Work Text:
“Who the absolute fuck are you?”
The words were out of Siu's mouth before he could even process what he was seeing.
There, sitting on Yusin's bed, was a very beautiful (and also very shirtless) stranger.
The stranger was visibly taken aback for a moment before his face shifted into annoyance. “You’re joking.”
Siu just stood by the door in shock. His brain couldn’t understand what he was seeing because if he didn’t know any better the stranger in front of him was clearly Yusin, if Yusin had the body of a god.
There’s no way.
Sui was just exhausted from staying up all night. Or this was some sort of mental attack.
That couldn’t be Yusin. Maybe it was someone poorly disguised as Yusin?
Yeah that had to be it. Someone disguised themselves, took his friend's place, and was now trying to kill Siu. It was an extremely inaccurate disguise, Siu thought. The intruder hadn’t lasted five seconds before Siu realized something was off.
“What happened to your hair? You look like you're about to enlist in the army.” The intruder had started talking and the half demon jolted into awareness.
Siu scowled and resisted the urge to run his fingers through his now short hair. Rude, he was literally burnt to a crisp yesterday. Of course his hair wasn’t going to magically heal with him.
On second thought, why hadn’t that been possible?
Whatever! It wasn’t important and Siu had to focus on the task at hand. He moved into a loose fighting stance before speaking. “What have you done with my friend?! Who are yo-”
The not Yusin suddenly jumped off the bed. “Oh my god you're serious!” He actually looked upset now, and it took all of Siu’s willpower to not cave right then and there. Yusin should never look upset, even if it wasn’t really him.
“It’s me, you idiot! Do you need proof?” Obviously Siu needed proof he wasn’t an idiot. “You’re Siu Choi. You were born on November 21st, you live with your mom and you love japchae.”
That was true, but anybody could have gotten that information. Still, Siu’s arms dropped slightly.
Wait. No he’s stronger than this! He can’t just give in to every beautiful stranger he meets. Especially if said beautiful stranger looks a lot like his best friend. That's a weakness waiting to be exploited.
Siu’s resolve wavers but he tries to appear unfazed. Nothing was confirmed yet. “Okay but that doesn-”
The absolutely ripped version of Yusin, that Siu was starting to think may actually be the real Yusin, interrupted him. “The girls you’ve liked since middle school are Yerim Oh, Seonmi Jin, and Areum Song.” He listed each with his fingers and seemed to not be paying attention to Siu anymore as he got more worked up.
Okay so it was definitely Yusin. Siu had never spoken about his crushes with anybody other than Yusin.
Great. Yusin was never going to let him live this down.
“Yus-” the half-demon started before his friend interrupted again.
“While you show off about your tier’s A master in ROR, you're a coward who only plays the strongest cham-”
Siu tuned out his rant.
What the hell happened to him? Why did he look like he had taken a year's worth of steroids? Why was his hair so beautiful? Siu needed to know these things for absolutely no reason at all.
Sue him, he didn’t recognize his best friend when he looked like…that. But it was obvious Yusin would probably keep going if the ravenette didn’t do something. Yusin knew everything about Siu after all, he could go on forever trying to prove his point.
With that in mind Siu closed the distance between them in four swift strides before grabbing Yusin’s face in both his hands.
Whatever the taoist was about to say was cut off as he stared down at Siu in surprise. His hands froze in some sort of exaggerated gesture before they dropped to his sides.
Siu stared at Yusin’s face intently, taking in every detail. His friend had changed rapidly in a single night and Siu would have to evaluate how different he had become.
After raking his eyes over Yusin’s face a few times, Siu concluded that he looked almost…delicate. His face was more relaxed and his skin was brighter than he remembered. His eyes were visibly sharper but they gleamed with the same intelligence they’d always had. A lovely brown that matched his now long hair perfectly.
Siu hummed. One of his hands moved to a strand of hair that lay in front of Yusin's face. He twirled the strand around his finger briefly before brushing it back, running his fingers through the silky strands before letting his hand rest against his friend's pale throat.
Yusin blinked but didn’t move away.
His other hand moved to Yusin's chin and he began to tilt his friend's face from side to side.
Yusin’s skin was soft and pliant against his light touch. Even so, he could feel a large amount of clear energy resting just beneath the surface. Siu, who was novice at best when it came to Taoist magic, could tell that Yusin must have trained relentlessly to accumulate so much power.
How had he gotten so powerful in the hours that he was gone?
Siu was getting distracted, he had to finish his task.
“I’m sorry.” Siu's voice was quiet, “It was surprising to see you had changed so much.” His voice was questioning, but he didn’t look Yusin in the eye as he spoke, too focused on mapping out every little change he could find.
Siu’s eye caught on a small scar on Yusin’s jaw that he brushed with his thumb.
The half-demon moved slowly before gently laying both hands against Yusin’s neck and took a few seconds to feel his friend's pulse beneath his palms.
Yusin swallowed and Siu could feel every movement as he spoke. “I haven’t changed too much have I?”
Was he avoiding the question?
It was rare that Yusin would hide anything from him, Shaman powers excluded.
He wondered if his sudden demon inheritance had caused Yusin to become more wary around him.
The words from the hallucination of Seolhwa came back to him and he fought off a grimace. Even though it hadn’t been real, the words rang true. Yusin had already sacrificed so much because of Siu’s foolishness.
Siu wasn’t owed an explanation.
Siu kept his face relaxed as he deftly moved his hands away from his friend's neck, trailing down the shaman's toned arms before grasping his hands and bringing them closer for inspection.
“No.” He mumbled, bowing his head slightly. “ You’re still the same. But you look…” The half-demon trailed off.
Yusin's hands were rougher. Siu could feel thick calluses along with a larger collection of new scars, making it seem like the taoist had completed months of training in a single night.
Maybe that's exactly what had happened.
Sui squeezed his hands briefly before relaxing his grip.
Yusin hesitated, “I look…?”
The boy’s eyes flicked back to Yusin's face. His expression was curious with something that looked like eagerness flickering in his eyes.
Siu gazed into those eyes and took another moment to process this new version of his friend.
He looked like he'd been relieved of a years old burden. He looked like he had grown into himself. He looked confident and strong and as irritatingly breathtaking as always. He looked…
“Good.” Siu smiled faintly. “You look good.”
Siu’s hands dropped to his sides but Yusin's remained outstretched for a few more seconds when someone cleared their throat behind them.
Siu turned around to see Mr. Gu.
The paryun smiled serenely as he stood at the door.
“Good morning. I hope you both rested well.” He bowed slightly. “The banquet will begin shortly. I came to escort you…but if you don’t feel like going or wish to forfeit-”
“No.” Siu straightened. He had to save Seolhwa and get stronger so he could save those he cared about. Yusin’s new look was a distraction that he couldn’t afford to dwell on.
He would accept it and move on. It was only Yusin after all.
He stepped closer to the door but his eyes flicked over briefly to Yusin finally pulling a shirt over his head.
Siu was so fucked.
“We’d like to proceed.”