A/N: Shout out to InHwa! She prompted me to write this chapter over a year ago, and it's finally here!
I finished the first draft of my book! Thanks for your encouraging notes :) Onwards to the second draft!
There is a Seoul Comic Con (now called Seoul POPCON), but from what I gather, it's relatively new and relatively small compared to some other cons, so I based this chapter more on the San Diego Comic Con.
The first half of this chapter includes spoilers for the Chinese drama Till the End of the Moon, a fantasy drama I highly recommend! If you don't want those spoilers, you can skip the first section of Rang's POV and go down to where Ga Eul's second section starts.
New Korean Words:
jesu: sister-in-law
Rang slept over at Ga Eul's parents' house on Saturday night—curled up beside her as a cat because her childhood bed 'was not made for two people, or even one full-sized human.' Nonetheless, in the early light of morning, he shifted back to his human form, and they cuddled together until Ga Eul could no longer avoid showing her face at breakfast.
She spent most of Sunday daydreaming about Rang while her mother took her shopping, and when she'd been deposited at her empty apartment with a new storage container tower of her mother's food, she realized that she didn't have any reason to stay there now that school was out.
She also didn't want to stay there alone. She didn't know when it had gotten so difficult to be away from Rang, but she knew that she felt like running out the door and keeping at a sprint until she arrived at his apartment.
And just like that, as she stared at the innards of the lonely studio apartment that was coming more and more to represent a past period of her life, Chu Ga Eul came back to herself. There, she'd been comforted by a strange cat, and her wounds had been bandaged by an evil fox, and one night she'd been kissed back to life by that same evil fox who would wait outside her door until she was ready to let him in.
Now, after months and years of melancholy, she felt happy in a young and foolish way, as if she were a high schooler waiting outside her crush's door to give him a box of chocolates. Only this time, she wasn't worried about being rejected.
She'd shed Yi Jeong's ghost. Anxious dread no longer accompanied the butterflies in her stomach.
Impossibly, the girl she'd been in high school was still inside her—that hopeful, trusting soul who'd worn her heart on her sleeve. That girl who'd believed that soulmates and true love really did exist in the world and that someone somewhere would love her like her favorite romantic heroes loved their other halves.
Ga Eul believed again.
"What's with the suitcases?" Rang asked when he showed up an hour later. "Are you going on a trip?"
The suitcases in question—one blue and one purple rolling bag—had been crammed full with most of Ga Eul's clothes and every necessity she could conceivably need, along with a few decorations for her room. Wrangling the two unwieldy objects through the door, Ga Eul explained, "I thought I could live with you full time until I go back to school...that is, if you still want me around that much."
Rang's eyes lit up with pleasure, but he cocked his head as though he were thinking it over.
"I'll accept you on the condition that you bring that food." He pointed to her mother's dishes on the counter.
Ga Eul smiled.
"Deal."
With Ga Eul moving in with him—temporarily, at least for now—Rang's summer was rallying after a rocky start. And if Jan Di's approval of him had any influence on that development, then he silently—very silently—thanked her.
He couldn't even be too annoyed by the first item on Ga Eul's summer agenda: attending the cosplay convention he owed her. As it was, he had to admit Ga Eul looked stunning in her gold and blue fantasy robes from the Chinese drama Till the End of the Moon, her hair crowned with ornate gold pins and chains of blue beads. She'd chosen to play a pure-spirited goddess who fell in love with a devil god, and though Rang hadn't watched the drama himself, he couldn't argue with her choice of roles. Perhaps it would be worth it to go to this lame human festival, if only to watch Ga Eul give him orders like 'stand here' and 'pose like this' while looking like she could crush his bones with a wave of her hand.
Not that he mentioned this to her. They were halfway to the event at an ungodly hour of the morning, and he was acting as skeptical as possible about the likelihood of them having fun.
"But you're the devil god," Ga Eul—no, Li Susu—persuaded from the passenger seat, "the most powerful being in the universe. Just like you are the most powerful being in this universe."
