s.c.s. ☆ j.jh ☆ ayakashi series | ✔

jaehyun [fourteen]

When the sun hung high and proud in the sky, Jungwoo declared the three of you should take a lunch break. You had replaced all of the talismans and began trying to correctly utilize them rather than your accidental arson from earlier. Then your stomach had growled obscenely loud, loud enough for the Tsukumo-gami to call for the break. It was right when Sungchan had returned from the city—which you could feel just as easily as a sixth sense at this point without much focus—and Mark seemed grateful for the break, rushing out front to meet the taller of the two brothers once he had been dismissed.

Sungchan had returned with food for everyone, something you were thankful for. He handed you a familiar emoji Tupperware and informed you, "Johnny said you would bring them back, Onmyoji."

"Oh, yeah, sure, I can do that," you accepted the food, eagerly digging in.

Jungwoo daintily ate his own food, seated beside you under a tree to the side of the shrine. A gentle breeze cooled your skin from the warm rays of the sun, and you closed your eyes for just a moment. Mark and Sungchan were seated some ways away, closer to the front of the building as the Tsukumo-gami showed the Onmyoji the mechanical bird you had spotted him working on earlier. It pecked at the handkerchief that had been placed under it for a moment before abruptly stopping, one of the wings flying off. Sungchan picked it up and took out a small screwdriver to reattach it with great care.

"Hey," you softly got Jungwoo's attention, wanting to address something that had been running through the back of your mind since the day before.

Jungwoo turned to you attentively, "What is it, Lady Onmyoji?"

"Should I call you Master Jungwoo? Like Mark does?"

"No, we are friends, I would prefer for you to speak with me as such. You may just call me Jungwoo," he reassured you.

"So you and Mark aren't friends, then?" You asked with a thoughtful frown on your lips and your head tilted slightly.

"Mark is my pupil, always has been," he explained as he wistfully watched his brother and the Onmyoji converse. It had been the most you'd ever seen Sungchan emote or speak, honestly. "He and Sungchan are friends, they immediately hit it off as soon as Mark had stumbled in here. Mark and I on the other hand... there has always been a distance that has remained with my being his teacher, of course."

"Then what about me? I'm your pupil now."

"We were friends first, Lady Onmyoji. And you are my Onmyoji; if we had met when I was your age, over a thousand years ago, I would have called you Master instead. Times have changed, and I with them, so I believe we can address each other more simply."

You were able to chuckle somewhat as you joked, "I don't think you've changed that much with them, Jungwoo."

It was his turn to the thoughtfully confused, "What do you mean?"

"You don't even have a landline..."

"A... what?"

"That's exactly my point."

"I see."

"One of these days, you'll come down from your hermit tower into the city and see all the wonderful things us humans have made, and you'll think we're all Diviners or something," you declared, feeling a fond nostalgia for an experience you'd never had.

"I look forward to that day then, Lady Onmyoji."

"Me too, Jungwoo. I just hope I'll be there for it. No pressure or anything, but I think the look on your face will be priceless."

Jungwoo smiled genuinely over at you, "I understand and appreciate your sentiment."

"Good."

☆

You had to forcibly end the day at your discretion to give yourself enough time to go home and get ready for your date that night. Giving Jungwoo your thanks and Sungchan your farewells, you descended down the mountain with Mark, your leftover talismans in both your bag and back pocket. Never knew when you'd have to reach for one quickly.

"I'm surprised you cut the training short," Mark admitted as you navigated the trails together.

"Oh, I have a thing tonight that I need to get ready for."

"No, I meant I'm surprised that you were the one who cut the training short. I would have never even dreamt of doing something like that."

"What? Why not?"

At your questions, Mark turned silent, looking down at his feet again. Finally, you addressed what had been gnawing at your mind, despite Jungwoo's explanation during lunch.

"Jungwoo treats me differently than he treats you, doesn't he?"

"Yes," Mark agreed bitterly, which was understandable.

"I don't know what to say, Mark," you admitted quietly.

"I know why."

"What? You do?"

"You're more powerful than me—"

"Mark—"

"No, it's fine, Y/N, I'm not pissed about it. Okay, well maybe a little, but I'll get over it. It's just an objective fact, one that I need to accept. It's nothing that you need to apologize for either, so don't. You just are... more powerful than me. A better Onmyoji than me."

"Well, this was only my first day of actual training and—"

"You'll only get more powerful. Not only were you able to banish Wraiths without an incantation, but you were able to do elemental manipulation, Y/N. That's big-time stuff."

"It was an accident!"

"But you still did it!"

"That's not even why Jungwoo treats us differently, Mark," you circled back to the original topic, not liking where the conversation was going. "It's because we're different people to him."

"What?" He asked incredulously.

"He met you when you were young, right?"

"I was fourteen, yes."

"You were his young pupil then, and that's how he sees you now. I'm an adult who he met first as a friend. So that's who I still am in his eyes, okay? It has nothing to do with our powers as Onmyoji."

"So I should just... make him see that I'm not a little boy he's teaching anymore."

"Yeah," you encouraged him, watching his expression turn from bitter to thoughtful.

"Okay, yeah, I'll do that."

"Don't expect any kind of change immediately, though," you warned with amusement in your tone. "He is a thousand years old; I can imagine that change does not come easily to him."

"No, it definitely doesn't," Mark agreed with a chuckle.