The two halted and promptly came into a fighting stance. Han Min's eyes were flaming red, and Yun Hwa's golden bow was pulled tautly in his hands. The Deity immediately inserted a binding shield around his person before spreading his arms up in the air as a sign of surrender.
"Guys, you didn't recognize me?! I thought you'd remember by this power alone." Jaebin sealed his divine sword behind and held his hands up.
The other two didn't budge and became eager to pounce on him right there.
"Look, it was my brother who destroyed the barrier. I only came because the Emperor ordered us. I didn't want to disturb you anymore.
And I have no choice either, when he took the initiative to search for you, I had to come with him!"
That smile had long been wiped away and was replaced with a flabbergasted look. Yun Hwa raised his brow and pulled the bow even longer, ready to shoot at any time.
"I don't remember you feeling obligated to look over your brother. If you came here for one person, just call your sibling, and we'd deal with this as a duo." He was positioned on a target lock, barely taking his eyes off the other.
Beside him, Han Min never took off his guard, almost as if his burning the Deity's shield in front of their eyes.
"That's bullshit. Aren't we forgetting something here, Yun Hwa?" With his eyebrows raised too, he stared at the other, as if he was citing him the obvious.
"It has nothing to do with you." Yun Hwa didn't intend to answer, but the Demon King nonchalantly spoke, Jaebin instantly smiled sheepishly.
"I was just curious, considering you worked your way hard to obtain your might now. I was pretty excited to see you two meet."
"You know, you're getting more suspicious if you keep talking. You're Yang Shen's second right-hand. What makes you think that becoming a Deity would give you the right to speak to Han Min's affairs?"
"I see. Getting familiar now, are we? Look, just trust me, I plan no harm. I purposely came here earlier than my brother to tell you before he catches up with you. That dumbass completely became Yang Shen's lackey." He rubbed his nose and casually crossed his arms. But the two still weren't appeased.
"Aren't we friends since we were kids? Come on now, I was just worried--"
"Aren't you that shameless to call us your friends?" Han Min's voice was more stern than usual; the Deity was surprised by his words. He decided to put his arm in front and bowed to them.
"Alright. I'll be going. You better be going too, that's all I have to say."
"If you said it sooner and dawdled less, then we'll probably trust you." Yun Hwa remarked, and Jaebin was about to say something when an arriving footstep averted their attention.
From behind Han Min and Yun Hwa, So Eun came into the scene running and only stopped when he saw the other three.
He opened and closed his mouth for a while, trying to figure out whose twin was in front of them right now, but Jaebin spoke before him.
"Tipolo's Deity, So Eun! Glad to meet you in person." His face brightened at the sight of another Deity, and he attempted to walk forward to shake hands with him.
But Han Min, with his arms crossed and eyes closed for a while, didn't lift his head to look but moved his body to block So Eun. Jaebin's smile froze, and he looked frightened for a minute, before immediately retracting his hands and retreating a step.
"Haha! I forgot! He's not entirely a Deity yet."
They all knew it was a forced laugh, but they didn't respond any further. Jaebin took that chance to flee from the scene after his intention was done.
"Well, there's plenty of time in the future. I'll get going now. Goodbye," He gave them a friendly wave before turning around to tread in the opposite direction.
The tense atmosphere was gradually loosening, and So Eun was left with the other two.
He turned to ask Yun Hwa, the not-so-intimidating figure in the place. "What was happening just now?"
"One of the twins destroyed the barrier and came here, probably looking for you and him. But Jaebin arrived and snitched on us to leave before his brother reached us."
The young man rolled his eyes at the mention of the Deities and sheathed his bow.
So Eun bit his lips, suddenly feeling guilty about the situation. Beside him, Yun Hwa spoke again, turning around to completely look at him.
"By the way, what's your plan now? Are you going back to them?" So Eun looked at him and was caught off guard. That, he wasn't sure yet.
But when Han Min was still facing his back on them and glanced in their direction, So Eun made up his mind quickly.
"I won't hinder any of your plans, I won't go back. I'll stay here."
"You won't be staying here, though, we're moving right away. You sure you want to come?" So Eun couldn't help to glance at the other person and voice out his words.
"Yeah. I'm still a Deity, I can still fight." Even when he's talking to Yun Hwa, his attention is earnestly watching the Demon King's reaction.
Even if a Deity shouldn't be going alongside their foes, So Eun has already made up his mind. That is, if the other two were okay with that.
Yun Hwa seemed to trust his words alone and called out to Han Min before going toward the path to the temple. So Eun just followed after, resisting the urge to look back to see if the other was also moving too.
In a swift moment, they didn't have to enter the temple to fetch their things, since it wasn't one of their dwellings anyway, and continued on the road to avoid the other twin.
After having walked a certain mile and distance away from the temple, the night eventually came, and the group settled on another abandoned and run-down hut in the middle of the forest.
Due to the unusual reason that came from Yun Hwa's excuse of Han Min falling asleep in the middle of the road, they have to stop to rest.
So Eun was confused at first, but the image of him meditating back in the pond was enough to silence his questions.
The time went out in a blink, and inside the hut was a lamp enough to brighten up the place. They settled in the different corners of the small room. Lucky enough to find a few straw mats to rest on.
So Eun decided to rest a distance besides the door, while Yun Hwa was on the other side.
Since the room was smaller than the temple he slept in, Han Min settled in the middle, and instead of lying down, he leaned on the wall. Eyes closed and arms forming a meditating posture.
Hours and hours came by, with Yun Hwa snoring and a few dozen hours of sleep he earned within the night, So Eun kept waking up and often glancing at the man still sitting on the straw mat.
With his own worry and complicated state, after waking up a few times now, he gave up on sleeping and moved to sit on his straw mat too.
The lamp torch hung in the middle, flickering in the shadows, while So Eun gazed at the person sitting.
The place, along with the pond, was all too familiar, yet this time, the bloom of the sun was replaced with dancing light.
After a while of staring, the candle inside the lamp eventually dissolved, so he had to stand up and replace the candle.
Bringing it down and managing to find another candle perfect to insert until daytime, So Eun settled it inside and hung the rusted hook on the ceiling.
He stood on his toes and attempted to go back on his mat, but before he did, his eyes automatically wandered to look at Han Min.
Since the first time he saw him sitting in the same posture, it keeps making him breathless.
He really couldn't deny how handsome the other was.
Before his mind decided to act on what to do, his body moved and crouched in front of Han Min.
At this point, So Eun started to make his excuses, and one of those was--that he was worried and intended to check if his vitals were still beating.
But a few minutes passed, and he had felt the warmth spread through him. He looks completely different in his sleeping state. Maybe because, in this face of his, it doesn't look so sad anymore.
In the middle of his gazing, he couldn't help to reach out his hand.
Completely captivated and soft on the spot, So Eun's fingers were only an inch away from his face when a hand caught his wrist before it went further.
Han Min held his hand, his eyes slowly opening.
So Eun flinched at that, eyes widening.
Meeting with the other's glistening one, he freezes on the spot.
He felt his chest jump and found himself already speaking loudly to apologize.
"I-I am sorry, I was just trying to check-." Yet before he finished his sentence, the other pulled and grabbed him at the side, resulting in his back softly hitting the wall.
With just a slight movement, Han Min switched their position and cornered him on the wall.