Rang glanced at her, and she gave him an adoring smile that meant she thought the world of him. Usually, he enjoyed her flattery. Hadn't he always meant for her to be in awe of him? To view him as she would a god?
This time, however, her assumption rubbed him the wrong way. If she were to stay with him long-term, she should know there were plenty of creatures out there who could hurt her far worse than he could. Ignorance in the supernatural world always led to death, or worse. Rang should know, having toed the line between life and death for so long. Between the human world and the supernatural one.
Rang hated admitting his weaknesses to humans, but Ga Eul wasn't just any human. She was his human. He had a duty to protect her, and right now the blue harp on her lap was supposed to be her weapon. Even as a goddess, she only managed to have a harp!
There was such a thing as being too pure of spirit. Rang made a mental note to teach her axe-throwing.
"I'm not the most powerful being," Rang admitted, keeping his eyes on the road.
"Huh?"
"There are plenty of supernatural creatures that have greater powers than I do. I'm sort of...weak in relation to a lot of beings."
"Really?" Ga Eul replied, genuine surprise in her voice. "But you can do so many amazing things. You're strong and fast. You're an expert at martial arts. You can shapeshift. You can control people's minds. You ate an entire bus of people!"
"I ate an entire bus of humans."
Ga Eul frowned like she didn't understand.
As they pulled up to a red light, Rang sighed and turned to her.
"Look, you think I'm really powerful because, in relation to you, I am. But in relation to...say…a mountain god or an imoogi...I'm not...I can't…" Rang trailed off. It was harder to admit his weaknesses to Ga Eul than he'd expected, especially with her looking at him like she'd trust him to lift a building off of her.
"Remember the night my brother beat me at sparring?"
Ga Eul nodded.
"He's human, and he beat me at sparring." Rang winced as he spoke the words.
"I thought you said that's because he knew all your moves." Ga Eul furrowed her brows. "He was cheating."
"Well, however he did it, he did it," Rang replied. The light turned green, and he was forced to pay attention to the road again.
"Hmm, I see...But Rang, your brother was a mountain god before. If you're related to him, you have to have some—"
"My brother was a mountain god because he trained for it for years," Rang said dismissively. "I'm only half a fox, don't forget."
Rang sure wanted to forget. He wanted to leave the subject and get back to the world where he was the powerful fox and she was the vulnerable human.
"Anyway, I'm just telling you this so that you'll be careful. Don't go around thinking I can protect you from everything because I can't. You have to use common sense too and not be tricked into things. Why do you think I keep telling you to defend yourself?"
An uncomfortable silence ensued, and Rang hated it. He hated being reminded that he was a half-breed and at the bottom of the power scale because of it. Humans thought he was a monster, but other supernatural beings thought he was a joke. There were creatures who possessed such powers that made his meager capabilities look like a human magician's party tricks.
Suddenly, Ga Eul kissed his cheek.
"Hey, what happened to 'I'm a big, bad fox, and everyone should fear me?'" Ga Eul deepened her voice, sounding nothing like him.
"That's not how I talk." Rang chuckled, despite himself.
"Isn't it?" Ga Eul smiled at him, and his chest felt lighter.
"Don't worry," she said. "You can teach me about the other creatures if you think I should be informed, but to me, you will always be the most powerful being. Number one." She held up a finger, and Rang wanted to bat it away. The finger, her naivety. But he liked the way she made him feel. Her confidence in him made it hard for him to keep feeling sorry for himself; he wanted to believe her, or, at least, he wanted her to live in a world where he was the most powerful being, just so he could protect her from any threat. Maybe he would like to be a devil god after all.
Under her spell, Rang puffed himself up and noted cockily, "Well, I did eat an entire busload of people. By myself."
"See?! You did that, and you turned into a cat. You can hear conversations several tables away…" Ga Eul rambled on for the rest of the car ride, counting off his accomplishments on her fingers. "You're really, um, attractive when you do things like that," she concluded as they arrived at the convention center.
