#hero/villain au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wordstro · 1 year

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[2:24 PM] + hero/villain au + "are you happy?"

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9

masterlist

a/n: 4k words, no one asked for this at all but I read over this fic and felt it needed something more definitive i guess? so here is a more conclusive ending to this fic!!

there is an irony to your new living arrangements, you think. yeosang, san and yourself sharing a three bedroom apartment.

you'd been arrested after wooyoung, handcuffs suppressing your powers wrapped around your wrists and a blindfold over your eyes, and after weeks sitting in a prison cell alone awaiting your fate, you'd been called into court. hongjoong sat in the witness stand, dressed in a suit, his hair a different color and an eyepatch over one eye.

you could not get used to how different he looked. how much older he was. the soft lines in his face were harder, and his eyes were ancient, as if he'd seen too much, and you did not dare ask anyone how much time had passed. you hadn't gotten the chance, anyway, since you'd been locked up the entire time.

hongjoong explained to the court that you'd been brainwashed. the serum. the research from the labs. the gaps in your memories. brain scans of how the serum affected you. the doctors had already told you how it affected your hippocampus and how they weren't sure how your short term memory would be affected. he hadn't looked at you the entire time he spoke. you hadn't had the chance to speak with him either.

the judge and jury ruled that you would be on house arrest for fifteen months, and you would need to do community service afterwards. you were banned from using your powers for two years.

you didn't think that was punishment enough, really, but you did not say anything. there would be enough outcry on the internet anyway, after the trial results were released.

that night, the government officials handling your case drove you up to an apartment building at the edge of town, and hongjoong did not look at you then either.

you'd had weeks to think about the aftermath of wooyoung surrendering. you'd let the armed officers cuff you, and only yunho stayed with you during it. you'd sat on the ground, with your hands behind your back, a flimsy piece of metal wrapped around your wrists, and hongjoong had appeared before you, a bloody scar running over his eye, and his chest heaving, and he crouched in front of you that day and held you tight. you were taken into government custody with his blood on your shirt, mixing with wooyoung's.

while in captivity and isolation, you knew you'd done too many despicable things, serum or no serum, to not be punished. even then, wooyoung was right.

that night, you stood in front of a red apartment door, and the government officials reminded you once more of the court's stipulations before they left you with hongjoong. you were given a bracelet on each wrist, so tight it made the skin around the bracelets tender, that rendered your powers completely useless. for the first time in your life, you did not have enhanced strength.

hongjoong looked at you then, for the first time in weeks, and you asked then, "how long has it been?"

"seven years," he said, his voice soft, his hard expression crumbling into something sad. his good eye flickered over your face.

"oh." you could not believe you were seven years older and you missed all those years. not only did wooyoung steal your autonomy, but he also stole years from you. you wanted to hate him for it, a part of you did. a part of you will never, though, and that's the worst part.

hongjoong held out his arms, and you'd blinked at him, and he said, "i'm sorry we couldn't figure out a way to get you out sooner. i told you you wouldn't have to do it alone again, but you did."

you shook your head, "that isn't your fault."

hongjoong let out a small laugh, shaking his head, his arms falling to his side.

you stepped into his limp embrace anyway. you hadn't had anyone hold you since yunho, and you needed it, despite everything.

he seemed surprised, but he quickly wrapped his arms around you, and he said, "i'm sorry."

you just shook your head, and hongjoong held you for a long moment before turning to the door.

when he opened the door to the apartment, yeosang and san were curled on the couch. they'd turned off the news as soon as they realized you'd walked in, but you'd still caught a glimpse of your face walking out of the courtroom.

"we thought it best you stay with some of us during your house arrest," hongjoong said.

yeosang had a burn across his face, a puckered scar that marred his pretty face, his dark hair pulled back from his face in a messy bun. he had scars on his arms, too, that ran all the way up. it wasn't there before. san's hair was short, and his eyes were harder as he looked at you. wary. they both looked so different from how you remembered them, especially when all you've seen of them these past few years were the memories in your head that kept you sane in the serum's liminal space.

you'd wondered briefly why san and yeosang had been chosen, but before you could ask, san explained, "you can't punch me easily and yeosang can...yeosang understands. you've also hurt us less than mingi or yunho or -"

he cut himself off, and his gaze flickered to hongjoong. you'd frowned. hongjoong sighed, but he just pat your back, and said, "i'm down two floors. you can't leave the building, but you can visit if you'd like."

then hongjoong left, disappearing into thin air.

the irony of it was not lost on either of you. three of the people who loved wooyoung most, learning to cope in a tiny three bedroom apartment together. it was not lost on you, when you'd be in the kitchen reaching for a wooden spoon or a plate or a pan or if you stretched your arms over your head while watching television, and san would flinch slightly at your movements. it was not lost on yeosang when he'd open his mouth to say something, raising his voice slightly, and you'd close your eyes, fear running up your spine. he swore he wouldn't use his powers on any of you again, but he made the same promise back then. that was the only thought that ran through your head at those times. it was not lost on either of them when you'd try to open a jar or lift something heavy, and you couldn't do it because of the damned bracelets, and you'd hide in your room for hours trying to ignore the way the thought of being so vulnerable reminded you of when wooyoung ordered yeosang to keep your hands in place, or the fact that all your life you were supposed to be strong and that guaranteed you at least a modicum of safety. if san and yeosang noticed your red eyes or the tear streaks the next morning while you maneuvered around each other in the small kitchen, neither said a thing. none of you ever mentioned the small moments of fear or sadness you'd noticed. you'd figured it was because things have changed between you all. at least between yourself and them.

it was worse when mingi or yunho would visit, and they'd flinch at your movements too. or hesitate to touch you. or treat you as if you were this fragile, weak thing they should handle with care.

it didn't help that you were stuck in the apartment building. there were only so many times you could go to the small apartment gym before you lost your mind. yeosang and san had a job, and you wanted to help with rebuilding as well, but you couldn't leave. the bracelets would electrocute you, hongjoong had said once, and you'd stared in horror as hongjoong shrugged and patted your shoulder gently. you couldn't even visit hongjoong because he was barely home in his apartment. the other patrons of the building avoided you completely, and you couldn't blame them for it.

you only knew a bit of what happened to jongho and seonghwa. they were in prison apparently, but their sentences were much shorter than wooyoung's due to a plea deal worked out when seonghwa had decided to spy for hongjoong, feeding information back to them and even helping yeosang and a few others escape. a light sentence for jongho was a part of seonghwa's plea deal.

