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ered enha.
that's what is read on the letters carved on the limestone. the marble statue of jungwon's father stands in front of him, empty eyes soulless as it looks out to nothingness.
eventhough it's only a marble statue of him, jungwon is somewhat content to see him once again.
a hand is placed on his shoulder and he looks over to see jake giving him a comforting smile, "you'll get through this." in return, jungwon musters up a reassuring one to shoot back.
someone else pats his other shoulder "hey." heeseung greets him. "the ceremony is starting soon." the eldest usher the two to the pavillion nearby in which the funeral ceremony will be held.
upon his appearance, his relatives; the primuses, the pyres and the queen zael share their condolences with him.
his aunt, nyx, engulfs him into a much needed hug as she softly tells him, "you have us, dear."
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the manor is a lot lonelier than the day jungwon left it. despite all the furnitures covering the space, it feels empty and desolated.
walking around his childhood home fills jungwon with sadness as he passes the hallway of photos.
he halts upon nearing the largest of them.
it's a portrait of a toddler him being carried by his smiling father who is embraced by her once, very in love mother.
it was taken that time his father first visited the human realm for him. for some reason, jungwon can remember the warm, comforting feeling when he ran to get hugged by his father for the first time.
it was that time where everything was fine.
that time everyone was content and happy.
the tears he has been holding back at the ceremony finally fall from his eyes and down his cheeks as he grips the frame with his shaking hands.
the loneliness hits him like a wave and he helplessly trembles at the overwhelming feeling.
"i hope it was reasonable, father.. why you wanted me dead.."
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"happy birthday to you~!" everyone finishes the song in chorus, watching as the young twins blow the candles of their birthday cake. they are cheered on afterwards with big smiles.
"they're super cute!" sunoo coos, referring to the children of seyeon's uncle. jungwon and ni-ki nod in agreement, mentioning how the twins ran to hug them when they arrived at their place an hour ago.
the three bestfriends were personally invited to a private birthday party held by the family of seyeon's uncle, sangyeok. the childhood bestfriends were fetched by a white maserati gran cabriolet pulling up outside their houses and in the driver's seat was sangyeok's gorgeous wife, kana sasaki - who ni-ki quickly got acquainted to upon the knowledge that she's from okayama, japan - just like him.
their residential house is of a modern design, the boys' jaws dropped as soon as they caught sight of it. "holy shit." was ni-ki's best phrase for it. it is of concrete white with stone bricks and dark wood accents, floor to ceiling windows, corner glass panes, a white grand piano at the entrance hall, a big backyard with a fountain, a swimming pool and a leveled outdoor diner.
the best part is.. that it's located near a bay and they have their own private beach.
"sunoo-oppa! can you go with me to get more ice cream?" hani, one of the twins, tugs at the hem of sunoo's shirt - the latter melting at her puppy eyes. "we also have mintchoco! seyeon-unnie said that you like mintchoco." sunoo gasps, immediately running towards the house with hani at hand.
ni-ki shudders, unable to believe that someone actually likes that hideous of a goddamn flavour.
"riki-san, can you give sangyeok a hand?" kana asks him and he happily complies, leaving jungwon there - watching as the gentle waves crash into the coast.
playing in the water are the twins' friends with their grandparents and a lifegaurd (who's basically just kana's brother) watching over them.
averting his eyes, jungwon spots seyeon standing and watching from afar, her dark brown hair and yellow dress gently swaying along with the wind.
"..jungwon-hyung?" the latter blinks himself back to reality. the other twin, aro, is looking up at him then to whatever jungwon was looking at. "oh~ do you like seyeon-noona?"
the question takes jungwon aback, blood rushes up to his cheeks and he blinks nervously. "u-uh.."
aro smiles cheekily, "did you know that she was on a date with this really handsome guy? i think his name was nicholas."
jungwon tenses at the mention of his name and the word 'date'. with a forced smile, jungwon says, "oh really? sounds fun to me."
"yeah.." aro pouts. "but i think that.. you and noona look better together." with a giggle, aro runs to his mother, leaving jungwon flustered.
the latter looks back at seyeon, who now starts walking along the coast as the sun starts to set. he looks around, watching the children coming out of the water to grab something to munch on, sunoo is now enjoying his mintchoco ice cream while chatting with hani while ni-ki converses with kana.
mustering up the confidence that he has, he jogs to catch up to seyeon, who hears him midway. upon seeing him, she shoots him a smile that immediately takes jungwon aback - but he purses his lips to hide his blush.
he finally catches up to her. they walk at a slow pace, feeling their barefeet indent footprints on the now golden sand.
