that that’s how it felt- losing my mother,”

 

“The only person he’d ever loved,” Yujin says solemnly.

 

And if I told you you’re that person for me?

 

“Being in love isn’t like killing a man Yujinie,” Minjoo replies that instead, resting her hand softly on Yujin’s thigh.

 

“You’re right,” Yujin says, sighing slightly. “I think now that I’ve met you- great love can also get you into Elysium,”

 

“And you’re my Elysium on earth,” Yujin says with a smile, and Minjoo desperately wants to kiss that smile off her face.

 

Because I won’t lose you.

 

I promised to stay.

 

“There are also many sins worse than killing a man,” Yujin says, her eyes once again meeting Minjoo’s.

 

“Like?” Minjoo asks.

 

“Lying,”

 

“Making people suffer,”

 

“Lust-”

 

“Lust,” Minjoo repeats, causing Yujin to stop mid sentence.

 

And she can’t hold it back anymore.

 

Whether this be love or lust- Minjoo couldn’t hold it in anymore, though she knows this is love. Her desire, her wishes, herself.

 

She couldn’t hold herself back anymore.

 

She was in love with Ahn Yujin.

 

“I want you,” Minjoo says, taking Yujin aback, but Minjoo pulls her wrist, yanking Death closer to her.

 

“I want you. I want you so much it hurts,” Minjoo continues. “Every second your lips are not on mine- it hurts a little more,”

 

“I want you,”

 

“I need you,”

 

“I love you,”

 

Yujin doesn’t know how to respond, because sure she’d been harbouring butterflies and blushes from Minjoo— but the way Minjoo spoke, it’s like she’d been longing for her for aeons past and aeons to come- and Yujin had no clue how to respond.

 

Someone loves her?

 

It was as if the situation had flipped in a second- one moment Minjoo was asking her if she loved Minjoo- and now all of a sudden- Minjoo wants her, and she loves her.

 

Someone loves her.

 

Minjoo.

 

Minjoo loves her.

 

Minjoo stares into Yujin’s eyes, the brown fused with lust, love, desperacy, longing and need above all.

 

“I love you,” Minjoo says as she pulls Yujin closer, close enough so the Yujin’s lips would land on hers, and if it was ever even possible- for the the very first time—

 

Death felt Life.

 

Living, being alive, seeing daylight- despite seeing it loud and clear this past month, having daydreams and nightmares, all happening in one vivid action between one child of Love and one Lord of Death.

 

Between a gardener and a buzzkill.

 

Between Kim Minjoo and Ahn Yujin.

 

An action that brought life, brought love, brought meaning- a kiss.

 

Death’s kiss.

 

“I love you,” Minjoo repeats like a mantra as she deepens the kiss, turning her head slightly as she pulls Yujin by the shirt, Minjoo almost laying on the bed beneath her.

“I love you,” Minjoo says as she tugs on Yujin’s shirt, proceeding to reconnect their lips immediately after.

 

“This,” Yujin says between kisses. “This is going to land us both in tartarus,” Yujin points out, but Minjoo continues to kiss her, not stopping even if the Gods told them to.

 

“Then let's go to hell,” Minjoo says- and Yujin decides-

 

Tartarus it is.

 

——

 

“YOU WILL NOT DO SUCH THINGS TO HER!” Aphrodite argues, her hand clenching into a fist, narrowing her eyebrows at the Goddesses.

 

“You know that that is impossible- you know what is her duty,”

 

“I told you the mortal scum was never a good idea in the first place,” Hera mutters, and Aphrodite gasps in offense.

 

“That’s my daughter you speak of! Watch your mouth,”

 

“It is your fault in the very first place for encouraging her- you knew my agreements,” Artemis adds on to the fire,

 

“And she is not you daughter Aphrodite,”Demeter says. “She is the creation of us all,”

 

“I raised her regardless, other than me, Athena and Persephone- you who have never even spoken to her more than a day should remain silent,”

 

“You are truly getting brave Aphrodite,” Tyche says, glaring at the goddess of Love.

 

“You may be the one she calls mother- but we have all been there for her- at different stages of her life,” Iris adds on, crossing her arms in dismay.

 

“Now, will all of you calm down- we gather today not to fight over who has looked after Minjoo the most- but rather what she’s done,” Hestia, as always, becomes the voice of reason, and the Goddesses go silent, though they were still agitated at each other.

 

“Hestia is right,” Rhea, the mother of Goddesses said with her larger authority, making them bite their lips as they tried to bite back their anger.

 

“Now, Minjoo has broken one of the agreements that we set for her,” Rhea says. “Yet again, we have never told her about the agreements, or what she is in the very first place,” Rhea reasons.

 

“Rhea is correct,” Demeter says, nodding in agreement along with 5 of the other Goddesses.

 

“So do you reckon it’s time?” Aphrodite asks. “To tell her what she is,”

 

“I think it would be most wise,” Athena says. “Before she does anything else,”

 

“What if she disagrees?” Hecate asks, and they all wave her off.

 

“It’s not possible,” Hera says boldly.

 

“The offer we are providing is undeniable,”

 

——

 

After Minjoo turned 18, Athena rarely visited her. Athena believed that Minjoo had all the wisdom she could offer, and Minjoo could learn the rest with the other Gods and spirits she knew.

 

Yet Athena came today.

 

For what reason, Minjoo wasn’t sure of yet.

 

“Kim Minjoo,” Athena says authoritatively as Minjoo lights up the candles in her room, making a swift turn to face her patron Goddess.

 

“Hello,” Minjoo says with a signature smile, and Athena feels her heart pang at the news she was about to bring. The Goddess looks to the sleeping winged demigod on Minjoo’s bed and sighs, offering Minjoo a hand.

 

“Let’s take a walk outside,” Athena says softly. “By the beach,”

 

“Alright,” Minjoo says, taking a glance at Yujin to make sure she was still asleep, and they walk out of the hut, and Athena holds out her hand once again.

 

“Hold my hand,” Athena says, and Minjoo chuckles, grabbing onto Athena’s hand.

 

“Why? It’s just the beach you know,” Minjoo says. “I’m old enough to walk without falling every 10 seconds now,”

 

“I know Minjoo,” Athena says.

 

It’s me who needs your support now.

 

They silently walk to the beach, to the ends of the shore where the sand meets water.

 

“What have you been up to recently?” Athena asks, though Minjoo senses that knowing her whereabouts wasn’t the true reason Athena was here.

 

“I’ve been trying to design a new form of transport- but it’s not perfected yet,” Minjoo replies calmly, though she was itching to know Athena’s true purpose.

 

“Not that Minjoo,” Athena says. “Your human life,” Athena continues, but Minjoo is even more confused.

 

“Human life?” Minjoo asks, and Athena clicks her tongue, as if she’d made a mistake in phrasing.

 

“You- you are seeing someone correct?” Athena asks directly, and Minjoo is shocked for a moment, her eyes going wide.

 

Why would Athena ask about my love life? Athena? Of all the Gods?

 

“D-did mother tell you?” Minjoo asks, and Athena simply nods despite it not being the truth.

 

“Listen, Minjoo,” Athena says, gripping Minjoo’s wrist. “I must tell you something,” Athena addresses the elephant in the room, and Minjoo’s posture is suddenly fixed, nodding in understanding, though her eyes remained quizzical.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Close your eyes,” Athena says, and Minjoo does as told, but the world suddenly felt lighter- and she nearly collapses from the feeling- as if there was a powerful force within her, threatening to be revealed bit by bit.

 

Minjoo tries to control whatever force was threatening to take over her mortal form, and as soon as she does, she finds herself crashing onto a marble floor, pure white as Minjoo regains her sight, her head spinning from the sheer power that nestled inside her, the girl very much disoriented as she looked around her surroundings.

 

“What? Where?” Minjoo registers her surroundings, and she feels 10 beings around her- celestial by a sudden notion that peaks at the tip of her stomach.

