Estaminet: small bar or cafe
In which Ran and Novick are really just third wheeling in the cafe, and there's a reason why you shouldn't flirt with Eve when Khun's around.
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Unlike the original scene in the webtoon, we currently have Khun, Rak, nearly all the members of team Sweet and Sour were there with the exception of Goseng, Horyang, and Arkraptor. They didn’t know what to make out of this situation as they observed Bam and Endorsi from afar. It was painstakingly obvious to them that Bam was out of it.
At times he would be unfocused while another he would seem jittery almost as if he’s searching for someone, Endorsi was not impressed. The cause of it was undoubtedly because a certain purplette wasn’t by his side. The very same purplette who spotted her team earlier and now was currently standing behind them.
“...what are you doing?” The members of Sweet and Sour blinked at the overly familiar voice, slowly facing backwards and freezing up as they saw Evolet standing nonchalantly. It was silent for a moment before they broke out into a surprised scream to which Evolet flinched at the sheer volume as she backed up and bumped into Khun.
She smiled sheepishly at the bluenette who only shook his head exasperatedly at the team's behavior. Though he himself also came here because of the same reason. "They were too worried to leave the two alone."
Evolet's gaze wandered to the pair of brunettes not far from them, staring at them silently for a while with a wistful smile etched on her lips. "I see…"
Rak huffed irritatedly as he crossed his arms, loudly exclaiming that “weird googly eyes was targeting the black turtle and the blue turtle should do something about it before the purple turtle gets sad” only to get ignored. The team stared at Evolet for a moment before abruptly switching their gaze to Endorsi, eyes burning heatedly once they heard Evolet's melancholic tone. So at the very least today they needed to make sure absolutely nothing will happen between the two, status as a Jahad Princess be damned. Their OTP will sail under their watch and Bam will be with Evolet, they'll make sure of that.
Khun, on the other hand, took one glance at Evolet and immediately understood what her gaze meant. There was a longing in her blue-violet orbs, yet at the same time a readiness to let go at any given time regardless of the pain. As if she was saying that Bam deserved someone much better than her. Evolet was never the one to believe unless you prove to her single-mindedly that you needed her by your side forever. Bam may not have that single-minded focus, but Khun knew the worth of each jewel he's come across. And she was one he'd never let go of.
So he smirked softly as he extended a hand towards her, cobalt blue eyes gleaming playfully in place of its usual slyness. “Shall we go now?”
The mellow smile was back on her lips, eyes brightening at the offer and the hand he reached out to her. Evolet didn’t hesitate to place her hand in his, and Khun grasped the smaller hand with an indescribable care that you wouldn’t expect from him. “Lead the way, Khun-san.”
The team watched wordlessly as the pair walked away in comfortable silence, opting to not butt in for once since Evolet seemed like she needed a cheering up. But that certainly didn’t stop them to make eye contact with each other, coming to a decision in a split second to split the team in two to observe both Bam and Evolet. They’ll let Khun have her just for the day because a sad Evolet was a big no-no and their best bet was to leave it to Khun, with proper surveillance of course.
The soft ringing of the cafe’s doorbell announced their arrival, momentarily gaining the whole cafe’s attention with their breathtaking features. Though quite unfortunately for the cafe’s occupants, they seemed to be “together” going by how they were holding each other’s hands. Some of them backed off quickly, some weren’t wise enough to do so.
Ran’s expression scrunched up the slightest bit in disgust and exasperation at the sight of Khun and Evolet entering the cafe together, the atmosphere around them calm and casual but loving enough that it practically screamed they were a couple. He already felt like he was third wheeling even though Novick was also there. Novick greeted them with a sense of nonchalance, unsurprised by Evolet’s presence despite the purplette arriving nearly 20 minutes earlier than her promised time on Khun’s date.
