Face The Truth - Han Jisung x Reader (Fae AU)

Chapter 14

When you awoke the next morning, the market was gone. Avaritia gone with it. You blinked your groggy eyes at the now empty clearing, wondering if what happened last night actually did happen. It didn't take you long to find out. If the aftertaste of sugar on your tongue wasn't enough to remind you, then the way the forest looked was.

You remembered belatedly that Avaritia had gifted you with the ability to see the things only fae could see before. You hadn't expected the effect to be so spectacular. Before, the forest had appeared as any other had with tall, dark, heavy trees, casting even darker pools of shadow. But now it was like a blanket had been pulled off the scene.

There was nothing different in terms of objects, it was still just trees, but now everything glowed within itself in a way you'd never before seen. There was a new life breathing through the trees, the leaves swaying in the wind animatedly, everything now rich and endowed with colour. It felt exactly like walking into another universe. It was hard for your brain to comprehend that this was the same place you'd been last night.

Jisung awoke a few minutes later, he too spent a few minutes staring wide eyed at the world around him. It seemed Avaritia's gift had extended to him too.

When he had finally come to terms with his new reality, he finally spoke. "Fae suck ass." He said, his voice still scratchy from having just woken. You laughed, and felt entirely inclined to agree.

You supposed the gift was nice. But you had been betrayed in that challenge in a way that hurt more than any of the other challenges. Avaritia had made you trust her. The gift of sight, the cake, the market, the concern, all of it was a ploy to get you to trust her. To try and catch you up. To kill you.

You would have been more hung up on it if your chest didn't swell every time you thought of the fact that Jisung had too denied his own happiness for you.

"So you slept well then?" You asked, stretching out your limbs that were stiff and sore after having slept on the cold dirt.

"As well as you can when you get interrupted by a backstabbing faerie." Jisung sighed and you laughed again. You stood off the ground and looked over to the tree Avaritia had pointed out as the location for the next challenge.

You frowned at it now. It was a lot further away than you had remembered it. It was going to take you forever to get there, meaning you would have no time to stop back in town to stock up on food or materials. You hoped there would be enough food to survive for the next couple days then.

"Ah, shit, that's kind of far." Jisung murmured from beside you. His hair was sticking up on all odd ends from the way he slept. It made your stomach flip and you resisted the urge to reach up and run your fingers through it.

"I know, I don't think we'll have time to head back into town either." You conveyed your concerns to Jisung who in turn frowned.

You knew how exhausted he felt, for you too wanted nothing more than to just spend a day resting, but you did not have options at this time. It was either keep going or give up and face horrific consequences.

"No use wasting time then." Jisung sighed. The two of you were equipped with only your bags, so you had nothing to pack up, no reason to linger or catch rest before it was time to depart. You splashed a bit of water on your face, hauled your bag over your shoulder, and side by side, you and Jisung left the clearing.

The walk to the next challenge was fine at first. You and Jisung chatted with each other easily, making jokes and talking about Avaritia's challenge. You'd walk hand in hand occasionally, stopping briefly to rest and eat or to ogle and laugh at a funny looking bug.