CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE!
────a fated encounter.

❝WE MET THROUGH FATE.❞

"EXCUSE ME, YOUR BROTHER?" jin-woo asks from the dinner table with a raised eyebrow while his lovely girlfriend cooks tonight's family dinner.

[y/n] sighs tiredly as if she knew he was gonna react this way. "yes, i made up with my brother. well, sort of? it's a work in progress."

the female player arrived back in korea almost in hour ago from her brith place, as she wanted to spend time with the sung family after a long and eventful day.

coincidentally, jin-woo arrived back home as well and was worried about her, because she didn't call him back after she was done checking things out at the gate above her home city.

to which leads [y/n] to tell jin-woo about reconnecting with her brother, ray.

"you should have seen his face when i mentioned i was dating you." she laughed as she taste tested her cooking. "he looked like he was about to faint."

"i'm still stuck on the fact you made up with."

"what? would it be better if i didn't?"

"arguably, from what you've told me? yes?"

[y/n] gives her boyfriend 'are you kidding me' type of expression while he shrugged his shoulders.

"listen, i know you may not like it. but it was my choice, woo." she states firmly, as she goes back to pay attention to her cooking. "i know he regrets it, if i didn't know that, i wouldn't have even made up with him in the first place."

jin-woo lets out a groan, getting up from his seat as he goes to rest his chin on his girlfriend's shoulder. making her roll her eyes playfully at his childish actions

"well, i don't trust him." he mumbles, almost with a pout.

she sighs dejectedly, "that's a given. i don't blame you."

it goes quiet for a moment before the male player speaks again.

"but if making up with him makes you happy, then, i can't argue with that."

his statement makes the female player smile, almost laughing as her brother said the same thing.

'their a bit similar in that regard...'

"thank you, darling." [y/n] mutters, turning to kiss him on the forehead.

jin-woo only hums, snuggling his face into her neck as sign of affection.

"NOW, SHOO! I NEED TO FINISH MAKING THIS."

"NO, I'M STAYING RIGHT HERE, SUNSHINE."

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THE HUNTER ASSOCIATION's gym...

jin-woo throws a punch at [y/n]'s head, but she blocks the hit using her forearm, then she grabs his wrist and yanks it down, making him lose a bit of balance.

but the dark haired hunter ducks when the [h/c] haired hunter goes to kick his head, but that was just a faint. she swiftly spins around and kicked his in the stomach using her other leg.

'when was she this good at hand to hand combat!?'

the male player recovers quickly and goes in for a punch but his partner was quick to duck and kick his side.

taking the chance [y/n] knees him the stomach as she follows by a spin kick to the face.

but her kick was stopped by jin-woo's hand, she must of underestimated his talent for a quick recovery.

he grabs her shirt and flips her over his shoulder, but before the move could be completed, the [h/c] haired player saves herself by planting her feet on the floor.

then, she kicks herself up, wrapping her legs around his left arm and flips him over, finally bringing him down.

the two were panting, heavily as sweat dripped down their faces. [y/n] gives her boyfriend a proud victory smile while he rolled his eyes in amusement.

"21 to 20, i win."

"alright, alright, i yield."

the beautiful hunter laughs at her lover's inevitable surrender. then, she gets off him, sitting on the floor as she catches her breath.

jin-woo sat right next to her, letting out a tired huff. "shit, you really do how make me break a sweat."

"of course, dummy." [y/n] teases him, lightly tapping his nose. "i'm the only one who can!~"

he smiles at her teasing before reaching over to kiss her on the forehead. she returns the favor by pecking his cheek.

the two can't seem to keep their hands off from each other.

"c'mon sunshine, we need to practice with icarus and beru." the dark haired player mentions, helping his girl from the floor.

the two players take a quick breather before summoning their most powerful soldiers, their eyes glowing as they bowed in front of them.

"ALRIGHT, LETS GET STARTED."

the two summons follow their orders as they begin to train with them.

[y/n] exchanges blows against icarus, mostly testing out her new dagger. she avoids a lightning strike from his sword before cutting the arm that was holding his the weapon.

he quickly regenerates it, as he moves into attack her. she blocks his swing using her daggers as shield.

she pushes the sun knight back before activating one of her sun skills.

the two powerful forces jumps around the gymnasium, leaving cracks and burnt marks, on the walls and floor.

'it's still not enough.' [y/n] notes, her glowing eyes narrowing at her summon. 'icarus is the strongest unit in my army, but he's still not strong enough to fight those guys.'

[ICARUS LV. MAX]
COMMANDER RANK

she leans back avoiding a swing of his sword, she kicks her leg up causing the summon to lose his grip on the sword. taking this chance, she quickly cuts of his head making his body fall to floor.

declaring her the victor.

[y/n] puts away her daggers away and watches the summon regenerate. once he does, he gives his queen a bow of respect.

