a/n: this is inspired by a manga by nagori yu, i think the title was 'snake lady and her offering' or something like that. 

before we begin, let me clarify;

yunjin is a supreme mythical creature, a serpent (i think we all know why she suits this role) glorified by many, in short, she is a sovereign. she's maybe kinda sorta immoral.

sakura is an offering, it is a tradition that young maidens are often delivered as sacrifices to the serpent deity (this may differ in other lands where other deities reside) to show gratitude and in a way, it instils faith within both parties. 

dont get too hung up in the mythology here, i simply write it the way i want to with barely any research. purely self indulgent.

 

//

 

worship.

 

when the belief of a divine being imperceptible to the eye — a ruler of the universe — isn't enough to fulfill the faith of the hopeful, who then would the humans turn to? 

 

sakura's eyes trail up across emerald green scales — one equivalent to the size of a banquet table every noblemen possess in their castle — before they meet ruby red. they carry the priceless glint a gemstone would, her own reflection so prominent in their slits. they look back at her without so much as a blink, and sakura's firm glare stays.

 

indeed the devil works hard, concealing wickedness behind desirable beauty many would not hesitate to kill for.

 

sakura closes her eyes, and when she flutters them open a moment later, the serpent which once stood at the height of a mansion is now replaced with a woman many would refer to as an enchantress. with how perfectly sculpted she was, all the curves in the right place, midnight black hair cascading down smooth shoulders and a sly smile so disarming, an enchantress for a title was more than accurate.

 

"many wouldn't even dare bore their eyes into mine, yet you stand firm in front of my true form."

 

yunjin saunters up the pool stairs clad in a silk robe, slender legs flaunting themselves within the slits of the fabric as she approaches sakura with an impish grin. sakura's piercing gaze remains, to even look into wine red eyes dilated just for her felt like a sin. 

 

internally, sakura scoffs, such hypocrisy coming from herself. the moment they brought her into this cursed land — a land ruled by a supreme beast no less, worshipped by its dwellers — she had declared herself impure.

 

she was nothing more than an offering to a diabolical beast.

 

"i wish to travel into town," ignoring yunjin's remarks, sakura announces her intent, voice laced with odd nonchalance and calmness despite being in the presence of a higher being who could be her demise in a matter of seconds.

 

in the blink of an eye, yunjin's lips are brushing against her cheek, hands snaking around her waist as she captures her in a loose embrace. sakura doesn't flinch, only turns her head away slightly when yunjin's guileful eyes glance at her with unfathomed adoration.

 

"then i shall accompany you," yunjin hums and says, her hot breath hitting her skin inevitably sends shivers down sakura's spine.

 

a frown marred her face, sakura is quick to object.

 

"there is no need, i will be fine on my own-"

 

under yunjin's searing touch, sakura finds herself faltering, her words are swallowed back in just as yunjin gently tucks her hair behind her ear and presses her lips gently on the delicate flesh. sakura instinctively shuts her eyes tight, doesn't even realise she's holding fistfuls of yunjin's robe as she tries with all her might to keep her knees from buckling, her brave front crumbling in front of yunjin's very eyes.

 

there was nothing sakura hated more than appearing vulnerable in front of the serpent. 

 

yunjin giggles slyly in her ear, firmly holding onto sakura's small back to keep her upright. the sight of the cherry blossom, her flower, visibly melting under her touch is beyond invigorating and she wishes to be the only one who could bear witness to this pleasing side of her beloved.

 

"look at you," yunjin whispers and lowers her head, nosing into the crook of sakura's neck, breathing in her addictive flowery scent. she smirks when the woman under her unknowingly cranes her neck to grant her more access. 

 

"fine on your own? when just a touch of me has you barely on your feet? i can't have you appearing so ravishing and delicate like this in front the eyes of many." 

 

when yunjin pulls away and sees blushing cheeks, small breaths escaping parted lips only she could claim, there's ecstasy bubbling from within her chest. filled with pride knowing that she was the reason behind that adoring embarrassment, and that the thought of another pair of eyes taking in this beautiful sight of sakura has her livid within seconds.

 

sakura grits her teeth, ignoring her flushed face, and tries again. "i won't be long."

 

"hm, just being a second away from you has me longing gravely."

 

"i won't run away, if that is your concern."

 

"oh, it never was. i simply cannot bear to be apart from you."

 

sakura's smile is bittersweet, she couldn't even break free if she wanted to. she walked into the serpent's lair on her own after all.

 

                                                 *

 

for a ruler — the serpent — yunjin treats her well. so well that sakura muses even princesses would envy her.