No sooner when the two sat down, there was already a waiter on standby to take their order. Evolet considerably brightened up even more than before as she saw the variety of sweets available on the menu. She didn’t waste any time ordering a slice of tiramisu cake and a cup of hot chocolate, being in the mood for something extra sweet today instead of her usual lavender tea. While on the other hand Khun ordered a cup of black coffee with a detailed explanation of the amount of sugar and cream he wanted.
Their order came without delay, the same waiter coming back with their drinks and Evolet's cake. Though Evolet blinked in confusion as a plate of heart shaped macarons were placed in front of her, soft pink in color with its vibrant decorations. She stared at the treat with a puzzled expression only to find the waiter was already back at the counter and she'd feel bad for disturbing his work.
Soon enough she noticed a note slipped underneath the plate. The words ‘a beautiful treat for the fair lady, although it’s not sweet as you’ written on it along with a series of numbers. Being the dense person that she is, Evolet didn’t get the meaning behind said message and thought it was some sort of secret code. So she did the most logical thing to do, which was to ask Khun. A great decision on her part really.
“Khun-san, what does this mean?”
All eyes on the table were on her now, specifically on the paper she was holding. Novick held back the urge to laugh, pitying the waiter who actually dared to do so without knowing the consequence he had coming. And to think Evolet would be clueless about what it meant, what the waiter did was certainly in vain. The look in Khun’s cobalt blue gaze quickly darkened, telling Evolet that the paper meant nothing and swiftly shredded it when she wasn’t looking. Needless to say she believed him rather easily, already enjoying the tiramisu cake she ordered with a fluffy aura of happiness.
On the other hand there was a subtle shriek from the earlier waiter, a knife firmly lodged inches away from his hand along with the note he passed to Evolet earlier. Evolet took no notice of it, too absorbed in enjoying the sweets. Ran rolled his eyes exasperatedly at Khun who was all too nonchalant as if he didn’t just throw a knife while avoiding the customers' peripheral vision. Novick was also somewhat impressed by the show of skills the Lightbearer had.
The conversation flowed smoothly afterwards as Khun discussed what the team will do moving onwards. Given the fact that she wasn’t on the team, Evolet merely observed and soaked up the information like a sponge. Her eyes did widen slightly when Khun said the spare team were tasked to find Rachel and eliminate both her along with her comrades. Khun didn’t miss this, taking in her expression contemplatively for a moment before deciding to ask if she had any objection to it. If he guessed right, this was probably more about Bam rather than Rachel.
“...no. I get where you’re coming from, Khun-san. It’s understandable that you would want to get revenge after all that she’s done. That time, you were the one who brought her up the Tower in order to fulfill Bam's wish after… that incident. The fact that you did that is already more than I could ever ask for. Rachel-san betrayed your team and even went as far as killing one of the members. I know an apology won't ever make up for Gyetang-san's life, nor can it make up for Dan-san's injured legs. That's why it's not surprising even if you do want to give her a payback.”
But then Evolet paused, lips pressed into a thin sad smile as she cupped her glass of hot chocolate gingerly. "It's just that… I don't want Bam to get hurt or sad."
Sometimes Khun can't understand Bam's line of thoughts. Why did the brunette still want to chase the "brightest star" that pushed him down when he had someone that was far more beside him? Having witnessed Evolet's wrath first hand, both Ran and Novick could see the contrasting personality in between. The one in front of them had no trace of the dominance she exerted at the Hand of Arlene. The predatory gleam was gone from those blue-violet gaze, replaced by a sense of softness and fragility that was a far cry from the persona she showed to them back then.
Her lips curled up into a more determined smile, lifting her head up and staring straight into Khun's cobalt blue eyes. "It might just be an impossible dream, but at the very least I want to try my best to protect not only Bam but all of you. That's my job as the team's Defender after all."
Novick was reminded of what he said about Bam. The two partners were strikingly similar to each other yet worlds different. If Bam's light was one of radiance that you couldn't help but chase after, then Evolet was the exact opposite of that. Her light was much more subdued, omnipresent and akin to a gentle warmth constantly enveloping them. One that you'd take for granted like it was natural, terrifying in the way that you wouldn't realize when it would attack and how you could lose it without realizing because you never thought of its importance until it's gone.