"awe! you did good too, icarus!" she cooes running over to hug her beloved knight as he happily pats her head.

after letting go, she finally notices the damage caused by both players as result of their training with their summons. she cringes at the sight, quickly looking over to jin-woo in panic, who already had his phone out.

"chairman? please hear me out without getting upset." he coaxes, trying to calm the man down. "so, we have around 300 ants that are great at doing labour work..."

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THREE DAYS LATER...

people all over seoul were evacuating to leave the country, everything was going smoothly curtesy of the hunter's association.

[y/n] helps jin-ah and kyung-hye, pack a few things in boxes, so that if anything anything happens, stuff will be somewhat safe.

"mom aren't we going to run away?" jin-ah asks her mother, curious as to why they are staying.

"if we're going to die, don't you think it's better to choose where we're gonna die?" she retorts back to her youngest daughter.

her statement got [y/n] to snort in laughter. "can't argue with that logic."

"besides, they haven't issued an official evacuation notice for our neighborhood." kyung-hye adds, matter for factly

"i'm going to college next year?!" jin-ah exclaims, confused as to why her mother was talking like that. "i'll finally be able to drink and live alone!"

she suddenly grabs her big sister and starts shaking her back and forth. "i'm about to reach the prime of my life and you're talking about my death?!"

unbothered by her little sister's actions, she bonks jin-ah on the head making her let go and whine in pain.

"i'm not gonna let you guys die." [y/n] states, making the two look at her.

"you're my family, i'll protect you two, no matter what."

the young girl looks at her big sister in shock before her eyes start to water. "thank you unnie!" she sniffs going to hug [y/n], making her laugh.

kyung-hye smiles at the sight before her as she looks up at the [h/c] haired hunter.

"thank you, [y/n]."

"of course, mom."

suddenly, the hunter's phone begins ringing in her jean shorts pocket. quickly, she fishes for her phone, answering the number before putting it to her ear.

"[l/n] speaking."

"sunshine, what are you doing right now?"

hearing the sweet voice of her boyfriend makes the female player smile to herself.

"nothing much, i'm just helping your mom
and your sister with some stuff. why?"

"since we have some time before
the gate opens...."

[y/n] giggles when his words trail off, his voice growing quiet. 'is he nervous? there's no way he's actually nervous?'

"i was wondering if you'd like to go
on a date with me?"

"did you seriously get nervous about
asking me out on a date?"

the female player could hear kyung-hye and jin-ah gasp in excitement.

"listen—"

"i'm kidding, of course i'd love to go
on date with you, darling."

"amazing!— i mean, i-i'll pick you up in hour."

the [h/c] haired hunter laughs when he hangs up first, she looks over to her family who had stars in their eyes.

jin-ah was the first to burst into excitement, squealing happily and practically bouncing off the walls.

"he finally did it! he finally asked you out on date!" she shrieks, "oh my god we have to get you ready!"

the young girl grabs her hand, causing [y/n] to yelp as she is dragged down the apartment's hallway.

"MOM! HELP ME?!"

"YOU'RE ON OWN, [Y/N]!"

kyung-hye laughs joyfully when hears the [h/c] haired women cry dramatically, calling out her betrayal. she calms down from it before looking over at picture of her and husband.

the older woman remembers her own joy when sung ii-hwan first took her out on a date.

"AH, YOUNG LOVE..."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

DESPITE BASICALLY BEING the end of the world. a certain amusement park was surprisingly open to the public.

"isn't that hunter sung jin-woo?!"

"huh? where?"

"woah! it really is hunter sung jin-woo?!"

though its unavoidable, almost everyone recognizes the famous s-rank hunter. but his attention wasn't on them in the slightest.

his attention was glued on the very beautiful and sunny woman who hugged his arm, jittering in excitement.

"ah! i'm so excited!" [y/n] exclaims, having a smile on her face that was as bright as the sun.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────
[date outfit!]

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"never thought you would be this excited, sunshine." jin-woo chuckles, swayed by her sunny demeanor.

she puffs out her cheeks cutely, "that's because i get to spend my first time at the amusement park with you, obviously!~"

"and who's the pretty woman next to him? his girlfriend?"

"no, that's hunter [y/n] [l/n]!"

the two continued to ignore the people noticing them, as they reminded themselves that today was about them and no one else.

"it's your first time coming to a theme park?" the dark haired player hums, raising an eyebrow.

the [h/c] haired player nods, with pursed lips. "i was too young for the rides and before i could properly go, the whole thing with my parents happened."

jin-woo frowns slightly at the information, 'she didn't get to enjoy something as simple as this...'

"do you enjoy coming to places like these, woo?" [y/n] asks innocently with the tilt of her head.

