The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) (31 page)

"I just wanted you to know that no matter where life takes me, no matter the distance, no matter the length of time, no matter the obstacles…I'll
 always come back to you. Even if I, myself, am not sure if I'll come back…in the end, I'll
always
 come back. ‘Cause that's the thing about boomerangs, right? They come back even if they feel they shouldn't, they come back even if the world tries to stop them, they come back because they ultimately know where they belong...and
who
they belong to." 

If he wasn't holding her with such care, then Yoori would've slid to the floor and melted into a puddle of goo. To say that her breath was taken away was an understatement. What he said touched her…more than he'd ever know, more than she'd ever know.
 

Breathe in
...

Breathe out...

Breathe in...

Breathe out...

Awkwardness began to take over and Yoori was speechless. She didn’t know how to respond to his incredible words. Her heart warmed in elatedness. It urged her to respond with something that told him of how she felt. Equally as pressing as her eager heart was her rational mind, which had already started to build the defenses around her. As sweet as it was, she wasn't ready to give her genuine response to it. She wasn't ready to get hurt again. She wasn't ready...which meant that the next words out of her mouth were as awkward and unromantic as a drunken slob's. 

"Heh...oh
 you...hehe...you…you're a real sweet talker tonight, aren't you?" Yoori asked, simulating a joking tone.

She concealed
both a frown and a pout. She nuzzled her cheek over his arm. Her chest ached at the absurdity of her words. Her face was flushing immensely and she was confused with herself. She was scared…not of Tae Hyun but at her reaction to what he said. She couldn't explain the multitude of emotions running through her. If he continued to speak as he did, then she was going to die from a weakened heart. 

Though it was quite obvious that Tae Hyun caught on to how stiff she became, he didn't react awkwardly to her remark.
 To her relief, he merely laughed warmly. The resounding tone vibrated from her shoulder and then to her head where he laid his chin. She thought she felt him give her a quick peck behind her head but she wasn't sure. 

"This won't last," he assured her, distracting her from her brief curiosity.

She could feel him smiling playfully, the wickedness in his voice reminding her of Tae Hyun and his teasing personality. It was one that she hated and adored with a passion. She already felt less awkward and she had a hunch that was Tae Hyun's objective when he decided to return to his old ways. 

"I didn't sleep well last night so I'm feeling a bit disoriented right now but I'll return to my old self tomorrow."
 

Thank God
, Yoori thought to herself. She could handle the playful and teasing Tae Hyun but she wasn't sure if she could handle sweet-talking and seductive Tae Hyun. The latter would have her weak in the heart (not to mention knees) for sure. If he didn’t turn off the charms in time, then his smoldering upper body wasn't going to be the only thing that would be bare for the remainder of the night. 

She nodded inwardly. God bless ignoring obvious sexual tensions and going back to silly bantering. It was all that Yoori could handle for the time being.
 

"Augh…thanks for reminding me of your old ways," she muttered, pretending to be bitter. Realization sprinted across her gaze.
 "This reminds me," she started slowly, craftiness sparkling in her naughty eyes. "Since we're arch-enemies, I'm definitely still punishing you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you." Though his voice was confident, she could detect the thread of fear within it. Surely he knew she wasn't planning on going easy when it came to punishing him.
 

Speaking of which, she knew just the right punishment to give him.
 

"Hey Tae Hyun," Yoori launched excitedly, her chin resting on his arms.
 

"Hmm?"
 

"I decided on your punishment…"
 

There was a long silence before he said, "What is it?"
 

His weary eyes anticipated something horrifying.
 

She held back an evil giggle and said, "I need a personal assistant."

She could feel his heart freeze up. A grimace of despair devoured his face. 

Yoori smiled. Her own heart pumped in excitement.

Making herself comfortable under the warmth of his stiffening hold, Yoori's sheepish smile grew wider as Tae Hyun groaned in misery behind her. 

"Damn, you evil little minx, are you serious?"
 

"
What'd you call me?" she confronted, pulling herself out of the embrace. She turned around and faced him with a stern expression. Her eyes challenged him to combat what she wanted. 

"You're serious?" he asked again, ignoring her question. He gazed at her with incredulity. The heaving of his bare chest was profound with worry now.
 

Yoori crossed her arms and gave him a condescending stare. "Do you not agree?"
 

Though he looked inflexible to a compromise, his words sang a different tune.
 "I'm sure we can think of something else—" 

"
Don't talk to me anymore," she interrupted dramatically, turning on her heels with the quickest of ease. 

As she anticipated, a hand caught her wrist.
 

"No
, wait!" Tae Hyun shouted, pulling her back to him. 

Yoori held in a knowing smirk when he turned her around to face him.
 

"I'll do it, damn it. I'll do it, okay?" he complied. His face was marked with bitterness.
 "How…how long?" 

"A month."
 

"A
 
month
?" He snorted. Even under the confines of stress and trying to get back on her good side, the proposed timeframe was ludicrous to him. 

"Eh, Choi Yoori," he began severely, making her stiffen in her once confident stance. Why did he have so much power when he used that tone of voice? "Did you get attacked by another duck today or something? Be reasonable."
 

Yoori grimaced at the reminder of the stupid duck. She knew a month sounded absurd but she wanted a good negotiation to start off on.
 