 

She sees 10 blinding forms of light- or was that plasma? It wasn’t human, that she was sure of. The lights flicker a bit, and she sees faces, they’re barely there but enough to make out that they were beings. Minjoo stands up- but she finds that she too, had no body.

 

She’d turned into one of the light forms.

 

“Oh my gods!” Minjoo screams as she tries to conjure up her body, or at least to get back her hands.

 

“Minjoo,” a voice booms, and Minjoo turns back to the 10 light forms to search for the familiar voice.

 

“It’s alright Minjoo,” another voice calls out, and Minjoo runs towards it- recognising the voice as her mother.

 

“Mother?” Minjoo runs up to the light form, and she can almost see her mother smiling at her- and she comes to a realisation.

 

These were Gods. In their true form.

 

A form that would burn the mortal eye- the form of the Gods that would kill every living mortal who would lay sight on them.

 

“How am I not dead?” Minjoo asks, completely bewildered at the situation, taking a look at all the Gods present, and she finds that they were all Goddesses based on the flickering face that they presented.

 

Rhea, Hera, Athena, Artemis, Demeter, Persephone, Tyche, Iris, Hecate, Hestia.

 

“My ladies,” Minjoo says, trembling as she intends to bow down- but she has no body, limiting her abilities.

 

“Rise child,” a voice from who Minjoo assumes to be Rhea calls out, and Minjoo somehow adjusts her own light form out of the position.

 

“I’m surprised you’ve managed to hold your true form for this long,” Hera complements, and Minjoo is confused.

 

I have a true form?

 

“Do you know what you are Kim Minjoo?” Another voice- Artemis asks, and Minjoo shakes her head, utterly confused.

 

“You are the remnants of Kronos’ split blood,” Rhea says, and Minjoo doesn’t think she could be even more confused.

 

(A/n: in greek mythology, it's said that a majority of life on earth came to be because of Kronos’ split blood after Zeus killed him)

 

“The ten of us- the ten major Goddesses, we received the remains of Kronos’ blood and decided to create a life force out of it,” Rhea continues.

 

“And that life force is you- Kim Minjoo. Out of the powers of us 10, the soil and the blood of Kronos- we created you,”

 

“Remember when I told you about a demigod that was more like a god?” Athena intervenes. “You are one of those demigods,” Athena says, and Minjoo nearly passes out.

 

“I- I’m a God?” Minjoo questions, stepping backwards.

 

“Not yet no,” Hera says. “But you will be- under multiple conditions,” Hera speaks out, and Minjoo is shocked, running to the center of the pavilion.

 

“What?”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning?” Minjoo asks, looking to Aphrodite, whose mouth was sealed shut.

 

“We felt as if- a Goddess of Life should have the capability to connect with life before becoming your true form,” Rhea explains.

 

“And your original form was weak and undeveloped- no strong connections between those remnants of Kronos,” Tyche says, Minjoo struggling to keep her head turned to the speaker as they kept changing.

 

“You were like the runt of the Gods,” Hera says harshly, and Minjoo is a little taken aback, but she stays silent.

 

“So we turned you into a human, where you’d be able to hone your strengths,” Athena says, and Minjoo is still quiet.

 

“We all had our personal agreements to you- things that we wanted to see from you,” Athena continues.

 

“To be honest, you’d passed and exceeded all our trials and expectations- but you’ve broken one,” Athena’s words linger in Minjoo’s ears, bothering her to no end.

 

She’d broken an agreement she didn’t even know of? Was this not a violation of her rights? How was this happening?

 

Gods- it didn’t make sense, but at the same time it did. Why would all those Gods pay attention to her if it wasn’t for this reason? How would she be able to open up the earth with her words if it wasn’t her divine powers? It was the reason those 3 nymphs were so loyal to her, why her ‘mother’ would call her her lifeline.

 

She was the Goddess of Life.

 

“What was it?” Minjoo asks, genuinely not wanting to know, yet curiosity always got the better of her.

 

“You broke Artemis' ban against love and dating,” Hera says directly, and Minjoo gulps.

 

“Y- you saw that?” Minjoo says, and she’s glad she currently did not have a face right now, if she did, she’d probably be redder than the rising sun.

 

“Oh yes we did,”

 

“I mean you did look like you had a lot of fun,” Hecate adds, making Aphrodite chuckle.

 

“Yeah- the death girl seems to be one heck of a kisser,” Tyche teases.

 

“If only all Gods of Death were that romantic,” Persephone sighs, and half of the Goddesses laugh, the three goddesses not at all amused.

 

“Silence,” Hera hisses, and Tyche mutters something about Hera being a buzzkill.

 

“So Minjoo,” Hera continues, her poise yet freakish aura evident. “Do you agree to it?”

 

“Huh?” Minjoo steps back yet again, trying to decipher Hera’s words. “Agree to what?”

 

“Immortality,” Rhea says with confidence, and Minjoo staggers back this time.

 

“Immortality?” Minjoo asks, and Rhea turns to Athena.

 

“Yes- the greatest gift possible to be bestowed to mortals,” Rhea continues. “Your destiny,” Rhea says as if she was so sure of Minjoo’s destiny- but Minjoo is stunned.

 

“My destiny?” Minjoo asks, pointing to herself in her head.

 

“Well of course- you we’re always meant to become a Goddess- it was just a matter of when,” Hera cuts through, and Minjoo panics.

 

Immortality?

 

“Um- well- I’ll think about it?” Minjoo says as she backs away from the center, trying to get out of the situation.

 

“What do you mean, think about it?” Hera asked, clearly surprised by Minjoo’s slight reluctance to join them.

 

“You know? Thinking? Like- I’ll get back to you,” Minjoo says, turning away, leaving all the Goddesses bewildered as the supposed Goddess ran out of the pavilion, her steps somehow echoing on the marble as she ran away.

 

She runs on the softness of the clouds of Mount Olympus, finding the edge of the mountain, where she would plummet either all the way back home or straight to her death. She wills herself to picture Sicily, to picture her home before she was dragged to Olympus with Athena. There’s a wave of dizziness that passes over Minjoo as she shuts her eyes as a method to lessen the pain, opening them only when she feels her physical body appear.

 

She’s back on the beach. Her heart is racing. She has no clue what her next step should be.

 

She could tell that Hera was not at all pleased with her.

 

“Min?” Yujin calls out, and Minjoo sees her a few meters away, and she sighs in relief.

 

“Gosh where did you go? I thought I lost you,” Yujin says softly as she approaches Minjoo, the older wrapping her arms around Death, whose wings were concealed by the shirt she was wearing. Minjoo grips Yujin’s shirt, trying to pull her closer than they already were.

 

“Are you alright?” Yujin asks as she hugs back, rubbing misshapen squares on Minjoo’s back, Minjoo shaking her head as she snuggles into the crook of Yujin’s neck.

 

“Wings,” Minjoo mutters, and Yujin’s wings appear immediately, wrapping themselves around the supposed daughter of love.

 

“You’re staying right?” Minjoo asks, pulling her head away from Yujin’s neck.

 

“I’m never leaving you,” Yujin assures, and Minjoo smiles softly at her, pulling her into a soft kiss, the younger smiling into the kiss.

 

“Are you alright though? Do you need to talk about it?” Yujin asks as soon as they pull away, and Minjoo melts a little, but she shakes her head.

 

“Bad dream,” Minjoo lies- but being honest, Minjoo couldn’t tell if what just happened was a dream or reality.

 

“Kiss me again?” Minjoo requests, and the child of Death abides, leaning in to capture her lips yet again.

 

It’s just a bad dream.

 

——

 

“Hera- don’t do it please,” Aphrodite begs, but Hera waves her off.

 

“We’ve done everything in our power for that girl- and she refuses to abide by our one wish?” Hera reasons, but Aphrodite is still shaking her head.

 

“Please- Athena? Persephone? Hestia? Don’t you want to defend her?” Aphrodite asks, because her child was in love with someone, it was her favourite thing in the world.

 

And now Hera wanted to take it away?

