the shadow in the light
chapter thirty six; stay by your side
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"you care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
the sky darkened into a gravel-grey as large pillows of clouds gathered. droplets of moisture began to drip down from the tips of leaves and were sprinkling onto the grass like a gardener's hose. hunters gathered together for the funeral of go gun-hee.
y/n knelt in front of the coffin that held gun-hee's body. hot tears streamed down her face, and she squeezed her eyelids shut in the hope that her tears would stop. but instead, it continued as she cried even harder. her choppy breathing and watery eyes remained as she sat there, unmoving.
jin-woo walked up to her, holding an umbrella that protected her from the rain. the sound of thunder was soon heard, drowning out y/n's sobs.
he knelt down to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "they're going to bury him now. come on now, love."
y/n didn't have the strength to stand up so she instead leaned on jin-woo. he stood up, bringing her up with him. they took a few steps back, letting the men begin the burying process.
jin-woo placed his left hand on y/n's head as she hid in the crook of his neck, not wanting to watch the process. it pained her heart greatly.
when the process was completed, everyone bowed to the deceased gun-hee. people bowed to ji-eun as well, who stood at the very front.
"i apologise, hunter sung jin-woo, but could i talk to y/n for a moment?" ji-eun questioned.
jin-woo nodded his head, watching as ji-eun led y/n to a more quiet place. jin-woo remained at his spot, eyes locked onto the ground.
"mister sung jin-woo, are you alright?" the said man turned to his side, looking at the figure.
it was jin-chul, who looked like a completely different person. his hair was kept undone and he didn't have the chance to keep himself clean, hence the scruffy, unkempt beard.
"i apologise, hunter-nim. i haven't been myself lately," jin-chul said. "the monster that killed the chairman... was it impossible to kill, even with your power?"
"by the time y/n and i arrived, he had already..." jin-woo trailed off.
jin-chul sighed as he looked up to the sky, "it still doesn't feel real. just yesterday, he told me he wanted to hear of y/n and i's stay in the united states. he'd urged me to hurry back to the country... and now he's..."
jin-chul let out a sob before he quickly wiped away his tears, "thank you for being there for the chairman in his final moments."
jin-woo trailed his eyes to look at where y/n was. his heart ached when he saw her hugging gun-hee's wife, both shedding tears.
"i'll kill that bastard," he spoke with a newfound goal after he saw y/n like that. "i swear upon my life that i will kill the monster who killed the chairman. you can save your thanks until then."
jin-chul nodded his head and looked up at jin-woo, eyes widening a fraction when he saw a tear escaping his eye.
jin-woo looked at jin-chul, giving him a stern look. "could you organise a press conference for me?"
⿴݃*₊↷TIMESKIP。
✧∘* ೃ ⋆｡˚.
y/n opened her eyes, staring at her white ceiling. she felt numb, just mentally tired with what had just happened. in fact, she wanted to just close her eyes and never wake up again to reunite with gun-hee.
the door to her room swung open quietly. y/n didn't turn at all. she just kept staring at the wall.
"love, you awake?"
it was jin-woo. he must've finished the press conference.
y/n didn't bother to respond. no tears were visible in her eyes, but she felt tired, numb and disoriented. her head was pounding, her eyes and throat burned. she didn't want to feel, think or move. she just wanted the terrible ache in her heart to go away while she continued to mindlessly stare at her ceiling.
jin-woo slowly approached the bed, sitting down next to her. he placed his hand on her forehead, frowning a little.
"you still have a slight fever. i think a bath will help lower down the temperature," jin-woo muttered. "y/n? can you get up?"
y/n didn't reply. she just stood up from her bed, slowly walking to the bathroom after stumbling a little.
jin-woo watched with a disheartened heart at her condition. he went back down to the kitchen, looking at baek-hyun who was sitting down.
"how is she?" he questioned.
jin-woo shook his head, earning a sigh from baek-hyun. he passed jin-woo a tray with all of her favourite foods and a drink.
"the past few days, she refuses any food from me. i'm extremely worried, so i was hoping you could do it since you're closer to her than i am," baek-hyun said.
jin-woo nodded his head, taking the tray and bringing it up to her room. beru peeked out from jin-woo's shadow, lingering over his shoulder.
"my liege, how is my queen?" beru questioned.
"she's still mourning beru," jin-woo answered, walking up the stairs.
"i feel extremely guilty, my liege. i couldn't save that man," beru expressed. "that man must have been very important to my queen."