you'd avoided the news as often as you could, and san and yeosang always changed the channel. it was strange, trying to figure out how to navigate living again alongside san and yeosang. the three of you didn't always get along. especially san and you, but that had always been your dynamic, even when you first joined the team. you would be an idiot to think everything would be normal between you three. the tiptoeing and awkward silences were enough of a testament to that. you noticed often that san's bed would be untouched, the mornings you woke up early to get some quiet time to yourself, and the door to yeosang's bedroom would be shut, soft music drifting out from beneath the door. perhaps before everything, you would have felt comfortable teasing them for it. now, you weren't sure where your dynamics stood, and what you could and could not tease them about. it made you sad.

the tension did not entirely dissipate for a while. not until one evening where you'd flipped through numerous channels, landing briefly on a news channel. your phone buzzed, san's name lighting up.

i'm bringing pizza home, by the way. with y/n's favorite toppings.

he'd been doing that more often lately, and you wondered often why. he never really asked what you wanted for dinner the times he brought anything home, but the past week he'd gone out of his way to bring home your favorites. even yeosang brought you desserts from various bakeries without you having to ask.

yeosang responded with a cute smiley emoji and a, can't wait! i'll be home in a bit too

you'd smiled at the previews, turning to change the channel, when you'd realized what the broadcast was about.

the eighth anniversary of the siege of seoul. the footage was devastating. you'd stared in horror as you saw wooyoung rise from the ashes, like a phoenix. as you saw yourself tearing through buildings. cctvs devolved into static. the footage was blurry. but it was you. you'd done that. and afterwards, there was a memorial. seven hundred and sixty two died civilians died that day.

"y/n."

you'd jumped at the voice, the remote falling from your hands. it clattered on the floor, and the sound of it made you jump again.

you craned your neck to look behind you in the direction of the voice, and san was placing the pizza on the kitchen bar counter as his gaze flickered between you and the television. yeosang was right behind him.

you'd blinked at them both.

your chest felt tight, and your vision blurred, but you said, "is this why you're being nice?"

san blinked rapidly, taken aback. he said, "what do you mean?"

"for the past week," your voice sounded tight, pitched, even to your own ears, "you've both been so much nicer. is this why? is it because...i did that?"

you didn't know why you were asking. you did do that. even if you didn't remember. even if you were brainwashed. you killed those people. you killed a lot of people.

"because i don't remember it," you gestured at the television still broadcasting the memorial, and your hands shook as you said, "i don't remember anything. and so...so if you're trying to make me feel better i don't think i deserve it."

"don't say that," yeosang said, tone soft, and brows furrowed.

"i killed people, and i don't remember it." your voice cracked then, and you couldn't help the way your eyes stung. you said, "what kind of horrible person can't remember that?"

"none of it was your fault," san's voice was firm, even as he approached you, as he crouched in front of you on the couch and turned off the television.

"then why does it feel like it is?" you blinked back the tears, "i don't know where i stand anymore with any of you. i don't even know what fucking year it is. but i know that that was me, and i did unimaginable things. to innocent people. to you and yun-yunho and mingi and joong, and i got off with a slap to the wrist. i told wo - i told him i hoped he'd die with the guilt, but i think i'm going to die with it first."

"i was the one that took you, y/n. i was the one who started all this," yeosang's voice rang through the apartment, a soft thing that filled you up, up, up. you looked to him, and the guilt in his expression made the tears spill down your cheek. "i've been distant because of it, but i didn't think you'd notice...or care. i just...i'm sorry, y/n."

he trailed off, and you shook your head as you said, "you didn't know how this would turn out."

"why do you do that?" san asked, even as he placed a hand on your cheek and wiped at your tears, "why do you forgive him so easily when you won't even forgive yourself?"

you'd blinked, frowning, "do you want me to be mad at yeosang?"

"i want you to stop crying," san wiped away all your tears before pressing his palms to your cheeks. "most importantly, i want you to stop tiptoeing around us."

"i'm not the only one. why do you flinch around me then?" your voice is louder as you frown at san.

"you've beat the shit out of us for years. i'm getting used to the peace. forgive me if a month hasn't fixed it." he'd rolled his eyes, "still doesn't mean i'm scared of you."

you let out a small laugh at the indignant tone, at the way san still held your face between his palms. his smile turned soft as he observed you.

you glanced sideways at yeosang, "i'm not scared of you either, yeo. i just...didn't know if you hated me."

"i don't hate you," yeosang said, gently. you held out a hand anyway, gesturing for him to take it. he relented after a moment, letting you squeeze his hand.

it was quiet for a long, long moment, before san murmured, "he really fucked us up, didn't he?"

san didn't have to say his name for you to know who he was talking about. san dropped his hands from your cheeks as he sat across from you on the couch. yeosang leaned over the back, leaning his chin against his hands. you dropped your hands to your lap. yeosang hummed, but his brows were furrowed, his expression troubled.

you observed the puckered burn scar on yeosang's face as you wiped your face of your tears.

you asked, "what's happened to him?"

you didn't want to ask, but you wanted to know. you would always want to know.

"death sentence, and solitary confinement in a maximum security containment center until then," san said, quietly. "we all agreed he should live with the guilt. he's technically on death row, but he'll probably die of old age before the state carries through with it."

you watched san's eyes glisten as he spoke.

"do you think he feels guilty at all?"

san only shrugged, fiddling with his fingers in his lap.

yeosang said, "i think he does. he always did."

"you think so?" you asked, reaching up to touch the scar on yeosang's face, the skin rough under your touch. you dropped your hand as you said, "even after this."

"he cried after," yeosang murmured, his eyes faraway. "isn't that fucked up? he cried, and he asked me if i wanted to leave that night."

yeosang laughed, but it sounded hollow.

he said, "you were there."

you'd nodded, but your heart lodged in your throat. you said, "i think i was always there."

"you were," san said quietly. "he never let you leave his side. he let yeosang leave, but he...he never let you leave."

you took that in. the few times you'd woken up, it was beside him. of course it was. of course he didn't. san reached over and thread his fingers through yeosang's limp hand, his thumb drawing circles along the back of yeosang's hand.

yeosang asked after a moment, "do you think we'll be okay?"

"we can try." you murmured. "we have to try."

san nodded and nodded, and yeosang brought the box of pizza and a bottle of wine to the table, changing the channel on the television without another word.