 

“I will not listen- it’s six against four Aphrodite,” Hera spites back. “Give it up,” Hera says with authority, and Aphrodite sighs.

 

“It’s time we rid our Minjoo of the creature,” Hera says sharply, and the Goddesses who were especially close to Minjoo sighed- for there clearly was no happy ending with the route they were taking.

 

“I am sorry,” Aphrodite says, and Hera nods, accepting her apology- but the sorry was not at all directed to Hera.

 

My child.

 

——

 

“Yujin,” Hera says as taking a seat on the bench that overlooked the sea, where Yujin was on the grass, looking through a papyrus full of souls she had to reap.

 

“Hye- oh who are- oh,” Yujin registers who this unfamiliar yet very popular Goddess was, and stands up, bowing slightly. “Queen Hera,” Yujin bows, not getting up until Hera gestures for her to.

 

“You father thought you well,” Hera says with sarcasm, and Yujin feels her heart twist at the way Hera spoke. “Where is Minjoo?” Hera asks, and Yujin is bewildered for a moment.

 

“Out getting scraps in the city,” Yujin replies honestly, and Hera nods.

 

“Sit child,” Hera says as she takes a seat on the bench, tapping the empty space beside her.

 

“W-why are you here my lady?” Yujin asks, because every demigod knows that having Hera around meant trouble.

 

“I want to tell you a few things,” Hera starts. “About your infatuation with the Kim,” Hera says, and Yujin blinks.

 

“Infatuation- my lady?” Yujin is taken aback at the choice of words, but Hera continues.

 

“She is the Goddess of life,” Hera says nonchalantly, but Yujin is stunned.

 

A Goddess?

 

“Other than possessing that quality- she is also the greatest charmspeaker to have ever lived,” Hera says with a devilish tone, and Yujin feels her stomach churn.

 

“Charmspeak?” Yujin questions.

 

“Yes- charmspeak- where every command becomes someone else’s wish,” Hera continues and Yujin doesn’t know whether she wants to believe her or not.

 

“I don’t believe you,” Yujin says firmly, though she was a bit shaken by her words.

 

“Well you should,” Hera reaffirms. “Remember how easy it is for her to convince Chaeyeon to do things? How she played with Cerberus almost instantly?” Hera jogs Yujin’s memory of Minjoo being ridiculously convincing.

 

“I trust her,” Yujin says again, though the thought of her entire relationship with Minjoo being a lie was definitely bothering her.

 

“Well that’s all part of her plan darling,” Hera says with confidence, and Yujin is starting to get angry- at both Hera and the information she was giving her.

 

“I don’t believe you,” Yujin replies sternly, but Hera can see Death faltering on the inside.

 

“Not me- but do you believe Minjoo?” Hera asks, and Yujin is bewildered. “Think about it sweetheart, has anyone ever loved you?” Hera reminds, and Yujin staggers back, nearly falling off the bench.

 

“My lady-”

 

“Has anyone ever loved you Ahn Yujin?” Hera asks again, cocking an eyebrow- and Yujin hates the question- because she knows the answer.

 

“No,” Yujin admits, looking down at the grass.

 

“Correct- nobody loves Death,” Hera says with a sinister smile on her face, and Yujin balls her fists, her heart breaking at the realisation.

 

Nobody loves death.

 

“Especially the Goddesses of Life,” Hera continues in a mocking tone, and Yujin falls to the ground on her knees, gripping the dirt and the grass, biting her lip til it drew blood.

 

“No one loves Death,” Yujin repeats it like a mantra as tears fill the corner of her eyes, and once they spill, Hera walks up behind the girl, rubbing her back softly, comforting the younger.

 

Though there was a smile on her face.

 

——

 

“Yujin?” Minjoo calls out as she spins around, she’d searched everywhere for the girl- from their spot on their cliff to the grotto, but the younger was nowhere to be found.

 

“Ahn Yujin?!” Minjoo calls louder, but Yujin has disappeared into thin air, and Minjoo sighs.

 

“Yujin?! Are you hiding from me? It’s not funny anymore!” Minjoo yells out into the dark sky, using her hands as a megaphone.

 

She scouts the beach, walking the distance until she reached the hyacinth plant that they planted together. It was already a little bud, and Minjoo smiled for a moment though she was still worried. She kneeled down, caressing the hyacinth.

 

“Hey there bud,” Minjoo says to the plant. “Did you see your owner anywhere?” Minjoo asks, and of course, she receives no answer.

 

Minjoo sighs as she stands back up, dusting her hands, turning around to head back to the hut- where she was silently praying Yujin would be.

 

There’s another person with her.

 

“Oh my- hello- hi- okay,” Minjoo nearly crashes into the seemingly unfamiliar person, but once she registers who it is- she wants to make a run for it.

 

“Hera- my lady,” Minjoo says, her confidence faltering from her.

 

“Hello Minjoo,” Hera says politely. “I’ve been wondering if you’ve made your decision yet?” Hera asks directly, and Minjoo steps back- jumping up quickly when she felt the lifeforce of the hyacinth being drained, causing her to fall bottom first, and she was basically trapped on the sand.

 

“I- well- about that,” Minjoo says, deciding there was no use in lying.

 

“I don’t want it,” Minjoo says, completely sure with herself.

 

“Is this about Yujin?” Hera questions, and Minjoo’s mouth hangs open.

 

“Yes, it’s about- Yujin,” Minjoo nods. “It’s about Eunbi and Hyewon and Sakura and Chaeyeon and everyone who I don’t want to see die,” Minjoo continues, and Hera crosses her arm.

 

“Please,” Minjoo pleads. “I want to be with them,”

 

“You think they actually care about you? Their on duty you fool- I ordered them to stay with you- it’s their obligation, it’s not that they care about you,”

 

“And about that Yujin- you know she doesn’t really love you right? It’s just your charmspeak- the same reason why everyone still stays around you- it’s your charmspeak, it’s the only reason people stay with you,”

 

“You think you’re in love with Yujin?” Hera scoffs, turning away for a moment before she looks back at Minjoo. “You’ve even charmspoken yourself,” Hera spites, and Minjoo shakes her head, not at all believing what Hera told her.

 

You could charmspeak anything if you tried.

 

“But I never charmspoke Yujin!” Minjoo argues back, not biting the bait Hera lay out for her.

 

“Have you ever been capable of controlling your charmspeak Minjoo?” Hera asks, and Minjoo retraces her steps.

 

“I can but-”

 

“You control the degree of your charmspeak but you never know when you’re using it or not,” Hera says, and Minjoo is speechless, because Hera was right.

 

“Your life on earth is a lie Minjoo- even your mother, your nonexistent father- it’s all a facade,” Hera hits Minjoo with the truth of her human identity, and Minjoo looks to the sand, eyes empty and vulnerable.

 

“Yujin doesn’t love you,” Hera says again. “And she knows that now too,” Hera speaks with a certain poison in her tone, lifting Minjoo’s chin a bit.

 

“But if you still don’t believe me- I’ll let her tell you herself,” Hera says, her eyes piercing through the vulnerable mortal.

 

Hera vanishes into thin air, and Minjoo sees the two wings she’d missed the most, and their one owner.

 

“Yujin!” Minjoo runs up to the younger, who had a bewildered look on her face as Minjoo opened her arms to engulf her in a hug.

 

“Don’t touch me,” Yujin said coldly, stepping away from Minjoo.

 

No.

 

“Yujin?” Minjoo tilts her head a bit, trying to figure if this was still the same Yujin she’d gone to bed with the previous night.

 

“You lied to me,” Yujin says with anger laced in her tone, and Minjoo wants to retaliate, she desperately wants to tell her that she was wrong—

 

You’ve even charmspoken yourself.

 

“I- i didn’t,” Minjoo croaks out, but it comes out barely a whisper.

 

“Why would you lie to me like that?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo’s chest heaves, trying to contain the wave of emotions threatening to cause a tsunami in her.

