Disclaimer: TOG is owned by SIU and the Naver corporation
Khun's perspective
If I'm ever going to achieve a major victory against Hwa Ryun, then I must figure out what Hwa Ryun is outside of her prophesying about Baam being a deity.
The sights throughout town is enjoyable for all it is. It's a shame I won't be seeing it much in a few days when I move with my team to where this floor test is supposed to take place.
This is as good as a time as any to engage Hwa Ryun in not a test of wills, but a polite conversation. It's all part of my plan. There's only one avenue I can think of besides Baam we have in common.
"Hey, do you remember the first time we met?" I asked. That should start us off something sweet.
"Hmm" Hwa Ryun gazed at me, her eyes still cause me to wonder how she sees everybody else, including me.
"It was when you warned me about Hoh. I don't remember thanking you, so, I want to thank you for that" I carefully stated, adding weight to each word and pause.
There was no change of pace or emotion from Hwa Ryun. It's either the silent stare or gleeful sadism from her.
"Regardless of whether I warned you or not, the result would have been the same with Viole, though he might have been an entirely different person" Hwa Ryun said, her monotone signalling a disappointment for me.
"So, anyway, getting back to our first meeting, what did you think of me?" I can only commit to giving it a round two. After all, no plan survives contact with the enemy unless I happen to know what I'm doing.
Hwa Ryun's right eyebrow drooped and her right eye squinted. "That's a foolish question to ask, I'm surprised out of all people, you were the first one to ask me this" Hwa Ryun shook her head, playing up the act to get me frustrated again. "But, I suppose I must give you credit for asking a bold question. To be honest, you were one of those people who can accomplish well beyond their roles."
Of course I should be expecting this, intentionally covering your feelings under pretentious dialogue. I'm glad not all guides are like you, otherwise I will have to question the sanity of the tower's original inhabitants.
"To answer my own question, not much at all. There was too little to go off you at the time" I try not to go for honesty as much as I can, but it can be used as a tool to make people drop their guard around you.
"As it should be. There's no rational reason I should open up to someone who's going to try use that information against me" Hwa Ryun said.
Drat!
I'm not as good as pulling off a poker face as she is, from her new smile, she picked up on her latest victory over me. There's no time to let her gain the advantage.
"That's fair. So why don't I make things fair for you, and reveal some important information that you can use against me later" I delivered my counter augment, if I lose ground, then at least I didn't back down from an opponent I have no clear information on.
"Your definition of important might not align with my definition" Hwa Ryun said, not blinking an eye in refuting my counter argument.
I stopped in my tracks, Hwa Ryun noticed and stopped as well. I nearly gritted my teeth, how have I managed up here if I can't even get someone like her to reveal her backstory to me.
"You make it all too fun for me" Hwa Ryun walked forward to me, her arms folded behind her while leaning in to spite me.
"It would be easier for me and the team if you were to contribute your fair share" I said, trying to come up with anything that could get her to come off her high horse.
"You and the team?" Hwa Ryun repeated, adjusting herself to her usual tone of speech. "You, Androssi and the others? You really have confidence in them?" Hwa Ryun asked.
I frowned, as if it needed to be stated to someone who stayed with us for all this time. "Of course. I trust myself and Baam to assist the others up the tower."
"It's a shame that such a person like yourself would choose to shackle yourself with such burdens" Hwa Ryun mock sighed. The shame of her walking all over me will be worth it if I can just get a lead on her.
"It's not something I can expect a guide like you to understand" I rebuked, continuing to engage Hwa Ryun in a battle of wits is like not trying to fall face flat on a treadmill that keeps adjusting its speed.
"Indeed. So how much information have you gotten about me since you started this project?" Hwa Ryun asked, twisting the knife that was already embedded into me.
"It's only fair I don't tell my findings to someone who can't even be honest to me.
"So I gather, not much" Hwa Ryun smirked.
"It's only been a few days, you'll crack in least a few months" I looked directly into her one uncovered eye, not flinching a muscle.
There are only a few moments of anticipated silence, however it didn't last long when Hwa Ryun responded. "Good, then it's not a waste of time for me to continue to interact with you."
My perception of her had flipped. Was I making progress with her without even realising? What did I even do right?
"You enjoy talking to me?" It was the only appropriate response I can say in light of an unexpected moment.
"We are social creatures, Khun. Even someone like me will feel dissolved unless I talk to someone at least once in a while. Plus, it's not every decade I can have someone of the Khun family to have a pleasant conversation with" Hwa Ryun said.
"You know, these conversations can be technically be considered an interrogation" I responded.