~.~.~.~.~

years later, too many years to count, you find yourself standing on the other side of the glass.

wooyoung sits in a chair in a white room, every wall made of glass. his hair is overgrown, and his tanned skin paler than usual without the sun. he has the same demeanor as he always does, an easy nonchalant façade that you don't think will ever go away.

your phone buzzes in your pocket, no doubt a text from yunho or mingi or hongjoong.

they said they'd be waiting outside. yunho, mingi, and hongjoong agreed to pick you up for dinner afterwards. yeosang, san, seonghwa, and jongho would meet you both there.

the first time you met seonghwa again, he'd crumbled to the ground, holding your hand in his cold hands, and he repeated apologies like he was praying. jongho cried. it took a while, as it did with everyone else, to rebuild what you had. even then, you didn't think it was entirely there. it was certainly different.

his voice is full of static.

"i didn't think you'd visit," wooyoung says, and his voice is rough from disuse.

hearing him talk, seeing him, it made your heart feel heavy. the anger you felt towards him, every time you couldn't remember something that you could have before he put the serum in you, every time you saw the scars over your heart, every time you were reminded of what you did for him, every time yunho or mingi or san or hongjoong flinched, every time you went to the doctors to check if the serum was fully out of your system and the trigger words no longer worked, returned tenfold as you looked at him. you thought you'd come to terms with it. you thought you were okay enough for this. maybe you were wrong.

you said, "i didn't want to."

"then why are you here?"

"i wanted to ask you something," you say, wooyoung's gaze flickering over you.

wooyoung smiles. it reminds you of Before. you shake that thought from your head.

you say, "do you regret it?"

wooyoung's eyes flickers between yours. his voice is a soft, crackly thing, "sometimes."

you stare at his admission.

wooyoung laughs, "i've had a lot of time to think. if there's one thing i've come to terms with, it's that i ruin everything i love."

"you do," you say, thinking of yourself, and san and yeosang and hongjoong and yunho and mingi, even jongho and seonghwa.

a beat of silence, before wooyoung says, "can i ask you something?"

the guard knocks on the door, signaling that your visit is almost over.

you nod.

he asks, "are you happy?"

wooyoung's eyes are soft, sad, and you find that the part of you that will always love him, despite everything, curls in on itself. however, the part of you that is always angry, that despises him for admitting his feelings for you only to take seven years from you while you forcing you to do the most despicable things, wants to scream at him. wants to hurt him. wishes the glass wasn't there so you could kill him the way you'd wanted to years ago. you will always resent him for his choices. he knows that. he nods as if he can hear your thoughts.

you say, "happier than i've ever been."

he nods, but his eyes are a glassy thing. the guilt in his expression is clear then, and you find it satisfying more than anything.

"and everyone else?"

you want to say, the happiest they've ever been.

but you choke. you can't say it. you can hurt him using yourself, but using your friends? you can't do it, despite everything.

they weren't the happiest they've ever been without wooyoung. you've seen them try to move on with the heavy burden of jung wooyoung on their shoulders. he would always remain a hole in their hearts, and in their groups, in their group chats and dinners and conversations. in fact, when you told hongjoong you wanted to visit, he hadn't argued, only looked as if he would cry - something you've never seen from him in all the years you've known him.

"why did you do it? was it really worth losing everything? was..." you frown, "was losing us worth it?"

wooyoung was always one to stand by his resolutions, but perhaps years alone has changed him more than any of you could have.

he murmurs, "i have to believe it was."

the guard knocks on the door, opening it. the creaking hinges echo in the room.

"goodbye, wooyoung," you say, knowing damn well you don't think you'll ever return.

wooyoung smiles as if he can tell.

"goodbye," he says.

#ateez angst #ateez scenarios #wooyoung angst #hero/villain au #wooyoung #ateez

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wordstro · 2 years

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omg hiii !! i found you through ficscafe and i absolutely fell in love with your superhero!ateez series and i saw your requests were open and i was hoping if you could do something similar to what @/thelargefrye did for yunho but for seonghwa ?? bc yk how seonghwa's power is necromancy ,, can reader's power have something to do with life ?? like the avatar or smth IDK SKJDSDJ if you dont want to its completely fine !! p.s. ure san apocolypse!au is SAUR GOOD !! and im so excited for the next part !! hope ure having a good day/night <33

omg hi!! i'm so glad you like my fics. this ended up so long (7k words) so it's unfinished, but i hope you like it!

full disclosure that seonghwa and joong most definitely had a thing in the hero/villain au, but i love the idea of reader having a contrasting power to seonghwa and the connection that would create, so here it is:

hero/villain au, seonghwa x gender neutral reader + "where there is life, there must be death."

warning: mentions of death (unavoidable because of seonghwa's powers), reader's power is animancy/life transference, this y/n is very...morally ambiguous which i thought would be a fun juxtaposition to their powers, listened to running up that hill (deal with god) by kate bush on repeat, i'm not sure if this is what you wanted but i hope you like it!

hero/villain au masterlist

when the city fell into the hands of the rogues, you were cowering under a table at work, the ground shaking beneath you as if hell itself was attempting to devour the city whole. your coworker sobbed beside you, another loud addition to the screaming city around you.

you'd always thought of your workplace as a safe haven. perhaps that was naïve of you, to succumb so easily to the little bubble of life you'd created. mornings consisted of a warm cup of coffee as you stood by your window and took in the bustling city below you. food vendors shouting and people narrowly avoiding serious injury as they hurried to work and sometimes you'd catch the sight of pickpocket succeeding in their endeavors. you'd get dressed, pet your cat goodbye, and walk the short commute to the plant shop you'd loved so dearly. the owners raved of how well the plants have grown since you started working there. you told them it was because of your secret plant food recipe and the way you'd spend your mornings before the shop opened breathing life into any wilting plants around you, whispering encouragement to your favorites so they would grow taller than the rest. you never understood that you didn't just have an excellent green thumb like your parents reassured you throughout your childhood. you genuinely believed them. it had to be your secret plant food recipe and your green thumb. it had to be.

you'd believed it so adamantly until you learned otherwise. maybe you knew it wasn't just a green thumb and fertilizer. as you grew up watching the news and attacks on those with weird abilities, a part of you must have known the whole time. but you could pass as 'normal' and if that ensured that your bubble would remain safe, then you would believe anything.

that night the city fell, and so did the plant shop. the roof collapsed in, narrowly missing you and your coworker as you both scrambled into the street. your perfectly curated little bubble collapsed along with it, crushed to pieces like the plants beneath the rubble.