"Fine! Three weeks!" she bargained.
 

"Three hours," he countered curtly, folding his arms across his chest.
 

Trying to ignore the scintillating contours of his defined arms, Yoori mouthed a muted curse at him and then said, "Two weeks."
 

"Two hours.” His voice was calm and collected. He looked unyielding and Yoori was beside herself.
 

"What the hell, Tae Hyun?” she sputtered out. “What kind of negotiation is this?"
 

"You're not being rational, so why should I?"
 

"Fine!” Yoori shouted irately, extremely bitter that she couldn't even get two weeks out of him.
 “A week! 
A week
! Was that what you wanted to hear?"

He nodded calmly, clearly hiding a satisfied smile on his face.

"Yes, I'll be your personal assistant for a week," he agreed blithely. He didn't take it very seriously. "Now can we go to bed? I'm exhausted from chasing after you all day." 

She stared at him blankly, the resentment for losing at the negotiation having yet to leave her.
 "Who says you're sleeping on the bed?" 

His eyes rounded in horror. "But I—"
 

"Uh
, uh…" Yoori warned authoritatively, holding up an index finger to stop him from speaking. "Be careful with raising your voice with me."

"
You
 raise your voice with me all the time," he accused, noticeably lowering his voice. 

"Well
, that's because I'm special!" she answered irrationally. Her eyes turned into slits. She gazed at him up and down with judgment. "But you're not, so you better watch your mouth." 

"My entire body is tearing up with pain," he argued desperately. He deliberately made his eyes look weak as they tried to reason with her.
 

She shrugged, giving him a careless smile. She wasn't going to fall for the sad puppy dog act.
 

"Well then…
you definitely shouldn't have fought Ji Hoon, you definitely shouldn't have brought up the duck attack and you definitely shouldn't have been so good with the negotiation, right Tae Hyunnie?" she responded mockingly, making her way to the bedroom. 

He was ready to close his eyes in misery when she suddenly stopped.
 With one hand holding her steady, she hung listlessly from the doorway, smiling at Tae Hyun who was entranced with the sudden glow of the moon that veiled over her.

Was that adoration in his eyes that she saw?

Yoori wasn't sure and chose to ignore it. She continued to smile at him. As much as she was planning on making his life miserable for the week to follow, Yoori acknowledged that she was elated that Tae Hyun was back with her. It was the way it should be.

"It's nice to have you back, boomerang," she whispered delicately, her voice borderline teasing.
 Taking a step backward, she also added, "But get some sleep, will you? You have a long week ahead of you…and you'll need all your energy." 

She imparted a devious wink and disappeared into the bedroom, leaving a completely devastated and miserable Tae Hyun to wallow in self-pity for the fact that he was now her assistant – or at least that was what she thought he was doing.
 

The curve
of a small smile appeared on his face as his eyes flickered with desire after her departure. There was genuine warmness within his gaze while he stared longingly at the doorway where she stood seconds before. Yoori didn’t know it then, but that was actually the moment where Tae Hyun realized something that was unquestionably detrimental to his entire livelihood. He realized that against all his resistance, 
somehow
, she had stolen every inch of his stubborn heart. She had stolen every inch of it and she had him in the palm of her hands. 

It was a terrifying yet exhilarating realization for Tae Hyun.
 And if that charming smirk was any indication, then Yoori had better save up all her energy for Kwon Tae Hyun had decided he was going to steal her stubborn heart as well.

“Just because the world kneels before
you. . .”

15: Human Again

“Did you have to kill him?”

She shook her head. Her face was drained of color. She sat still on the steps of the quiet alley. When she spoke, her eyes were frazzled, distracted.
 “I just wanted to see if the guilt will eat me up alive.”

“Is it?”

His question was barely audible over the booming thunder. The sky was getting darker. A storm threatened to befall them. Yet, even though the threat of rain was present, they continued as they were. She was still sitting passively on the steps and he was still standing across from her, his hands buried deep in his pockets while he watched her with pity in his eyes.

She smiled dejectedly to herself. Her eyes were trained on an undetectable area of the alley. Misery glazed over her gaze. She may have heard his question, but she didn’t feel the need t
o answer it. She was too lost in other thoughts.

“When they trained us…they told us we’d be better than human.” Her voice was soft, remorseful even. “They told us that killing would be an easily acquired taste. All we had to do was keep killing and our souls would disintegrate. All we had to do was keep killing and we’d lose our souls and become better than human. We’d become Gods…”

She cast her attention to the pavement where blotches of blood continued to linger upon it. Tears brimmed her eyes.
 

“No one ever told us about that excruciating moment when our soul is returned to us – that moment where our tortured soul is decaying with pain. No one ever told us that once our soul comes back…then so do the faces of those we’ve killed. No one ever told us that this life would be worse than death…that we’d no longer be better than human, but
less
than human…” 

“This is only momentary,” he interrupted, his voice strong yet anguished. “It happens to the best of us. Your time will pass.”

“This won’t,” she declared with confidence. 

“Lil sis—”

“Did you know those kids were begging me not to kill them?” Her lips quivered. “They didn’t even blink when I pulled the trigger. They never stopped crying and they never closed their eyes when I shot them. I killed them…” Her voice broke at the last of her words. She shook her head with disgust. “And all for what? For this? To be sitting here…like this?”