 

yunjin pampers her with unrivaled affection, provides her a feast for a meal, bestows her wants without much reluctance and heeds her words well. 

 

(now who is the one being worshipped?)

 

of course she would, just like tending to an orchard to ensure its fruits would ripen deliciously, yunjin cares for her without fail. and when the time comes — when yunjin deems her luscious enough as an offering — she will accept her demise and fulfill her own promise.

 

to be the serpent's last.

 

and no more young maidens would have to be sacrificed just to satiate a beast's hunger.

 

"do you mind? i'm in the middle of reading a novel." 

 

seated on a bench in yunjin's garden, the only place sakura easily finds peace, she attempts to pry herself from yunjin's touch. the moment yunjin had discovered her leisurely reading in her lush garden, her moment of serene had come to an end, and now yunjin is back to glueing herself by her side.

 

sometimes, she couldn't believe that yunjin is a powerful being capable of devouring a whole village within mach speed. sometimes, it was as if the monster in her falls silent as soon as her head falls upon sakura's lap, with only a lovesick smile drawn on her lips as she gazes up at her with crimson eyes so saccharine.

 

yunjin had once told her that among her many offerings, she was the first to last this long. some couldn't last a month, yet sakura is still living on for six months. often, she wonders why her death is prolonged, but moments like these where she could relish another day doing something she loved — although she knew she was supposed to hate it — she gives silent gratitude to the serpent whom she unknowingly had enamoured.

 

"i, too, wish to be stared at for hours by you. to feel your unwavering gaze on me like you would a book." the way yunjin kisses her is maddeningly sweet, it shouldn't be, but it is. 

 

so sakura closes her eyes and relents, allows yunjin's lips to lay upon hers once again. she feels a hand slowly trailing up her thigh, and the book within her grasp is quick to be forgotten, closed and left unattended on the bench.

 

behind all that ferocity yunjin carried in her true form, sakura had been the only one who managed to bring out this side of her, a deep attraction she had never felt that even her servants grew concerned for her change in demeanor. she knew sakura could be her downfall, but maybe because it is sakura is why she wouldn't mind it all.

 

"milady, dinner is-"

 

yunjin breaks away and instantly glowers at the garden entrance where her butler stood with his jaw hung agape, frozen from head to toe as fear was quick to overcome him as soon as yunjin's eyes silently threw death threats at him.

 

"out."

 

"y-yes milady! i apologise for the intrusion!"

 

sakura sighs, heat crawling up her neck and eventually her face which instantly grew red from embarrassment. she hears yunjin scoffing, before the woman turns back to her with a sweet smile. as if she hadn't sent a man running with his tail between his legs seconds ago.

 

yunjin's nose dives back into her neck, letting her lips trail over soft skin and nipping gently at sakura's ear. the grunt that escapes lush lips brings out a smile on yunjin's face, she feels dainty hands clutching onto her shoulders tightly and yunjin merely coos.

 

"to be able to erase my fragrance i've applied meticulously on you everyday, that is a commitment worthy to be revered." yunjin murmurs against sakura's lips, before pulling away with a of her lips, gently holding sakura's jaw within her fingers. it wasn't easy to get rid of her fragrance.

 

"do you dislike my scent so greatly?"

 

"i abhor it," the reply is breathless and yunjin smirks, instantly hears the lie that veils itself under a silvery tone.

 

sakura shoves her gently, and seeing the frown on her reddening face makes yunjin want to hold her close and bombard kisses on her face until they disappear.

 

"everytime i take my feet into town, people give me petrified looks and stray far away from me." sakura huffs, picking up her book beside her and her expression turns grim for a moment.

 

"you know i only do it so not a soul wouldn't dare harm you, and that they know that you belong to only me." yunjin reasons, leans in to brush the stray hair that fell on sakura's face.

 

she's met with silence, sakura's eyes are back to skimming the pages on her novel. and while her eyes were busy unraveling words, yunjin's eyes were busy adoring her side profile.

 

"if it is to the extent that it offends you greatly, i will gladly gnaw off their noses and gauge out their eyes to soothe your concerns." 

 

"please don't, why did you have to imprint such gruesome image in my head? and who will worship you if you eat your own people?" sakura pinches the bridge of her nose, forehead creasing in disgust.

 

yunjin chuckles, happy to regain sakura's attention and pushes herself further into her cherry blossom's side, leaning her chin on her shoulder.

 

"well, they don't require their eyes and noses to kneel before me, do they?" yunjin jests, or not, sakura doesn't know. but if it was for her, then she knew yunjin would forget mercy.

