#hyunoo

Truce - 초심불망

Summary:

(A imagination on a time skip & altered situations) Ji-won had almost lost himself to darkness & caused a horrifying incident no one could ever predict. Not even Lucifer and Nike. The situation was handled, but something dark had lingered. Both the two demons and Hwa-yang had been walking on eggshells since then, Lucifer becoming borderline hyper-protective of Ji-won & Hwa-yang of her sister.

Notes:

Look here- I don't usually explore Oc fandoms. ( I'm not even sure if I got the name right because the contents are almost fully in Korean ) It's all your fault( yes u - my bestie... u nagged me into this) So if I'm gonna write- I might as well write my favorite characters interacting.

The slam of the apartment door had echoed a little too loudly in the dim evening atmosphere. Hwa-Yang was inside taking out clothes from the dryer. The weather dictated they'd have to rely on this half dysfunctional dryer for a day or two.

Her sister might be back.

She finished her remaining work- vaguely registering the silence. Huh...that's funny- her sister always announced her arrival with a cheerful shout. This silent entry... felt odd. Was Ji-Won back? Today?

Her sister had moved in with him for a while- well not fully moved in but she was always going back and forth. Ji-Won, he... barely stayed home nowadays. Hwa-Yang also found herself spending a lot of time in his apartment, specially when her sister was alone.

She entered the living room, expecting to see her twin bustling about with groceries, probably humming some cheerful tune.

"Is that you Yeon-Hwa? Sorry I was doing laundry and-" Hwa-yang stopped mid sentence, the damp towel clutched in her hand.

It was Lucifer, sprawled inelegantly on the couch, his half-wet coat carelessly discarded haphazardly on the floor.

The apartment was quiet save for the soft whir of the refrigerator. Lucifer hadn't moved, hadn't acknowledged her arrival. He just lay there, in a pose that was unusually...un-Lucifer-like. His position was utterly ungainly, one arm flung over his eyes, the other dangling precariously off the side, fingers brushing the floor. Yet, despite the haphazard pose, there was an undeniable stillness to him.

Slowly, cautiously, she scooted closer. Was he asleep? Lucifer, asleep? It seemed improbable. Demons didn't... at least she never saw him sleeping before.

" Lucy?" She softly called, her sister came up with the nickname- he didn't seem to mind it anymore.

There was no response from him. His posture suggested exhaustion, not peaceful slumber. She observed him, her gaze tracing the sharp lines of his face softened in sleep. His eyebrows were drawn closer in a slight frown, a fleeting ghost of irritation. His chest rose and fell, a slow, deliberate rhythm that spoke more of forced calm than peaceful slumber. He looked...vulnerable. A word she'd never associate with the demon who usually radiated an almost aggressive confidence.

A strange, unfamiliar feeling bloomed in her chest, a soft warmth that nudged aside her usual guardedness. Silently, she retrieved a soft, knitted blanket from the armchair and gently draped it over him, careful not to wake him up. The demon didn't stir, his breath remaining even.

Hwa-yang stood silently for a moment, then slowly sat down on the floor, leaning against the cool leather of the couch, and stared at the ceiling.

The intricate patterns of the ceiling, usually unnoticeable, seemed to mock her with their mundane complexity. The last few months had been...exhausting. They'd been a relentless barrage of unsettling shifts, cracks appearing in the fabric of their reality. Constant rifts in the dimensions, leaking whispers of malevolent energies that made the air itself hum with unease.

It all started subtly. Strange flickers of shadows in peripheral vision, objects momentarily misplaced, the unsettling feeling of being watched even when alone. Then it escalated. The nightmares, not just for Ji-won, but for her ...and Yeon-hwa too. Nightmares filled with grotesque landscapes and shadowy figures - past and presents were blurring.

Ji-won, her sister's boyfriend, was at the heart of it. Demons, drawn by his unique energy signature, had sought him out. Lucy and Nike. Two beings from a realm beyond human comprehension, now inexplicably woven into their lives.

Initially, they had been terrifying. Demons. Lucy especially, with his sharp tongue and volatile temper, had seemed like a walking disaster. He'd arrived with Nike, demanding a pact, one of discipleship, seeking who knows what chaos.

She had been suspicious of Ji-won, wary even when her sister was chasing after him, madly in love.

She couldn't understand him- the shifts in his character, his personality. But now she did... Ji-won was just...Ji-won. A kind, earnest man who loved Yeon-hwa fiercely, was and was now drowning in the weight of powers he neither understood nor desired.

