The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) (9 page)

“Eh, eh! Who?” he asked when he saw that she wasn’t planning on answering.
 

“My turn!”
she shouted decidedly. 

“No
, wait – ”

“Never have I ever…had my heart broken by someone.”

Both of their drinks remained as they stared at each other. It was palpable that they had never fallen in love – much less had their hearts broken. Yoori frowned at herself. It was the first statement that popped into her mind in her state of panic and it couldn't have been a more boring question for the game. 

She sighed, allowing her harsh gaze to fall on Tae Hyun.
 

“Your day will come, Kwon Tae Hyun,” she voiced decidedly, referring to getting his heart broken. She tried to sound dangerous and scary as she gave him a dirty look. She was extremely disgruntled that he turned this into such an uncomfortable game.
 

“As will yours, Choi Yoori,” Tae Hyun countered, his voice feigning equal sternness. His glare was just as dirty.
 

They took another second to glare evilly at each other, their eyes unblinking.
 Soon after, sounds of snickering evaded their lips. It was probably the alcohol or because they were so comfortable around each other, but they couldn’t take each other seriously at all. 

Finishing her last bout of laughter, Yoori stared down at the shot glasses uneasily. Playing “Never Have I Ever” was definitely more intense when played with Tae Hyun.

“This game is making me slightly uncomfortable.”

Finishing his last bout of laughter as well, Tae Hyun said, “I would think that the alcohol would’ve started loosening you up already.”

He was clearly amazed that Yoori was still sober.

Yoori quickly caught on to the fact that he probably assumed she was a lightweight because she was vertically challenged (compared to his tall self).
 

“For your information, I can handle large consumptions of alcohol,” Yoori shared, her voice proud. It was a random and true fact. She got a kick out of showing people how “talented” she was.
 

Tae Hyun gazed at her suspiciously. He didn’t believe her. “Really?”

“Yeah.” 

“How large?”
 

“Large,” she answered confidently. She knew her next statement would get a rise out of Tae Hyun.
 “Probably more than you.”

Tae Hyun tilted his head at her answer. The look he gave her was pure male challenge. “I’ll take you up on that challenge later.”
 

Yoori nodded, ready to accept any future challenges. A light bulb went off in her head when she realized they could sit there and share random tidbits of information without playing dangerous time sensitive, stripping-games.
 

“What about you?” she began sternly. “Random fact.”
 

“I hate band-aids,” Tae Hyun said at once, taking a swift drink out of his shot glass. He appeared to still be thinking about Yoori and her so-called high alcohol tolerance.
 

“You…hate…band-aids?”
 

Tae Hyun nodded unabashedly. His expression scrunched in distaste at the reminder. “Yeah, I can’t stand them. They look disgusting and I hate seeing people take them off after using them. There’s always little pieces of lint and hair and blood and goo stuck to the – ”
 

“Thank you for the mental image,” Yoori promptly dismissed, shuddering as she held up her hand to stop him from continuing. Great. Now she was a hater of band-aids too. She downed another shot to clear the disgusting band-aid thought from her head.
 

“I have another question for you,” she went on after drinking from her shot glass. She held it up and waited as Tae Hyun poured her another round. “What is the one
thing you haven’t done in your life that everyone else has done – that you want to try?”

Tae Hyun deliberated while he poured her drink. Judging by his countenance, he was impressed with her good question. After a couple minutes of awkward thinking, he finally answered.
 

“Go on a date with a girl,” he muttered quietly, his cheeks turning a bit red.
 

Yoori nearly choked on the vodka when she heard Tae Hyun’s innocent answer. Dramatically spitting the vodka out to the side, Yoori slammed her hand against her chest to get the excess liquid out from her throat. She didn’t know what she expected Tae Hyun’s answer to be, but she would never in her life think that Tae Hyun had never gone on a date with a girl.
 

Clearing her throat, she smiled apologetically and returned her gaze to him. He took another swig from his shot glass and he did not look amused.
 

“Sorry about that,” she said clumsily, picking up the Southern Comfort to pour into his shot glass.
“My throat clogged up.” 

“Uh huh,” Tae Hyun replied blithely. He held up his shot glass while she poured the drink in. The expression on his disapproving face said it all: he didn’t believe her lie about why she choked.
 

“Anyway, wow. Never been on a date, huh?” she started casually, filling up her own shot glass. “I would’ve thought you’d have dozens of girls hanging off of you.”
 

Hearing this, Tae Hyun gave her a defensive look. “I do.”
 

Yoori bunched her brows in confusion. “But you said –”
 

“You’ve got it all wrong, Choi Yoori. I don’t
 need to take girls on dates to successfully court them.” 

Yoori gave him a strange look. “Well, what do you do to successfully court them?”
 

He thought about it and shrugged.
 

“I don’t know,” he stated, looking askance. It was as if he was trying to figure out why earth was created. “I walk into a room and girls stare. I choose the one I like, talk to her for a bit,
turn on the charm and next thing I know…I’ve made a new friend.” 

Yoori clenched her teeth at Tae Hyun’s sinful misuse of the term “friend.”
She felt a tinge of jealousy bubble within her when a mental image of Tae Hyun hitting on a girl appeared in her head. She had never seen him interested in other girls, let alone hit on them. The thought of him sweet-talking some random girl made her mad. 

Unable to contain her outrage, she demanded, “What charm?”
 

Was it his constant teasing? What charm was he talking about?

“You have to be there to experience it. I can’t explain it.” 

“
Show me
.” 

“What?”
 

“Show me. I’m curious what your charm is like. Since you know...you have been anything but
charming since we’ve met.” 