"It's a matter of perspective" Hwa Ryun waved off my statement. "You don't scare me at all, Viole has tainted you too much."
"Ok. Could we have a pleasant conversation without mentioning Baam?" I asked.
"You don't even have to ask. Of course, I would like to pick the conversational topic" Hwa Ryun approached closer to me, not feeling the need to keep at a distance from me.
"Fine, as long as it doesn't have anything to do with Baam and romance" I emphasised, no need to get distracted with any of these topics.
I braced myself when I saw Hwa Ryun's slight gleeful smile. "Heh. Let's see" she deliberately holds off for a minute, as if she actually needed to think about what to say next.
"Do you have much experience with karaoke?" Hwa Ryun asked as if it was the most serious question in the world.
I stumbled a bit for an answer. "No, no, it was something I consider a distraction. Something to distract my team with, but not something for me to participate in."
Hwa Ryun smiled. "I see" she looked from side to side. "We have the whole afternoon to ourselves. We should go the local karaoke place in town."
"Wait, shouldn't we wait for the others to come back?" Khun asked.
Hwa Ryun smirked. "If you spent your life thinking about what happens next, you won't be able to approach the opportunities that are given to you."
"Alright, looks like we have a fight on our hands" I agreed to Hwa Ryun's proposition, though she has to take me there first.
Hwa Ryun's perspective
"Off all the things I imagine of you, karaoke is nowhere associated with it" Khun said, looking around in their sorted karaoke room.
I walked in behind, easy and simple is the specifications I ordered for. I don't see a need to scare a beginner like Khun, after all this is the only thing that I could reasonably see myself doing with him. But, I'll have to consider what to do with Khun all obsessed with me.
"It's something I picked up on while I was working at a similar place like this" I responded as I headed over to sort the songs into two playlists. The pop songs will have to do for Khun, easy to sing and jam with the rhythm. Now for my own.
"If we're going to do something as pointless as this, why don't we make it more interesting?" Khun asked.
I turned to oblige Khun in his foolishness. "Khun, it amazes me how recently you been eager to engage me and still lose.
"If I'm going to do something as embarrassing as singing, wouldn't be a worthy motivation at the end of it?" Khun said, sitting on a chair.
How amusing, any worthy motivation would either be for money, power or sex. But, I must assume since this is specifically Augero, that he already had gotten a taste of those three in particular.
"Indeed" I shrugged as a gesture to understand a bit of my mood in the moment. "I'm all for harmless fun, but I can handle a bit of thrills every now and again."
Khun shifted on his chair, examining every feature of the karaoke room except for me. How disappointing.
"As I thought. It's better you start singing and forget about your foolish quest for this afternoon" I grabbed the mic at the side of the machine and handed it off to Khun.
Khun rolled his eyes and grabbed the microphone from my outstretched hand.
Khun's perspective
Singing the notes wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Of course, the melody and beats blared the sight of the pop idol Yura into my mind, so that's certainly why my thoart is a bit sore now.
I sat down on the same chair after singing, then drinking water from a cup to rest and give my vocal cords a break.
I wonder how this experience would be different if we had more people here? Probably loud chatter and at least some drunken singing. Is this how karoke supposed to be enjoyed with just two people?
Hwa Ryun sat on the opposite chair, legs crossed as she kept staring at me, a catlike grin on her face.
At this point, she's been so unpredictable I could come up with an amount of different interpretations. Some would make sense right now, like her planning how she can dump my body without Baam and Rak knowing. While other possibilities are more crazy, let's say if she actually happy with me being here. Now that's something I can't comprehend.
"So, how about you sing next?" I smirked, anticipating the opportunity to see how good she is at singing.
Hwa Ryun's perspective
I got up from my chair and grabbed the microphone. This is a song I would sing plenty of times when I come into one of these places. Of course, by sing, it's more or less mixed with hums.
It's a matter of preference for challenging myself with singing songs that rebel against the standard structure of what you'd see in most songs.
After a few minutes of getting used to the feeling of my vocal chords being stretched, I turned to see Khun snapping of what it seems to be a trance. Oh dear me, thankfully it's only him who heard my singing.
"I'm relieved we didn't bet anything on this" Khun said, seating up straighter on his seat.
I returned to my seat. "Oh this is nothing I take seriously. It was something I picked up in between jobs. It's the process of repeating until you don't even think about it anymore."
You could say it's ironic when me and Khun are at a place where we're supposed to be much closer, yet Khun is still unsatisfied with me upstaging him at every turn.
"You are too impatient. Why someone like you wants to do this in the first place? It would be much easy trying to indirectly affect me through Viole." I suggested that possibility as a favour for his attention towards me so far.