And...he was changing. The constant influx of dark energies, the awareness of realities beyond their own, was taking its toll.

And then there was the incident. The chaos had reached a terrifying crescendo. A rift had opened, a gaping maw of darkness, threatening to swallow them all. Ji-won unleashed something even Lucifer and Nike couldn't predict, didn't intent.

In that moment of sheer terror, when the air crackled with raw, destructive energy, a desperate, instinctive act had linked them. A bond forged in fear and necessity. A pact between her and Lucifer. She wanted to save her sister- and Lucifer wanted to stop Ji-won. They managed- they did. Her sister might not remember but she did...they all did...Ji-won did.

He'd become distant, his once bright eyes now held a shadowed weariness. He still smiled at Yeon-hwa, still held her hand, but the light behind his eyes seemed dimmer, flickering like a dying ember. He'd retreated into himself, the weight of the unseen world pressing down on him. He only truly seemed present when he was with Yeon-hwa.

It must have been hard for Lucifer too. She knew, despite their constant bickering, that Lucy had been...attached to Jiwon. Obsessed, even. In the beginning, his presence had been suffocating, a possessive energy clinging to Jiwon. He'd sneered at Yeon-hwa, seeing her as an obstacle, a distraction. He'd openly antagonized Hwa-yang, taunting her quiet nature, calling her a shadow of her sister. She was the one who knew about Ji-won's secret, his affiliation with the demons and

And now... here he was, collapsed on their couch, looking utterly drained. The recent influx of malevolent energy had been particularly vicious. Rifts had torn open with alarming frequency, spewing forth not just unsettling whispers, but tangible threats. Shadowy creatures, hungering for something they couldn't quite grasp, but their presence alone was enough to chill the bone.

She didn't fully understand the implications even now. Lucifer and Nike's true intention... bond of protection, of shared energy, a constant, low thrum of connection she felt at the edge of her awareness. She felt his weariness now, a dull ache echoing in her chest. She had initially hated the idea. Hated Lucy, hated his arrogance, his constant needling. But in the face of shared vulnerability, in the shared fight for survival, something had shifted.

Lucifer had been their shield. He and Nike, but Lucy more visibly, more fiercely. He'd thrown himself into the chaos, his demonic energy a blazing barrier against the encroaching darkness. She'd seen him fight, from the shadows, his laidback attitude a mask of grim determination. He'd protected them, protected even her and Yeon-hwa, shielded them from the horrors nobody asked for.

Hwa-yang glanced back at Lucy. His frown had eased slightly, his breathing deepening, becoming more regular. He still looked exhausted, but the tension seemed to be slowly draining from his frame.

Hesitantly, almost unconsciously - she reached out a hand. She hovered for a moment, unsure, then gently brushed her fingers against his hair. It was still damp, cool to the touch. Who knew where he'd been, battling what, in this downpour, before collapsing here, in their living room, vulnerable and unguarded.

He'd protected Ji-won, and in a way them too- her & Yeon-Hwa . From the horrors they'd unleashed, however unintentionally, by welcoming Ji-won into their lives, by being caught in the orbit of his extraordinary, and now increasingly dangerous, power. A power he was losing control of.

A strange warmth spread through her, something she couldn't name, couldn't define. It wasn't comfort, not exactly. It was... gratitude? Empathy? Something nascent, something fragile, budding in the desolate landscape of her guarded heart. She gently ran her fingers through his dark hair, the strands surprisingly soft.

What was she doing? A faint blush crept up her neck. This was something Yeonha would instinctively do to Jiwon, a comforting gesture of affection. That was not their relationship... they just-tolerated each other... right?

But it was true; her feelings for this troublesome demon had shifted, evolved over time. At first she barely interacted with him, her approach, arguments solely with Ji-won. She knew he was dangerous, heck- he had tried to make her into a customer, of the shady cafe they used to host...the consequence that might've happened still made her shiver. They were basically total opposites, two souls who couldn't interact without any collision. Slowly it changed- Lucy seemed to tease her more with less venomous words, and he was so troublesome. They'd argue about stuffs, about what Ji-won should do or not.

She was still cautious, the ingrained wariness towards demons a hard thing to shake, but at this point, she genuinely couldn't imagine him intentionally causing them harm. Not anymore. Especially not after...the incident.

She was retreating her fingers , when suddenly, a hand caught her wrist.

"Hwa-yang?"

Lucy's voice, rough with sleep, startled her. She recoiled slightly. He was awake, his crimson eyes, usually brimming with mischief, now clouded with fatigue.

