INBOX (labyrinthum)

[readsagain]

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[readsagain]

[ She clings tightly to him, a familiar action. Even when she's older, she'll always hold him the same, and that's reassuring. ]

It'd be hard to explain. A very long time nonetheless.

[ He isn't lying, this time. It'd be hard to chart how the time passed while he was away, or if it had ever passed at all, given his perception. He squeezes her gently.

He knows she's not the same person she saw before. The same way he wasn't Han Suyeong's Dokja until he'd reached the same point in time as her. Damn that author for being right about experiencing something not being the same as knowing. ]

I'm sorry about this

[beastlings]

[ she pulls away just enough to look at him.

with the impetuousness only a child can possess, she wriggles free just so she can sit beside him instead, leaning into him with her arms wrapped around his middle. ]

Did you ever find it, ahjussi?

The ending you were looking for.

yells at you this is the one not-spoiler you get

[readsagain]

[ He looks down at her for a minute before he does something that might seem a little strange: he smiles again. This time. there's the glitter of tears in the corner of his eyes, but he desperately doesn't acknowledge them. ]

I did.

[ His voice is gentle, and he reaches out to brush a hand through her hair. ]

And afterwards, we ate pizza and Cola by the Han River, just like we promised.

i lied im not at all sorry

[beastlings]

[ ...

she holds him a little tighter, anxious for reasons she doesn't want to think about. ]

You promise? You really, really mean it?

knew it

[readsagain]

I really mean it, Yoosung.

[ He's not even technically lying! ]

It'll take us a while, of course. You'll be older, but there will be a happy ending.

[beastlings]

... for you, too, ahjussi?

Are you part of that happy ending, too?

[ It wouldn't be happy without you. ]

[readsagain]

I'm a part of it. I told you we have pizza by the river! I have to keep my promise to Gilyeong too, for chicken by the sea.

[ She'd be forgiven for thinking he's holding something back from her, earnest as he's being. He leans in a little. ]

You might not believe me, but Junghyeok makes the pizza for you, too.

[beastlings]

[ Caught. Well, more like he caught her trying to catch him. She makes a face, barely, her gaze skittering guiltily off to one side before focusing on him again with a blink.

......... ]

No way, [ she mumbles, making an actual physical effort not to laugh at the mental image of Junghyeok in a chef's apron. ]

we can wrap here if you want or she can poke at him more

[readsagain]

[ Dokja grins at the sight of her trying not to laugh and launches into a description of Junghyeok's cooking. Is he exaggerating how good and what he did during it? He might be, he might not be; such is the price of being a good liar.

He hopes it distracts her from asking any more questions. ]