when the rumbling had stopped and the bones of the dead lay scattered across the crumbled street, when the voice of the villain wooyoung echoed through the city, calling for the freedom of those with superpowers, when the city fell so quiet, the silent sobs of your coworker felt like a siren-like wail, you'd ran to check on your bubble. your home. you flit through alleyways. when you got to your apartment, you found your cat crushed under a fallen sign. still breathing, but barely.

you'd fell to your knees, crying for your cat, for him to live, please oh please don't die, and your cat's labored breathing grew steady and it's eyes grew bright and your fingertips tingled as you pulled away in horror and realization. the day the city fell was the same day you'd learned that you were not merely blessed with a green thumb. you breathed literal life into things. you saved plants. you could save animals, too. you'd stared around you, at the skeletons and trembling people in the streets.

maybe you could save people, too.

but when the city fell, so did the heroes that protected your city. walls went up, made of skeletons coiled and piled atop each other, sharp and impossible to get close to. you'd examined the wall once, a little bit after, and you'd shrieked in horror when one of the skulls snapped it's unhinged jaw at you, inches from your skin. no wonder children did not try to climb the walls. it was alive. at least as alive as skeletons could be.

still, that was not the worst of it.

as you grew up, you'd watched the news - despite trying so hard to maintain a happy bubble that not even your parents yelling could burst, you could not ignore the state of the world - and you'd religiously watched every single story about those with superpowers, the vigils and deaths and assaults and mysterious disappearances.

in history, people always despised those that were different. you knew that. the news was proof of it. however, that was the first thing to go when the city fell and the rogues took over.

here, under wooyoung's strict rule, people with powers were protected. they were considered first class citizens. superior. and people without powers were not. you don't think they meant to make it that way, but with the way things panned out, the sentiment grew and grew until the entire city, caged in by bone walls, considered the sentiment law.

you were never one for morals, really. you sought to maintain stability. it was how you were raised and it was how you'd always be.

so when the time came for you to register yourself, you spoke of your powers for the first time. you ignored the way your coworker dropped her hand from your arm, eyes wide in both awe and something akin to horror - maybe even envy, you liked to think - as you demonstrated your power for the city hall official. you brought the dying snake plant on the desk to life, bigger and brighter than ever as it stretched it's leaves towards the sun. thank you, you'd imagined it would say.

you expected to go back to your happy bubble after that. sure things were different after the city fell, like how you haven't seen your coworker since city hall or the way you still couldn't feel things on three of your fingertips, not since you brought your cat back from the brink of death, or how the plant shop remained in rubble, much like the other shops owned by non-superpowered people that was destroyed. deprioritized, wooyoung had announced, eyes glittering under the spotlights as he gripped the city podium. he cleaned up well for his television appearance. he swept his hands out and his voice was sweet as he reassured the city, for now. it is still an action item we intend on working on. we have not forgotten about your struggles. I only ask that you practice patience while we rebuild the city to glory beyond what any of you have ever experienced.

you should have known you'd never be able to go back to your old life. it took four months for the council's footmen, as the rogues called themselves when they established themselves where the hero alliance once resided, to come knocking on your door, uniforms and tasers and all.

your cat hissed at the door long before the knock. you'd peeked out your curtain and your heart beat fast against your ribs at the sight of the government car parked in front of your apartment building. the knock came five minutes later, a sharp rap.

when you opened the door, a dark haired familiar man with a piercing gaze and a pinch between his brows stood at the threshold, arms crossed over his uniformed chest. you were surprised they only sent him.

your cat's tail stood tall and bushy, his hissing louder.

you recognized the man from the television, long before the council's broadcasts after the city fell.

it was park seonghwa. a notorious villain with the power to raise the dead. his very presence made the hairs at the back of your neck stand on in and a chill run up your spine.

he met your gaze briefly, before his gaze flit over your shoulder. to your cat.

seonghwa stared at your cat for far too long.

you'd frowned, "can i help you?"

you stepped into his line of sight, blocking your cat from view. you'd seen what he could do on television. he was the one who'd made those walls, kept those skeletons alive, twisted and coiled around each other, forever damned to do whatever he pleased. unable to rest. unable to die.

seonghwa's gaze shifted over you once more, his eyes drifting slowly from your head to your toes. his gaze is analytical, and you resist the urge to squirm under his judgmental gaze.

his voice was low, but strangely, unexpectedly, soft. nothing like you expected of the man the country called the god of death. "that cat is supposed to be dead."

you startled at that, "ex - excuse me?"

your fingers curled around the hem of your shirt when seonghwa stepped forward. it was a small step into your apartment, but he was much too close. you refused to step back, to make way for him. your fingertips, the ring, middle, and pinky of your left hand, the ones that remained numb since you helped your cat, tingled slightly at his proximity. it was a sharp tingle, like how you'd imagine white noise would feel against your skin, spotty and prickly.

your frown deepened when he stared for another long moment.

then he sighed, "do you even know what you've done?"

"i healed my cat." you'd crossed your arms over your chest, "nothing else."

"you gave it life," seonghwa said, "that's different. that's...that's not nothing."

"excuse me?"

that day you learned that you'd registered your powers wrong. it wasn't merely regeneration.

"where do you think that life comes from? the life you gave to your cat and your" - seonghwa gestured at the plants in your room, his expression twisting into an emotion you could not name, though it made you feel embarrassed. small. - "your plants. life and death cannot exist without each other."

he met your gaze with solemn eyes and your numb fingertips tingled once more. "the bits of life you've given must come from somewhere, y/n."

he'd looked at you with meaningful eyes.

"from," you'd blinked once, twice, before you gestured at yourself, horror dawning on you while seonghwa stared, "me. from my life force."

seonghwa nodded, said, "you're lucky it wasn't a person dying. your plants, your cat, they are small things. they require less life. but a person?"

he shuddered. you thought about how you'd feel dehydrated, extra hungry, after your daily talks with your plants. you'd touched your numb fingertips. seonghwa's gaze followed yours. he gave you a small sympathetic smile.

seonghwa explained then that he could feel death, how close everything is to dying, the thoughts and feelings of the dead he reanimated.

"i don't bring them back to life. not the way you can. i keep them dead."

"how do you know so much, then?" you'd asked finally.

"about you?"

you'd nodded.

seonghwa dragged a hand through his hair, rubbed the back of his neck. "it's like i said. life and death cannot exist without the other. the life that once existed in the dead bodies i've raised live on in me. where you drain your own life force to give life to another, i am possessed by the life force of thousands of souls so i can use their bodies as i please. i suppose it's nature's version of balance."

