They spread out across the smoking street, noses scrunched up as the strong, metallic smell of fresh blood in the air. The town's authorities have finally arrived at the scene, and Captain Wang and his team were busying themselves with the local police about the situation.
Fenn helped his injured colleague up to his feet and grouped up with his two others, where they were stopped by a concerned paramedic.
The officers were checking the bodies, and Mandie frowned as she nudged a man onto his back, only to find his skin blue and blood dripping down the corner of his mouth.
The men that Lune had knocked out along with the ones that were still alive were handcuffed and brought on board the ambulance, away to the hospital.
Channing hesitated as he stepped towards Lune, who had his back faced to him. Compared to the last few times they've met, Lune was dressed more casually in a brown hooded jacket and white jeans, stained with dust and smoke from the air.
Seeing how calm he was, he seemed to have been just fine without him, as if that one month's disappearance of his was nothing more than a blink of an eye.
Channing extended his arm, his hand hovering just above Lune's shoulder, but he quickly balled his outstretched hand in a tight fist, not knowing what to say if he were to turn him around.
There were so many questions, so many things that he didn't understand. Why was he always alone? Why did he only appear now? How...how did he do that earlier, escaping the hostage the situation as if it were nothing serious? And then he took down all those shooters all by himself effortlessly, moving so fast that he barely saw his movements...
Just...how?!
Lune suddenly turned on him, and Channing flinched, stumbling a few steps back by surprise. Though a wide black cloth covered the area where he would see eyes, Channing felt as if he were being stared down with a sharp look, as if Lune could physically see him right there and them.
Lune opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by a loud screeching bird that wrestled its way out of Lune's hood, its feathers a blue mess. It stopped screaming once it laid eyes on Channing, its beak hanging halfway open like it was stunned to be seen in such a wreck.
"Heavens," Lune murmured underneath his breath, sounding tired. "What is up with you?"
It took Channing a moment for him to realize he was speaking to the bird, who obediently clamped its beak shut and disappeared under Lune's hair as if he could feel Lune's disappointment.
Once the bird was gone, Lune held out his slender hand, beckoning at him. "The weapon," he said. "Give it to me."
"...what weapon?"
"You know what I'm talking about..."
Channing pressed his lips together in a thin line, but he reluctantly slid his hand inside his coat and pulled out his handgun, making sure the safety was on before he placed it in Lune's hand.
Lune wrapped his fingers around the heavy metal piece, turning it back and forth in his hands as if giving it a full inspection. "...what's it called?" he suddenly asked.
"P- pardon?"
"What is it?" he repeated.
He blinked at him, confused. "You...you don't know what a gun is?" he blurted incredulously. "It's something people have been using for a long time now, it's basically what the military arsenal is made of...you know? Like rifles, rockets, bombs, snipers, bullets-"
Channing's voice trailed off when he felt a particularly down aura radiate from the man in front of him.
He's not happy..., he said to himself, disheartened.
Lune tilted his head to the side and handed him back his gun, which Channing took and put back under his coat. He frowned. Lune looked like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out of his closed mouth.
A flash of red caught Channing's attention, and his eyes widened when he saw blood dripping down the side of Lune's right ear to his neck. Subconsciously, he reached out, distressed. "You're bleeding!"
Lune flinched and backed away before Channing could touch him, his hand flying to his bloody ear. "Ah...it is simply a graze," he assured. "Nothing more."
Channing's shoulders sagged ever-so-slightly; he couldn't help but feel disappointed after being rejected countless times, and he couldn't help but feel even more let down as this was their first time meeting after a whole month.
Wasn't Lune going to at least say something to him?
But he persisted.
"What about anywhere else? Are you hurt? Should I have one of the medics there check on you?"
Lune turned away, his attention focused on somewhere else. "No need. Really. I am fine," he answered absent-mindedly, his hand still covering his ear.
The bluebird peeked out from the back of Lune's head, tweeting lightly while glancing at Channing's conflicted expression, watching him struggle for the right words to say. He planned for this...why weren't the words coming?
After a long silence, Channing finally managed to stammer, "I- I'm sorry."
Lune stopped in his tracks, turning around with his brows furrowed in concern to see Channing standing there, his head lowered in apology. He couldn't understand. "...You are sorry...but for what?"
Channing sighed, scratching the back of his neck with a bit of shame. "I'm sorry," he repeated, this time louder. "I'm sorry if I said anything wrong in the past, if I've done something to make you uncomfortable, if I treated you wrongly...I'm sorry."
There. He said it.
Lune's lips parted in surprise, stunned.
It was awfully silent, and it took Channing a moment to realize everyone was staring at them; from the officers to Captain Wang, to his own bodyguards, to the dumb bird in Lune's hair.
They all gawked at the scene before them, completely blown away. Channing Yue, the cold president of the great KoTech, known for his impenetrable indifference and anti-socialist lifestyle, was publicly brought down with such a vulnerable look on his face before someone they've never met before.
At this point, everyone who knew who Channing was was listening in on their conversation, pretending to carry on with their work.
Channing cursed to himself, realizing that he should've found a better place to say these things, but all the regrets faded away when he looked up to see the renewed, gentle smile he was waiting for all this time upon Lune's mouth.
That was it. That was all he needed.
The smile reassured him, and Lune was no longer frowning like he was all day.
"Why so serious? It is not too much of a big deal," Lune said lightly. "I just want to be treated as if I did not have this piece of cloth covering my eyes, you understand what I mean, yes?"
Channing felt the heavy burden he had been carrying around for the past couple of weeks lift from his shoulders as he finally understood what he had been doing wrong. In the end, Lune just simply didn't want to be seen as a person with a disability, for he had proven plenty capable to fend for himself...
...and fend for others too, apparently.
It wasn't much to ask for at all.
"I- I understand now," Channing breathed, immediately back in a greater mood.
Lune gave him another smile, true. "I trust you do."
"Er, Young Master?"
Channing directed towards the voice that interrupted, looking to see Fenn, the tanned skinned bodyguard, walking up towards them with a cautious approach.
"Yes?"
"We've cleared up everything here, Young Master. It's time to go," he informed.
"Oh..."
Channing cast Lune a side-glance, reluctant to leave so quickly. It took him so long just to meet him once again, he couldn't just leave now, could he?
Honestly, he himself didn't know why he was so absorbed with him, why he was so constantly worrying over him when he had never been like this with Jae, his only friend for the past decade. Maybe it was his looks that he was attracted to, or his significantly different aura that was mesmerizing, or the mentality that he needed his help when he clearly didn't...maybe he simply just enjoyed his calming presence.
And then it just slipped out of his mouth.
"Where are you going? I'll take you there," he said.
Lune glanced down at something in his hand, pondering for a second.
"...I need to go to the capital."
.
.
Channing and his men drove back in the direction of the capital, discussing with June over the speakers with Jae's wild calls interrupting the silence every now and then.
"Stop it. You're distracting me while I'm driving!" Channing hissed in irritation.
"What?!" Jae exclaimed deafeningly through the line, causing the vehicle to vibrate. "But aren't you going to tell me what happened?! You promised me! I need to be in on all the details!" he complained. "You promised!"
"Yes, I promised! Goddamnit!" Channing cursed. "But not now, I said! Do you want me to crash and die so you won't know what happened at all then?"
Jae yelped at the other end of the line. "Yah! Don't say that! Mianhae, okay? I'll wait! I'll wait! Boohoo~"
Channing sighed, relieved once Jae ended the call willingly this time, and focused on the highway before him.
A small twitter sounded to his right, and Channing glanced to the side where Lune sat next to him on the passenger's seat, the little bird resting on the crook of his arm.
It stared at him with its wide, black eyes, refusing to blink.
"What the- how creepy...," he muttered under his breath, feeling pathetic that even a bird was able to distract him from the road.
Still, he felt the pressure under the winged creature's gaze, and that only made him more frustrated.
Stupid bird..., he grumbled inside his head, not wanting to offend Lune for the pest that his little pet was.
Look away...please...why are you staring at me?
Finally, the bird turned away and rubbed its beak on Lune's arm that lay across his lap before nestling in, chirping delightfully in the warmth.
Channing scratched the top of his head of brown once the highway speed began to slow down due to traffic, and he glanced down at his cellphone for the time.
If it weren't for the jam, he originally thought he'd be back in the office by two. But now it looks not.
He slowed down his vehicle, inching forward every time the car in front of him did, the blaring of horns resounding in the background.
Channing leaned back in his seat and huffed, knowing that he wasn't going back into his office anytime soon now, and he grumbled underneath his breath as he imagined the stacks of papers that will pile up even further with his absence.
Only he hoped Lune wouldn't mind the delay...
He spared another glance to his right.
Lune had fallen awfully still for quite a long while now, but he was too focused on driving to take notice. To his surprise, he found the man leaning to the side with his head resting lightly against the window, a peaceful expression washed across his sun-kissed face.
Why? From every angle...he seemed so...
...perfect.
Is he sleeping? he wondered, his brows creased. Isn't that a bit too carefree? How could he just entirely let down his guard and fall asleep in someone else's car?
A loud, obnoxious honk from the vehicle behind blared, snapping his attention back to the road as where it should be, and he realized the car in front of him was already meters away. Channing pressed the gas pedal and his car jolted forward roughly, earning himself a high-pitched screech of displeasure from the little blue-feather bird.
It leaped out of its comfy spot right on the crook of Lune's arm, obviously not happy as it began pecking on the driver's arm with its sharp beak.
"Hell, I'm sorry!" Channing muttered, shifting his hand away.
Geez, why was he apologizing to such an irksome creature?
The small animal shot him a great look of indignity before stomping back to Lune across the dashboard, nuzzling back into his arm.
Channing scowled as the bird gave him a sly look from behind, waving its tiny tails as if it were ridiculing him. Its squeaky cunning laughter cut off the silence in an instant, and before he knew it, the little nuisance had taken over the peace and quiet of his own personal space.
Channing cursed, doing his best to tolerate that infuriating creature while Lune was fast asleep, his temples bulging.
He flashed the bird a sharp glare, trying his best not to roll down the windows and fling it outside into the traffic.
Tsk. Where the hell did Lune get such an annoying pest?