"well, he was a second father figure to her. but it wasn't your fault beru. we were just too late..." jin-woo muttered.
beru looked down before disappearing back into jin-woo's shadow. jin-woo knocked on the door three times before entering.
y/n sat on the bed, staring outside her window to look at the view of the city. it had been raining for a few days as if the sky was mourning for gun-hee's death.
"i brought you food," jin-woo spoke up.
y/n glanced at him before looking back to the window. jin-woo sighed and placed the tray on the table before sitting down next to her.
he placed his hand on her cheek, forcing her to look at him. he leaned his forehead on hers, staring into her eyes and held her hand.
"i know you're still mourning y/n and i understand. but you're ignoring your health and that worries me. in fact, everyone is worried about you, including beru and the other shadows," jin-woo told her. "it pains me to see you like this, y/n."
"jin-woo..." y/n whispered.
jin-woo immediately focused all of his attention on her, happy that she was at least talking to him.
"what if i just die? will i be able to wake up and realise that this is all a dream?" a tear slipped from her eye as her lips quivered. "i regret everything, jin-woo. if only i didn't attend the guild conference, i would have been able to prevent his death. i could have gotten him to a hospital if i had just stayed in korea."
jin-woo stayed quiet as y/n's hands trembled, "if only i-"
"y/n, nothing can be done. we can't turn back time, but we can only go forward." jin-woo brought her into his lap, comforting her as she cried onto him.
"will you stay by my side?"
"i'll never leave your side y/n, i promise you," jin-woo told her.
y/n nodded her head, pulling her head away. she looked at him with a frown, "i'm hungry."
jin-woo smiled at her, kissing her nose, "i know. i'll feed you, come on."
⿴݃*₊↷TIMESKIP。
✧∘* ೃ ⋆｡˚.
y/n sat on her bed, her heart pounding as she looked at the box in her hands. it was a box given to her by ji-eun when they had a talk during the funeral.
jin-woo had gone back to his apartment to grab a few of his things since he was going to sleep over at her house. what y/n needed was comfort as she finally accepted that gun-hee was gone. jin-woo made sure to be there for her whenever she needed.
y/n placed her right hand on the cover of the box, flipping it over and placing it on the bed. she looked into the box, noticing a book and a smaller box in it.
she grabbed the book since it was what caught her attention first. she flipped over the cover, reading the first page.
this book belongs to go gun-hee, chairman of the hunters association. when i pass, this book will belong to y/n l/n, my daughter.
her eyes widened at the sight of his name. she flipped over the first page, noticing two photographs taped onto the page with the dates next to them.
the first picture was a picture of a toddler y/n holding a knife while gun-hee stood behind her absolutely terrified. 'young y/n learns to wield a knife accidentally at the age of four.'
y/n let out a smile as she flipped through the pages, noticing it was all pictures of her. there were pictures of her winning tournaments since she was extremely sporty while she was in high school. among the later pages were pictures of her at the airport either because she had a mission or it was to have a vacation.
it was then she realised that the book was a photo album that gun-hee created for her. a book that showed the story of y/n from the start to where he had last stopped.
she stopped at the last page, eyes widening when she recognised the photo. it was the photo jin-chul took before she and jin-woo left for america. she, jin-woo, and gun-hee were all smiling brightly inside the picture.
she sighed and closed the book. that was until an envelope slipped out from the back of the album and fell into her lap. y/n picked it up, reading the cover.
'to, y/n. from, dad.'
she tore open the envelope and took out the letter inside it. she unfolded the letter and began to read its contents.
dear y/n,
if you're reading this, then it means i have passed away. did i die from my condition or was it from a different cause?
now you must be wondering. what condition am i talking about? well, in truth y/n, i was supposed to die earlier than expected. the doctor told me i had half a year to live if i didn't retire. but i didn't listen to advice. miraculously, i continued to live for another 2 years and eventually got to where i am now or was since i've passed.
i didn't tell you because i didn't want you to worry about me. you're young, y/n, and you should be having the time of your life, not spending it constantly worrying about the world as you strive to protect it. i've always wanted you to have a fun and enjoyable life. but with your powers, i knew that there would be no normality in your life. that's why i decided not to add to your burdens.
i remember telling you to observe sung jin-woo when you came back to korea after four years. back then, i believed it was the best choice i ever made. i'm regretting it now since you and sung jin-woo are together. i'm kidding, i still believe that it's the best choice i ever made.
without knowing it, i had introduced the world's two strongest hunters to one another. i knew you would one day grow to be stronger and i know you'll use them to protect the world. with sung jin-woo by your side, i'm sure that will be attainable.