"how do you," you swallowed at the thought. no wonder his eyes were flat, tired, distracted, "how do you live with that? how..."

"how have i not gone crazy?" he'd thrown his head back, leaning against your closed front door, and let out a sigh. "i have. i am. the dead are hungry for revenge, and if i lose control, even for a moment, they can easily take over. but these are the consequences i must deal with."

he'd tilted his chin downwards and smiled at you, and it was much kinder than you'd expected. the terrifying villain you'd watched raised the dead against the heroes, the one with terrifying solid black eyes and gaunt cheeks, the monstrous being that appeared sometimes in your nightmares, was nowhere to be seen. the man before you looked as if he wouldn't even be able to hurt a fly, let alone raise the dead.

"i guess we're two sides of the same coin then." you'd said it quietly, hesitantly.

seonghwa nodded, smiled kindly once more, "like i said. life and death cannot exist without each other. where there is life, there must be death."

"is that why you're here?"

"the council and i can help you understand your powers and get a better grasp on it."

you should have asked more about why he was knocking on your door. he was a villain after all.

but his kind smile was convincing, and he was technically right. you needed to understand your powers. your limits. you wanted to.

"i'll send for you, then. in two days time?"

you'd nodded and he'd smiled and as the door clicked shut behind you, you looked at your sweet old cat and he'd meowed tersely, ducking away from your hands as he hissed. you should have listened to him.

~.~.~.~.~

you'd arrived to the council with a small weekend bag's worth of clothes and a bout of nerves. you should've known he wasn't telling the whole truth. seonghwa, god of death, is a villain of course. you'd known this. it was public knowledge. he'd played the villain for years.

seonghwa led you into a brightly lit room, where a man in a lab coat and jung wooyoung sat around a table. a shadowy figure stood at wooyoung's shoulder. you'd recognized them from old televised fights and from recent news broadcasts. they had been a hero at first, and then they started killing people and other heroes. they're the one with super strength. the kind of strength that could tear high rise buildings from the ground. in fact, you'd considered living in the apartment building they'd torn off its foundations. it's all you'd thought of when you saw the destruction on your walk to work. yet somehow, here and now, they looked like nothing you'd imagined. nothing like the rampaging beast you'd seen on the television. their eyes were lifeless, blank, as if all their strength was plucked from them. you did not detect much life from them, even though they were very much alive, much like the wilting plants you'd taken care of at the shop.

"y/n, is it?" wooyoung interrupted your staring, pulling you away. he spoke nonchalantly, but with a steady confidence that could charm thousands. it was the same way he spoke whenever he stood behind the podium and addressed the city through the tv. "lovely name."

wooyoung smiled, leaning forward. his burning gaze remained fixed on you. the masked man beside him shifted. that was the moment you knew something was off. you'd glanced at seonghwa, though, questioning, and he'd only nodded in reassurance. alarm bells were going off in your head.

"regeneration would have been a lovely gift, but," wooyoung looked at seonghwa, still smiling, before returning his gaze to you, "animancy? that is a blessing."

you'd frowned, glancing once more at seonghwa. you didn't expect him to say anything. you hadn't even figured out a name for your powers. yet this wooyoung knew everything. your stomach churned as you sat straighter. you eyed him suspiciously, "get to the point already. what do you want from me?"

you never liked beating around the bush.

wooyoung snorted, glanced over his shoulder at his lifeless right hand person. they did not react, only stood there stalk-still. wooyoung turned back to you, sighing before he said, "i think you would be of great help to me and my cause. would you like to join us?"

you'd stared, the hairs at the back of your neck standing on end once more at the way wooyoung's smile fell from his face quite suddenly, his gaze serious.

"or what?" you asked slowly.

wooyoung barked out a loud laugh before he gestured to the man in the lab coat. you realized then he was wearing a mask and holding a syringe in his hands. he waved the syringe. wooyoung said, "or we make you join us. though, it's not a very fun process. you should consider yourself lucky. i usually don't ask, but my friend here," he gestured behind him, "convinced me to at least try asking nicely. i think the political life has made me soft, y/n, and controlling unwilling participants is certainly more of a hastle."

you'd looked at the person behind wooyoung, still not reacting, not moving a bit. a shudder ran down your spine at the thought of being made to join them. you did not want to know how he planned on doing that. the syringe and his friend's blank eyes was enough information for your imagination to run wild.

wooyoung's voice remains nonchalant, amused even, but there's an undercurrent of something sinister, "so either join willingly and get a cushy new government job with paid accommodations, a decent salary, and a pension plan, or we'll have to do this the hard way, syringe and no benefits."

you were never one to fight back. not against circumstances so obviously against you and your survival. besides a cushy life and steady income was always what you wanted. you'd work a nine to five and then go home. save for retirement. maybe you could go back to normality, to your plants and drinking tea in the morning and forgetting about the people on the streets who still did not have homes, due to being deprioritized.

so, you nodded. guilt existed for you, and it ate at you for a moment. but you were always good at burying it away.

before wooyoung could even think of celebrating, you said, "on two conditions."

wooyoung raised a brow, but he waved his hand for you to continue.

"i want my cat. and for an apartment with south-facing windows and a nice view."

the ensuing silence was deafening.

you'd kept your gaze steady, crossing your arms over your chest. "my plants do best with south-facing windows."

wooyoung cackled, tossing his head back as he laughed. you met seonghwa's unreadable gaze and your stomach churned as you finally let go of the hem of your shirt.

"deal," wooyoung said, wiping as his eyes in amusement.

~.~.~.~.~

you did not trust seonghwa. you watched as he tried to sidestep your hissing cat, who continued to hiss and swipe at seonghwa's ankles. he said, "i was going to tell you."

"before or after your friend stuck the syringe full of whatever-the-fuck-that-was in me?" you tucked your laptop under your armpit as you made it a point to glare at him, "c'mon cheddar, you can do better. bite him."

your cat swipes harder at seonghwa.

"you named your cat cheddar?" yeosang, another villain you remembered from television both before and after the fall of your city, asked with an amused snort as he placed your plants carefully in a cart. yeosang had a puckered burn scar running down his face. you didn't ask about it, and he did not mention it. but you knew jung wooyoung's powers involved fire. he used to be a high profile villain, always defeated, but very much a force to be reckoned with, especially from the angles you'd seen on television broadcasts. the entire nation knew of his fire abilities. you could put two and two together.

you shrugged at yeosang, "he's orange."

yeosang grinned, "that makes so much more sense."