Tae Hyun grimaced at her statement and shook his head.
 “I’m not going to turn it on for you. If I do, you’d be ready to pounce me. We’re going to move on from this topic. It’s your turn to answer that question.” 

Yoori was about to keep pushing the “magic charm” that Tae Hyun insisted he had but decided against it. What if he actually used it on her and it worked? She shook her head mentally at the thought.
 

She shifted her attention back to the question. She took another gulp of alcohol and played with the brim of the shot glass with her teeth. She didn’t want to share, but she knew she was going to have to since Tae Hyun shared the innocence of his “never gone on a date with a girl” bit.
 

“Dance,” she muttered, purposely keeping her eyes firmly set on the tiles.

Tae Hyun frowned from not being able to understand her answer. “Are you speaking in duck language or something? Speak louder.” 

“Dance,” Yoori repeated, grimacing slightly.
 

"Oh.
" Unable to restrain himself, Tae Hyun chuckled at her reply. He smiled gently at her. “Wow. You are definitely a deprived little boomerang.” 

“I haven’t had a lot of time for that stuff,” she admitted inaudibly.

Tae Hyun nodded, suddenly standing up and catching Yoori by surprise. Smiling slyly, he extended a hand out to her. 

“What?” she asked, her heart racing in nervousness. She hated it whenever he stood up with no warning. Such acts preceded him going off to a warehouse to beat up people or molesting her from behind with an embrace.
 

“Tonight," he declared, "I’ll get what I want: my first date with a girl. And in return, I’ll give you two things you want: your dance and my charms.”
 

“Oh God, you want my dancing virginity?” Though she sounded unsure, Yoori was secretly excited. She had never been on a date either.

He nodded and waited for her to grab his hand. When she did take his hand with much nervousness and excitement, he helped pull her up. 

“Are you ready for the night of your life?” Tae Hyun asked charmingly, intertwining his fingers with hers and pulling her through the door.

She laughed and nodded her head, happy that she wasn’t bored anymore and that she was about to be entertained. 

Without another word, Yoori and Tae Hyun ran out of the lake house, their young hearts pounding in excitement. The moonlit sky and stars welcomed them as they sped into the night.

“
I found Paris.”

05: Finding Paris

Little pricks of cold chills ran up Yoori’s leg as they walked barefoot onto the grass beside Tae Hyun’s lake house. Though Yoori didn’t typically fare well in cold weather, this night was different. It was probably the alcohol pulsating in her body (or the fact that she was with Tae Hyun) but she had never found herself more nervous or more excited for something.

A slew of magnificent stars smiled upon them when they descended further from the dim illumination of Tae Hyun’s lake house. While walking, they drew past a family of sleeping ducks. A bitter Yoori entertained the idea of kicking one that reminded her of the duck that attacked her. This idea was quickly vetoed when she decided it was best to not mess with nature’s “
friendly” animals – especially when a whole group of them could go psycho and attack her all at once. 

As though anticipating Yoori’s violent need, Tae Hyun pulled her away from the sleeping ducks. He didn’t want to deal with getting attacked by vengeful ducks either.
 

They continued onward, the soothing silence swallowing them whole. Yoori was once again lost in the beauty of all that surrounded her. She didn’t mind that Tae Hyun didn’t share where they were headed. She liked the anticipation leading up to the surprise. If anything, she trusted that wherever they were headed, it would be beautiful. To date, the surprises that Tae Hyun threw her way were breathtaking (leaking boats, vengeful ducks, and unplanned wet t-shirts aside of course). She trusted that this one would be up to par. It wouldn’t be like Tae Hyun not to top his last surprise.
 

Yoori smiled eagerly with this reasoning in mind. She continued to walk with Tae Hyun across the field, further and further away from the lake house properties, and closer and closer to their own little world.
 Soon, all that was left was the nearby lake, the swaying grass, the gentle wind, and the moonlit sky. Then out of the night, a flicker of light winked in Yoori’s direction. The faint light did little to illume over the shadows but did much to radiate over her and leave her in awe. 

Amid the spell of darkness stood a magnificent white gazebo that sparkled in the calm silence. The structure was enclosed with a circle of eight tall pillars that reached up to its octagonal glass roof. A series of smaller railings inhabited the space between each pillar. With its cupola pointed toward the starry skies, the gazebo was majestic. Yoori’s eyes glistened in admiration when she spotted the white icicle lights that elegantly twirled themselves around each pillar and open space within the gazebo. Garlands of pink and white flowers adorned with green leaves intertwined the icicle lights, making the gazebo app
ear as if it was sent from the heavens. 

Oh my goodness…

The sight of such splendor took Yoori’s breath away.

Without saying anything, Tae Hyun merely smiled and watched her admire the structure before them. His eyes gleamed of satisfaction with her reaction. He sighed with content and then, as soft pricks of wind caressed their skin
s, he pulled her with him. 

They approached the gazebo, their bare feet touching the cold surface of three small stairs that led
up to the white stone foundation. Leaving Yoori to stand in the center of the gazebo, her eyes lost in wonder, Tae Hyun took a seat on one of the railings and placed his iPod beside him. He folded his arms and rested his back against the pillar. 

“Do you see that mansion over there?” he finally spoke, his voice waltzing around the serene silence. He subtly lifted his chin in the direction of the mansion.
 

Yoori turned. Her eyes were greeted with a view of the white mansion in the distance. Little flickers of light emitted from it, indicating to her that someone currently resided in it.
 She nodded and returned her curious gaze to Tae Hyun. He unfolded his arms and reached for his iPod.