Khun seemed to have the same line of thought as Novick did, the rarest of soft smiles gracing his lips which obviously alarmed Ran. Evolet almost immediately followed suit with the brightest grin Ran has ever seen, befitting of the sun. She reached out a hand towards Khun, caressing his cheek and completely disregarding how he froze up from surprise. "You should smile more, Khun-san. You look really beautiful when you smile."
Look and behold, with only a few words Khun Aguero Agnis was left at the mercy of his own flustered state. Evolet was still oblivious as she always is, clueless as to why Khun's cheeks were painted in a vibrant red as the bluenette tried to think of a comeback to no avail. After staring blankly at the scene for a few moments, Ran rolled his eyes and looked at Novick as if saying "we're only third wheeling here." Though then again the ravenette himself was too busy smirking as he casually slurped his coffee, like he was watching some sort of romance live action from the front row seat.
Speaking of which, it seems like they have another lovesick fool here. At some point Dan and Xiaxia had also come into the cafe afterwards. Dan’s head was propped on his chins as the speedster sighed contentedly at the sight of Evolet, looking absolutely lovestruck ever since he discovered that Evolet and Muse were in fact the same person. Xiaxia was on cloud nine as Evolet transferred her "wage" and immediately agreed to work with her going forward to the future.
Evolet was now warning them of what might possibly happen during their mission of eliminating Rachel, given her little connection with FUG by practically selling Bam. They ought to take her more seriously to be fair. But she was making it hard to do so when there was some cream on her cheek and the purplette was clueless about it. Novick was trying his hardest to muffle in his laughter. Ran doesn't know what he's doing in life at this point. Dan was just smitten over his one-sided admiration. And Xiaxia well… let's just say she's satisfied as long as she has money.
Khun shook his head at the team's attitude, opting to fix the source of the problem instead. Hearing her name being called, she stopped her explanation momentarily and looked over to him. He smirked slyly, thinking that he might be the one to get a reaction out of her this time instead of the reverse. "You've got some cream on your cheek, Eve."
There it was, the classic "let me get that for you" trope. With a twist, of course. Khun reached over to her, gently wiping the smudge of cream. He was about to pull back but Evolet reacted faster, grasping at his wrist and effectively making him freeze. And she promptly licked his thumb, savoring the last bit of the cream since her cake was long finished.
Khun has long malfunctioned, the intelligent mind he prided himself on completely wrecked with her action. He was still like a statue even when Evolet already released his hand, failing to process what just happened. His cobalt blue eyes were as wide as saucers, mouth agape but failing to dish out a proper comeback in his flustered condition. Well, that's one way to catch a Khun Aguero Agnis off guard.
Ran watched all of this unfold with little to no interest, knowing Khun was long defeated since he saw the Lightbearer laugh years ago with a simple letter from her. The poor speedster of the group looked almost heartbroken despite knowing he had no chance from the start. Novick was practically wheezing at his leader's reaction, his stomach hurting from the sheer amount of laughter. Xiaxia on the other hand, was already thinking of ways to rake in money by making a betting pool of who Evolet ends up with. She probably could live off of the money from that betting pool without an issue.
Honestly, how does one win against a naturally flirtatious yet oblivious person anyway? Looks like Khun might need to think a little bit more creative than usual for that answer. But for now, they have a long awaited date to start.
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A/N:
Yes. Next chapter is finally, finally the date. Which is... Also the second to last chapter before the epilogue, I suppose. I must say I didn't expect this book to finish under a year ( ╹▽╹ )... Well technically it wasn't, but it's gotten too long so I'm splitting the book before it's too late— I really wanna make a jjk fanfic (I already have 2 story plot ideas in mind—) but I can't write more than 1 book at once cause—... Cause I have no time (人 •͈ᴗ•͈)... So I'll put that off till I finish this whole tog story first. Please be patient my jjk addicted brain— Oh, and watch this amv I'm addicted with then cry with me :)