'You feeling better?'
After shoving half of their stocked mortal food and a few handful ambrosia down his throat, Felix had gone to bed immediately.
He didn't let himself be seen for the next two days.
But this morning Minho found him standing at their balcony's stone railing.
He wore still the two piece dress. It looked terribly crumpled; the bare shoulders and back made Minho's heart stumble nonetheless.
His hair was open and messy.
The older god slurped next to him, leaning against the railing as well.
In the morning, with the soft sunlight, the garden looked especially beautiful.
'I'm alright' Felix answered his question.
His morning voice was a little raspy.
'Did you sleep the last two days?'
'Yep. Thought you'd come join me at some point'
The blonde grinned mockingly.
Minho rolled his eyes.
Were they flirting?
'I'm too afraid of getting slaughtered'
'How is your scar?'
'The care talk is getting a little weird, princess. First asking about my nightmares, now my scar. One might suspect you like me after all'
'Ridiculous, babes. You just mentioned the word 'slaughtered' and that was the first thing to come into my mind'
Minho couldn't help but laugh.
Felix tried to hide his grin.
They were flirting.
Shit.
Minho wanted to talk about their kiss.
'And? How is it?'
'What?'
'Your scar?'
'Oh'
Not the kiss. Not the kiss, Minho.
He sighed.
'It's healing. But it still hurts. I can't really move sometimes'
He laughed to himself.
'And I miss dancing. I miss it so much - I can't believe how I spent centuries without it'
Minho could feel Felix's slow smile next to him despite having his gaze fixed on the green below them.
After a few heartbeats he couldn't resist any longer and turned his head to see it.
He found Felix already looking at him.
Having a lazy smile on his lips Minho knew would be there.
Due to looking so closely he noticed Felix's swallow before the younger spoke.
'Do you... do you want me to massage you again? The ointment helped last time didn't it?'
Minho stared at him.
Involuntarily, his eyes dropped down onto Felix's bowed lips.
Was this question his subtle way of asking wether Minho wanted them to kiss again?
He looked back up.
Or was he really just offering a massage?
'I mean... Do you want to?'
Their eyes were glued to each other.
Minho wondered how Felix understood his question in return. Would he think about the kiss too?
'If I can help you with it, then yes'
Felix wouldn't look away.
That answer wasn't getting them anywhere.
Maybe Minho was the only one constantly thinking about the kiss.
'Okay' he said. 'Maybe later? I'll meet up with Jeongin today'
Felix nodded. 'Your kidnapper friend?'
'Yeah, that one'
'Can I meet him?'
'Will he survive that?'
'Why not?' Felix smiled sugary. 'I'm nice'
Minho threw him a doubtful glance.
'If I can act as chaperone, I think it's okay'
'Oh no'
The younger laid his head to the side, a mischievous smile tugging at his fine lips.
He leaned towards Minho, whose breath stocked at the whiff of his floral scent.
'Leave us grown men alone for a bit, baby' he murmured next to his ear.
Goosebumps spread on Minho's neck.
Felix meanwhile stepped back and turned to go into his room.
'See you this evening' he purred with a wave and disappeared behind his white curtains.
'Yeah' Minho whispered weakly to himself.
∆
'I feel like your hoodie designs get progressively worse'
'Not everyone is as philistine as you'
'Jeongin. It's a grim reaper. In a drag outfit. How's that classify as art?'
The taller snorted.
'Drink your tea and shut up, brute'
Minho sighed and complied.
Jeongin's hair was still long, but seemed a little more groomed.
The god of death was handsome.
Minho wondered what Felix would think of him.
And what would Jeongin think of Felix?
He cleared his throat.
'Soo... Felix kissed me'
Jeongin spluttered tea across the table, coughing.
'He- what?'
'I mean... kinda'
The god of death just stared at Minho, his expression indecipherable.
Minho sighed.
'He massaged me because of my scar and it kinda... happened'
Jeongin coughed a last time, then swallowed.
'So. He.. likes you too?'
Minho shook his head.
'I don't know. Maybe? Maybe it was just the moment'
'Ah'
Their was a weird silence between them.
Minho didn't know where all that awkwardness suddenly came from.
Jeongin took a long steady breath.
