Just Maybe, I’m Coming Home
[AGUST]
As he stared at the sun setting, Agust knew that he had fucked up. It wasn't just because he had let Jung Hyuk in, but because he had made his Erasthai feel the brunt of it all in the name of protection.
He had seen the way that Jiminie had been holding his shit closely and his heart shattered for his little mate. He had wanted to hug Jiminie, but there wasn't enough time for the both of them.
He had wanted to tell him that all would be alright, but Agust had stayed on the sidelines for far too long.
For two years he had promised himself he would stay away from Jiminie and yet in those two years, the only thing he had done to his best knowledge was to hurt the prettiest boy in the world.
It was a truth that he would never forget because of the innocence on Jiminie's face. They had had a kid and lost it and yet August hadn't once paid attention to the needs that Jiminie had.
He was supposed to be the strongest Lycan in the realm – even the strongest creature – yet even with all that power, he had forced Jiminie down a rabbit hole. He had caused him so much pain that it pissed Agust off.
All of this was his fault and for that, he would figure out a way. Maybe that's why he walked himself towards the other side of the huge palace, the dark wing where no one, not even So Hee and Jung Hyuk, was allowed.
It was like his torture chamber and yet it was also the place he had vamped the beautiful scent of Jiminie. The lavender hummed softly as he hurried towards it, careful not to upset the balance he had curated dedicatedly over the last two years.
This side of the palace may have looked like hell, but it was heaven for Jiminie and Agust, funny how that had been the one place that had led to the mad king's undoing.
"I'm so sorry, kitten," Agust whispered as he stared at the long staircase that held the worst memories of the days that Jiminie had been with him.
It was like he had come back here to torture himself because after Jiminie had left Helia, Agust had never once stepped into this side of the palace. He never again ruled his people from this end because Jiminie had given him a light he could hold onto.
But then what use was that light when it seemed like Agust was the only one who was diminishing it? Jiminie was the most beautiful thing he had set his eyes on and yet he had managed to ruin that too.
Oh, but Agust despised himself. So, he walked to the torture chambers, the one place he had always gone to deal with his ghosts. His mind had been whirring with so many thoughts lately that he didn't even wanna think anymore.
Maybe that was why he had broken the promise he had made to the little wolf that had loved him back then. He should have been a man of his word but it seems like he had been quick to forget, what a pity.
"You're back," a familiar tortured voice spoke as Agust walked in. It was a voice that just had known so damn well and had lived with at the back of his mind from the moment he had stepped into Helia.
It was the voice of the person who had brought him here and the one who had sheltered him. Betrayal had been their greatest point of contact yet years later it seemed like they both had tortured souls that they chose to forget about which had haunted them.
It wasn't okay, but on the side of the palace, it was easier to talk to the dead than let light into their hearts. It was just how unfortunate their lives had been.
"Ho Jung. You don't look too bad," Agust said emotionlessly as he stared at the former Lycan king who was supposed to be dead. Everyone in Helia knew was dead and technically, he was a dead man walking.
Agust had ripped open his heart and fed on it ruthlessly like that was what the former king was meant to be. He had taken the one thing that bound Ho Jung to his humanity and Helia.
He had then murdered the man and brought him to life, over and over, only to bring him back as a reaper that worked for him. This king helped him torture the prisoners of Helia and those that Agust didn't want to see again.
It was never complicated, but right now, as they stared at each other, Agust couldn't help but wish that perhaps their relationship was more normal, so that they would have a real conversation about what he was dealing with.
But that was never going to be possible because Agust himself had made certain of that.
"I've been worse. What is it this time, Ming Xiao?" Ho Jung asked as he walked over to where the guy was standing. The lighting in this room was bleak and for obvious reasons.
The stench of death still lingered in the hallways and more than anything, there were dead tortured bodies all over the floor.
Even as Agust had come here his legs had gotten sticky either from the maggots that walked freely or from the endless dead bodies that had bled over the years and never got cleaned up.
Maybe it was not supposed to be alright, but Agust was a mad king and he just didn't care about anything anymore, except for Jiminie. Oh, but Jiminie was always going to be an exception.
Agust never Jiminie once mentioned to Ho Jung over the eyes that they had been working together to restore order in Helia. Maybe this would be the day for that, or maybe this was just going to be another day for them to be doing whatever the fuck they did best.
It wasn't an idea, but it always worked for them and there was no reason for them to even start doubting each other because regardless of what happened, Agust owned the king.
"I am the king, Ho Jung. I don't need your permission to come and have you do your duty," Agust said with a clipped tone.
It was evident that he had gotten uncomfortable with the single question, which was not right because Ming Xiao Zhu was never this type of coward. He was always the man who faced everything head-on.
Perhaps that was to change; after all, they had endured the worst of the world.
Still, this was the kind of change that made so many people worry and ask what was going on, only that here on this side of the palace, the king was never to be asked any questions and even if it happened, he wasn't obliged to answer.
It was that simple.
"Your shoulders are sagged, your hair is damp, your clothes are messy and you smell like you just fucked the kid who's always been obsessed with you. I thought you were leaning towards someone else, Agust, or was that just a farce?" Ho Jung asked.
Agust stared at the former king, spite all over his face as if that was meant to remind the former king of who was the boss here.
Well, it worked because Ho Jung didn't ask any more questions.