 

“Why would you make me believe you loved me-”

 

“When you never did,”

 

“I do,” Minjoo responds weakly. “I do love you,” Minjoo repeats, but Hera’s words keep ringing in her head, and she’d lost all confidence in her words- and they sounded like what it was-

 

A lie.

 

Yujin stares at Minjoo in pain, betrayal, agony. She looks at Minjoo no longer as the one person she’d ever love, but the one person she would always hate.

 

“I told you I would never leave you,” Yujin says spitefully, venom in every vowel.

 

“But you’re leaving me,”

 

“Y-you’re leaving me!” Yujin screams and Minjoo flinches, the muscles in Yujin’s wings contracting as a reflex, making her look scary.

 

“I’m not,” Minjoo pleads, her knees falling to the ground. “I’m not,” Minjoo croaks out, tears beginning to slide down her cheeks.

 

“You weren’t real,” Yujin says, her voice trembling. “You tricked me,”

 

“I DIDN’T!”

 

“YOU DID!” Yujin screams back, hands clenched into fists.

 

“I never answered you that day- if I loved you,” Yujin reminds, and Minjoo, for the very first time, frowns at the memory, because she knows what Yujin will say next.

 

“I don’t love you Kim Minjoo,” Yujin says.

 

“It’s just your stupid way with words- that cursed charmspeak of yours,” Yujin spites, salt laced within the sharp way she spoke, as if already adding salt before actually wounding her.

 

“So dream on Minjoo,” Yujin says. “I may be a monster- a creature you deem undeserving of your love,” Yujin stops, as if contemplating whether or not to continue her sentence.

 

“But I am never a liar,” Yujin says through gritted teeth, and a Minjoo staggers backwards,

 

“I thought you were happy, I’m sorry.” Minjoo speaks up, going from denial to admittance.

 

Have I charmspoken myself?

 

“I can keep pretending, but i’ll never be happy” Yujin’s tone becomes softer- sadder than before, and Minjoo whimpers at the voice.

 

Even for a second- I never wanted you to be sad.

 

“You’re not real Kim Minjoo, you’re just an illusion,”

 

“But I’m right here,” Minjoo says, but it barely comes out, and Yujin ignores her.

 

“It’s just like life Minjoo,” Yujin continues, it’s softer this time, but hurt and pain still evident in her tone.

 

“Everything is temporary, and this was merely one of those things.”

 

“You didn’t care, even a little bit,” Yujin says firmly- because she flew nearly the entire world, trying to determine whether Minjoo had used charmspeak.

 

Why did you do it...

 

“But I love you,” Minjoo says, not knowing what else to say.

 

You are Life. And I am Death.

 

Life and Death are never a good combination.

 

“No you don’t,” Yujin says, and the ground opens up below them, wanting to swallow Yujin back into the Underworld, where she would continue to live on in the Halls of Night, looking upon the Tree of False Dreams, where Minjoo would be-

 

Still an illusion. A false dream.

 

“Nobody loves death,”

 

——

 

Minjoo is still crying.

 

She was crying when the ground opened up below them.

 

She was crying when Yujin turned away from her.

 

She was crying when the tips of Yujin’s wings disappeared from her vision.

 

It’s been a full week since that day.

 

She’d been stuck in her hut for almost a week, not eating, only drinking sips of water at a time- even then it was because Eunbi and Chaeyeon busted into her hut begging her to at least drink. She was meant to be the Goddess of Life, but everything about screamed begging for death.

 

Quite literally indeed, she was begging for death.

 

“Minjoo?” A voice calls out, and it’s not Hyewon nor the nymphs- and Minjoo tucks herself deeper into the bed, where Yujin’s scent still lingered.

 

“It’s Rhea,” the now named voice says, the sound coming from directly in front of the door.

 

“Hera was harsh on you,” Rhea admits. “I am sorry about that,” she says, but Minjoo is still.

 

“I need to talk to you- so i’ll go in now,” Rhea says softly, the door creaking open immediately after that.

 

The light hits Minjoo’s eyes, and she hisses as the Goddess, who quickly shuts the door as she walks over to a stool, picking it up and setting it down in front of the bed-ridden girl.

 

“You know that-” Rhea starts, though she seems to be hesitant. “She won’t come back right?” Rhea drops the bomb, and Minjoo whimpers.

 

But she shakes her head.

 

“Minjoo- I know you don’t want it,” Rhea says. “But what do you have left to lose?”

 

“It’s been your duty since the beginning of time child- the Fates set it out for you like this,”

 

“How do you know the Fates set this up?” Minjoo says, her voice hoarse from the crying.

 

“I know because Life- and a creature like Death could never be together,” Rhea says, and Minjoo hisses at her, but she’s far too weak to attack the Goddess.

 

“Don’t call her that,” Minjoo warns and Rhea nods.

 

“I’m telling you- that a combination of you and Yujin would be like a crow and a butterfly-” Rhea states, and Minjoo is triggered to hear the world crow and butterflies in the same sentence. “Unsustainable,”

 

“One of you would’ve destroyed the other regardless,” Rhea says, softly caressing Minjoo’s back.

 

“What are you saying?” Minjoo asks, and her tone is calm, but alarms are going off in her head.

 

“I’m telling you to take the offer,” Rhea says upfront. “It’s what’s destined for you,” Rhea continues.

 

“You were always meant to be a Goddess,” Rhea says with conviction.

 

And I was never meant to be with Yujin.

 

It was a lie.

 

“I’ll be back when you feel better,” Rhea says, patting Minjoo softly as she stands back up, ready to make her leave.

 

Minjoo lies in silence, simply staring as Rhea closed the door shut- and Minjoo could feel her presence disappear from the island, and she sighs.

 

It was never Yujin.

 

There’s only one thing for me to do is it?

 

——

 

“Bye bye Minjoo,” Eunbi sobs as she hugs the younger, who chuckles at the emotional nymphs.

 

“It’s not like I’m leaving you guys- I can still come and visit,” Minjoo says, but they all shake their heads.

 

“You’re not leaving us- but we’ll have to leave you eventually,” Chaeyeon says, shrugging at the evident death that the 3 nymphs would have to face.

 

“And me! I have the shortest life span here!” Hyewon complains, and Minjoo hugs the daughter of Poseidon as well, relishing in the ocean scent that came with her.

 

“I’m sorry,” Minjoo says, but they all wave her off.

 

“No need to be,” Chaeyeon says. “The three of us knew we’d have to let you go eventually,” Chaeyeon says with a soft smile.

 

“Let us visit your Olympus house on Christmas!” Sakura chirps, and Minjoo nods.

 

“But we don’t celebrate Christmas,” Eunbi says, her eyebrows creasing in confusion.

 

“Jesus hasn’t even been born yet,” Chaeyeon says, and the two humans look at the three in confusion.

 

“Who’s Jesus?” Minjoo asks.

 

“He’s some guy- prophecy says he’s going to take over once the Gods get lazy,” Eunbi says, shrugging at the statement.

 

“Yes, yes- let’s not hold Minjoo back anymore- Hera will have our heads,” Chaeyeon suggests, and they all nod in agreement.

 

“One last hug?” Minjoo asks, trying her best to control her charmspeak so she wouldn’t fool them or herself.

 

I don’t want this to be a lie.

 

“Of course,” Sakura says with a soft smile, and the four all envelop Minjoo into one big group hug.

 

“We love you Minjoo,” Eunbi says as she pats the part of Minjoo she could get a hold of- and they could hear Minjoo’s sobs- and they held back their own tears- because even if Minjoo visited everyday, things would never be the same.

 

“I love you too,”

 

——

 

“So- it ends like that?” Yujin questions, though she absolutely hates that her second life ended like that.

 

Minjoo and I were never meant to be?

 

“No, no- I doubt that-” Jiwoo is in denial as Sooyoung is wide eyed staring at the book, where Jiwoo is flipping through the second chapter- searching for a continuation to the second story of Minjoo and Yujin.

 

Jiwoo flips through at light speed, eyes scanning through the first words of each page- and she lands on one that makes her stop- a frown falling upon her face.

