When The Cherry Blossoms Bloom

Chapter 16

Felix leaned against a tree. The spot where Chris and Minho once stood was now covered in cherry blossoms. He was sure they were safe. He quickly wiped away his tears. Second day in a row he had to send Chris away. Damn it I didn't kiss him goodbye! Felix thought to himself.

He grunted in annoyance and slumped down the tree a little. Felix let out a heavy sigh. Now he just had to wait for Jae to arrive. He'll try talking to him. Jae is much more understandable then some lowlife dokkaebi who are only in it for riches. Did the gods send Jae just to make Felix suffer more then usual? They know he and Jae were close.

Don't think about it now Lixie, clear your mind. Be prepared to fight him if you have to. Felix heard distant footsteps. Quick and scattered. He was getting closer. Jaehyung was nearby.

Felix quickly got up. He held his swords and his side. Approaching him was the tall figure of Jae.

Jae had his favorite swords in his hands. The ones dipped in poison. Oh how fun.

Felix scoffed. "Fancy seeing you here." Jae chuckled. He put his sword in the ground and brushed back his hair with his free hand.

"You know for the longest time I thought you had kicked the bucket. But here we are," Jae responded looking down. "I'm going to have to kill you." There was hurt in his voice. It seemed like the gods had it out for Felix to suffer before he dies, well, at the hands of his senior and best friend.

The moment I get my shit together I'm going to kick the gods' asses! Felix and Jae started circling each other, getting into defensive poses. Felix kept eying Jae's swords. He couldn't let himself get cut by them, it would end very badly.

The two kumiko were now looking into each other's eyes, at least 7 feet apart from each other. They bowed. Jae was the first to attack.

He launched himself at Felix, but Felix was quicker (pros of being small). Felix spun around and sliced his sword across the tip of Jae's ear. He nearly missed, only by a few inches.

Droplets of blood dripped down his white ears. Jae glared at him and pouted.

"Hey that hurts!" Felix shrugged.

"Sorry ma-" Jae took the opportunity to attack him. His sword sliced a part of Felix's hanbok off and the white fabric fell onto the ground. Felix rolled under Jae and grabbed one of his eight tails. He yanked and pulled Jae to the ground. Felix dropped the sword in his left hand and took off another earring. This one turned into a large black war fan (courtesy of a foreign kumiko). He sprang back up using his legs and held the fan in front of him.

The sword was poised in his right hand, ready for attack. Jae scoffed.

"Forgot Sana gave you that, oh well." Jae swung his arm and his sword almost hit Felix's face. Almost. Felix blocked the sword with the fan. He swatted it away and tried kicking the older kumiko. But of course, Jae was also fast.

He grabbed his sword and jumped out of the way. Felix quickly picked up his other sword and turned it back into an earring, quickly attaching it back to his ear.

Felix knew he was leading him deeper into the forest, but he was willing to risk it. He still needed to talk to Jae. He still needed to explain everything.

Jae quickly turned his head back at Felix. His face was blank. He put his attention back in front of him. Felix grunted. He tried slicing his sword at Jae but he missed. The older kumiko is going too fast for him to catch him.

Felix needed to find a way to ambush the older. He looked up and got an idea. Felix stopped dead in his tracks. He crouched on the ground. He quickly turned his other sword back into an earring and attached it back. He closed his fan and put it into his sash. He jumped into a tree and grabbed a tree branch.

The kumiko pulled himself up. He stood on the branch. Felix recalled the technique the tengu Yuta taught him. It came back. Felix started hopping from branch to branch, looking out for ones that look sturdy and ones that would lead to him falling onto the ground.

He also made sure he hadn't lost track of Jae.

Jaehyung better be ready.

•-❃-•

Jae wondered why he wasn't hearing footsteps anymore. Maybe Yongbok made a run in the other direction. Jae stopped in his tracks and looked around the green forest. It was similar to the one he lived in back down south all those centuries ago.

Maybe he could just look around for a few minutes, Yongbok couldn't get that far.

Jae put down his swords and looked around. He breathed in the fresh air. That's when he heard the rustling from the trees above.

The kumiko blinked slowly and looked up. Coming straight at him was a foot. Yongbok's foot. Jae felt the impact of the sandal against his face, it hurts. Jae fell backwards onto the ground. He wasn't quick enough to recover, Yongbok already took a metal piece out of his war fan and threw it at him.

Jae quickly moved his head out of the way. The metal piece hit a tree and killed a bug. Jae silently screamed in his soul but kept on a straight face (which is hard since he just got kicked in said face). Once he finally recovered Jae quickly grabbed his swords and held them at Yongbok's throat.

"The gods sent me to kill you for letting Seo Changbin die." Yongbok grunted.

"Jaehyung you don't understand, how am I supposed to stop death?! It wasn't my fault that the archer got him! Please Jaehyung you gotta listen to me! Would you believe that I would ever let someone die on purpose, especially Binnie?" Jae lowered his swords and thought about it. He remembered how much Yongbok was in love with that mortal. And Yongbok was right, if he were to let someone die, it would be for a good reason.

"Yongbok, I'm-" Jae couldn't finish his sentence. Something overtook him. Damn it, they really want him dead do they?

"J-Jaehyung?" Jae was being possessed by the gods. They were going to force him to kill Yongbok.