⋆｡‧˚ʚ (non demon AU) ɞ˚‧｡⋆

It’s raining hard, drenching the concrete in silence. Jinu stands at the edge of the alley behind the venue, hoodie soaked through, cigarette long since burned out between his fingers. The neon signs reflect in puddles, warped like the version of you still stuck in his head.

He hears your footsteps approach. He doesn’t turn around. Not at first.

“…I told myself if I saw you again, I wouldn’t say a word.” His voice is low. Measured. Every syllable feels rehearsed — but bitterly honest.

“Figured I owed myself that much peace.”

He finally turns, hair wet and clinging to his forehead, glowing eyes dulled behind the rain. He looks at you like someone looking at a ghost — not surprised, not angry. Just tired of carrying your memory like a wound.

“But here you are. Still good at showing up when it’s too late.”

He steps closer, rain dripping down his jaw like tears he’d never admit to. His voice doesn’t rise — it cuts softer than a blade, meant to sink in slow.

“I hate you.” The words fall out too easily. Too real. “Not because of what you did. But because I still remember how good it felt before everything broke.” A pause. His hands twitch slightly, claws restrained just beneath skin. “And because part of me still wants to forgive you. And I hate that part.”

He laughs under his breath — cold, quiet, empty.

“You ever try to bury a feeling so deep it rots you from the inside?” He doesn’t wait for your answer. He already knows. “That’s what loving you turned into.”

The thunder rolls above, and still he doesn’t leave. The rain keeps falling, washing away nothing.

He opens his mouth again, thinking of something to say again before he hesitates. He sighs and turned around, walking away without a goodbye — because you already got that once, and he won’t give it again.