The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) (61 page)

Snow continued to drizzle over them as they stood like statues on the balcony.

“It’s so hard to love you in this world, Tae Hyun,” Yoori replied, her voice shaking relentlessly as she tried to stay strong for him. “I don’t know if I’m ready for it…even though I care about you so much. I don’t know if I’ll be able to withstand it. I’m not a strong person. I’ll fall apart if anything happens.” She reached up and caressed her fingers over his cheek, reveling in the feel of his smooth skin against hers. “What if I allow myself to completely fall for you and
you
 get taken away from me? What if I allow myself to completely fall for you and 
I
 get taken away from you?”

She bit her lips, trying to smother the sobs that would’ve escaped from her if she hadn’t bit her lips till it bled. It was her worst fear…to fall completely in love with Tae Hyun and have her soul ripped to shreds when the world tears them apart.
 

It wasn’t until Tae Hyun touched her biting lips did Yoori stop biting the blood out of them. It wasn’t until he pulled her into a deep embrace did Yoori still in his hold. Burying his chin into the side of her neck, he gave her a kiss that calmed her nerves and soothed her soul.
 

It was a kiss that she needed
.

“As of late,” he whispered, his warm breath calming her, “I’ve come to realize that life is not always about a past filled with mysteries or a future filled with endless dark possibilities…it is also about a present filled with timeless distractions.”
 

He wiped the tears that froze on her cheeks and kissed away the tears that threatened to slip from her eyes.
 

“Do you remember your definition of Paris on the dock that night at the lake house?”

The reminder of Paris evoked a stroke of inner strength she didn’t know existed. It had been so long since that night...

Tae Hyun smiled at her attentive silence. “You said that Paris is the city of love. You can’t go to Paris unless you’re madly in love with the person who is taking you. And
not just the type of ‘love’ where you tell one another that you can’t live without each other. No…not 
that
 type of ‘love’. But the type of love that is unconditional – the type that is 
undying
. You know…the type that can withstand anything…one of those….” 

“O
nce-in-a-lifetime love,” Yoori finished for him.

He framed his hand against her cheek, caressing her skin. “No one said finding Paris would be easy…”
 

“They only said it would be worth it,” she mindlessly provided, never feeling so much bravery and fear in her life.
 

“You’re worth it for me, Yoori,” he told her with confidence. “All the obstacles, all the hardships, all the heartaches, all the pain, all the hell to come… you’re worth
 
all
 of it to me.” 

Yoori’s hyperventilating heart lifted at his words. It lifted even more when he asked, “Do you not want to find
 Paris with me, Yoori?”

“I do,” Yoori replied quickly, never meaning something more in her life. There was strength that she didn’t even know existed. “You know I do. I want to find it with you,
 
only you
.”

He nodded, his eyes smiling at her ardent answer.
 

“Are you all mine?” he asked finally, nipping his nose with hers. His warm breath lingered over her, tempting her and thawing the cold from her skin.
 

There was no hesitancy this time, no more denial. “Yours. All yours,” she conceded. She buried her face into his chest and allowed the wintriness silence to fill them. The snow continued to dance all around them, surrounding them with its innocence.
 

“You’ll be the death of me,” Yoori finally whispered long seconds later, gazing up at Tae Hyun.

He was staring down at her with so much love in his eyes that she wondered how it was possible she was able to resist the one who had stolen her heart for so long. 

“And you’ll be mine,” Tae Hyun whispered back. Taking a moment to stroke her face with adoration, Tae Hyun, no longer able to control his needs, leaned down and pressed
his lips against hers, stealing her breath as he bestowed bliss unto the kiss. 

A world of timeless magic.

That was where Tae Hyun took her as she, for the first time in her life, kissed without reservations. For the first time in her life, she allowed herself to get lost as she fell in Tae Hyun’s embrace. Tears of worry stained her lips, yet Tae Hyun swept it all away with his lips. Fear drowned her, but Tae Hyun pulled her back up with his embrace. Hell called out to her, but Tae Hyun held her in a world amongst the heavens, never letting her go. Despite knowing everything that could go wrong, she continued to kiss him because it was the only thing that felt right. 

When she pulled away from the kiss, Yoori just stared at Tae Hyun, her eyes glazing over with fresh tears when she realized that after so long, they were
 finally at this point. 

“I bet you didn’t know you were going to be outside in the cold, freezing your ass off and kissing me like this when you came into the diner that day.”

Yoori laughed as the final tears slipped from the side of her eyes. 

Tae Hyun
joined in her laughter, shaking from the cold. He wiped away her final tears of the night. “Definitely not. My defined ass would’ve ran away from your deliciously plump ass if I knew you were going to put me through such hell.”

“Which reminds me, I quit as your assistant,” Yoori announced smugly.
 

Oh how she wanted to quit for so long.
 

“You can’t quit. I fire
you,” Tae Hyun countered, getting back into the normalcy of their bickering. Even after a heartfelt conversation, they were still the same couple.

“You can’t fire me. I do not deserve
to be fired. I’ve made your life easier. Who dealt with all the miscellaneous stuff?” 

His expression mocked her. “What do
 you actually
 
do?”

“I wash the dishes.”

“And I told you the other night that I rewash them because you suck at scrubbing.”

“I do laundry.”

“No, 
I
 do laundry. You just close the lid and take credit for it.”

She started to get flustered. “I…I help with administrative gang stuff.”