take care of yourself while i'm gone, understand? i do not want you to dwell upon my death for too long. as long as you remember me, i am happy enough. please continue to take care of ji-eun until she safely passes on from old age.
if sung jin-woo does not treat you well, i'll deal with him once he comes here in the afterlife. jokes aside, i'm sure you two will be very happy with one another.
right, i'm sure there's a small box that came with this album. open it, and there will be a gift for you. that is my parting gift to you.
well, this is all i have to say. you will always hold a special place with me, y/n for you have always been the daughter that i never had. i will always be watching you from above. i'll say hello to your parents for you.
with love,
go gun-hee.
y/n sniffed as she placed the letter down. she took the small box, opening it. a pendant in the shape of the sun laid beautifully in the centre. she noticed a small line along with the pendant and pushed the top half of the pendant.
her eyes widened when she saw a photo of her and gun-hee. it was the same picture that was framed on his table back at the office.
y/n smiled as she took it out, moving her thumb over the glass that protected the photo. next to the photo were these words engraved, 'the sun in my life, y/n. i love you, from dad.'
a pair of arms wrapped around her just then, and y/n knew who it was. she leaned back, smiling at jin-woo.
"why are you crying, my love? did something happen?" he questioned, pressing his lips to her temple.
"just a parting gift," she replied. jin-woo peered down, smiling a little when he saw the photo.
"do you want to put it on?" he asked. y/n nodded her head, passing the pendant to him.
jin-woo moved her hair to the side and helped her put on the necklace. he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, leaning forward as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
y/n moved her hair back and placed the photo album on her nightstand along with the letter. she crawled onto jin-woo who was already laying down on her bed.
"you okay now?" he asked, placing a lock of her hair behind her ear.
y/n nodded her head, laying her head onto his chest, "thank you jin-woo. thank you for staying by my side."
"as i said before, i'll always stay by your side," jin-woo replied.
"i love you, jin-woo."
"i love you too."
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in a place far away, the frost monarch had managed to escape to the hideout and summoned the other monarchs who had already descended onto the planet.
"the shadow monarch and his queen are on the surface of the earth," the frost monarch reported.
"didn't you say that there was no vessel that could fully contain their true powers?" yogumont questioned. "and isn't that exactly why the dragon king can't remain on the surface of the earth?"
the frost monarch shook his head, "i saw them with my own two eyes. they're a much bigger threat than the fragments of luminosity. i will take care of them. are you willing to help me?"
"by picking a fight with him, you are only looking for suicide," said the iron body monarch. "your opponent is one of the strongest of the nine monarchs. not only that, but a ruler who is just as powerful as him. why not wait for the monarch of destruction, the dragon king to return?"
"although we are currently on the run, we are the monarchs. and yet, all we can do is wait for the dragon king?" the frost monarch questioned. "the only chance we have at defeating them is now, while they are still in the form of a human. please help me, i shall take responsibility and return him to nothingness."
the iron body monarch sighed, "count me out of this."
"i also do not want to become like the monarch of white flames either," yogumont mentioned.
"scaredy cats," the beast monarch commented. "you should know what happened to the monarch of flames after he was defeated. i don't want to be caught by the shadow monarch's authority and suffer through an eternal slumber. i don't think he can make us, who are in our original forms, into one of his servants?"
"it seems that the shadow monarch, the ruler and the administrator are working together now," the iron body monarch replied. "he can create a replica of us. i don't want to turn into a tool in his world."
with that, the iron body monarch and yogumont disappeared into their respective portals and away from the meeting.
"the evidence that they are still human?" the beast monarch questioned.
"whilst fighting the shadow monarch, he applied poison onto his dagger. it's not something the shadow monarch would do."
the female monarch standing a couple of meters away then smiled, "poison, huh... if the shadow monarch could fully control their human body, they wouldn't have had to resort to such trickery."
the frost monarch then took out a sword from behind him.
"what is that?" the beast monarch asked. "coated with poison as well?"
"no. it's just a sword that the vessel of lucia uses," the frost monarch replied.
"a sword?" the insect monarch looked at him. "why would she use a sword when lucia was capable of taking down thousands with just her hands?"
"the vessel has clearly not fully learnt of lucia's powers," the frost monarch answered. "but she is halfway through the process. on her hand, there was the mark that lucia had."
"so she's pretty close to gaining lucia's full powers," the beast monarch muttered.
"will you help me?" the frost monarch asked.
the insect monarch smiled, "i shall help you."
"together, we shall take down the shadow monarch and lucia."
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