Rang had to run her last few sentences back in his mind.
She'd been discussing his physical strength in relation to hers.
Now she wasn't looking at him.
Having parked the car, Rang took the opportunity to lean into her space.
"Oh? Is that so?" He grinned.
Ga Eul nodded, blushing.
"Little human, is that why I'm dressed up as the devil god?"
Ga Eul glanced around and swallowed.
"Um, well, you're not dressed up as anything right now. You haven't sh-shapeshifted yet."
Rang slid his hand around her throat and tilted her chin up. Her breathing shallowed, and from the way she looked at him, he might as well have been a god.
Playing into her fantasy, he said, "Then I should get to that so you don't forget I'm the most powerful being anywhere"—he dropped his voice as he lowered his mouth to her neck–"and I will bite you whenever I want."
Ga Eul giggled as he bit into her neck and growled.
"What took the two of you so long?" Shin-joo complained when they finally made it to the front of the convention center where he, Yu Ri, and Soo-oh were waiting on them in the crowd of humans milling about.
"Traffic," Ga Eul volunteered, her voice cracking. Truly, she was a horrible liar. And her hair was messed up in the back from their brief, but intense, make-out session in the car.
Shin-joo narrowed his eyes at Rang.
"I'm the devil god. I take as long as I want. Now let's get this over with," he announced, surveying the nearby humans with condescension. Quite a few of them hadn't gotten the memo about costumes, and he wanted to be irritated with Ga Eul for making him dress up when, clearly, he could have been wearing anything, but at the same time, he felt like an ancient king, and if he was going to be lording it over these mortals, he might as well look the part. He'd shifted into the devil god Tantai Jin, and he had to admit that he felt very regal in his flowing red and black robes and his long black hair adorned by a silver headpiece. He had offered to change his face to complete the disguise, but Ga Eul hadn't liked that idea, and he'd delightedly noted that she liked seeing his face most of all.
Everyone in their group was playing a character from the drama. Everyone except Soo-oh, who, of course, had come as Spiderman. Yu Ri—"the devil god's loyal servant Si Ying," Ga Eul explained—wore her demonic form well, appearing clever and sinister in red robes and long silver hair. Shin-joo, playing Si Ying's fellow servant Jing Mei, wore dark purple robes, though he mentioned he'd wanted to come as a prince. Shin-joo as a prince...It was even more laughable than Shin-joo as a demon.
As Ga Eul and Yu Ri stood there, gushing over each other's costumes, Shin-joo punched Rang's arm. It was a light punch, much lighter than the ones Rang gave his brother every time he visited, but all the same Rang twisted his head and looked appropriately put out.
"Do you wanna die?" He raised his fist, ready to sock Shin-joo in the jaw. Who did he think he was, punching Rang's arm? Touching him? Just because they'd lived together...
"You kill her in the show!" Shin-joo gestured to Yu Ri.
"That's right," Yu Ri confirmed. "You kill me after I devote my entire life to you. But the joke's on you because she kills you!" Yu Ri pointed at Ga Eul.
"What?" Rang swiveled to Ga Eul. "You kill me?"
Soo-oh laughed at his outrage.
"I thought I was supposed to be the most powerful being in the universe!"
"Even the most powerful being has a weakness. I'm your weakness." Ga Eul winked.
"Technically, she tries to kill you several times, but she only succeeds once," Shin-joo assured him.
Rang widened his eyes in alarm; he skirted around to hide behind Shin-joo and Yu Ri, but Ga Eul followed him.
"You...you stay away!" Rang demanded as he fled, but Ga Eul remained hot on his heels.
Laughing hysterically, Soo-oh joined the chase and captured Rang for Ga Eul.
"Ahjussi, I caught you in my web!" Soo-oh shouted. He shot Rang's belt with the sticky suction cup attached to his wrist shooter and began circling him with string.
As he allowed Soo-oh to wrap him up, Rang complained to Ga Eul, "Now I see why you had me come like this. It's all a plot so everyone can gang up on me!"