 

“You died,”

 

——

 

“Minjoo,” Aphrodite calls out with honey in her voice, as she peeks to the situation in the underworld- down below, where Cerberus was softly the lifeless body of none other than Ahn Yujin.

 

“What?” Minjoo says sharply as she leans on the mighty pillar of Olympus- all powerful, yet so weak as she hugged her knees, looking down at the life she lost.

 

“Minmin silly,” Aphrodite says, floating up to her current favourite daughter, slowly caressing her back. “I think it’s time I be honest with you- though it may get me in trouble,” Aphrodite leans on the pillar as well, but Minjoo never tears her eyes off the dead body.

 

“Yujinie is a creature of Chaos,” Aphrodite says endearingly, but Minjoo scowls.

 

“Don’t call her a creature!” Minjoo says sharply, her hands balled into fists and Aphrodite only cooes at her latest romantic pairing.

 

“She’s the granddaughter of Chaos himself,” Aphrodite says softly, but Minjoo still doesn’t understand what her mother was trying to say.

 

“So what? Are you trying to say she was bad for me Mother? If you are you don’t have to because she’s already—”

 

“Creatures of chaos are immune to charmspeak darling,” Aphrodite says quickly, and Minjoo pauses.

 

“If it makes you feel any better, Yujin was genuinely in love you,” Aphrodite says, and Minjoo feels as if a whole piece of her life has finally fit- and she sees the world in a whole different light.

 

“I love her?” Minjoo asks, looking directly into her supposed mother’s eyes, grabbing the older by the shoulders. Aphrodite notices that despite her daughter being the Goddess of life- she looked about as lifeless as the souls in Asdophel.

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep that love for you,”

 

——

 

Minjoo sits on Mount Olympus, looking over the Hyacinth she and Yujin planted nearly 1000 years ago.

 

Yujin died at the age of 99, and Minjoo wasn’t there with her when she died, but she saw it with her own eyes, felt it- in her own heart- that the Lord of Death finally reaped her own soul.

 

She’s learned a lot in a thousand years of being immortal. One of the highlights being learning that Yujin couldn’t actually reap souls at random- there was a list of people she had to reap acording to the Fates, she just threatened everyone by saying such things because everyone believed it.

 

Also, in her 365th year of immortality, humans invented books- basically a set of papyruses bonded together for easier access. It was a breakthrough, and Athena rewarded the mortals by creating a ‘book of lives’. Something that could be used to trace back to your past lives for wisdom and knowledge.

 

Minjoo didn’t get one, since she was immortal- but she did ask for Yujin’s, much to Athena’s dismay, but she got it regardless, and she liked reading it- as a matter of fact- she read it almost everyday.

 

She especially liked the part where Yujin thinks about her- even years after they’d parted- it was nice to know Yujin still had long, well thought out thoughts of things that she wanted to tell Minjoo, yet every single one of them gone unsaid.

 

...I have yet again visited the beach of Sicily, where we planted the Hyacinth together. I wonder if she knew why I picked the hyacinth. To be honest, the only flowers I knew of were roses and sunflowers, because why on earth would I care about flowers? Yet a few hours prior to that moment- I saw her reading the book- Hyacinthus. I’ve read that book many times but—

 

I never knew what a hyacinth looked like until I met you.

 

But I must admit though, meeting Minjoo made me feel more in one day than I did my entire life. I liked her- but I knew I shouldn’t. My father warned me about it- he consulted the Fates and told me one day a girl would come into my life and flip it around.

 

Yet till this day I am not sure whether he meant flip my life for better or for worse...

 

HAHAH! I am being ridiculous. That’s enough- Minjoo thoughts hours are over.

 

Though I wonder- what the Goddess of Life does on a daily basis…

 

Yet again, I find myself thinking about Kim Minjoo…

 

Yet again…

 

Could I ever forget?

 

...I have purchased a bag of daffodil seeds, out of pure impulse from the old lady in Athens. Silly me, they will never grow in the halls of Nyx, flowers need sunlight to live. Mayhaps I could plant them in the beaches of Sicily, next to the lonely hyacinth. Oh- daffodils cannot grow in sand can they? Gods- I think I need some of those magic seeds Minjoo has.

 

I wonder if she still has them. Though, I doubt she does- remember when I saw her the other day? She was blowing a life into the stomach of a pregnant woman, and the fetus experienced their very first heartbeat. I loved it. I loved the smile on that woman’s face when she first felt it. It made me the happiest in the world. Even if it’s not my child. I liked it very much. Being happy.

 

Though a part of me believes that I was happiest because I saw Minjoo smiling as she did it.

 

I didn’t know seeing life could make Death so happy.

 

Ah I am crying now like a fool- thinking about her again. She is immortal- destined for much greater things. I will die soon. I don’t know when- but I should probably consult the fates about it- mayhaps I can—

 

You can’t Yujin…

 

Quit thinking about Kim Minjoo again...

 

… I found the meaning of Acacia’s today. Immortality, rebirth, purity- and a hidden love.

 

But was that love really hidden though? From the very beginning- she’d proven time and time again that she loved me. Yet it’s me who ran away, who refused to listen to her. It’s my fault.

 

I love Minjoo. It sounds silly to say now, but in this very dark room I somehow call home, it instantly lit up the very first time she stepped into it.

 

Oh wow. I love Minjoo.

 

Is it stupid? That I have no intention to move on, nor do I have any intention to pursue her.

 

Do I enjoy the pain? No. Yet I have come to terms with it. She is immortal, and I am nothing but a mere mortal to her. No matter how much I love her- even the three Fates cannot change that.

 

I am starting to believe I can only love Kim Minjoo.

 

And by the Gods- even the Fates could never change that.

 

I can only love Kim Minjoo.

 

But that’s rather the selfish thought isn’t it? There are people who need Minjoo, to bless their lives and to bring bundles of joy into their home. People need Life, and they love it more than anything.

 

Alas, despite the human necessity to die—

 

Nobody needs me…

 

Except well- oh Gods, I am thinking about Kim Minjoo again...

 

...I don’t want to die in the dark…

 

I have come to Sicily for perhaps the billionth time in my life. I have bid goodbye to my father, and have returned the scythe he treasures most. Father said he is very much proud of my work, he is proud of me for living on even if I lost my mother, and my love. He is proud of me.

 

And for the very first time in my 99 years of living- he said he loves me.

 

I am grateful.

 

To have heard ‘I love you’ twice in my life.

 

I am eternally grateful.

 

The Fates have cut my string already, and I cannot speak anymore- air is unable to enter my lungs and my fingertips are blue, but my wings are still with me.

 

I could not make it to the grotto even if I tried with my very last breath, but the beach of Sicily is pretty now, and the sky is the best colour, blue. The hyacinth from my youth isn’t dead yet. It’s still here, blooming towards the rising sun, it’s faint blue and the slight white reminds me of only my happiest memories. So this is what it’s like to die? Hurts less than I expected. Oh well...

 

I am thinking about Kim Minjoo again.

 

Minjoo hates herself everyday for not descending to earth at that moment, for simply watching from the pillars of Olympus, for not being with Yujin in her last dying breath. When the ground opened up beneath her- swallowing her whole because there was no human alive to care for Yujin’s body.

 

Minjoo constantly wonders if she could blow the life back into Yujin. Then again, she knew that the Fates orders were not to be tempered with.

 

Yujin was thinking about you.

 

Minjoo leans her head against the pillar, and she wants to fall asleep, she wants to wake up and have it all be a dream, and find herself in the warm embrace of a pair of wings as the ocean waves crash onto shore. She wants to fall back into the safety of the arms of death in Sicily and spend late nights arguing with Chaeyeon, Eunbi, Hyewon and Sakura, while the four go on with their ridiculous .

 

She wants that life in Elysium she’d always imagined with Yujin. Or even an infinity in Tartarus with Yujin.

 

She wants Yujin.