'Minho, you shouldn't. Your relationship with Felix is already fucked up as it is. If Demeter ever gets a whiff of this she'll not just kill you but tear you apart and throw you into Tartarus. Don't make it even worse'
'I know' He looked down. 'I know.'
'Speaking of your scar. How is it?'
Minho took a sip of his tea.
At least Jeongin wasn't proposing to massage him as well.
'Do you think my scar ripping could be reasoned in a curse?'
'A curse?'
'Yeah. Charon thought about that'
'A curse from the upstairs gods?'
'For example. I don't know exactly though.'
'But... for what?'
'I don't know! Maybe they're trying to punish me because of Persephone. Cause me pain, you know?'
'Don't you think that there would be more effective ways to do that other than ripping your scar?'
'Jeongin, I have no idea. It's just a thought. And I mean, Ares gave it to me. Maybe he has still some magical connection to it'
'Sounds a little far-fetched, doesn't it?'
'Maybe'
He sighed. Silence.
Then, Jeongin leaned up.
'Oh, Minho'
'What?'
Jeongin chuckled sadly.
'You're in love with Felix'
'I- I am? I mean. Yes? And?'
'Your scar' He looked at his friend, eyes dark from a weird sadness Minho couldn't put his finger on.
The other shook his head, not understanding.
'Minho, your scar doesn't have a magical connection to Ares. He was the one with the spear, yes, but otherwise he isn't linked to it at all. It's Hyunjin'
'Hyun- Hyunjin? How is he- what?'
Jeongin looked away, slightly shaking his head.
He continued explaining while avoiding Minho's gaze.
'You loved Hyunjin. He is the reason for your scar. Now you love Felix'
'So... he tries to hurt me? He isn't like that. And he's mortal. And dead'
'No, dingbat' The god of death hesitated a few seconds.
'Look. The scar is your connection to Hyunjin. And now you start to learn to accept his death and the circumstances around it-'
'You mean the fact that I killed him?'
'Yes. You learn to let go, you learn to... love again'
'And that's the reason it ripped?'
'Think about it. Love comes always with pain. Your scar ripped, yes, but the main thing is that it's healing now. You're healing'
There was a short silence.
'I am' Minho realized.
Jeongin nodded, still avoiding his eyes.
'And Felix helps you. With the salve, with his love'
'He doesn't love me'
'But your love for him heals you already'
The taller pressed his lips together.
'And maybe he does love you too. A tiny bit, in his own way'
Minho heavily doubted that.
But other than that, everything Jeongin had said made perfectly sense.
His scar had always been a symbol for his shattered love with Hyunjin, his misdoings.
And now he started to heal.
The scar would always be there, be a part of him.
But maybe it would be less overpowering. Less painful.
'Whoa' he breathed. 'You're a genius'
'I'm not' Jeongin's voice had still this weird tone of sadness layered underneath. 'I'm just your friend'
'That... That is so much already, Jeongin-ah. I love you'
The other swallowed hard. His eyes were huge and glistening.
Minho realized that he had never said something like that to him before.
Would this be awkward?
Absolutely.
Was it true?
Absolutely.
To avoid further catastrophes, he quickly changed the topic.
'Do you think I should tell him?'
'Tell who what?'
'Felix. The story with Hyunjin. I mean, he already knows crumbs of it. But... should I tell him that I ...' - a quick swallow - 'killed him?'
Jeongin shook his head contemplatively.
'Does he need to know?'
At that, Minho was quiet for a long time, sipping his tea and just thinking.
Finally he said:
'It's a part of me, of my story, Jeongin. I don't think I can heal if i hide it. So, yes, I'll tell him'
'Do whatever you think is right'
'But you, too. By the way, Felix wants to meet you'
Jeongin stared wordlessly into his tea.
'I'm really nervous about that'
'He forbid me to accompany you, so I can't help anything. But I think it will be alright'
'Thanks Minho'
His voice was dripping with irony.
'Just scream if you need help'
'Maybe you'll be on time to collect my ashes'
Jeongin didn't have a good feeling with this.
Neither did Minho.
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a/n
sometimes I think I should stop being a kpop fan because my mental wellbeing is so dependant on skz and their happiness and that's unfortunately nothing really reliable
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(three chapters for you today my loves <3)
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