"Does that even make sense? Why would I need other people to gang up on you?" Ga Eul scolded. "I can take you all by myself...Good luck getting out of that spider web, though."
"Hey, hey." Rang squirmed as Soo-oh circled his arms a third time. "How much string have you got there?!"
Soo-oh giggled.
"Let me go! I'll tell you anything you want to know...No. I'll grant you a wish."
Soo-oh stopped—he appeared to have run out of string—but didn't take the offer.
"Aww, that's so cute. Both of you, stay just like that." Ga Eul whipped out her phone, and Rang groaned as he realized the endless day of photo-taking had begun.
Yu Ri took her phone out too; she was followed by Shin-joo.
"Really?" Rang protested as they all snapped pictures of a grinning Soo-oh holding him captive.
"This is awesome," Shin-joo noted, comparing their photos. "He really looks defeated."
"All right, that's it. Get this thing off of me, or I'll turn into the Green Goblin, and you'll really get a fight."
"Hey, we got here just in time!" Yeon's joyful voice startled Rang. "You already captured the villain. Good job." He high-fived Soo-oh, and though Rang couldn't see his brother, he could feel his brother's laughter pricking the back of his neck. It was the final straw.
"Blacky, if you don't unwrap me right now," Rang threatened through gritted teeth, "I'm going to snap this string, and I won't feel sorry about it."
"Don't worry, Soo-oh. I'll make sure to throw him in the dungeon," Yeon consoled the boy, who did as Rang had asked, then reeled his string back in.
"Ha. Ha." Rang turned, brushing himself off, but he didn't get to say anything else before everyone rushed over to Ha Eun in her stroller; they oohed and aahed over how big she had gotten since they'd last seen her and how cute she looked in her new pink and yellow summer clothes.
Rang pushed through the crowd and smiled down at his niece.
"Ha Eun," he greeted, "who did you come as? The world's cutest baby?"
In response, Ha Eun burst into tears.
"Ah, look at you, already scaring children." Yeon tutted.
"Ha Eun, it's me, your samchon." Rang pouted, taken aback.
"She probably thinks you're a monster dressed in all that," Ji Ah informed him; she picked up Ha Eun and balanced her on her hip.
Rang scoffed.
"Yu Ri and Shin-joo are basically wearing the same thing, and you look like you're wearing tentacles!" He pointed at Ji Ah's red and gold nine-tailed fox costume, which sported laughably fake white tails.
"Shhh," she addressed Ha Eun, lightly bouncing her. "It's your Baby Uncle Rang. You know him. See? He's just a harmless baby fox. Look. He's just a baby." She turned Ha Eun toward Rang, but his niece only stared at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.
Rang tried making silly faces at her, but she choked out another sob, to his dismay, and hid her face in her mom's arm. If only they were at the house, he could turn into a butterfly! Ha Eun had always liked it when he'd fluttered over her crib, and he'd liked making her laugh, except for the one time she almost tore his wing off.
Irritated with his inability to make her smile, Rang turned to his brother and demanded, "Who the hell are you, anyway?"
Yeon was dressed in white robes and silver armor—a soldier's costume.
"A mortal general," Yeon answered with absurd dignity. "My name is Ye Qingyu. And this is Pian Ran, my nine-tailed fox lover." He indicated Ji Ah.
"A nine-tailed fox suits you." Rang looked Ji Ah's costume over. "You're tricky enough."
Ji Ah raised her eyebrows.
"But hyung, why do you always play at being human?" Rang teased. "Even when you're human, you want to be human."
"I am a loyal warrior devoted to his country and his love."
"And his king," Ji Ah supplied, smirking.
Yeon shot her a warning look.
"I said 'country.'"
His king?
Wait. Ga Eul had said that Tantai Jin was a king in the mortal world.
"Are you saying that I'm his king?" Rang pointed at his brother.
"At one point, yes," Ga Eul chimed in. "Ye Qingyu doesn't like you much, but he is one of your most loyal servants."
A burst of laughter tore from Rang's throat.