"how are you?" seyeon is the first to ask, making eye contact with jungwon, who responds that he's alright at the moment. "what are your plans, since your mother wants to move in with her lover?"
the question doesn't affect jungwon as much the thought of it used to, which internally astonishes him. "sunoo, ni-ki and i are planning to move together - maybe have some other roommates too. the house will still be under my mother's name though."
seyeon chuckles at the idea, "sounds fun."
silence fall upon them for a moment before jungwon asks, "what about you?"
"i was called to the court by queen zael a few weeks ago." jungwon stops on his spot upon hearing something related to lurid. seyeon stops along with him, knowing that it's probably because of their one specific fight. "she wants me to aid the new order."
jungwon gasps, eyes shining in excitement. "congratulations." he tells her and she nods in acknowledgement.
"i said i'd do it and i'll be studying while doing so. nothing really different from the usual - except that i'm not after you anymore." her statement makes jungwon roll his eyes.
they resume on walking, the sun turning the surroundings in the shades or yellow, coral and gold - a palette that jungwon thinks suit choi seyeon.. beautifully.
his eyes fall to her hand hanging by the side of her body. without much hesitation, jungwon reaches to take it - halting them on their tracks and taking seyeon's attention.
he holds it up for the both of them to see and she watches as he slowly intertwine their fingers together, sharing a bold eye contact before jungwon lets it fall between them, still intertwined as they walk again.
what..in the..world..?
since when did yang jungwon get so confident?
seyeon could not believe her own eyes.
did he really just do that?.. made her watch him hold her hand..?
noticing seyeon's stunned expression, he tries to hide his proud smirk by raising his eyebrow at her, "what?"
this little-
seyeon composes herself, "took you long. i almost agreed to a date with nicholas."
yang jungwon looks like a surprised pikachu for a split second and seyeon chuckles in amusement as it merges to a slightly annoyed facial expression - his grip on her hand tighten ever so slightly.
abruptly, he tugs her arm, pulling her closer - seyeon almost crashing into his body. the grin on her face is wiped off at the realisation of their close proximity.
suddenly nervous, seyeon visibly gulps then clearing her throat at the intense stare that jungwon is giving her, looking away to avoid his gaze.
"but you didn't." jungwon mumbles, tentatively snaking his other arm around her waist - resting it on her hips. the distance shorten once again.
but this time, it's that proximity where seyeon can only look at nothing but his eyes.
"didn't.. what?"
"agree to a date with nicholas." jungwon reponds, tilting his head slightly to meet her eyes rather than looking down at her.
feeling defeated, seyeon sulks, looking away. with pouted lips, seyeon murmurs, "no.. i didn't."
once again, jungwon purses his lips in order to hold his grin but he loses it when she looks back up at him and he laughs, throwing his head back.
"ya! what's so funny?" she smacks his arm and he laughs louder, running away from her which immediately initiates a chase.
"i wonder why you didn't agree on the date~ why, choi seyeon?~" jungwon continously teases.
as a grinning seyeon approaches a laughing jungwon, he engulfs her into a warm hug, spinning once or twice due to the impact.
upon finishing the playful spin, seyeon pulls away from jungwon's embrace - but before she could even step away, he immediately whines, "don't go. i'm gonna get cold." coaxing seyeon to go back to his hold.
they stare at each other for a while, eyes dancing on each other's features.
the dewy colors of the sunset cascading upon seyeon of probably the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.
so without thinking, jungwon leans in closer to her and places a tender kiss on the top of her forehead. the tingling sensation trickles from seyeon's head then down to her spine.
resting his chin on her shoulder, jungwon feels his heart beat "we're still gonna see each other, right?" jungwon mumbles softly against her shoulder blade.
seyeon scoffs in response, "as if i'm ever gonna get rid of you."
jungwon lets out a hearty laugh, making seyeon laugh too and he swears his heart skipped a beat. it's the first time he hears her laugh and it's probably one of the most memorable moments of his life.
slowly, he tightens his hold on her then sway the both of them to a inaudible rhythm the two follow.
a rhythm they somehow share despite the things they've done to each other.
"i regret nothing."
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⌦ LURIAN VOCABULARY .
ERED ENHA ㅡ founder of the noble vymos house, enha. he is the son of rya pyre, the youngest of the founding pyres.
THE FOUNDING PYRES ㅡ were the four children of ambrogio the vymos and selene the celestial. they consist of hera pyre, dyaus pyre, chronos pyre and rya pyre. all four founded the ruling house, pyre.
PRIMUS ㅡ is a noble house directly from the pyres. it is founded by atlas primus, the son of chronos pyre.
QUEEN ZAEL ㅡ the ruling queen of lurid. she is the daughter of the dark queen alvira and the alastian, nao.
NEW ORDER ㅡ another mission established by the queen.
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❝𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.❞
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗗.
or is it?