VILLAINOUS | TK

xxxix. garden of promises

A month went by so fast, Taehyung hadn't even realized it. Meaning, the day would be next week. It made him excited yet nervous at the same time. He didn't know what to feel.

He thought a month was enough to prepare himself. Turns out, it wasn't. But he can't back out now, the next chance would be months away so this was their only chance. Delaying it further would only cause chaos once again.

Besides, he had been training enough for this. Jeongguk was always there, guiding him with his palace duties. And somehow, he already felt like a queen.

Next week, his whole life would change. Next week was his coronation day. And next week would be the day of a big change. He was going to be a god. Although, Jeongguk always preferred to call him a goddess, which he really didn't mind. He even liked it.

A sigh escaped past his lips. "A god, huh." He muttered to himself, feeling so overwhelmed. But a smile made its way to his lips as he stared at the sky ahead. He was going to be with Jeongguk forever.

That would be nice. He loved that. Being a god meant he would always be by Jeongguk's side, his king. As a child, he had always feared death. He was almost sure it wasn't like how others feared it.

He knew his fear of death was different. Every time he thought of dying, either it was himself or his loved ones, this heavy feeling always suffocated him. Perhaps it was because his loved ones had already left him at such a young age. He never even met his mother.

Before those blue thoughts could invade his mind any further, he felt Jeongguk's presence behind him. "What are you thinking, petal?" The devil mumbled against his skin as he back-hugged him.

"Just.. about next week." He answered vaguely. Jeongguk hummed, already knowing what he was talking about. "Say Gukkie, how did you meet my grandmother?" Taehyung suddenly asked, cutting the demon's response to his previous statement.

"It's a long story...."

Flashback

It was when he needed to attend to a business in the overworld that he saw a woman, who seemed to be on her late twenties, weeping on the bench inside the garden that contained the portal to the overworld.

The once beautiful flowers looked dead. The usual peaceful and joyful vibe of the garden was no longer felt. Instead, it was filled with suffering, sadness, hopelessness and sheer pain.

If he hadn't been here before, he would've definitely thought it was a different place. But he had been here so many times that he knew it was still the very same garden. It was only neglected and was sharing what its owner felt.

The woman weeping on the bench seemed to be the one responsible for the current state of the garden. She looked... broken. The scene was tugging at his heartstrings. After all, he was broken too.

Jeongguk contemplated. Should he help or not? It was best to ignore her and be on his way, but the sadness on her face was too much to handle. She seemed to be pregnant as well. That wouldn't be good for the child.

And so with a heavy sigh, he stepped towards the crying woman. He hadn't made himself invisible yet, so the woman felt his presence. Pretty brown orbs looked up at him and he felt utmost sorrow just from looking at her eyes. What had she been going through?

Despite her current state, the woman forced a weak smile, "And who might you be? Are you perhaps sent by God to help me?" She croaked out, her voice so little he could barely hear her. It must've been hours since she started crying.

Though her sentence broke the cyclone of pity within him. God? Please, don't make him laugh. God doesn't exist. Only he and his fellow Gods should to be considered Gods for the humans. There was no other creature more powerful than them. Not even this 'God' humans believed in.

He smirked, "What makes you think I was sent by God? No such thing exists, woman." The woman stared at him with a blank face for a whole minute. And he somewhat felt awkward. He thought of leaving, besides, he had better things to do.

But then the woman suddenly laughed, "I thought so." Was what she said. Now that was rare, for a human not to believe in God. "I wouldn't have to suffer if God really existed." She continued, hanging her head low, a pitiful smile on her lips.

"Say, what is this that's causing you to feel pain?" Jeongguk asked, surprising the woman, who immediately masked her schock with a blank face.

"My husband." She started, staring up at him again with those pained eyes. At first he had thought that she was suffering from the hands of her cruel husband. But it seemed that was not the case. "Save my husband, please. He's dying. I promise.. I'll give you anything." The woman begged desperately.

Jeongguk's eyes darkened in response. Now that picked his interest. A woman ready to give him anything? That was fun. "Oh? I shall grant your wish then. I'll prove to you that God doesn't exist." He let out menacingly, a sinister smirk upon his face. "However, it won't be for free."

The woman rubbed her baby bump. She seemed to be a few months into pregnancy. "Unfortunately, I have nothing of value. So how about my grandchild in return?" She whispered lowly. It was obvious that it was against her will.

He understood why she offered her grandchild instead of her own child. Of course, no mother can bear to be separated from her own kid. But offering her grandchild instead? This woman was surely interesting.

"We have a deal."

~

a/n: were you surprised? i updated, yay! also, i am in no way saying that god isn't real. so if i offended anyone, i'm extremely sorry

anyways, i wanna right about soukoku. i don't like writing about taekook anymore, they're not characters i can play with

this only has two chapters left. then i'll stop writing about taekook, don't worry, i won't delete my books. i'm not really sure yet about writing soukoku fics, but that's at least a little better than writing about real people

enough of that! i hope you enjoyed, take care ♡