✎ to you, who swallowed a star 「 ed•v 」

11 |

𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖊𝖙 𝖓𝖊𝖈 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖎𝖙𝖚𝖗.

•••

‘They’re not together.’ His grip around the goblet tightened, his gaze unconsciously steeled. ‘Are they?’

“H-Han! V and I are not together!” The group chuckled at the blushing maiden as her hands flailed, fanning her burning cheeks. “Not like that.”

‘Where was V, anyway?’

V— aloof, blunt, and unperturbed, who just left as soon as the light display he was originally in charge of was over. If only he was here then... then, what? It’s not like the ravenet had an obligation to constantly deny every falsity that comes in Khun Eduan’s presence. It’s not like the latter had an exclusive right to demand truths, to claim ownership, of V. What was he to V, anyway? How does he even begin to describe the little inkling of relationship he currently has with the man who had always been too busy shadowing over someone else? He was, in all sense of the word, just a friend— most precious friend, sure, why not?— nothing more, nothing less. Meanwhile, Arlene Grace is everything the Khun never was, and will never become.

Just the thought of it makes the man want to punch something (several walls down, perhaps), or a certain someone until he feels either satisfied or his fists go numb and blue. So, what does an in-denial, head-over-heels, heartbroken over a plausibly unrequited love, person do to quell the thirst for violence within his aching heart? He slides a whole bottle of moonshine beneath his sleeve, carries his half-empty goblet with grace, and with long strides, set out towards the nearest terrace he can locate, of course.

The autumn breeze grazed his skin— prickling and bittersweet, but it was the most comfort he had ever felt the whole evening. Time had passed by quickly as it arrived, seasons changing unperturbed, and something in the team’s dynamic cracks— shifting slowly, little by little, and sends the spearbearer into an unknown frenzy.

They were still as close as they can possibly be. Traumerei clinging to V every chance he gets whenever he isn’t training as if Eduan hadn’t found him first; the cousins, Hon and Han, joint at the hip, living a more devil-may-care life indulging in worldly desires; the women, Hana and Yurin, especially, finding newfound joy in philanthropy; Tperie and Bloodmadder still doing god-knows-what; Gustang and Blossom now engaged; and yet, here they were, Jahad still relentlessly chasing Arlene, and Eduan pining over V.

But, he could compare what they were before and now, and point out that something he wouldn’t want to happen in the future is brewing. Though, it is rather useless fussing over an unforeseeable future, isn’t it?

“Sneaky bastard.” Speaking of the devil, Ha Yurin appeared behind him with an uncharacteristically dejected expression, silent and sullen— the furthest, least Yurin-like action he had witnessed the woman do in their years of friendship. “You slip away fast. I almost gave up and went back to my room. Thankfully, you stuck around.”

The spearbearer raised a brow and responded in an as-a-matter-of-factly manner, the lamest attempt he had done to try lightening up the mood. “What kind of person do you think am I, to walk out of a dear friend’s engagement party?”

He must have struck a nerve to have someone as temperamental as her to shut up. Exasperatedly, he decided to offer to refill her glass with the liqueur he had smuggled from the buffet amidst the awkward silence. The shinsu-bound sun had now set, sky dark and painted in hues of midnight blue and pitch black, and his anger had quelled enough to allow a small bit of drunken stupor to seep into his system.