He did not believe for a second that the association was capable of this, of such cruelty. Snatching children from their mothers arms like Chairman Go previously mentioned, then rescinded. Was he actually behind this? He looked to Jinwoo like a son, a child protégée he never had despite Jong-in's public nickname. And then to order your murder? You were dead. Gone. Vanished out of existence.

In-ho was safe. His son. His little boy. But Jong-in didn’t feel one ounce of relief, not while your body laid on a hospital bed with more blood outside of your body than in it, and two newborn babies without their mother, their father. Alone and vulnerable.

Perhaps it was because of his paternal instincts kicking in the moment In-ho was born. Seeing his little tufts of blonde hair like his mothers, his grey eyes matching Jong-in’s like a cute little pair. He was perfect. 

And he shamefully had another child on the way.

Another shameful issue for another time. It wasn't how he saw his life heading.

The twins would be perfect too, no doubt. He’d know that when Jinwoo brought them back to your side.

“Take him, I’m going to clean her up.” 

Hae-in handed In-ho to him, being the most lucid she’d been in weeks. She waddled over to the sink and found a sponge in the little cupboard underneath, picking up a fallen bowl and filling it with what she could.

You didn’t look peaceful at all, never seeming like you were sleeping either, not like other hunters who’d perished would have. Your brows were furrowed, like you were laying in pain that medication couldn't fix, hair knotted and sticky on whatever skin it could find and cling to.

Still, you were beautiful. That would never change.

“You loved her, didn’t you?” Hae-in said, her lip trembling awaiting an answer she probably wasn’t sure she’d want the answer to.

She was right. Mostly.

“I uh…” Jong-in was taken aback.

He did. But he didn’t.

“To be honest? I never got the chance to.” He sat down in the chair in the corner, cuddling In-ho close to his chest. “I have these feelings and never acted on them... I uh... Well I always thought I wasn't good enough, despite everyone's view of me. So I decided to never do anything about it.”

Up until In-ho’s birth, Jong-in found himself thinking about what his life would have been like if he’d been paired with you. It wasn’t that he regretted his path with Hae-in and in honesty, he wished the association hadn’t pressured him to make more children.

He was happy being a dad and partner to one person. But it didn’t stop him thinking about you. In respect, he never even entertained pursuing anything, taking Jinwoo’s feeling’s into account.

Jinwoo was in love with you, that much was obvious before today, the engagement, even before you fell pregnant. You were just that oblivious.

Just like you were oblivious to Jong-in too, even when his excitement and disappointment was barely contained before and after the results came in.

Not that it mattered anymore…

"She was so hot headed, always trying to stand up for what she believed in. She would have made a great mother. I don't really know how Jinwoo will cope."

“Oh… Right.”

Hae-in sponged you down respectfully and started taking off the dried flakes of blood and grime off of your hands. Your body still slumped, still loose.

How long before she starts going stiff? Fuck, what must be going through Jinwoo's mind right now? What's going through mine?

“But, I love you, Hae-in. I know that much, and I'd like to make a go of things if you'd have me too. Once my second child is born, I’m stopping this. I’m not letting the association push me into any more decisions, not when I’d like to stay with you.”

"You love me..." She hesitated. Mouth closed. Then open. “Do you love her too?”

The other Hunter Jong-in slept with was someone he wasn’t keen on, she was in lack of a better word, high maintenance. Not meaning she wanted Jong-in’s attention, just the attention that came with his presence, like a massive human sized pawn. Jong-in attended appointments with her and nothing else. She kept to her own social circle and pretty much pulled him out for special occasions like a toy doll for company or fine china.

Jong-in, the ultimate hunter, pregnant with his baby.

Like he was even ultimate any more. He did nothing today to prove it when he should have pushed through his exhaustion, and did everything he could to protect his child instead of relying o someone else to do it. So fucking weak.

Hae-in was nothing like that, she didn't expect much form him in terms of his presence or social ability. She had poise, dignity, and Jong-in had ignored her ‘paranoia’ and it led to this. 

“No. She doesn’t feel anything for me either despite how she is during our public appearances.” 

