The boy clung to Yoon's shoulder like a possessive dog protecting its owner from a fly, big eyes peeking out at the gathered soldiers with open suspicion.
"They looked like they wanted to hurt you," he said again, quieter this time. "I was gonna bite them."
"You always say that," Yoon sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with practiced weariness, as if they had this conversation countless times. "And when's the last time that threat worked, hmm?"
The boy blinked, then shrugged. "Last week. The old lady dropped her cane.", he was even proud, this little sadistic thing.
"That was a merchant, you little beast," Yoon muttered, but his tone held something close to fondness. "She tried to give you candy!"
"She was suspicious," the child defended, crossing his arms and puffing his cheeks. "Too friendly." he paused before adding,
"Very suspicious behavior."
Yoon groaned, then glanced sideways at the still-staring soldiers. He rolled his eyes, shifting the child to his hip like a worn-out babysitter sick of everyone's questions. Like a man resigned to his fate. Guardian. Prison warden. Whatever label applied this week
The silence in the clearing stretched. A quiet tension threaded through every breath.
"...What?", he snapped.
Alaric stepped forward, one brow raised in disbelief. "You're seriously bringing that with you now?" she asked, nodding at the boy. "This is your grand return?"
Yoon didn't answer right away. He just studied her, expression unreadable. Then he sighed.
"Not like I had a choice, okay?" he said simply. "I'm a businessman now.", he gestured towards the boy on his hip. "Can't you see?, i'm babysitting."
"Babysitting's just part of the package."
"He calls it babysitting. I call it... freedom." The boy said, proud and smug.
Yoon pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Don't encourage him. Pretend he's a hallucination."
Then, more loudly "Also, I don't have time to play police-and-criminal like some people. You don't see me walking around with a badge and a superiority complex." An obvious sarcasm. Insulting, whatever you call it.
Alaric's eye twitched.
"A businessman?" she echoed, disbelief dripping from every syllable."What exactly are you selling, Yoon? Nightmares? Delusions of invincibility?"
Yoon offered her a thin smile. "Nah. That's a hobby. I sell favors. Secrets. Protection. Occasionally souvenirs, if they sparkle."
The child on his hip, Norin, blinked up at him, fascinated.
"Can we sell that angry lady's sword?" he whispered, pointing boldly at Alaric. "It looks shiny."
Alaric's grip tightened around her weapon's hilt.
"Touch this blade," she warned, voice dangerously calm, "and I'll teach you the difference between shiny and sharp."
Norin gasped, as if deeply offended. "She threatened me!"
"You threatened them first," Yoon reminded him, dry as ash.
"I was defending your honor!"
Yoon gave him a look. "I haven't had honor in centuries." he deadpanned
"What even is he?" someone from the back muttered.
Yeah, of course that question, as if it is not obvious enough.
Yoon's eyes snapped toward the voice like a whip. The poor soldier flinched and looked down, face paling.
"No one you want to anger," Yoon said calmly. "Let's leave it at that."
The child bared his teeth again, more playful than threatening, but still unnerving. "I can bite," he whispered ominously.
Yoon held up a finger. "We've talked about this. No biting unless bitten first."
Norin let out a tiny huff. "Ugh, Fine."
Alaric took a step forward, ignoring the child entirely. Her focus was all on Yoon now, fire dancing behind her eyes.
Alaric's voice sliced through the strange tenderness like a dagger. "You didn't answer the question."
"I answered it in spirit," Yoon replied, casually shifting the boy to his other side. "You're just not listening."
"I heard sarcasm and excuses."
"Exactly!" he said, almost cheerfully.
Katriel, now a safe distance behind the others, had stopped shaking, but stood rooted to the spot, whispering to Vexra. "Is this… normal?"
Vexra stared ahead . "Not remotely."
Meanwhile, Delvin stared at Yoon with growing unease. Something inside him stirred, like an echo, or a memory he never had. That look in Yoon's eyes. Something about the man, it wasn't just the smirk or the calm. It was like seeing something you weren't supposed to.
A wrong memory lodged in the present.
That eerie calm. Familiar. Wrong. Like déjà vu dipped in blood.
"You're dragging a child into a confrontation," Alaric continued, arms crossed. "Even for you, that's low."
"He's not just a child," Yoon replied, voice softening as he brushed a curl from the boy's forehead. "He's my responsibility. One I didn't ask for, but here we are."
Alaric exhaled through her nose, smoke curling again, thicker this time.
"You think this is funny. You think any of this is a game."
Yoon's smile faded.
"No," he said quietly. "I think you forgot the rules."
He looked at her with that unnerving, too-calm gaze.
"You dress war in honor. You coat slaughter in symbols and call it justice. You think fighting a few monsters makes you understand what they are. But all you're doing is just wearing a badge that lets you point your blade at whatever you fear.
Hoping no one sees your fear."
His voice had no heat, no rise...just cool detachment. Dangerous because of how calm it was.
Delvin stepped forward, hesitant.
"Wait… if he's so dangerous, why haven't we attacked? Why are we still...talking?"
"Because if we did," Alaric said flatly, "you wouldn't be asking that question anymore."
Yoon turned his head, giving Delvin a once-over.
"I like him," he said. "He asks good questions. Reminds me of someone."
A pause. His gaze lingered too long.
Delvin shifted, uneasy.
"…Me?" he asked. "Or someone else?"
But Yoon didn't answer. He just turned back to Alaric.
"You called me a level-one threat," he said. "Cute. When did we start lying to the public?"
Alaric didn't flinch.
"You think I'm back to start something," Yoon continued. "But I'm not. If I wanted chaos, I wouldn't be here talking. I think you are the most aware of that here."
"You've never just talked," Alaric shot back. "Even your silence has teeth."
Norin yawned, curling tighter into Yoon's side.
"I'm hungry," he mumbled. "Can we get snacks now?"
"See?" Yoon gestured. "A real emergency. Let me through."
"You think I'll just let you walk out of here?" Alaric growled.
"You of all people should know what unstable magic in a young vessel means."
Yoon's jaw tightened. His eyes flicked to the boy, then back to her.
"Don't pretend like you care about what happens to him."
"I don't," she admitted. "But I care what you do to him."
Another silence fell. This one heavier. More dangerous.
Then Yoon set the boy down gently. "Go play near the tree, alright?"
The child hesitated, then scampered off. Not without casting a final warning glare at the soldiers, though. As if daring them to follow.
Yoon faced Alaric fully now, expression stripped of humor.
"Seven hundred years," he said softly. "And you still think I'm just the blade, not the hand that holds it."
Alaric gritted her teeth.
"And you still think you're untouchable."
"No," he said. "I think I'm exhausted."
The words came out raw. Honest. And that, somehow, unsettled them more than any threat he could have spoken.
Behind him, the cub-child had climbed into the twisted tree and was poking at a squirrel, who looked deeply offended.
Yoon sighed."Look. I'm not here to fight. I'm not here to rule, or kill, or whatever bedtime stories you've all heard. I'm here because… he has nowhere else to go."
Then, loud enough for all to hear, "Also he needs to haunt someone else for once. I'm sick of being his only prey." he said, shoting a glare in Norin's direction.
Norin grinned like he'd just won a prize. Alaric groaned, Yoon's refusal to take anything seriously was getting under her skin. This fucker can't just act like an adult for once!
Yoon gave her a weary look. "And I don't expect trust. I expect you to get out of the way."
"Yoonie," came a sleepy voice. The boy was back in his arms again. "Are we done with the dramatic tension yet?"
Yoon cracked a real smile. "Almost, beastie."
And then, like smoke in the wind, his presence shifted. He was no longer just standing there, but watching, with something behind his eyes.
"You've got your warning." he said, his tone shifting again, deadly serious. "Tell your Council to leave me the fuck alone. And you, Alaric, Whether you stand beside me, or in my way."
"I don't want war. But if I'm forced to, like last time. I wouldn't hold back."
He turned and began walking, not looking back.
The boy gave a little wave over Yoon's shoulder. "Bye weirdos."
And just like that, they were gone. No flash of magic. No warning. Just absence.
Alaric stood frozen for several moments before exhaling hard through her nose, smoke trailing behind.
"Great," she muttered. "He's gotten worse."
Katriel gave a shaky laugh. "What... what just happened?"
Vexra looked at him. Then at Delvin. Then at Alaric.
"I think we just got threatened," she said grimly. "By a lunatic babysitter with a god complex."