"not really," he shrugs his shoulders. "but i wanted to try at least once."

before their conversation could continue, they were interrupted by people going to crowd around the couple. they snapped pictures of them on their phones, hoping they would look their way.

to counter this, jin-woo summons his shadows to block their view or going any further.

"that should do it." he mumbles causing his girl to giggle at his antics. then, he leads [y/n] away from the crowd as they look what ride to go on first.

"oh, how about that one!" the female player exclaims, pointing to the tallest one in her sights.

the male player points to the one next to it. "how about that one as our second ride?"

"sure!" [y/n] giggles, feeling the joy of being kid again, something she'd had once lost. "let's try everything, woo!"

jin-woo's eyes soften at her smiling face. loving the way happiness looks on her, that he couldn't help but smile himself.

"WHATEVER YOU WANT, SUNSHINE."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THOUGH, UNFORTUNATELY, FOR jin-woo at least, the rides were, kinda boring.

but, [y/n] thought otherwise. she found joy in the simple things in life, so, she whole heartily enjoyed every ride she went on.

and that was enough for jin-woo.

seeing her genuinely enjoying herself, for once, was enough for him.

he'd let her drag him everywhere, wanting to try everything the park had to offer. to a variety of games to the crazy snacks that parks usually have.

jin-woo heart raced when he watched her
jump around like a happy child.

whether it was her winning a simple game or he won her the biggest and cutest prize there was. all of it had him feeling he was like on cloud 9, warmth spreading throughout his chest.

has he ever been this happy before? he doesn't know, but he doesn't want this happiness to go away. not ever.

after running around the park for a while, the couple went to go eat at the food court.

"you having fun, sunshine?" jin-woo asks her, as they sat across from each other.

"mhm!" [y/n] nods excitedly, sipping her drink. "i've never had this much fun before! i'm happy that i'm getting to enjoy something that i wasn't able to for so long!"

the dark haired hunter chuckles at her excitement, finding it adorable. he leans his cheek on his right palm, staring at her with adoring eyes.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"hey, sunshine, wanna ride on something really exciting?" jin-woo suddenly asks, a teasing smile etching across his lips.

[y/n] looks at her boyfriend with a hum, confused on what he could be taking about.

"this better not be—"

"no, it's not what you think, i promise."

the male player quickly says, causing the two burst into giggles. their faces heating up as they throughly embarrassed themselves.

but, did she have a reason to decline his offer?

NO SHE DIDN'T.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE [H/C] HAIRED hunter laughs in happiness, holding onto her partner tight by the waist.

kaisel flapped his wings harder, per jin-woo's command as they rise higher and higher to the sky. the wyvern lets out a loud screech, shooting above the clouds before he begins to fly around the distant sky.

jin-woo steadies [y/n] by the waist, letting her her admire the scene in front of her.

"so, what do you think?" he whispers to her, leaning down next to her ear.

"it's so beautiful..." she mumbles back in utter awe.

the sky and the clouds were painted in gorgeous shades of pink and orange, showing that the day was slowly coming to an unfortunate end.

then, [y/n] reaches her hand to touch a cloud passing by, feeling the softness between her fingers. she slightly giggles, caused by feeling the cool air tickle against her skin and flow through her soft hair.

jin-woo could only watch her enjoy herself. the hues of the sun hitting her skin perfectly as she was meant to be in the light of the sun and the way her [e/c] eyes sparkle like jewels.

but nothing could match up to the smile she wore, so contagious that it causes him to beam in happiness.

if jin-woo could freeze time and stay in this moment, with her, he'd do it in heartbeat.

he wanted everything about her engraved into his mind so, that no matter what, he wouldn't forget it. he wouldn't forget the happiness and serenity he felt when he's with her.

nothing in this world could separate him from her. he'd cling onto her, even in the face of death. even through forced methods jin-woo will always find his way back to her.

she was the sun in his abyssal shadow of darkness. her light so blinding that he has no choice to consume it, to bathe in it, to have his body dyed in sunlight.

then, the female hunter turns to lover, curiosity sparking in her jewel like eyes. "woo, why did you want to go to amusement park when we could have used kaisel?"

the male hunter only hums and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, before answering. "that theme park was built over the gate where my father disappeared in. so, i've always wanted to go there once."

his answer surprises [y/n] but, she nods, understanding his reason. so, she slides her hands into his, giving a light squeeze.

"THAT'S NOT THE ONLY REASON THOUGH..."

jin-woo's voice causes her to fully turn to him. he looks down at her, a soft smile tugging at his lips when he does. he looked at her as if she was most priceless thing the world.

a look she knows that's reserved for her, and only her.

"when you told me it would be your first time visiting an amusement park..." he starts, his voice low as his hand reaches to cup her face. "it made me bit sad, that you couldn't enjoyed something so simple until now. so, i did everything i could to keep that beautiful smile on your face. i wanted this day to be good memory for you."

his words had [y/n] in awe, it shocked her that he cared so much about something that people would find so trivial.

but to her, it meant the world.