"Baam needs to not be concerned with you. Besides, I consider you my responsibility since I see you as part of the team, even though you don't deserve it." Apparently, I'll have to educate Khun on the importance of my role in teaching Viole his scared duty. Though, that will have to wait for a later time, otherwise that will be playing right into his scheming hands.
"Are you up for another go?" I offered him the mic. It's better not to let the tension sit too long, that will ruin the fun I had for the last few days.
Khun's perspective
"Sure" that's what I had said before grabbing the mic and singing the lyrics off the screen. My fist tightened around the mic. Damn it, she actually did just load pop songs on my turn.
By the end of it, I was sure my lungs would need surgery from the pain it was in. No stab wounds could compare to this much suffering mixed in with shame from being defeated.
After refilling the same cup, that I had been drinking all this time, this would be a nice time to actually get to know her, this is the suitable place for such dialogue. "Since you have a habit of singing, I assume you have a favourite song?" I asked, my lungs had gone back to normal since there was no forced breaks in my question.
Hwa Ryun shrugged. "Lyrical songs aren't my thing, the reason why I'm able to sing them decently is that I know how to use my voice to switch between tones.
I rolled my eyes. At least that's something new. "For me, you could say I had no time to listen to any new music, so my favourites are probably outdated" I said, feeling the tension starting to ease to melancholy. This was something I wanted to experience with Baam and Rak, not someone I resented for all this time.
"Mhmm" Hwa Ryun acknowledged my statement. "I see. You know… I appreciated you as a help to Viole in the present. We'll see if Viole will reject his role and choose his path for himself."
"Let's say hypothetically, your idea for the future doesn't happen, Baam defeats Zahard without much trouble, and I come to rule over the Khun family. What would you do?" I asked, reluctantly I admitted later on that this was out of curiosity rather then a means to trap Hwa Ryun.
"You being the head of the Khun family is one of the definite possibilities for what I can see for the future, so I'm prepared for the possibility. Though, if you want to get my head by then, I would already be gone by then" Hwa Ryun relaxed into her seat, this was something she had trained to do since she was a young girl.
I shook my head. "It'll depend on your cooperation, but I'm sure Baam is a merciful man who will give you your pardon."
Hwa Ryun's perspective
"I see, if you'll excuse me, I have a last song to sing" I adjusted myself to stand up and approached Khun to get the mic from him.
Singing the last song from me almost made me giggle. Quite a clever twist for a song to parody the same formulaic songs you often see promoted on official TV stations by the Zahard empire.
The rhythms are in direct contrast to the songs I picked out for Khun, yet the melody is the exact same. Next time I get the opportunity to contact Jinsung, we'll have to schedule a meet up to sing these types of songs.
Khun stared at me with a more curious eye, instead of an analytical perspective like he usually does. Perhaps I'm actually warming up to him.
"You know, I don't know much about you, but thanks for showing me this side of you" Khun said, standing up in affirmation of his slight sincerity.
It's only fair to be a good sport for someone who was willing to be appreciative for at least a few moments. "It's good of you to acknowledge that, though it was more of wanting to offer you a good time. Now if only your pride was that easy to blow over."
Maybe someday, if all goes to well with Zahard falling from his throne and Viole being hailed as the new and almighty god. Perhaps, I might get to know him on my terms.
A/N: Damn... It's already over. I remember one day having the idea of a premise from someone who wanted to see Khun and Hwa Ryun interact in a comedic fashion, unintentionally annoying everybody else and theirselves.
Well, six chapters later and I can safely say this story had not fulfil the quota I set out to do.
Don't get me wrong, I certainly managed to my own thing and add my own characterisation to Khun and Hwa Ryun, two characters in the long run, will play a vital part in the few original TOG fanfic ideas I had, we'll have to wait and see when the world building provides more fertile grounds for my three way, I mean stories for me to write as I sail on a ship through the cascade of dreams.
Anyway, this first serious multi chapter fanfic I consider a huge accomplishment for myself.
Especially considering that my next TOG project needs multiple chapters because the premise can't be restricted to one chapter otherwise it would ruin the pacing.
I am glad SIU was able to write and draw an amazing cast of characters, the fact that we don't have more TOG fan content to consume is something to take into account.
Perhaps there are people like me, wanting to write their own stories about the characters, but have no idea of how to format it since there's so much to learn about the tower and where our cast of characters will end up on.
I haven't given up hope yet, perhaps that project I'm planning next might be here in a few months' time. I'll have to see how much time 2 videos a month will take me.
Thank you all for reading this, it encouraged me knowing there was a fair amount of people who decided to give this one a chance.
I'll hopefully see you again in the next story!