His brother—serving him?!
Rang loved cosplay!
"I serve my country, not you. If you had watched the show—"
"Do you know what this means?! You have to speak formally to me! I get to order you around all day!" Rang circled his brother gleefully, invading his personal space.
"Did you have to make my brother the devil god?" Yeon looked tiredly at Ga Eul. "Don't you think that's too much for everyone involved?"
"He agreed to come. I had to give him something. But don't worry, hyeongnim. I brought my soul-slaying spikes, and I fully intend to kill him by the end of the day." Ga Eul smiled serenely.
"Soul-slaying what?" Rang whipped his head around.
"Maybe we should hurry up and get inside. I made a schedule." Ga Eul pulled out maps and sheets with the times for the activities she wanted them to do. Leaving Rang's comment in the wind, she began handing these papers out and explaining what was on them, ever the teacher. Planning and organizing were two of her special powers, trailing after optimism, compassion, and tongue-rolling.
As he listened to what she wanted to do, however, Rang frowned; too much of the day would be spent waiting in lines, and how was that efficient given that they would only come there once?
"Let me see that." Rang snatched Ga Eul's schedule from her. She hadn't bothered to give him a handout or a map; she probably thought he'd just fold them into paper planes, and she was right.
"Forget the lines," Rang said. "What do you want to do? I'll get you anything you want."
"Huh?"
"Are you up to your childish tricks again?" Yeon scolded.
Ga Eul glanced at Yeon, then seemed to realize what Rang was insinuating.
"Oh...um...there's a lot of people here...and security. Are you sure you can—"
"This is what I do," Rang noted confidently. "And yes, it is possible to hypnotize more than one person at a time. Just ask Shin-joo." He nodded in Shin-joo's direction, and the vet uncomfortably cleared his throat.
"I prefer not to talk about my sordid past with my kid present," he replied, though the kid in question was far from earshot. Soo-oh was too busy taking photos as Yu Ri flagged down anyone in costume and made them pose with him.
"That type of thing is a disgraceful abuse of power," Rang's brother insisted, "It's undignified and immoral."
Rang scrunched his face. Yeon and his unbearable morality.
"Well, this whole thing was Ga Eul's idea, so why don't we let her decide?" Rang handed the schedule back to Ga Eul. "Lines...or no lines?"
Ga Eul accepted the paper; she glanced at Yeon, then at Rang.
Holding Rang's gaze, she appeared to think it over, then replied with quiet confidence, "No lines."
Rang smiled.
There was his little human.
"Lead the way." He gestured to the building's entrance, and Ga Eul swept past him as Shin-joo called out for Yu Ri and Soo-oh to hurry up.
Ji Ah and Ha Eun followed behind Ga Eul, leaving Yeon to stare at Rang with palpable amusement.
"Anything she wants?"
"Shut up."
"Bedwetter."
"Wet blanket."
Previously, Ga Eul had only seen what Rang could do to one isolated human, so she'd had her doubts about what he could do at a large convention with too many factors to account for, but she really shouldn't have.
At the security desk for costumes and props, it was quickly discovered that Lee Yeon had brought his real sword—a fact Ji Ah bemoaned as one more thing in a string of human faux pas—but Rang quickly rectified the situation, hypnotizing several security guards at once and wiping a few bystanders' memories. All of their costumes and accompaniments were promptly tagged 'okay,' and they were sent on their way.
Rang had also brought a weapon—an axe. But not his real axe—a blue and yellow foam one that he popped his brother on the neck and shoulders with at every opportunity, declaring he'd been executed for treason. At least until Soo-oh stole the axe from him, then lost it who-knew-where.
Ga Eul had planned on them having to wait around for a panel, but Rang made them show up ten minutes prior to the start time and quickly cleared space for them.
They didn't have to wait in line for anything all day. Not panels. Not food. Not souvenirs. Not even autographs.
Of course, they did spend a lot of time taking photos, and Ji Ah was the videographer of the group as they visited walk-through sets, among them ones for Star Wars and Marvel and one built entirely of legos. At one point, Lee Yeon spotted a Toy Story booth with life size figures, and they couldn't tear him away for a solid twenty minutes. Soo-oh was similarly enamored with all the action figure collectibles, and Yu Ri bought him so many toys that Shin-joo eventually had to steer them both away from the pop-up shops.
Plenty of people wanted to take photos with the group, and Lee Yeon beamed as they complimented his 'super realistic' sword. They also took pictures with other cosplayers—among them Lucky Chloe, Naruto and Sasuke, Link, and Pikachu.
Initially, Rang tried his hardest to look bored, but everyone else's enthusiasm must have gotten to him because after a while, he started openly smiling and pointing out characters he knew from shows and video games. He made a game out of it with Soo-oh, seeing who could find the best characters. He also enjoyed beating strangers at the gaming booths, and Ga Eul had fun watching his grumpy teenage disposition slowly make room for his inner child.
Rang bought her a few stationery sets and two character keychains, and Ga Eul took solo pictures with some of her personal favorites once Rang had sworn off photos 'for the next year.' At one point, she found Kubera Leez from the webtoon Kubera, and Rang pouted at her for not wearing Kubera's tight black bodysuit.
Perverted pet fox.
As they walked, Rang pointed out other supernatural creatures wearing impressive costumes. Some of them were famous cosplayers! But maybe she shouldn't be surprised. She imagined they might feel more at home at these conventions than they did in the human world every day. It was the one place no one would expect them to look or act human. They could just be themselves.
She was glad that Rang finally felt he could be himself with her. He seemed to enjoy using his powers to give everyone a good time.
Towards the end of the day, the group split up, everyone but Rang needing rest. She went back to the autograph hall with him, and he pointed out more supernatural creatures and explained their roles and powers. Which ones were harmless and which ones to avoid. Fire dogs and grim reapers and goblins.
"Jagiya, do you see the lady sitting at that booth?"
Ga Eul looked where Rang pointed. The sign at the booth said the woman was a vocal artist for animé and video game soundtracks. She was very pretty, almost doll-like with perfect skin and hair, and wore a shimmering blue mermaid tail.
"Yes?"
"She's a real mermaid."
"What? Really?" Ga Eul gasped with excitement. "That's not a costume?! Her scales are so beautiful!"
Rang lowered his mouth to her ear.
"Do you know what they say about mermaids?" he murmured.
Ga Eul shook her head, looking at him from the corner of her eye.
"If you give a mermaid an orgasm, her scream will be so high-pitched, your eardrums will burst." Rang grinned.
"That's not true."
"It is."
"Oh, and I suppose you've slept with a mermaid and gotten your eardrums busted."
"No." Rang laughed. "It's just what people say."
Ga Eul crossed her arms.
"Well, she looks totally harmless to me."
"Looks can be deceiving. Some of the scariest creatures I've met looked boringly normal." He squinted at the mermaid. "She does look familiar though."
"I knew it. You were with a mermaid," Ga Eul accused, jealousy bleeding through her voice.
"Everyone looks familiar when you've been alive for hundreds of years," Rang placated her. "The gods are lazy and uninspired, so they recycle faces. Besides, I don't date fish."
"Oh? Like you don't date humans?"
"You're not a human. You're a pain in my ass." He poked her nose.
"I—"
"But you're such a small pain, I've decided I can tolerate you." Rang smirked. "Come on, don't be jealous." Putting his arm around Ga Eul, he guided her away from the mermaid's booth. "I've heard plenty of weird rumors about humans too. Do you know that if you give a human an orgasm, it will explode? Guts everywhere!"
"Do you know that no matter what you do to a fox, nothing exciting happens?"
"See! Pain."
"I'll show you pain." Ga Eul swung out her hand, intending to smack Rang's arm, but as she did, a man dressed as a werewolf came rushing alongside her, and she struck him in the chest instead.
"Oh my god!" Ga Eul clapped her hands to her face. Turning to the stranger, she rambled, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
The person she'd struck paid her no attention, however; his eyes were glued to Rang, as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Boss!" he cried out, falling to his knees at Rang's feet.
"Sorry, do you two know each other?" Ga Eul glanced between them.
"Boss! I thought you were dead! I haven't seen you in so many—"
"Ahhh, get up. Get up." Rang urged him to his feet. "It's embarrassing."
The man stood, but only began crying.
"Boss, what happened? After you quit the gang, we didn't know what to do." He sniffled. "Or where to go. We've been lost ever since."
Rang scrunched his face in annoyance.
"This is why I hate taking in stray dogs. Quit crying over someone you haven't seen in a century."
"What is wrong with you?!" Ga Eul slapped Rang's arm. "If I didn't see you for an entire century, I would cry too. Anyone would cry. And what are you doing? Don't you think you should introduce us?" Turning to the stranger, she smiled. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Chu Ga Eul, and I'm Lee Rang's girlfriend."
"G-girlfriend?" Suddenly, the man looked alarmed. He glanced at Rang for confirmation.
Rang said nothing but circled his arm around Ga Eul, gripping her waist possessively.
"Oh!...Oh, oh." The man dug into his pockets and procured a cellphone. He held it out to Ga Eul, and she saw that it was her cellphone. Patting down the pockets of her sweater, she now realized it was gone. "S-sorry, miss," the man was saying, bowing his head apologetically. "I didn't realize you were the lady boss."
"Lady boss?" Ga Eul asked, taking back her phone.
"She's not your boss, and I'm not your boss either," Rang said. "That was a long time ago."
"What was a long time ago?"
"Nothing."
"Rang." Ga Eul elbowed Rang.
He blew out a frustrated breath.
"I was the boss of a bandit gang during the Japanese occupation. He was my underboss."
"A bandit gang? Like…"
"We robbed trains," he noted, managing to sound both bored and cocky.
Ga Eul's heart skipped a beat.
"Ah, I see."
She tucked that tidbit away as a subject for further exploration...and fodder for her inappropriate imagination.
"Right, so...we'll be going." Rang tugged Ga Eul's arm.
"Wait, wait. Let me just give you my number." The underboss motioned to Ga Eul, and she handed him her phone. He rapidly typed himself into her contacts, then pressed the phone into her hands. "If you ever need anything, just call."
"Oh?" Ga Eul smiled, warming to him instantly. "Thank you."
"Boss." He inclined his head. "Lady Boss." Another head nod. "I will leave first."
"Go," Rang commanded wearily.
"Yes!" The man stomped his right foot and pumped his fist in front of his chest.
When he had gone, Ga Eul turned to Rang with a huge grin.
"I swear," Rang began, "if you ask me a single question...if a single word comes out of your mouth about what just happened…"
"What? I didn't say anything."
"You have that look on your face, so I know. But you're not allowed any questions today. I've done you more than enough favors, and I've said plenty to suit your curiosity."
Ga Eul smiled.
"I didn't say anything."
"Good. Don't even think it. Now let's go." Grabbing her hand, Rang led her through the crowd and back to the rest of their party at breakneck speed.
The group was still parked at the table where they'd left them, surrounded by the food vendors, and Rang promptly snatched up his brother's iced coffee.
"Hey! I waited in line for half an hour to get that!"
"Sucks for you." Rang raised the iced coffee to his lips, but before he could take a sip, Ga Eul pried it away from him.
"Give your brother back his coffee. Seriously."
Rang rolled his eyes as she set the plastic cup down on the table.
"Fine," he huffed. "I'll get my own coffee...and ice cream...and...something else!" Rang marched off.
"Jagiya, do you want anything? No, no, I'm fine, thanks," Ga Eul muttered as he went.
Shin-joo offered Ga Eul his chair, and she gratefully accepted it and sat down. Her feet were killing her, and the run-walk Rang had just taken her on hadn't helped.