 

"it seems i'm the only thing your morality, or what's left of it, is desperately clinging onto. else you wouldn't have hesitated to shed blood under the reason that is my predicament." sakura points out dryly, hating how yunjin's fingers threading through her hair feels nice.

 

"that is true, i haven't bitten someone's head off for awhile ever since your arrival." yunjin hums in thought, as if it was the most casual topic ever.

 

sakura turns her head slightly to meet yunjin's softening gaze, the smile that automatically rests on her plump lips shows itself once again. 

 

"and let it stay that way, your eyes should only be hungry for me." sakura firmly says, lips pressed in a thin line.

 

whatever it takes for innocent lives to not be taken anymore.

 

"whatever you wish for, my love. but the second someone lays a hand on you, i will not hesitate to bring hell upon them." yunjin asserts, her unyielding tone leaving no room for argument. a tone even sakura knew she shouldn't protest against.

 

she smiles in acknowledgement but her heart remains restless.

 

                                                 *

 

"where has lady yunjin gone?"

 

sakura looks at one of the servants with a questionable look, covering her wrist with her sleeve where a new bandage was wrapped around. 

 

the female servant grew rigid, holding the rag close to her chest with eyes darting left and right as opened and closed with great reluctance to answer.

 

"l-lady yunjin... um..." perhaps yunjin had her swore to keep it to herself, sakura's eyebrows furrowed at that.

 

just as she was about to reach out to assuage the servant's nerves, a hand coils itself around her waist and reels her into familiar arms.

 

"missed me?" sakura looks up into yunjin's eyes in surprise, the latter barely sparing a glance at the servant before she continues. 

 

"you, prepare lunch for my beloved."

 

"what about you, milady?" she asks, posture even more rigid with yunjin's overpowering presence engulfing the atmosphere. she flits her eyes to the floor with a blush on her face when yunjin leans in to peck sakura's lips.

 

"i just had my meal, though it wasn't the most delicious but i am satiated for the time being." yunjin answers indifferently, earning a dubious look from the woman in her arms.

 

"at once, milady." 

 

"send the chef my regards, and if my cherry blossom so much as frowns upon his cooking, tell him i will have his head." yunjin wastes no time to send the servant off so she could relish her time with sakura, eyes sharp when she emphasises her last sentence.

 

"understood, milady." and then the servant scurries off, leaving the two in their own space.

 

sakura moves away warily from yunjin's hold and lets her eyes roam around her garb, and when she catches red blotches stained at the hem, she immediately looks up at the serpent with a piercing stare.

 

"what did you do?" sakura spits, feeling her heart sinking at her own hunches forming in her head. 

 

yunjin only responds with a grin, drawing near and caressing her cheek.

 

"you're as gorgeous as the day i first laid my eyes upon you."

 

sakura recoils from her touch as one would upon a boiling kettle. there's a scowl on her face, those brown orbs now carry the same animosity as the moment they took off sakura's face veil and yunjin eyes ravished her for the first time.

 

"yunjin, what did you do." her tone is accusatory, and yunjin's smile instantly drops.

 

for a second, yunjin's eyes lost it shimmer, and when they gaze into sakura's eyes like cold steel, the air around them tensed. but she remains resolute, because she knew yunjin wouldn't ever swing a hand against her.

 

instead, the serpent takes her wrist — the one wrapped with a bandage — and lowers her sleeve, holding it up. and when yunjin's wine red eyes turn into slits, sakura feels the slightest wrath seeping through the serpent's skin. she isn't sure if a fraction of yunjin's wrath is supposed to be this powerful, feels the atmosphere around them void of breeze, it almost feels suffocating.

 

sakura doesn't even want to imagine what could happen if ever yunjin doesn't hold back. 

 

"the one who caused this blight on you? i devoured him." yunjin says with venom in her voice, lips upturned.

 

and then it's gone. 

 

the air returns back to normal and sakura swallows, a sigh escaping knowing she couldn't have done anything.

 

"countless times i told you that it is unnecessary, that is merely how men are. and i am fine now, it was just a bruise-"

 

"just a bruise? sakura, if there is one thing i despise most, it is those who carry the audacity to mar what is mine. if only i had been there beside you, then you didn't have to suffer such horrid aggression." 

 

sakura looks away from yunjin's eyes filled with both fury and melancholy, knowing that it had been dire if yunjin called her by her name. 

 

perhaps all this could have been avoided if she had heed yunjin's words and never removed her fragrance. she had been lucky that one of yunjin's servants who had been in town recognised her as she was being dragged like a ragdoll by her assailant into an alley and interfered.

 

seeing the look of guilt on sakura's face, yunjin's expression softens and rubs her thumb against her bandaged wrist.

 

"men are scum who walk the earth, born with abyssal desire, i will not hesitate to eradicate them especially those vermin who dare blemish my precious." she stated with a firm tone.

 

sakura retracts her hand upon yunjin's words and looks at her with wistful eyes, a hint of spite somewhere within. 

 

"then you are no different," sakura rests her hand by her side, and yunjin's eyes narrowed.

 

"just as they would willingly trample on anything to fulfill their desires, you would not hesitate to do the same when i am tainted. and when a day comes when you decide i am imperfect, you would simply throw me away." sakura retaliates, rubbing her arm with her hand as her expression turned grim.

 

yunjin wants to protest, feels the twinge in her chest when sakura speaks of her feelings as if they carry nothing but greed. but sakura isn't done, she moves a step back and scoffs as if to remind herself that she couldn't truly mean anything to a creature who was created to cause chaos. 

 

she tries to convince herself that all those times spent within yunjin's arms were merely satiating her needs because if she had opposed, she would have met her demise a long time ago.

 

she tries to convince herself that yunjin bore no actual feelings for her and is simply nurturing her so that when the time comes, her purpose as an offering would be fulfilled and to remember her initial intent when she carried her own two feet to this land.

 

so then why is her chest squeezing so uncomfortably? 

 

sakura shuts her eyes tightly and grimaces, not wanting to meet the gaze of the one who bestowed her with nothing but love. although twisted, it was love no less.

 

"you will never see me as a human being, you only see me as a livestock for your longetivity." sakura hisses and yunjin remains silent, taking in her spiteful remarks and doesn't make a move until she's sure sakura was done. 

 

"like how men look at wealth as power, you look at me as a meal waiting to be ravished." 

 

"and when i'm gone, you will find another meal to toy with. but i won't allow you," sakura fixes her determined gaze back onto yunjin who wore an unreadable expression.

 

"i will live healthy and long, longer than those you have taken in and subdued without mercy." 

 

"i will be your last meal, no more victims after me." it comes out more like a plea than a demand, sakura's woeful gaze dropping to the floor when yunjin doesn't react.

 

the silence is gnawing her inside out, sakura isn't sure how long she could bear it. when she looks back up, yunjin closes the distance between them and lightly cups her face with one hand while the other grabs her bruised wrist.

 

sakura sees the hurt flashing in yunjin's eyes, but dismisses it. where was the remorse for all of the lives she's stolen? for a savage like her to even express hurt feels like a blatant lie. 

 

the corners of yunjin's lips curve up ever so slightly, but they contain no bliss like they usually would when her eyes land on sakura. an empty smile, devoid of even its sinister intent.

 

"...will you poison yourself on the day i grow ravenous for you as you ripen? is your plan to take yourself from this world and with you, me?" yunjin finally responds, quiet and knowing. 

 

she sees the split second of shock on sakura's face when the latter realises she knew. that from the moment sakura entered the premises of her home, she came with the intent to kill her — because no sane person would voluntarily walk into the snake's den without a reason and ask to be an offering.

 

and despite knowing her intent, yunjin took her in. because someone like sakura was one of a kind. she was never afraid and doesn't shrink in yunjin's presence. yunjin couldn't ever forget sakura's piercing gaze never once tearing away from her ruby red ones, so stubborn and so foolish and so valiant all at once.

 

all that selflessness so she could prevent the serpent from snatching the lives of faultless young maidens, whose mothers cry their hearts out as they could do nothing but watch as their daughters slip within their grasp in front of their very eyes.

 

and seeing the despair that presents itself on sakura's face, it feels as if yunjin finally feels the weight of all her sins on her shoulders. but she doesn't say anything, and like how sakura accepted her fate, she too, accepted that no amount of repentance could ever make up for all of her wrongs. 

 

"...the world is better off without monsters like you ravaging it. i will die content knowing i have fulfilled my own promise." sakura answers calmly a while later.

 

she sees the corners of yunjin's lips rising despite everything she's said. there wasn't even a trace of malice in that smile of hers, she doesn't ever know what yunjin is thinking.

 

"you are deranged, to remain enamoured whilst grinning like an imbecile upon a death threat?" sakura questions her, eyebrows frowning as she looks at yunjin in disbelief.

 

but yunjin's smile is bittersweet, though sakura doesn't know, and once again she brings her hands up to hold sakura's face within her grasp. 

 

"even if i try to explain how i deeply feel for you, you wouldn't believe me." yunjin kisses her forehead, expecting sakura to pull away but the latter doesn't move an inch.