"listen to me, y/n.” seonghwa’s voice is sharp, ringing throughout your old, now-empty apartment.

he stepped past your cat. your cat isn’t the best at actually attacking. he just hissed and swiped, claws unfortunately still retracted, perhaps hoping intimidation would be enough. you think your cat has forgotten how not intimidating it looked. seonghwa pressed a hand to your shoulder. his touch was cold, but your skin tingled under his touch. you shook his grip off, glaring.

seonghwa rolled his eyes, “i wasn’t expecting wooyoung to ask you immediately.”

you scoffed.

yeosang interrupted, “he’s right this time. wooyoung usually takes the time to gauge people.”

you sighed, “fine. whatever. either way i don’t trust you.” you plucked the framed photo of your parents from yeosang’s fingers, “either of you.”

“that's fair,” yeosang said with a shrug.

seonghwa pursed his lips and nodded.

~.~.~.~.~

"choreograph?" you frown at seonghwa.

"that's what we used to call it," seonghwa says, shrugging, "back when during the hero-villain alliance."

"so it's nostalgic?" you'd raised your brow at him, "i thought you betrayed them?"

seonghwa's expression darkened. you'd only snorted in response.

"right," you said, "i forgot i wasn't allowed to mention that."

seonghwa fell into step beside you and you continued on your way, aware of the way he opened his mouth as if he was trying to say something.

the two of you came to the top of the hill, where jongho, one of wooyoung, seonghwa, and yeosang's colleagues from their hero-villian alliance days, stood with his hand over his eyes as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet in excitement. it was nearly seven in the morning. you could not fathom what he could be excited about at a time like this.

"jongho?" seonghwa asked, clearly over whatever internal debate he had at your question.

"we found them," jongho grinned, gesturing excitedly over the hill.

it's been months since you've started your job at the council. you're not sure whether you enjoy it. the work, the things you've seen, the things you've reviewed and approved. the things wooyoung had asked you to do in the name of your cushy government job. you're not sure if you enjoy any of it. but the pay is good and the view is excellent, and maybe you enjoy telling your coworkers off every day.

you've spent every day with seonghwa, mostly. wooyoung too, and sometimes yeosang or jongho. you worked alongside the field agents occasionally, mostly yoojung, doyeon, and yuta, but they were almost always traveling.

you had to do simple things, mostly going around the city and reviving plants. "landscaping," you'd scoffed once, while nursing a drink at a dim bar during happy hour with the coworkers you'd sworn you wouldn't trust. you still don't necessarily trust them, but you certainly do not completely mistrust them. you wouldn't admit it though. you're reminded often of the things they've done.

wooyoung insisted on observing you as you worked. his eyes remained fixed on you when you'd crouch beside dead trees and broken flower pots. you'd realized you could create whole forests if you wanted to. you always needed a long nap afterwards, but the idea of it made you want to do more.

every time you left the council building to do 'landscaping', wooyoung came along, his friend with the blank eyes at his shoulder. it was strange, because he's technically the one in charge. certainly he'd have better things to do. but some days, wooyoung would come along to your team happy hours and he would bring his friend. he'd pour them a drink they wouldn't touch, and he would be so quiet.

you'd noticed it with seonghwa too, some days. you'd be seated across from yeosang, and you'd look over to seonghwa tipping some extra meat onto wooyoung's friend's bowl. the friend never drank, but they ate. every movement remained robotic, though, and it always frightened you.

even seonghwa's kindness towards them. his actions would always be gentle, and his words soft whenever he addressed them, but something about the way his jaw clenched, or the looks he'd give wooyoung or yeosang or even jongho. it frightened you, because you've never seen the person before you, the one who was once a revered hero with the kind of strength that made children stare at the tv in awe, look so helpless. you did not wonder what happened anymore, because you could see the guilt in their eyes, clear as day, and you could put two and two together.

so you started taking to pointing out seonghwa's mistakes. his past. perhaps that was not healthy. but seonghwa terrified you and you found power in reminding him that you knew what he did, no matter how normal he acted. strangely, he never truly berated you for it. maybe he believed he deserved the reminders.

"holy shit." seonghwa's whisper was reverent.

you tore your gaze from him, from jongho, and followed their gazes. below, in the valley between broken trees and a icy blue lake, sat a creature large as a mountain with a tail curled around it, eyes as icy blue as the lake beside it, and teeth sharper than any knife you've seen.

the dragon. that is what the locals in uptown called it. you knew it to be a missing child, a girl who had disappeared months ago during the raid. wooyoung insisted on finding her. you often wondered what is real intentions were, even as he organized huge search parties to find her. if you stepped closer, you would see the gashes in her skin and the ribs poking out from beneath her scaled skin.

jongho said, "wooyoung's down there. with -"

his smile faltered. you'd never seen him look so...upset. seonghwa pressed a hand to jongho's shoulder, smiled, and then he waved his other hand. white bone began to claw it's way out from under the grass below your feet.

"what are you doing?" you'd stepped back. you never liked when seonghwa used his powers around you. a strange shiver always curled down your spine, lingered oddly at the base of your neck. you wondered if it was the death. did it do something to your powers? to you? your numb fingertips tingled and you pressed it to your palm.

"we have to get down there somehow."

"i'd rather walk."

"really?" he gestured at the steep hill. "you would?"

you'd glared at him for good measure and seonghwa only waved another hand. the ground cracked open, revealing skeletal thing with four legs and claws and a lopsided face. you stared at it.

"what are you waiting for? get on."

jongho had already mounted his...thing, as if it were normal. he'd waved, called out that he'd meet you both at the foot of the hill, and he zoomed down the hill, carefree. you'd watched in awe before you pressed a hand to the leg of the one in front of you. it hissed. hissed. you'd jumped.

"what the hell? is it supposed to do that?"

"he can sense fear."

"first of all, i am not afraid. second, 'he?'"

"oh, like you don't name and gender your plants?"