She shook her head slowly, processing something, wiping your face down and ridding your skin of blood and red. “I’m not sure how I feel, Jong-in. My pregnancy was so difficult, I never felt seen.”

He disagreed like he was trying to make himself believe it more. “I saw you. I did. I do. The association have their way of getting under your skin, that doctor- the facility drummed it into me that you were just having a funny turn. I never thought anyone would be capable of stealing children away.”

“What if they come back? Or they take In-ho in the middle of the night when we’re sleeping? I can’t sleep knowing that.”

There was only one solution that Jong-in could think of that made logical sense and get out of the associations back pocket for good. “We move, we get out of here with In-ho and we leave the city- no, the country, if you want to.”

“What about your other child?” Hae-in moved closer to Jong-in on the other side of the bed to clean your other arm.

“She wouldn’t let me have full custody. I doubt she’d even want me around at all, not if I’m halfway somewhere else. She'd probably make it difficult, but I'll still try for some sort of a relationship. If not, then I’ll support her from afar and do my duty as the baby's father, but this is where my family is, in this room.”

Hae-in continued cleaning you, standing weak in the poorly strung hospital gown. “You really love me?”

“I do.”

It seemed like the best type of love, one that grew with time from nothing, a seed in the grown given enough love and care that bloomed into something beautiful. The love he felt for Hae-in versus you was entirely different. With you, it was almost instantaneous, and still he never had time to get to know you more like he wanted to. He learned little things about Have-in he never did with you. Her favourite colour was red. She did this little nose wiggle before she sneezed. And she was entirely more sensitive to sad films than she ever let on.

In the end, Jong-in was where he was supposed to be. With Hae-in. Just part of him didn't want to let you go even though he never had you in the first place, even your friendship fizzled out because it was just never meant to be.

It would take time, but he'd grieve it.

Have-in sniffled, cleaning your body with brief pauses to compose herself. “I can’t believe she’s dead… Jinwoo, he loved her too, and he’ll never get to again. How did this happen? His babies are missing. What if they were taken like In-ho almost was but he can’t ever get them back? He'll never be the same again.”

Jong-in would carry that guilt with him for the rest of his life, begging Jinwoo to help him and it put his own children’s safety at risk. Now they were missing and Jinwoo stepped into a war path he might not ever come back from.

Useless. That was the only word he could come up with. 

Useless. 

“How can he come back from this? I always saw the way he looked at her, he worshipped the ground she walked on. He was so intense, around her, but he looked at her with a softness I’ve never seen before. I think she was the love of his life... he's never looked at anyone else like that... and s-she's gone.”

Jong-in knew that look. “I know exactly what you mean. His intensity. Sometimes I noticed how he looked at me like he wanted to beat me up.” He chuckled sadly, knowing full well if Jinwoo did go for him, it wasn’t just a quick fight Jinwoo wanted, it would be blood.

Any blood.

All blood.

Someone to answer for your murder. 

Someone killed you, clearly. It wasn’t like you fell on something by accident and just died. Any idiot could see you were murdered.

“Jinwoo doesn’t want me around and I understand completely, but if there’s anything I can do to help find who did this, I’ll do everything I can. I’ll use the guild’s power and connections if I have to. Maybe the other guilds might help?”

“We’re in it deep, Jong-in... aren’t we?” 

Hae-in straightened your hospital gown and pulled the thin, and no doubt scratchy sheet over your lower half until the majority of the blood was covered. She placed your hands in a respectful overlap and softly stroked your hair as thought you really were sleeping.

Jong-in couldn’t even pretend. He couldn’t look at you for more than a few seconds without losing his breath.

“Yeah…” He nodded slowly. “We are. And I don’t know who to trust.”

The people he did trust were either storming off down the hill, dead, or hours postpartum. The list was small, thinning out and their lack of presence lately had Jong-in even doubting Baek, Tae-gyu and Dongwook’s positions on this.

“What do we do, Jong-in?”

“We do the best we can with what we’ve got. But no one is taking our child away from us, not again.”

Part 31 <- Part 32 -> Part 33

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DISCLAIMER - Crossposted from my AO3 - I do not own any of the characters or anything from the anime or manhwa. This is a work of fan fiction and is absolutely not representative of the views or intentions of the original creator(s).