"You're...awake," she stated, unnecessarily. He didn't release her wrist.

His voice was still thick, but clearer now. "What are you...?", his gaze falling to the blanket draped over him, then to her hand in his. A flicker of something unreadable crossed his face – surprise, confusion?

"Did you...?" he began, then trailed off again, looking away.

Hwa-Yang felt a little flustered, but remained casual. " You looked cold," she stated trying to sound dismissive.

Lucifer slowly sat up, releasing her wrist, though his fingers lingered for a moment before letting go completely. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, pushing his damp hair away from his forehead.

"Tired doesn't even begin to cover it," he muttered, his voice regaining its usual edge, though it lacked its usual bite.

A silence stretched on between them for a while accompanied by the faint rhythmic sound of the rain outside.

"Ji-won's...worse," he said finally, his voice low, almost hesitant. It was the first time she'd heard him speak about Ji-won with anything other than possessive fervor or petty jealousy.

"He's not himself," Hwa-yang finished for him, the words echoing her own anxieties. "He's...slipping away."

Lucifer nodded, his gaze distant, lost in thought. "He carries too much. He shouldn't have to." There was a strange protectiveness in his tone, devoid of any sarcasm or bravado. It was raw, genuine concern and perhaps guilt too. After all- he had been the one pushing him to explore his darkness.

"He doesn't talk to us much anymore," Hwayang confessed, the words tumbling out before she could stop them. "Except...Yeonha."

A brief shadow flickered across Lucy's face- irritation? Envy? But it was quickly replaced by a weary resignation. "Yeon-hwa is...his anchor," he said quietly. "She keeps him tethered to this reality. We...we just remind him of the other ones."

The silence descended again, heavy with unspoken understanding and shared worry. Hwa-yang shifted, tucking her legs under her. "You were out in the rain."

He shrugged, picking up his discarded coat and examining a tear in the lining. "Just...checking things. Making sure nothing...unpleasant followed us back."

"Back from where?" Hwa-yang asked, though she already suspected a vague answer.

He glanced at her, a flicker of his old mischievousness returning to his eyes. "Places you wouldn't believe. Places you wouldn't want to believe." He grinned, a flash of teeth in the dim light. "Consider yourself lucky you're just a boring human, Hwa-yang."

"I'm not boring," she retorted automatically, the familiar banter sparking even in this subdued atmosphere.

"Oh no?" he raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. "Then prove it."

Before Hwa-yang could retort, a bright, cheerful voice cut through the air. "Hwa-Yang ah~ I brought snacks!"

Yeon-hwa bounced into the living room, a bright beacon of sunshine in the gloom, carrying takeout bags. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene – Lucifer on the couch, Hwa-yang sitting on the floor beside him, the blanket, the unspoken tension in the air.

"Ooh, are you two having a moment?" she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

Hwa-yang groaned, rolling her eyes. Lucy, however, just chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that surprised Hwa-yang.

"With your prickly sister? Always jumping to unlikely conclusions, Yeon-hwa," Lucy said. "We were just...discussing strategies."

"Strategies for what?" Yeonha asked innocently.

Lucy and Hwayang exchanged a look. Strategies for survival. Strategies for holding onto a reality that was fracturing at the seams. Strategies for protecting Ji-Won, and each other, from the encroaching darkness..,

"Just...strategies," Lucifer repeated, his gaze meeting Hwa-Yang's. And in that shared glance, something shifted again. A fragile truce, a budding understanding, and...

"Well- I'll leave you two to it, but hey I'm gonna make some tea. You guys want some?"

Hwa-yang and Lucifer both shook their head in unison. Tea sounded nice.

In a few minutes the fresh aroma of tea filled the room.

He took a sip of his tea, the steam warming his face. He looked at Hwa-yang, her presence anchoring him in a way he hadn't expected. He leaned back against the couch, a soft exhale escaping his lips.

"Stay..." he murmured, almost to himself, but Hwa-yang heard him. Was it a sleepy plea steamed out of blurred consciousness? Or a quiet request? Hwa-yang, couldn't fully articulate, but for reasons-didn't want to refuse. She took a slow sip of her tea, the warmth spreading through her, mirroring the strange, unfamiliar warmth blooming within her chest. She stayed.

Notes:

how does one look so good with a headband on? smh

shit kihyun... be giving me them unspoken vibes... he seems like the type to call you baby girl or princess... maybe even kitten *WINK*

i love you too bby! 

what are you trying to do boy? I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS