Chapter Text
Igris grew increasingly pissed with him over the following days after his penalty wore off, and Jin-Woo didn’t really understand why. So was Jin-Ah, and he also didn’t understand why. Somehow, his mom was also pissed with him.
Moreover, he came back to some strange rumors floating around about Jin-Woo having a younger male lover…
But generally, he came back to baffling reactions after his penalty (it was just his luck that some shitty, pompous S-level hunter had to pester him and make him waste his time limit). He checked the calendar, and it had only been two weeks as promised, but he’d been gone unannounced for way longer periods of time. At most, he expected a frantic In-Ho or a worried Igris, but even then, he came home safe and with the most informative note he could make up with what little time he had.
Yet, no one in the house wanted to give him the time of day.
“Is there a reason you’re upset?” Jin-Woo tried again, this time armed with a mocha frappuccino.
Jin-Ah looked at him imperiously but still took the cup. “No.”
“Then why are you acting like that? Why is everyone acting like that?”
“I dunno. Why are they?” she asked like she’d caught Jin-Woo in a lie. “Don’t you have something to confess? ”
“I don’t know what the hell you mean? What did I do?”
Jin-Ah clicked her tongue. “Typical men.”
She gave her shadow a look like “can you believe this guy?” Jin-Woo could see Igris reciprocating the expression where he was holed up in her shadow.
“What does that even mean?”
“Ugh! He’s really playing dumb till the end.”
Jin-Woo just threw his hands in the air. “I’m not playing dumb; I’m just dumb if I can’t get it at this point.”
“You got that right,” she muttered as she sipped her drink. She poured half into her shadow which absorbed it. “Honestlyy, what do you even see in this guy?”
“I’m your brother, and I’m right here .” Jin-Woo contemplated buying a caramel macchiato next time. Igris seemed to like that two weeks ago.
Jin-Ah just tossed her head with a harumph. “How can you be my brother when Igris isn’t yet?”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, that’s right. We know.”
“Please, just tell me what you know already.”
“We know about them .”
“Them,” Jin-Woo repeated blankly, still confused as ever.
“ Those! ”
“Those?”
This gravely offended Jin-Ah. “He’s still playing dumb!”
“What the hell are you talking about? What happened while I was gone?”
Igris materialized on the couch, dramatically sitting with his back to Jin-Woo. “You have two identical rings in your possession. Those .”
“The…” Jin-Woo’s face paled before the color returned two-fold. “That! How…! How do you know about that!?”
“Now he admits to it after we caught him!”
“Those rings have been in your possession for well over a few months. Much longer than our relationship.”
“You have an ex that you didn’t tell us about!” She leveled her index at her bewildered brother like this was some kind of Ace Attorney game. “And you couldn’t bring yourself to get rid of your engagement rings.”
“You can’t possibly think that.”
“That’s what I said as your faithful sister. But the evidence is stacking up. You clearly weren’t going to propose to Igris any time soon—”
“It’s only been seven months , Jin-Ah–”
“— and ,” she continued stubbornly, “we found it in the pocket of the jacket you wore before you grew two feet! You stopped wearing that jacket way before you started dating Igris, so you must have had those rings for someone else.”
“It was six inches .” Jin-Woo pinched the bridge of his nose. “First of all, I don’t have a secret lover; second of all, you and the summons are banned from watching K-dramas; third of all, those rings were just an item I crafted since I had the ingredients. It didn’t have an effect, so I thought it didn’t do anything and just… forgot about them. They’re nothing.”
Despite the length and true explanation, they seemed even less satisfied. Almost sad, somehow.
Jin-Woo burst out, “Oh, my god , what now?”
“So, Igris and I aren’t in-laws?”
At that, Jin-Woo just snapped his jaw shut and looked away.
Jin-Ah looked at him for a moment before she perked up, and Jin-Woo kept staring out the window. “Oh?”
“OH?”
Jin-Woo cracked. “ Shut up, you stupid fucking brat— ”
“ OH!! ” Jin-Ah screamed. She jabbed a finger in Jin-Woo’s burning face and shouted eloquently, “OHHH!”
Kyung-Hye popped her head in with an annoyed look to see what all the screaming was about. Jin-Woo sprang up, now completely flustered. “Jin-Ah, if you don’t—”
“You are planning on proposing!”
Now, Jin-Ah and his mother were screaming.
“Yeah, but not right now—! ” Jin-Woo clapped a hand over his mouth.
“I am already wearing the ring. ” Igris glanced over the couch at Jin-Woo, flashing a dark violet band that blended smoothly into the glossy black. “ Did you believe you could be betrothed to anyone other than me?”
“This—this doesn’t count, alright?” Jin-Woo half-covered his scarlet face with one hand as he tried to salvage this situation. “We’re going to wait, and I’ll propose at a later date properly.”
“How long will I wait?”
“We have to be dating for at least a few years—”
“Denied.”
“Igris, please— ”
(RECIPE: ETERNAL RINGS)
ITEM CLASS: ♥
TYPE: ACCESSORY
KASAKA’S VENOM FANG (1/1)
BLOOD RED COMMANDER’S BROADSWORD (1/1)
TWO DARK BANDS FORGED FROM AN ALLOY OF FATED STEEL. THIS SYMBOL OF UNION ETERNALLY ENTWINES THEIR WEARERS.
[CRAFT] [CANCEL]