 

She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She’s lived a thousand years. Everyday was like the same damned thing, sure once in a while there’d be a party, and sometimes the mortals would entertain her- but other than that, the things they told about immortality was nothing more than a hoax.

 

Minjoo opens the first page of Yujin’s book, where she slowly traces the sketch of Yujin’s face, and she allows herself to believe that Yujin was in Elysium now, looking over the Groves of Persephone even in their bloom.

 

“I want to be with you,” Minjoo says as a cloud covers the flower she watched over like it was her own child, constantly blessing it with life and longevity. The hyacinth being the only thing left of Yujin that she could preserve.

 

“With Yujin?” A voice suddenly interrupts Minjoo’s solemn line of thoughts, and Minjoo snaps her head towards the fellow Goddess, the woman being none other than her mother- Aphrodite.

 

“Well- who else then mother?” Minjoo states the obvious, glancing back down at her book and then back to her mother.

 

“You know,” Aphrodite says, taking a seat next to her child. “You are amazing,” Aphrodite says, and Minjoo is taken aback slightly.

 

“T- thank you? I guess?” Minjoo says, not sure what to do with the compliment.

 

“To love one person for the rest of your life- that is a level of commitment even a God could never commit to,” Aphrodite says, slipping her left hand around Minjoo’s shoulders.

 

“That’s why you amaze me,” Aphrodite says. “Don’t tell Eros- but you are my favourite living child,” Aphrodite says, and Minjoo cracks a smile.

 

“You and Yujin- though you never married- you committed yourself to her in ways no mortal, God nor any living creature ever could,”

 

“Til death do us apart is nothing to the two of you,” Aphrodite says. “In this lifetime and the next- it’s amazing to me- because you have already chosen her,”

 

Minjoo is silent, not knowing whether or not she should make direct eye contact with her mother.

 

“A- and why do you tell me this now mother? 1000 years later,” Minjoo asks, a heavy feeling in her heart as she said out loud the number of years she’d loved Ahn Yujin.

 

“I have thought about this for a long time Minjoo, and I have decided that for you- I can,” Aphrodite says with determination, though there was a hint of fear in her eyes.

 

“I can take away your immortality,” Aphrodite says, and Minjoo shoots her head to her mother, who looks at her with a longing look on her face.

 

“Even though they say I am not- I am your mother before anything,” Aphrodite says. “Above all, I am the Goddess of Love,”

 

“It would hurt me more than anything to know that my very own daughter cannot feel love,”

 

“Y-you would do that for me?” Minjoo asks, and Aphrodite nods softly as she pulls Minjoo closer to her, caressing her daughter’s face gently as Minjoo’s head leans on the older Goddess’ shoulder.

 

“B-but wouldn’t the ten Goddesses— wouldn’t they hate you?” Minjoo asks again, concern laced in her tone.

 

“My love for you outweighs any hate they could give me,” Aphrodite says as her hand finds Minjoo’s, and she interlaces their hands.

 

“We can do it now- while the pavilion is empty,” Aphrodite says. “But I must warn you- it will hurt a lot,”

 

“You will reach your supposed age almost instantly, you might even decay a bit,” Aphrodite comments, but Minjoo is smiling.

 

“It’ll just be a moment,” Minjoo says, leaning away from her mother to look at her properly.

 

“I will miss you,” Aphrodite says. “When you choose your next life- I will be watching over you still,” Aphrodite speaks with a soft smile, though the veins in her heart were tightening at thought of losing Minjoo.

 

“Please take care of yourself,” Minjoo says, worried about the consequences that her mother were to face.

 

“It’s alright, I will hide in some lair Hephaestus has built,” Aphrodite assures, gripping both of Minjoo’s wrists with brute strength- and Minjoo knows its about to happen.

 

Death hurts more than I thought. Minjoo thinks as her skin begins to crack, revealing her true form from underneath, she’s heard of it before- immortals dying- as it happened once to the great God, Pan. Her head begins to feel light as she completely transforms into plasma, and she feels herself being drained of her very own life force.

 

She regains her body- the one where she couldn’t float around and teleport as she liked, and she feels her skin drying up at light speed- and her head is spinning and her heart is aching- she’s dying.

 

No wonder people are so scared of death. Would have Yujin gone to pursue another life already? Will she be waiting for me in Elysium? Will I even get into Elysium?

 

Too many questions ran through her head as she fell onto the marble floor, her body nearly lifeless as she looked at the blue of the sky, her mother running up to her, eyes wide with concern- but she knew that what was about to happen was inevitable.

 

I want to see you again, I want to touch you again. I need to love you again. Can you believe that? It’s been a thousand years.

 

And I still love you.

 

I can only love you.

 

It's always you.

 

“I hope you find what you love most,” Aphrodite says, and with Minjoo’s last breath, she thinks about what she indeed loves the most.

 

I am thinking about Ahn Yujin again.

 

——

 

“That’s insane,” Jiwoo says as they shut the book, and the couple are smiling, but Yujin- was agape, staring at the book.

 

“She gave up immortality for you,”

 

Yujin was breathless, speechless as she blinked aimlessly, trying to find words to say.

 

“She did,” Yujin says after a few minutes of blank staring, and Sooyoung and Jiwoo are looking at her expectantly, wanting the Ahn to touch a little more on the topic.

 

“Even if you’re scared- even you’re hurt by her- you know she’ll never leave you,” Jiwoo says as she puts a hand on Yujin’s thigh as a comforting motion, but Yujin still seems stunned.

 

“I know,” Yujin says as every distant and near memoir of Minjoo and her slips through her mind, every step of her life, regardless of whether big or small- she took it with Minjoo.

 

Even if you’re not immortal— I get to live forever with you.

 

It was a bigger commitment, a much larger responsibility, but yet again- she would be doing it with Minjoo.

 

That wasn’t so scary was it?

 

She knew Minjoo like the back of her hand, from start to finish- she even grew up with Minjoo. They’ve been together for 15 years, and regardless of anything, no matter how far Yujin went- even if she descended into hell and back- she’d always come back to the little hyacinth on the beach- and back to Kim Minjoo.

 

They’ve been together since the beginning of time- the rest of their lives was nothing to them.

 

Minjoo believes in her. The most precious person in her life, the love of her every life- believes in her.

 

It would if Yujin couldn’t believe in herself.

 

“I’m so,” Yujin says, letting out a sigh of contentment.

 

“Happy,”

 

“Well it’s not called the happiest day of your life for nothing,”

 

“Yup, and it only lasts a day kid- after that,” Sooyoung makes the slit neck motion, and Jiwoo slaps the girl on the back, shaking her head aggressively as she turned back to Yujin.

 

“Don’t say that! You’ll scare the kid!”

 

“No, it’s alright, I get it,” Yujin says. “Not everyday will the best day ever- but- Minjoo will be there,”

 

“And that’s enough for me,” Yujin says with a soft, genuine smile on her lips and the couple coo out loud.

 

“Oh my god, that’s so sweet,” Jiwoo says as she holds her clasped hands to her heart. “Yah- why don’t you say such things!” Jiwoo complains.

 

“I do! But- you know- you’re just not around to hear it!” Sooyoung replies, and Jiwoo pouts, giving her wife the benefit of doubt.

 

“AHN YUJIN!! WHERE THE ARE YOU?!” Yena’s voice echoes through the Grand Hyatt, and Yujin nearly screams when her eyes fall to her watch, looking at the time.

 

“Holy ! I’m late!” Yujin says, standing up abruptly with the couple.

 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Jiwoo asks the obvious, and Yujin looks to Jiwoo for a moment.

 

“Thanks again Jiwoo,” Yujin says with a soft smile. “You’re always there when I need you,” Yujin smiles as Jiwoo waves her off.

 

“I’ll be watching from the front row,” Jiwoo says. “Stop doubting yourself,”

 

Yujin nods at Jiwoo’s words and waves the two a brief goodbye as she runs off towards Yena- but she stops, turning back to the older two.

