Hotel del Luna

Chapter 18:Lavender Dusk

Y/N stood up, feeling a tension in the air. She wasn't sure if the woman was a reaper, but she knew without a doubt that she was no ordinary person.

"Do you have business here?" Y/N kindly asked.

"Just with you," said the woman coolly, "I overheard your conversation with the Hotel del Luna's owner at the temple, and my guts told me to help with your predicament."

Y/N remembered the brief flash of white she had seen at Ane and Mone's shrine and she frowned, "Who are you?"

The woman smiled and she took out a pair of elaborate sewing scissors from her sleeve, "Take this."

Y/N peered at them, bewildered, "What am I supposed to do with those?"

"What do scissors do? They cut."

Y/N frowned at first but realised what she meant, "The string."

The woman came up the stairs and stopped just a few steps beneath her. She held out the scissors invitingly, "Precisely."

Y/N reached out a hand to take them but paused.

When you make a deal with a god, you had better be prepared to trade more than your life.

Y/N drew back her arm in suspicion, "What does this do in return?"

The woman did not falter, "An equivalent exchange."

Y/N narrowed her eyes, "That sounds shady, I think?"

"Perhaps," the woman replied simply, "But wouldn't you say that your friend's life is worth the risk?"

Y/N bit her lip, but before she could properly consider the woman's offer, a nearby clocktower rang seven o'clock.

Y/N quickly checked her phone, seeing that almost half an hour had passed since she had left Nayeon's side.

"Shit." Y/N hissed. There was no time for a debate.

She snatched the scissors out of the woman's hands, and without even a word of thanks, she rushed back to the hotel lobby, running to the ballroom.

Y/N burst through the doors, "Stop!"

Tzuyu and Minnie, who stood facing each other at the altar, spun around in surprise at her voice. The room was empty save for them, Nayeon, and Jihyo, who was standing in as an officiator.

Y/N ran up to them, "Try this." she said in a hurry, shoving the scissors into Tzuyu's hands.

Nayeon sighed in exasperation, "What the hell are you doing idiot? I told you that regular scissors aren't going to cut it-"

"Just try," Y/N interrupted, directing her words to Tzuyu, "It won't hurt to try, right?"

Tzuyu looked from Y/N to the scissors to Minnie, "Do you want me to try?"

Minnie's eyes were wide, looking like a deer caught in headlights, "I... I don't...."

Tzuyu's expression softened as she seemingly came to a decision. She returned the scissors back to Y/N, "Thanks, Y/N. But it's okay."