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When Shin Yoosung closes her eyes and focuses, she can hear the sound of her heart beat. She often listens as it pumps blood throughout her body and keeps her alive. In turn Shin Yoosung lives. She goes to her classes and talks to her friends and even does her homework (sometimes).
Similarly, the bond between an incarnation and its sponsor was like a heart. Through means of the sponsor, items and skills were supplied to the incarnation and in turn, that incarnation would tell its story whether through the skills they used or the Stories they told.
The exact bond between an incarnation and sponsor was a tricky thing of course and simply differed from case to case. For Han Sooyoung and The Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, it was something more like enemies as they cursed eachother out when they were even just in the same proximity; meanwhile, for someone like Jung Heewon and Uriel, it was more like a friendship of sorts.
And for Shin Yoosung?
It was unclear.
She referred to Kim Dokja as her 'Ahjussi', but the way he beamed with pride or ruffled her hair after a particularly hard scenario reminded her more of a father. Shin Yoosung had even wanted to talk to him about it once, during the break they took when he came back after being gone for three years; however, the words always got stuck in her throat.
Because how could she tell him of all the ways she worked hard while he was gone. How could she tell him that sometimes she would almost trick herself into believing that she felt his gaze only for it to be nothing more than a trick of the mind. How could she tell him that she wanted to create a Story worthy of his gaze.
The answer was she couldn't.
Even if Shin Yoosung did train and do her best to clear the scenarios, she also kept a room in the complex full of animals she childishly thought might be him.
Yes, if Shin Yoosung knew anything about her Ahjussi, it was that he was lonely and that he liked to read pages and pages of words Shin Yoosung did not understand.
Nevertheless, Shin Yoosung knew that her tale of a girl trying to earn the gaze of her Ahjussi was not a story he would enjoy.
+
There was no real grave for Kim Dokja. It was something Yoo Joonghyuk had insisted on (something about coffins she didn't fully understand); however, they needed some sort of memorial to him and so a gravestone upon its own small hill was the compromise.
The gravestone itself was simple. It was a hard stone with his name carved into it and the words 'However, one thing is certain , you who are currently reading these words will survive ', carved below it. Shin Yoosung wasn't familiar with the quote, but it was something Han Sooyoung insisted on.
The walk to the gravesite was short and although they would both end up at the hill one way or another, Lee Gilyoung insisted they race, with a new excuse everyday.
"Whoever gets there first loves Hyung more!"
That was the only time she had such a clear win that Lee Gilyoung refused to talk to her for weeks until one gloomy day when the sun hid behind thick clouds, did he talk about it.
"You...You can like talk to him and stuff right?" He asked anxiously, shifting from side to side where he sat and readjusting his legs every few seconds. Although he looked away from her, she could see his eyebrows were furrowed even more than Yoo Joonghyuk and his lips were turned in a slight pout.
"Wouldn't you like to know? I thought you weren't talking to me." She stated matter of factly and even made a point to turn away from him. She waited for the bite back, the light shove, or even a glare, but when none of that happened, she turned back to him.
Lee Gilyoung sat still at that moment. His hands balled up the material of his pants and his face was one of even deeper frustration and with a closer look she could see how exhausted he was.
"Hey I-" She started with instant regret at the fact she might have pushed it too far, but Lee Gilyoung cut her off.
"I was just thinking that if he was okay he would tell us-or atleast you." Lee Gilyoung muttered and looked back to the gravestone.
It was Shin Yoosung's turn to sit still then.
She had thought of the fact, but whenever she reached for that connection it was like trying to use a can phone with the string cut. And although she knew he was out there, somewhere (he had to be), where the heart of their connection should've been was something more like frustration, like a puzzle missing its final piece.
"I think I can sense him sometimes but..." She tried to explain because as much as she fought him on it, at the end of the day they were in the same boat.
Lee Gilyoung nodded as though he understood and then sat a little closer. His loose brown curls framed his almost peaceful face.
With their shoulders barely brushing, they took turns talking about their day and then everyone in the company's day. They weren't as close as they were before everything with the plan to save Kim Dokja happened, but they kept contact and Jihye even came over often with her own homework.
They took turns talking about their worries and even what they would have for dinner that night.
It didn't matter they just simply talked until their throats were dry and the sky had become an orange gold.
Only then did they say their goodbyes and walk home, resuming their usual jabs and kicks until they were practically shoving each other through the door and as Shin Yoosung watches him run forward; a wild grin falls onto her face because maybe Shin Yoosung did not know whether Kim Dokja was her Ahjussi or more like a father, all she knew was that they all cared deeply for him and maybe one day he would reach out again and restore that connection.