 

Yujin runs back to Jiwoo and traps her in a bear hug, taking the older by surprise, Sooyoung smiling at Yujin with kindness for the very first time.

 

“Thank you Jiwoo,” Yujin says again, this time with more emotion, trying to pour out the volume of gratitude she kept into these three words, her eyes glossy at her own feelings. Jiwoo hugs her back with the same amount of emotion, and she’s more than proud.

 

“It’s always my pleasure Yujin,” Jiwoo replies. “You trust me right?” Jiwoo asks, though she knows the answer.

 

“They don’t call it soulmate for no reason,” Jiwoo says with a smirk.

 

“You can thank me again at the baby shower,” Jiwoo jokes, and Yujin screeches at Jiwoo’s words, the older two just laughing as Yujin pulls away from the hug, walking away from the two, though there was a smile on her face as she stomped away, the laughter of the two like music to her ears.

 

You bet I will Kim Jiwoo.

 

“Yah Ahn Yujin! Where’d you go?! You can’t be late!” Hyewon complains along with Yena, and Yujin clicks her tongue, dragging the older duo along and back into the dressing room.

 

“As long as Eunbi unnie doesn’t know~ we’ll be fine,” Yujin jokes, and the older two sigh.

 

“Hey- if you are late Eunbi will scold me! Always me!” Hyewon complains as they arrive at the front of the dressing room, Yujin shooting Hyewon a smirk.

 

“Well, you married her- not me,” Yujin says with a smile, and Hyewon rolls her eyes.

 

“Well don’t you come looking for me after you get married Ahn,” Hyewon scowls, though there is a smile threatening to form on her lips.

 

“I won’t,” Yujin chuckles.

 

“I have Minjoo,”

 

——

 

The Current Life.

March 11th 2037, Grand Hyatt Seoul.

 

Today is the day I marry you.

 

“Oh my god! It’s happening!” Wonyoung squeaks a little bit, drumming Yujin’s back as she continues to squeal.

 

“Calm your Wonyoung!” Yena says as they begin to line up at the sides, the light from the fake moonlight shimmering on their dark blue tuxedos, replacing the traditional blazer with a long coat and crowns in their hair, coincidentally having the flowers be blue hyacinths and white daffodils.

 

The universe really knew how to foreshadow.

 

Yujin was dressed differently from the rest of them of course, sporting a pure white steampunk- looking white trench coat, embroidered with blue flowers along the cuff and the area. Underneath that, she wore a white blouse with the matching dark blue thread, though it was nearly invisible under the trench coat, it did make a slight statement. Her slacks were designed with the same cloth that hugged her legs perfectly, making her look somewhat like a prince from the victorian era- though she was wearing a flower crown. Partially, Yujin wasn’t completely sure what exactly the theme was, but the blue and white was pretty, so why not right?

 

Alas, her father apparently wore this exact same design when he got married, and he requested that Yujin wear something similar, to which Yujin happily obliged.

 

“Do I look good?” Yujin asks, turning to Yena who was behind her, and the older nods vigorously.

 

“Best I’ve ever seen! You look like- like a pirate!” Yena exclaims, and Yujin chuckles.

 

“A pirate?” Yujin laughs at the irony, Yena reaching up to adjust the flower crown on her head.

 

“Yeah,” Yena says, completely sure with herself. “A pirate,” Yena says, softly, and Yujin catches sight of Yena’s glossy eyes, and laughs a little at the older.

 

“Don’t cry yet unnie,” Yujin says with a chuckle, and Yena slaps her.

 

“I am not crying! My eyes are just- you know- this place is dusty, pollution, lots of pollution these days you know?!” Yena argues back mercilessly, and Yujin just lets out a fit of giggles at her long time friend.

 

“Whatever you say, unnie,” Yujin waves it off with a smile as she turns back to the front, where she saw Lee Seunggi approaching the six.

 

“It’s showtime guys!” Seunggi says, and the six laugh for a second, Hyewon peering her head out to look at the man.

 

“Seriously Seunggi? Still using that line?” Hyewon asks and they laugh again, Seunggi just sighing with a smile as he gestures for all of them to go up to the altar, and they file in one by one, turning to face the crowd of people and the currently empty aisle.

 

Yujin catches sight of Jiwoo smiling brightly and Yujin smiles back, letting out a shaky breath as she puts all her attention on the aisle, proceeding to take a deep breath. In the corner of her eye she can see Lia with the rest of the mini orchestra, ready to sing once she caught sight of Minjoo.

 

(A/n : listen to this in 0.75x speed in the background if you fancy https://youtu.be/ORsd31XzOO8)

 

The set of grandeur doors to the Grand Ballroom swung open slowly, and the sounds of the piano playing began to fill her ears, and her heart clenches.

 

The bridesmaids are still covering her, and Yujin starts hearing her heartbeat thump louder than Lia’s voice, though not loud enough to block out Wonyoung’s little squeal.

 

Chaewon is the last to move away, and Yujin sees her.

 

The feeling is more overwhelming than she expects. Yujin is fiddling with her fingers and trying to hold back a smile- but she can’t.

 

She’s so damn happy.

 

She wants to describe Minjoo’s dress, with it’s matching blue sequins and white lace and it’s somewhat floral design- she wants to- but she can’t stop looking at Minjoo.

 

Perhaps this was a biased opinion, but Minjoo made anything look beautiful.

 

She’s so beautiful.

 

Yujin wants to scream on the top of her lungs, she wants to jump for joy and just run up to Minjoo, but she holds herself down, not wanting to be scolded. Though she is cursing whoever designed the length of the aisle this long.

 

She’s making direct eye contact with Minjoo now- and even after all these years, she still believes that Minjoo is a matchless beauty. She remembers the very first time they met- Minjoo wearing that horrible multi-coloured shirt, and she laughs a bit at the memory. She then remembers the last time she saw Minjoo after Iz*one’s disbandment, the feeling of regret in her heart when she saw Minjoo drive away- leaving all those things she desperately wanted to say- unsaid.

 

There’s no driving away now.

 

She then proceeds to remember the time she saw Minjoo in Jeju, where they shared their first kiss, their first date, and nearly their first everything. Yujin is reminded of the smell of spring and the vanilla from Minjoo’s soap and she smiles brighter than before, thinking about how amazing it would be to be able to go back to that moment.

 

Though she does think that nothing could ever beat this moment, right now.

 

Her mind then moves to the time they moved in together, trying to assemble ridiculous amounts of IKEA furniture, picking out a dog, painting that one horrid wall in the house. She’s glad she’ll be sharing that home with Minjoo ‘til the day she died.

 

She’s glad it’s Minjoo.

 

She’s catapulted back to reality now, with a single tear falling down her face as a speck of emotion from all those moments piece together, combined with the sheer feeling of bliss that was in her mind currently, a second tear then falls from her left eye as Minjoo silently chuckles at her, her eyes also glossy as she held Yujin’s gaze, slowly going up the platform to the mini stage, and the music stops as Minjoo turns to face Yujin, the other 5 members of Iz*one hurriedly rushing onto the stage, keeping their distance behind Minjoo. There was no hand-off required, because Minjoo’s father said quote ‘I’d already handed her off to ya a long time ago’.

 

And as Kim Minjoo walks towards the altar in the same way she’d walk into her arms after a long day at work—

 

Yujin agrees.

 

“Ain’t nobody like you,” Lia finishes, and everyone is still silent, waiting for Seunggi to continue.

 

“I’m in love with you,” Yujin says under her breath, and she can see Minjoo trying her best not to cry, biting back a smile as she looks down for a second, and back at Yujin.

 

"To all present I say, we are gathered here, not to witness the beginning of what will be, but rather what already is!” Seunggi begins, his voice booming through the microphone.

 

“We do not create this marriage, because marriage is created in the hearts of two loving people. We can and do, however, gather to celebrate with Yujin and Minjoo, the wondrous and joyful occurrence that has already taken place in their lives, and the commitment they make today." Seunggi continues the opening, both Minjoo and Yujin turning their heads to Seunggi, though somehow their hands meet in the middle, the warmth from Minjoo’s touch calming Yujin’s rapid heart the slightest bit.

