Chapter: 0.142 drunk part IV

After an hour 

(08:53)

The portal shimmered into being—swirling violet light shaped like a cracked mirror, humming low with the pulse of moon mana. Jin's fingers barely twitched as he held it open, his crimson eyes glinting under the veil of his windswept bangs. Behind him, the moonlight licked the edges of his coat like ghostly fire.

Rina stepped through first, dragging a now fully-dressed, yet still barely coherent Leona behind her. She had *forced* her into her uniform—wrinkled, backwards, and missing a sock—but decency had been restored. Barely.

The moment they arrived in the dorm courtyard, Rina clutched Leona tighter, scanning the shadows. No one had seen them. Not yet.

"Come on," she whispered through gritted teeth, nearly carrying her friend up the narrow stairs. "Just a few more steps. Don't you dare vomit again, not until we reach your bathroom."

Leona groaned something that sounded suspiciously like "pancakes," and flopped dramatically against Rina's side.

By some miracle, they reached the third floor of the girls' dormitory unnoticed. Rina reached into her mana signature and placed her hand on the keypad of Leona's door. The lock clicked open—a small mercy. She'd memorized the code during one of Leona's previous disasters.

Once inside, Rina shut the door quickly and deadbolted it. Leona immediately collapsed onto the floor, writhing like a melodramatic corpse.

"My stomach... is making war," she moaned.

"No, *you're* making war," Rina muttered, tugging her friend to her feet with both hands. "Gods, you're heavier than you look."

"I'm muscle," Leona murmured, then promptly staggered into the bathroom and dropped to her knees. What followed was an opera of suffering, gurgling, and half-sung swearing in three different dialects of Elven.

Rina knelt behind her and held her white-blonde hair back, gently rubbing her back in slow, patient circles. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to.

Leona was a mess. Her hair looked like it had fought a tornado and lost. Her eyes were glassy, unfocused, drowning in waves of alcohol and regret. Her cheeks were flushed, and silent tears traced down her face between dry heaves. There was no fight left in her. Just fatigue.

And still, Rina stayed.

She kept her breathing calm and steady, letting her own mana pulse softly through her hands like a lullaby. *You're safe. I'm here. You're safe.*

Eventually, the vomiting stopped. Leona collapsed against the bathroom wall, her body limp and trembling. Her voice came out barely a whisper. "Why do you even bother…?"

Rina paused, then helped her up slowly. "Because someone has to."

She half-carried, half-dragged Leona to her bed and laid her down as gently as possible. The blankets were kicked to the floor in the usual chaos of Leona's room. Rina retrieved them with a sigh, then sat beside her on the edge of the bed.

She placed two fingers on Leona's forehead, and golden light began to bloom beneath her touch.

"Third-tier sleep spell," she murmured, drawing the mana from her core. Her fingers glowed like sunlight through stained glass, and warmth radiated outward.

Leona's body relaxed instantly, the tension melting away like frost. Her eyes fluttered closed. Her breathing steadied.

Rina stayed for another minute, brushing a stray strand of hair from her friend's face. Then she stood, tucked the blanket around her properly, and checked the windows and locks. Everything was sealed. Safe.

She opened the door silently and closed it behind her with a gentle *click*.

And then she stood there in the empty hallway, finally alone, and let the anger simmer through her again.

Jin.

Her *husband*.

That absolute *bastard*.

Her fingers curled into fists at her sides, mana flickering across her knuckles. He always did this. Always pulled her out of focus. Always dragged her from structure into chaos like it was some kind of cosmic joke.

*My training was going perfectly,* she thought, teeth clenched. *My mana was in balance. My body was in sync. And then HE calls—HE drags me into his little moonlight circus with a drunken Leona as the main act!*

She stormed down the corridor, boots clicking sharply against the stone, her hair swaying like a wildfire behind her. Her golden eyes glowed with fury, but not just at Jin.

At herself.

Because deep down… she didn't hate it. Not really.

Not the chaos. Not the interruptions. Not even his smirking face when she was trying to be serious.

What she hated was that he could still make her heart skip a beat with just a *look*. That even when she was fuming, she still remembered the way he'd smirked under that tree—the way his coat had fluttered like he was made of shadows and charm.

She thought of the game night with her mother, the way Jin had asked her absurd questions without a hint of shame. Of the time he pretended he was going to kiss her, leaned in close enough to make her breath hitch—only to pull back with that maddening grin.

*He did it twice,* she seethed silently. *The second time, I really thought he meant it. Bastard. Smug, beautiful, terrible bastard.*

She stopped walking and pressed both palms to her cheeks, which were now burning.

"I hate you," she whispered aloud, standing alone in the hallway. "I hate you, Jin. You ruin everything. You ruin my rhythm. You ruin my focus. You—"

She exhaled hard, her breath clouding in the cold air.

"—You ruin me."

But the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her. Just a little.

She turned, heading back toward her room, golden eyes still glowing faintly.

"…I should've slapped him," she muttered under her breath. "Then kissed him. Then slapped him again."

Her mana flared in irritation as she disappeared into the dorm shadows.

Behind her, the moon hung high in the sky—quiet, pale, and watching.

... 

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