"so, did you enjoy today, sunshine?"

"more than you can imagine, woo."

he slowly closes the gap between them, resting his forehead against hers.

"that's great, cause i feel the same way." he whispers to her, it sends shivers up her spine.

she can practically feel her heart shoot through her, time grinding to a sudden halt as she feels him gearing up to lean forward.

hating the anticipation, she reaches up and around his neck, fingers locking like a vice around him as she pulls herself into the kiss.

if it were raining she would have thought she was stuck by lighting. the overbearing euphoria shooting through her like the wind in her hair.

it was perfect in every way.

the two part as they start to lose air, their breaths were heavy as they lay their foreheads against each other.

"i still have one more thing i want to show you." he mumbles and his words make her smile.

she pecks his cheek, whispering. "lead the way."

per jin-woo's command, he tells kaisel to fly in the other direction.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE FLIGHT WAS a long one, considering the fact jin-woo headed to japan of all places.

but, the destination was actually not in the city of japan but in wide untouched forest.

"why are you covering my eyes woo?!"

"because, it'll spoil the surprise!"

the dark haired man leads his girlfriend through the forest, making sure she doesn't trip over anything.

"jin-woo, i swear to god, you let me fall—" [y/n] threatens causing her boyfriend to giggle in laughter.

he guides her carefully around a big tree root. "i promise my love, i won't let you fall."

finally, finding the spot he was looking for. the male hunter halts their steps.

"keep covering your eyes. not until i say so." jin-woo whispers and [y/n] nods, covering her eyes.

he buys a blanket from the system's store, setting down on the soft grass. he takes a glance up at the night sky and smirks.

it was perfect.

the male player grabs his lover's wrist, making her sit and lay down on the blanket, then he lays down right next to her.

"okay, you can open your eyes now, sunshine."

[y/n] follows his words, fluttering her [e/c] eyes open to the sky and her breath hitches.

"oh my god..." she whispers, she was met with the night sky, painted in shades of blue and glittered in shining stars.

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───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

[y/n]'s bright [e/c] eyes scan the sky and out of habit she looks for a specific bright star.

"oh, there's the north star!" she points happily, looking to her lover with smile.

jin-woo raises an eyebrow about her knowledge of such a thing, "how do you know to look for it?"

"my mom was an astrologist," she explains, catching his attention. "she'd plan a lot of family trips so we could stargaze!"

the [h/c] haired hunter looks back to the sky. "it's funny, she used to call the north star, the star of fate."

"why is that?"

"well, the north star is reason why my parents met."

a nostalgic feeling over comes [y/n], remembering her favorite bedtime story her mother use to tell her all the time.

it was story of how her parents met.

"okay, so like, to summarize." she starts, giggling and smiling. "my mom was using her telescope to look at the north star and my dad, he was riding his bike back from volleyball practice. not paying attention, he crashes into her telescope, breaking it."

"my mom was pissed! so, in return, my dad promises her that he'll get her a new one and better one with his own money." she continues, stilling grinning. "and from there, it's history."

"sounds like a real love story." jin-woo jokes causing the two burst into laughter.

[y/n] sighs, calming down from her laughing before gazing to the sky. being reminded of her parent's story, a question fades into her mind.

"do you believe in things like fate, woo?"

her question makes the dark haired hunter look at her as her eyes were still on the stars.

"do you really believe that universe made things happen, just like how my parents met?" the [h/c] haired hunter continues, reaching for the sky. "like everyone we meet and that makes an impact on our lives, it's all planned and predetermined?"

jin-woo doesn't really know how to answer such a question, he wasn't really a big believer in fate in the first place.

the things he's been granted, the opportunities he's been given. he wouldn't really call that fate, it was more like coincidences falling into place for him to choose.

but then he met [y/n].

she'd changed his whole worldview entirely. something about the way she just appeared in his life is what made him question if it was really was just a coincidence or was it fate?

"well, we met, didn't we?" jin-woo mumbles, making [y/n] look at him, wide eyed. "i don't believe it's a coincidence that we met by chance. not when, you've fit into my life perfectly."

"and you fit into mine, just as perfect." she finishes, whispering, almost in awe.

turned on their sides, the two stare at each other, silently but that silence spoke volumes.

to think, that two people, so drastically different could mold into each other so, perfectly. like heaven was so desperate for the two to meet, doing everything it can for them to even look at each other's way.

sun and shadow, one can't coexist without the other.

"do you really think we met by fate?" [y/n] mutters, feeling his hand slip into her's.

he brings that hand to his lips, kissing it lightly. before looking back at her, a soft smile on his lips.

"YEAH, I DO. OUR MEETING WAS A FATED ENCOUNTER, MY LOVE."

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE! END!
────a fated encounter.