 

"True marriage begins well before the wedding day, and the efforts of marriage continue well beyond the ceremony's end,” Seunggi begins the chosen reading, smiling softly at the two. “A brief moment in time and the of the pen are all that is required to create the legal bond of marriage, but it takes a lifetime of love, commitment, and compromise to make marriage durable and everlasting,”

 

“Today you declare your commitment to each other before family and friends. Your yesterdays were the path to this moment, and your journey to a future of togetherness becomes a little clearer with each new day." Seunggi says proudly.

 

“I am proud to say I have announced two of the most important days of their lives,” Seunggi speaks. “The day they became teammates,”

 

“And the day they become soulmates,”

 

"So without further ado, do you Kim Minjoo, accept Ahn Yujin as your soulmate and one true love, promising to share in all that life offers and suffers, to be there for her in times of plenty, as well as times of need, to soothe her in times of pain, and to support her in all endeavors, big and small, for as long as you both shall live?" Seunggi asks, fully knowing the answer.

 

“Not in a million lifetimes will I ever have a different answer to that question,” Minjoo starts. “15 years ago, on this same day, Ahn Yujin gave me a necklace and she told me—”

 

“She’d given it to the person she loved the most in the world a long time ago,” Minjoo reminisces, Yujin smiling at the memory they shared together. “I asked her- who it was,” Minjoo continues.

 

“She said it was me- and it was always me,” Minjoo smiles as she repeats Yujin’s almost exact words. “And standing here today,” Minjoo speaks.

 

“I hope you know Yujinie,” Minjoo smiles softly as she squeezes Yujin’s hand. “Even for me,”

 

“It’s always you,” Minjoo smiles softly, holding back the urge to pull Yujin closer, the younger shooting her a loopy smile.

 

“And perhaps for the first millionth time,” Minjoo says, and Yujin wants to slap her for taking so long—

 

“I always do,”

 

They are silent, staring at each other as if they were the only ones in the room, not even bothered to look back and Seunggi.

 

“Now, do you— Ahn Yujin, accept Kim Minjoo as your soulmate and one true love, promising to share in all that life offers and suffers, to be there for her in times of plenty, as well as times of need, to soothe her in times of pain, and to support her in all endeavors, big and small, for as long as you both shall live?"

 

“Well, I- I actually wanted to promise you a lot,” Yujin starts. “I looked up a lot of things, on the internet and everything,”

 

“But, I realised that, I can promise you the world and have that not enough to express how much I feel for you,”

 

“So I promise you, to keep my promises, whether it’s one we made today, or a thousand yesterdays ago- I promise you it’s all i’ll do,”

 

“I promise you me,” Yujin says. “Whether I am a pirate, a painter, a demigod, whether I am in death or in life- I promise you- it’s always me,”

 

“I’m so glad I get to spend my infinite lives with you Kim Minjoo,” Yujin smiles as she prepares for the final line—

 

“I always do,”

 

Even in the past 6 lives, and the next 6 million—

 

I always do.

 

Yujin lets go of Minjoo’s hand and holds it out to her side, Yena placing a simple silver diamond ring in Yujin’s hand, one that matched perfectly with the pearl necklace that adorned Minjoo’s neck.

 

“I give you this ring, which has no beginning, nor does it have an ending,” Yujin says as she holds the ring in between her fingers.

 

“This ring symbolises the beginning of our new love— and to commence our never ending love,” Yujin says, wearing that same smile she wore when she saw in her that cage, aeons ago.

 

Yujin slips it on Minjoo’s ring finger with both her hands, caressing it slowly and softly.

 

“I t- thee wed,” Yujin says, and she stutters a bit, and Minjoo wants to laugh at her, but she knows her mom paid a lot for the camera men, so she decides to keep it elegant.

 

"And now, by the power vested in me by the National Producers, I hereby pronounce you wife, and wife,” Seunggi says, causing the masses to laugh, though it was more of Chaeyeon’s iconic laughter that made Yujin laugh.

 

"You may now kiss the bride,”

 

Not wasting a single second, Minjoo wraps her hand around Yujin’s neck, pulling her close until their lips met, only giving Yujin a split second to react- wrapping her hands around Minjoo’s waist, the warmth of Minjoo’s lips on her sending tingles down her spine, her ears automatically blurring out the sounds of the roaring crowd, hollering and clapping at the unity before them.

 

Right now- it was just her and Minjoo, in their own little world- though you may ask, where might this world be?

 

Well perhaps, on a boat in the South China Sea—

 

Of course, it could also be on a lovely garden on the island of Sicily,

 

Or a dystopian hospital somewhere in the future?

 

Or mayhaps, a cozy home in the middle of Tokyo, Japan..

 

You could even say they were in a Hanok, in the heart of Joseon.

 

Wherever in the world they may be, or whoever in the world they were—

 

Just know that they’re together.

 

Because though Yujin may not believe in unicorns and dragons, and other such creatures, heck Yujin barely believed in demigods— Yujin does believe in one thing—

 

That for her, it would always be Ahn Minjoo.

 

And yet alas, forever and always—

 

“It’s always you too,”

 

——

 

Glossary :)

 

Aphrodite - the Goddess of Love, Beauty and Lust.

Ares - the God of War.

Athena - Goddess of Wisdom and technical War.

Artemis - Goddess of the Moon, the hunt, ity and archery.

Apollo - God of the sun, music and archery.

Amphirite - oldest of the Nereids, Queen of the Sea.

Antigone - a play written by Sophocles, also a figure in mythology.

Charmspeak - the ability to charm someone with their voice.

Chaos - the void, the thing the Greeks believed created everything, in this fic- Yujin’s great grandfather.

Cerberus - the three headed dog at the gates of the Underworld, a monster.

Divine Comedies - a three part narrative poem by Dante Aligheiri, Inferno, Purgatory and Paradiso. (Which by timeline, would’ve not been released yet- but it’s my favourite poem of all time, so yeah)

Dionysus - the God of Wine, and parties.

Demeter - Goddess of plants and harvest.

Eros - Cupid, son of Aphrodite.

Eurydice - was the wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music.

Elysium - the greek rendition of Heaven.

Hades - God of the Underworld, Persephone's Husband

Hestia - Goddess of the Hearth and the fireplace.

Hera - Goddess of goddesses, women, and marriage. Married to Zeus and known as Queen of the Gods (kind of an ).

Hecate - the goddess of magic, crossroads, moon, ghosts, witchcraft and necromancy (the undead).

Hyacinthus - an ex lover of Apollo, hella gay dude, hot prince.

Halls of the Night - a location in the Underworld where the children of Nyx, and Nyx usually are.

Heracles - it’s Hercules, do I really need to elaborate? Son of Zeus, fellow demigod.

Iris - greek goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea and the sky.

Library of Alexandria - the greatest library in recorded history, Julius Caesar burned it though...

Medea - a play written by Euripides, also a figure in Greek myths.

Meneotes - he takes care of the cattle in the Underworld, nothing special. Just a dude.

Nereid - Spirits of the Sea.

Nymph - spirits of nature, the general term.

Orpheus - a musician, poet and prophet, known as the best musician of all time in Greek Mythology.

Persephone - Queen of the Underworld, goddess of vegetation, Hades’ wife.

Poseidon - God of the Ocean.

Rhea - the Mother of Gods, Titaness and goddess of nature.

Satyress - female half goat-creatures, the companions of Dionysus.

Styx - one of the many rivers in the Underworld, the river of Hate, there is also a Goddess with the same name.

Thanatos - Death, God of Death (Grim Reaper of sorts)

Tartarus - Hell, in greek mythology, also the deepest pit in the Underworld, known to greek men where the Gods dump all their monsters.

Tyche - Goddess of prosperity and fortune.

Zeus - God of the Sky, King of Olympus.

Zephyrus- God of the Wind.