Ga Eul sat quietly for a bit, scanning the vendors while Shin-joo and Yu Ri conversed. Soo-oh played with his new action figures and made explosion noises. Lee Yeon sipped his coffee.
"Ga Eul, I have confession," Ji Ah commented; she sat across from Ga Eul, feeding rice porridge to Ha Eun.
"Yes, Unnie?"
"When you and Rang started dating, I bet Yu Ri you wouldn't make it past three months—"
"Ga Eul, I was on your side!" Yu Ri volunteered.
"—but you've made it past six."
"Oh."
"Not because I didn't like you! I just thought you were too nice. But you're tougher than you look. We're all impressed." She gestured around the table and gave Ga Eul a thumbs up.
"Oh." Ga Eul laughed shyly. "Thank you, Unnie."
"Also, thanks for organizing this today. It was fun."
"Yes, thank you, jesu," Lee Yeon added. "Thanks to you, I have photos to blackmail my brother with for the rest of my life."
Ga Eul laughed again, wholeheartedly.
"Well...thank you all for coming. And for accepting me and treating me so warmly."
"We have to treat you warmly. Otherwise, some of us will be stuck with Mister Lee Rang for eternity." This came from Shin-joo, who was promptly backhanded by his wife. "I was kidding!" he protested.
"It's okay. I know Rang isn't the easiest person to live with, but I like being with him a lot." Ga Eul smiled.
"To Miss Chu Ga Eul!" Lee Yeon raised his coffee. "We thought we would have to auction off my brother, but she volunteered. May she bear the burden of my brother well and bear it for a long time. Fighting!"
"Fighting!" Ga Eul chorused along with everyone, bolstered by her newfound sense of belonging.
Rang had been surprised by how much he'd enjoyed the day. He'd enjoyed it so much that he felt a little sad now that he'd shifted back to his white dress shirt and navy pants—a sign that the day was coming to a close. He and Ga Eul were riding up the elevator to his apartment, and they were holding hands, and he couldn't stop smiling as he remembered Ga Eul smiling at him whenever he used his powers. She'd gently touch his arm or lace her fingers through his, and he'd know she liked whatever he had done. He'd never felt that way with a human before. He'd hardly felt that way with anyone—like he could be himself and not be judged for it.
Today, he felt valued for his contributions; he felt free to do anything; he felt euphoric!
And Ga Eul seemed exhausted—she was leaning her head against his arm—and perhaps he should leave the day in its perfect state, but he couldn't help but comment, "I heard something interesting about this character I was playing. Apparently, in the novel, he was much more evil."
"Oh, yes." Ga Eul yawned. "In the novel, he did a lot of horrible things. In the drama, he was toned down, and I thought his actions were more justifiable, though he was unhealthily obsessed with my character...in a very romantic way, of course." Ga Eul turned and hugged him, pressing her whole body to his. When she tilted her face up, smiling sleepily, Rang had a vision of her the way she looked in the morning when she just woke up, and his breath caught in his throat.
Rubbing his thumb over the small of her back, he asked, tentatively, "And which do you prefer? Novel Tantai Jin or Drama Tantai Jin?"
Ga Eul hugged him tighter and rested her head on his chest.
"Both."
"Both?" Rang echoed.
"Both," Ga Eul mumbled into his shirt. "I love you," she added, as if that were the natural continuation of that thought.
And maybe it was. Because he was really asking, as he was always asking: would you love me if I was the villain? Would you love me with blood on my hands? Would you love me with flesh between my teeth? Would you love me if I chewed up a village and spit the bodies back out in front of you? Would you love me? Would you love me?
"You think I don't know you wouldn't make it past the censors?" Ga Eul mumbled. She squeezed his waist and sighed contentedly. "I love you," she repeated, stamping approval on him, just as she'd done that morning when she'd said 'no lines.'
Rang swallowed.
He stared at the blurry image of himself in the elevator doors, at the image of him holding Ga Eul while she clung to him like he was someone worth clinging to.
Eventually, he uttered the only response he could: "Damn right, I wouldn't make it past the censors."