 

"ever since you rose up the stairs to meet me at my throne, my loyalty belonged to only you. if you are not in this world, then i have no more reason to live." yunjin insinuates, hiding the truth that she had only been prolonging sakura's demise because she had no plans of ever ridding the woman in the first place.

 

but sakura isn't immortal and neither is she, and she is aware that humans don't share half the lifespan she has. and when she goes, where does yunjin go? it was simple, she would have sakura to decide for her, for them. but sakura doesn't have to know this, so until sakura decides that she was sick and tired of being her sole 'property', yunjin doesn't have issues with her thinking that she had been nothing more than her prisoner for the rest of her life. 

 

underneath her, sakura scoffs,"do you whisper that line over and over to the ears of your preceding offerings?"

 

"you are the only one, my sweet. don't you see? you have changed me." yunjin truthfully says, not surprised when sakura's gaze on her turned bleak.

 

"not for the better i'm afraid." her beloved mumbles, but yunjin pays her no mind, she doesn't blame sakura for not fully knowing her heart. doesn't expect her to.

 

"if only i had met you sooner, we could have had much more time together," and perhaps her eyes would have been opened then.

 

sakura weakly glares up at her, doesn't pull away when yunjin wraps her arms around her waist and pulls her close. "i would only have been your prisoner much longer."

 

"and had i been human, perhaps you would have loved me just as i have loved you now." yunjin says wistfully, showing her vulnerability for a brief moment as she stares deeply into sakura's eyes. 

 

"you call this love? this is obsession." sakura retaliates, her hateful remarks sounded empty to herself, it was as if they were only there to distract herself from the fact that she sensed a deep melancholy in yunjin's voice. a feeling she thought someone like yunjin wouldn't even be capable of bearing.

 

"you deem my love for you as obsession, but in reality, there is no difference. the thoughts of that person constantly filling up your mind, the myriad of what if's as you marvel about a million scenarios of being together like a deluded fool, the many times you crave for their searing touch. you are willing to do anything for their happiness, to desperately better yourself so you would be adequate, to protect what is yours and to envy those who even think about stealing a glance at a single strand of their hair. to me, it is all the same."

 

sakura releases a wry laugh, wonders if she lacked virtue would she have believed yunjin's words? it would have been enough to convince a fool, she's so sure. 

 

"that's not love, what you're describing is someone delusional and possessive changing a part of themselves to be a better asset to another. to love is to trust and accept, not mold yourself into something else entirely to better fit yourself for that person." sakura objects and looks pointedly into yunjin's mesmerising eyes, as beautifully as they shone, sakura could never imagine the horrendous sights those orbs had seen.

 

"precisely, so what difference is there? no matter how much you deny it, sugarcoat it with mellow words or twist the meaning within sweet poems, at the end of the day, if you tell a man to forget his morals and stain his hands red because that is the only way to save the woman he claims he would go to hell and back for— love, as we put it — hesitation has no space in his head."

 

yunjin is adamant, sticks to her own belief without a moment of falter, that part of her sakura believes is worthy of an applause. and at that moment, sakura knows she's lost.

 

because in truth, throughout her life, love never stuck around her. so when someone like yunjin introduces her to a feeling close to love and fills her with it to the brim, there's the underlying feeling of craving more, all the while guilt throbs dully somewhere in the pit of her stomach. 

 

and when she releases her last breath, then comes the relief that would wash over her knowing that she didn't meet death without ever feeling loved, that there was someone like yunjin who provided her with an abundance of it.

 

"from the day we met, i've always known you are poison to me." yunjin's breath grazes her lips, her small smile, sakura notes, is spellbinding.

 

"and even then, i would drink all of you and leave no trace behind." 

 

then there's that mellow expression on yunjin's face that she puts on just for her. how her eyes carry no malevolence but instead they are benign as they take in the sight of sakura, how her blinding smile is devoid of deception but instead gentle and maybe, in love.

 

so sakura yields, her taut expression finally becoming loose as she sighs in defeat. she chuckles mirthlessly, brings their foreheads together.

 

"your words, although truly absurd, i hate that they carry sincerity that no one has ever treated me with." sakura admits, the tone of her voice completely changing, signifying that she has given in.

 

"so until you deem me suitable for your taste and i fill you with my poison, don't lose that sincerity with me." sakura smiles, perhaps the only genuine one she's shown yunjin, and brings her head closer until the heat between them makes her dazed.

 

yunjin takes it as an oath, drawing into sweet lips with the smile of a fool in love.

 

"my love, i will treat you like a king would his queen." 

 

their lips collide in a silent vow, it's intoxicating — an abstract of their love.

 

—