"because they thrive better with names and pronouns!" the skeletal thing - maybe a horse? a really really dead horse? - leaned close to you, and your numb fingers started to tingle.

you'd witnessed seongwha raising the dead often, but you'd never been this close to one. you didn't think you should be this close to one. it seemed to stare at you, despite having no eyes, just darkness where eye sockets once were, and this abject sense of dread spreading through your limbs. for a moment, you thought you could see what it used to look like, before it was buried away.

suddenly, the creature collapsed, and bones scattered. you stared at the pile of bones, watched as it started to disintegrate, as the wind took the bonedust away. you'd shrieked, and seonghwa stared at you for a moment too long. his eyes were darker than usual, almost black, and he said, with a sort of softness that nearly quelled the dread, "come here."

and, you did.

seonghwa held out a hand, and you let him pull you onto the back of his skeletal horse-monster-thing. your hand shook.

"not afraid, my ass."

"shut up."

when you got to the foot of the hill, to where the dragon's spiked tail curled around broken trees, seonghwa helped you off the creature. you'd looked back at it as you steadied yourself, still holding seonghwa's hand.

your footing faltered then.

seonghwa squeezed your hand, said so quietly, you could have mistaken his voice as the breeze, "do not say anything."

you could not tear your gaze from the creature. the horse. it was a horse. how did you know? the place where you sat was no longer just bones. pink flesh wound around the bones, fresh meat, as if it was regenerating. it was fully there. but -

"do not say anything," seonghwa repeated as he pulled you away, as he waved his hand and the horse turned to a pile of bones, as the bones disintegrated.

but the new flesh remained, clinging to the bones like meat would.

you looked at seonghwa, and you realized he was not necessarily demanding anything of you. his eyes were tired, and his grip was tight, and he begged, "please do not say anything."

so, you didn't.

~.~.~.~.~

wooyoung asked you to be there because he wanted you to heal the dragon.

"she's dying," seonghwa said, with one look to the dragon.

he was on wooyoung's other side. you'd placed an entire person between you two, but your body still tingled. you don't know what happened back there, but you had a feeling seonghwa did know what happened. he certainly reacted quickly enough to get rid of all evidence of the two of you regenerating a horse. a dead fucking horse. and he certainly knew enough to insist you don't speak of it.

that was when wooyoung said, "i know."

he looked at you.

you stared back.

wooyoung sighed when you didn't move. he gestured at the dragon, "fix her."

you frowned, "she might be an animal right now, but that's a human. i've never tried to bring back humans, wooyoung."

"you were going to have start some time."

"it's dangerous. seonghwa told me -"

"so you're going to let her die?"

"excuse me?"

"you're going to let her die," wooyoung turned his gaze to the curled up dragon. "do you know how old she is?"

"i don't -"

"nine years old."

you jolted. your eyes drifted to seonghwa. he only stood beside wooyoung, eyes trained on the dragon, expression unreadable. you glanced back, at jongho and wooyoung's friend. jongho was facing them, interacting them, and even in your plight to look for backup from someone, you couldn't help but take note of the rare exchange.

"that's not - me not helping won't kill her," you turned fully to wooyoung, shaking your head.

"really?" wooyoung asked. then he stepped forward, to her tail, and you watched with growing horror as wooyoung pressed a hand to the dragon's tail. then his hand started to glow a bright, bright blue, like the lake, like the dragon's - the nine year old girl's eyes - and you smelled burning flesh. the dragon did not move. did not thrash.

you were never one to allow yourself to feel responsible for other. when people with powers were being killed just for having powers, you'd turned the other cheek and pretended you were normal. when the city fell and those with powers were treated better, you'd stepped into that privilege without a second thought. you'd ignored the phone calls from the elderly couple that owned the flower shop you worked at. they begged you through voicemail to sponsor their shop so that the city would prioritize rebuilding it. you did not want to call attention to yourself. you did not want to jeopardize your safety. your bubble.

you were resourceful and observant and, most of all, self-serving.

so you didn't care. even as the smell of burning flesh grew and the dragon shifted a bit, barely, and you didn't care even when you heard a low cry, a sob really, and you realized that was the dragon, no the little girl, and you didn't care when wooyoung's flame grew and the girl's scales blackened and charred and you didn't -

wooyoung laughed.

the flames died.

you had your hand pressed to where he had charred her skin, and you'd shoved wooyoung away from her. wooyoung just laughed harder. he said, "fix her up well, y/n."

"what are you going to do to her?"

"teach her," wooyoung shrugged. "yoojung and doyeon need an apprentice, and the rebels have been acting up. a dragon would keep them quiet for a while. besides, nine year olds don't require convincing to join anyone. especially nine year olds who think we rescued them from the scary forest."

he'd pat your back and walked away, towards jongho and his friend, and you were left to stare after him in horror.

~.~.~.~.~

you sat in your apartment kitchen, rubbing at your palms. you couldn't feel anything. you physically could not feel your own fingers against your palms. you had a headache. your vision was still blurry.

but, you knew one thing for certain: you could breathe life into people without dying.

"did you know i'd be capable of this?" you'd asked wooyoung in the car earlier.

wooyoung sat in the backseat of the car, the little girl's head in his lap as she slept and held his hand tightly. when she healed, she returned to her human form, though she still had sharp teeth and nails and icy blue eyes. she grew attached to wooyoung quickly, out of everyone there, and strangely, he was kind to her. sweet almost. it was worse than seeing him burn her on purpose.

wooyoung said, "powers are like muscles. they just need training."

you thought of the 'landscaping' work he had you do. he was growing your stamina with it, you realized. your fingers curled into fists.

you knew you could save people, and so did wooyoung. he hummed a soft tune, and the girl in his lap relaxed visibly, the wrinkle between her brows softening.

wooyoung whispered, "i wasn't the one who suggested the training, y/n. i'm not the only bad guy here." you stared at seonghwa, who was driving wooyoung's car. wooyoung's voice was lofty as he hummed, "right, hwa?"

after dropping wooyoung, jongho, and the little girl to the council building, wooyoung told seonghwa to drive you home. seonghwa gripped the steering wheel as he said, "how are your hands?"

you hadn't been sure if he'd remember your side effects. you certainly didn't think he would care even if he did. you'd shrugged, said, "it's fine."

then he parked outside your building and asked to come in. you'd nodded. you're not sure why you did.

that was how you ended up in your kitchen, rubbing your numb palms together, and seonghwa stood on the other side of your kitchen table, shoulders slumped, eyes tired.

"you knew?" you finally spoke.

"i guessed you were capable of more."

"and you told wooyoung without even thinking of telling me."

"you don't understand."

"understand what? that all you do is betray people?"

seonghwa froze.

"that all you do is lie?"

seonghwa's expression twisted. he said, "i do the things i do to protect those i care about."

"right," you'd scoffed, "so you care about wooyoung? the man who was so quick to throw you under the bus just now? the man who would burn a nine year old alive just to get his fucking way?"