“Your handwriting is like chicken shit. I have to secretly take my own notes to know what’s going on. As far as I’m concerned, it was like I was your assistant.”

Oh wow. She
did
suck as an assistant. 

“
Sucker,” she drawled, pinching his nose. “That’s what you get for falling for your employee.” 

She laughed when
he shook his head at her, turning away from her and blushing like a tomato. 

“Anyway, can we go inside now?” Yoori asked when the wind picked up.
 

“Why? I thought you liked the snow?”
 

“Um, because I’m not wearing a jacket or shoes and my deliciously plump ass
is freezing right now.”

Tae Hyun gave her a blank, unimpressed stare. “You’re really good at bed talk, aren’t you?”

Yoori snorted at his passive insult. “Hurry up and take me back inside before I break up with you.”

Tae Hyun raised his brow. “What the hell? Why are you abusing the privileges already? I can’t believe you just used that as a threat. It took me forever to convince you to be my girlfriend and now you’re threatening to break up with me?”

“That’s right, baby,” Yoori cooed jokingly, laughing as she leaned in and kissed his jawline. 

“I probably should’ve thought things out better before I made that big speech about finding Paris with you,” Tae Hyun voiced bitterly, already melting under her kiss. He picked her up and carried her bridal style into the living room.
 “Now I’m stuck with you through thick and thin.”

“Loser-face,” Yoori giggled, falling onto the couch.

Tae Hyun settled beside her. He covered the purple throw blanket over their bodies. He wrapped himself over her and laid his chin above her head. Both shook from the remnants of snow on their skins. They were soon warmed from the fireplace and the comfort of being indoors. 

“You’re not going to strip down to your towel?” Yoori asked suggestively, tracing her finger down his chest. She moved closer to him. “I promise I’ll rip it off this time.”

“You little perv. Was that why you agreed to be my girlfriend? So you can reap the benefits?”

Although Yoori smiled, there was no veiling of her fear. They haven’t changed as a couple but their future was still uncertain.
 

“I’m still afraid,” she admitted meekly. It was the honest truth. No matter how excited she was that they were finally together, she was still afraid.
 

His eyes professed the same concern. “I am too.”
 

“But you’re worth it,” Yoori assured, tightening her embrace around Tae Hyun. “You’re the only one I would do this for.”
 

“You’re the only one I would do this for,” Tae Hyun agreed. He kissed her again and ran his fingers through her hair. The kiss was
shrouded with fire and passion. It brought the most blissful of pleasures to her lips. He wasn’t kissing her as Tae Hyun, he was kissing her as her boyfriend. 

Finally her boyfriend.
 

“No one said finding Paris would be easy; they only said it would be
 worth it.”

These words echoed in Yoori’s mind as she rested her head on Tae Hyun’s chest, never in her life feeling like she belonged with someone more. She knew as she
laid with Tae Hyun that there were going to be countless obstacles in their way. The world they were in was just waiting to rip them apart. She had no idea how they were going to get through this – if they truly had the strength as a couple to get through this 
together
. It was going to be hard. It was going to be so hard that Yoori wondered if she truly had the power to go through all the hardships to come. It wouldn’t be easy and that knowledge in it of itself continued to frighten Yoori. She was almost lost in another world of uncertainty when she felt Tae Hyun caress the bare skin on her shoulder. He touched her and all her fears vacated. 

Staring into the rich tone of his brilliant brown eyes, Yoori smiled at the fact that she was still in Tae Hyun’s arms. She was still in the arms of the one who stole her stubborn heart.
 

“You’re worth all of it,” he reminded her delicately.

Yoori smiled and leaned forward. She gave him three quick pecks on his lips.

“This isn’t a dream, right?” she asked, casually grabbing a handful of his bicep.
 

“No. We’re finally together.” He narrowed his eyes onto the big chunk of bicep she was pinching when she asked her question. “And I appreciate the fact that you’re always pinching
 me instead of yourself whenever you ask that question.”

She laughed guiltily.
 She released her grip and grinned sheepishly at Tae Hyun. Her eyes had become drowsy.

“Are you ready for what’s to come?” she asked, listening closely to the beating of his heart.

“I think so,” Tae Hyun replied, closing his eyes before he placed a tender kiss above her head. “Are you?”

“I hope I am...”
 

Putting her worried thoughts aside for that night, Yoori allowed the joy of being with Tae Hyun to overtake her. She ignored the sinking feeling in her gut as his breath warmed her skin. She ignored the trepidation in her nerves as Tae Hyun’s enrapturing cologne soothed and embraced her. Sleep soon beckoned them and Yoori wished that they could freeze time and remain in this blissful moment forever.

The storms were coming and she knew that. She knew that she was in for a world of pain, tears, agony, heartaches, and anything else that would arise from trying to find Paris with Tae Hyun in a world where blood streamed through snow like water. She knew that they were living on borrowed time…but she had no idea how quickly they were going to have to pay for all the time they borrowed. 

She had no idea how quickly things would change
 once she woke up the next morning.

Finding
 Paris would definitely be worth it, but the unforgiving storms to come would make it damn near impossible for them to find.

“You won’t only have to face your demons. . .”

25: Killing Demons

Huff…

Huff…

Huff…

Claps of thunder boomed over the dark horizon as she plunged the sole of her boots into the muddy grass. Her legs trembled beneath her,
 begging her to stop.