"he's angry. i -" seonghwa dragged a hand through his hair, "he's angry because i helped yeosang escape. he has no proof that i knew yeosang would finally get out, but wooyoung knows me better than i know myself. he doesn't need proof. so he's angry."

"why are you telling me that?" your frowned. you'd been wondering where yeosang was. last you heard, he told you he was going on a field job, but that was weeks ago, "why does it matter to me why the fuck he's angry?"

"because i want you to understand that this is so incredibly complicated, but i am trying to help you."

"why would you help me?"

"because of what happened on that horse," seonghwa gripped the table, knuckles white. "it's something he can't ever know about. it'll change everything. i've seen him terrorize - no, destroy - the people and things he loved just to achieve his goals. i don't know what the fuck he'd do with this kind of power, and it's...he is...-"

"frightening?"

seonghwa nodded. you stared at his dark eyes and the felt the underlying current that seeped from his very being. for months and months, you felt a dreadful feeling in his presence, one that felt like both terror and wonder. around him, you felt death, and it both unnerved you and made you wonder. you'd wondered often if he felt the same about you and the powers he could likely feel seeping from you.

"so are you," you said. "you are frightening too."

his shoulders slumped as if he did not know. or perhaps, he did not want you to remind him, not for this particular shortcoming.

~.~.~.~.~

"seonghwa asked me the other day if i thought he was frightening," wooyoung did not look at you. his hands remained busy with the paperwork in front of him. you watched his nonchalance with wary eyes.

"what does that have to do with me?" you asked, though you couldn't help but stiffen at the reminder of the conversation. after a beat, you added a, "respectfully."

wooyoung smiled, a slow thing. his eyes flickered to the corner of the room, where his friend sat against the wall.

then he said, "seonghwa is kind and gentle. he cares for everyone, even when they don't fucking deserve it. he joined me because he saw and felt the suffering our kind went through. he's told me about them, the people, adults, kids, that were killed long before my initiative began. they're the ones i could not save."

"meanwhile," wooyoung's smile dropped, "you ignored it, y/n. your powers manifested decades ago, but you hid it to protect yourself. i wonder how often you turned the other cheek when someone asked for your help? super powered and non-powered alike? and that's not even the worst of it, is it, y/n? don't shake your head at me. i've seen your phone records. you couldn't even be bothered to check in on the two people who gave you a job, helped you from losing your precious apartment when you'd cut ties from your shitty family in search of a new life in the city. who the fuck are you to call someone like seonghwa frightening when you've done what you'd done? from the looks of it, this is the first time you've ever done something kind for someone else."

you'd stared him, watched as he tossed a manila folder in your direction. a picture of your parents slipped out. they were older in it, and you'd found yourself staring. you hadn't seen them since you left years ago. "how do you know all this?"

"is that all you care about? how i found out about your dirty laundry? me? the government official with access to everyone's records?"

you'd glared, backing away when he matched your expression.

he said, "if anyone is frightening, it's you. and it's ironic, isn't it? y/n, breather of life, is selfish and self-serving. who fucking knew."

"i don't want a lecture from you."

"i've done a thousand terrible things in my life, y/n, but not only will i admit to every single one of them," wooyoung said, "i've also never ignored a person who needed my help. especially not when that person has helped me. if anyone here, in this entire building, maybe even this city, is a frightening monster, it is you. not seonghwa. never seonghwa."

it echoed after you, even when you spun on your heels and left, slamming the door shut behind you.

it is you.

~.~.~.~.~

"woah."

you'd downed another shot. jongho giggled at you. he'd clearly been upset, likely because of yeosang leaving. it was all over the news, the announcement that yeosang was now a high profile criminal who joined the ranks of wanted criminals like kim hongjoong, choi san, jeong yunho, and song mingi. heroes turned into criminals who wanted to cause chaos. according to the news.

you reached for another and seonghwa snatched it from your hand, sliding it to jongho who downed it himself. "hey! he's already plastered."

"he's not downing shots like it's water."

"he should be. it's fun."

seonghwa sighed, his jaw ticking even as he took the seat next to you. jongho giggled as he watched, laying his head on his forearms. he said, "it really is fun."

"besides, he's the sad one. you should be monitoring him."

"i'm not sad," jongho said.

"yeah," you rolled your eyes, "sure."

"i mean, yeosang is happier out there than he ever was here. and, i mean don't tell wooyoung okay? swear it. yes. pinky promise. okay? okay? yes!" jongho nearly fell out of his chair, but he clasped the table and held himself steady as he said, "i promised yeosang i'd take care of wooyoung. i'm the only one he doesn't hurt. i mean, he can't. i'm literally indestructible. but he also never tried to hurt me. it's weird though, because he loves everyone else so much more, but he still - oh i need to pee."

jongho got up and stumbled to the bathroom and you watched seonghwa watch jongho as he stumbled through the bar. his eyes periodically flickered to the bathroom, always watching.

"you should have been the one with animancy."

you didn't mean to say that, but it slipped out so easily.

his eyes left the bathroom entrance, lingered on you. the way his soft gaze flickered over your face left you feeling warm.

"it makes sense," you said, with a small sigh, "you take care of people. you already breathe life into things. it'd make so much sense."

he was the light one would think of someone who could give life to others.

"you think you could handle the dead, y/n? the resentment they have? you can barely handle wooyoung's words."

"hey!"

"who said life had to be sweet and kind? selfless?"

you'd froze, "how did you know -"

"it's wooyoung. i can guess." seonghwa said, "if anything life is the most selfish thing in the world. it has to be. death does not discriminate, it's abundant and fruitful. but life is stingy. it births some people into riches and others into hell itself. it takes months, sometimes even years of praying and medicine, for a baby to be brought into this world. but death can happen in an instant. suddenly. without question. why else do you think it's so difficult for you to transfer life into things while it's so easy for me to raise so many of the dead?"

"was that just your fancy way of calling me selfish?" you'd joked. he was right of course, and it eased your mind more than you'd admit. so you resorted to a jibe. besides, you liked the way a small grin tugged at his lips.

"and annoying," he said, so nonchalantly.

you laughed, and he smiled, and wooyoung's words didn't sting so bad right then. the guilt, however, of calling seonghwa frightening when he was anything but. it would stay with you, you think, until the day you die.

#ateez angst #ateez scenarios #seonghwa angst #ateez #answered #anonymous #seonghwa #hero/villain au

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