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Well. This is certainly an interesting turn of events.

"Kill the Scarlet Fox," Hwanin is saying. "Kill the eoduksini. And in return, Seokga, I will lessen your sentence on Iseung."

Inside Tasty Kitchens, Hani clenches her chopsticks tightly enough that one of them breaks with a soft snap. Across from her, picking at her plate of questionable-looking fish, Somi's bloodshot eyes widen. The young gumiho looks as if she doesn't quite know if she should be fangirling over Hwanin's appearance, or if she should be fleeing in utter terror. The end result is that Somi appears extremely constipated.

After committing the time and location of Seokga's reunion with the god-king to her memory, Hani promptly took it upon herself to accompany the fallen god to his meeting without his knowledge. She dragged Somi with her, as well, and the two gumiho slunk into the decrepit restaurant thirty minutes before Seokga was due to arrive, determined to know the cause of the family reunion. Hani donned a rather clever disguise before entering—a cheap blond wig from a costume shop, along with a pair of thick black spectacles. Seokga did not notice her upon his entry, and he does not notice her now as she stares at him through the fish tank, her eyes bulging out of their sockets in pure annoyance.

Kill the Scarlet Fox. As if. Hani sneers as she waits for Seokga's reply.

"What," he breathes hoarsely, "do you mean, exactly, by ‘lessen'?" The god sounds as if he's about to keel over right then and there.

"Hani," Somi whispers across the table. The poor thing looks as if she's on the verge of losing it completely. The circles underneath her eyes are even more pronounced, and her skin is noticeably clammy. Hani can smell the horror on her. "Unnie, we need to—to leave the city. This is insane." She grabs Hani's hand, forcing her attention away from the two gods. Her fingers are sticky with cold sweat. "We're going to be killed. This world is going to be turned into a Dark World. And they think that you're the Scarlet Fox. Oh, gods. Oh, gods. We need to run."

"Shh,"Hani hisses. "Quiet. We need to listen."

"…You'll be on house arrest in your old palace for a decade or two, and required to attend mandatory counseling to ensure that you don't…ah…snap again," she hears Hwanin explain. She sneaks a glance at Seokga, who is completely shell-shocked, his face drained of all color. Foolish god to think that he can kill the Scarlet Fox. Oh, Hani will have a very, very fun time leading him on a wild-goose chase…

She watches in a mixture of amusement and annoyance as the two gods join hands, the deal sealed by Hwanin's words of promise. The plot, it seems, has thickened considerably.

Seokga will kill the eoduksini—she'll see to that. A creature of darkness has no place in New Sinsi. Hani loves this world, this mortal realm, where things as wondrous as cherry tarts and hot chocolate exist. She loves the roasted sweet potatoes that students sell on the streets during autumn and winter, loves the feeling of driving down a highway with music blasting through the speakers, and truly doesn't think she can live without those delicious American romance books with gorgeous, half-naked men on the covers. While Iseung certainly has its problems (and there are many problems, most of which are the same problems from hundreds of years ago that were never resolved because humans simply refuse to learn from history), it's her home. And Hani is not against fighting for it, nor is she against helping avenge Euna's death.

But Seokga will never be a god again.

Because he will never kill the Scarlet Fox.

Hani smiles as Hwanin disappears and Seokga slumps in his seat, covered in a sheen of sweat, his eyes wild, his chest rising and falling unevenly.

Foolish, foolish god.

"We could go to Seoul," Somi pants as she flies around her apartment in a flurry of fear, grabbing clothes from her closet and stuffing them into her suitcase. "Or—or Tokyo. I speak a little Japanese, not lots but—"

Hani sighs from where she leans against the doorway of Somi's room. The bedroom, usually pristine and tidy, looks as if a tornado swooped through. Blankets slump off the bed, well-worn GodlyGossip issues riddle the floor, and cosmetics wobble precariously on the dresser as Somi runs back and forth between closet and suitcase. Her bedroom walls have been stripped bare of posters of the pantheon. Hani realizes that Seokga's poster (which was a blown-up photo of the scowling god walking down a New Sinsi street, probably taken by a suicidal paparazzo) has been torn up into shreds and stuffed into the trash can near her bed.

"—or England! England would work, you speak English, don't you, Hani? I remember you told me—you lived in England for a little while—" Somi pants as she tries to zip up her bulging suitcase. "Hani?" When the older gumiho doesn't respond, Somi turns to her with wide, beseeching eyes. "Unnie?"

"We're not going anywhere," Hani says simply and watches as Somi pulls at her own hair.

"Are you crazy? There's an eoduksini running around, and it wants to turn this world into a Dark World! Plus, Seokga thinks you're the Scarlet Fox—he's going to try and kill you—here I was, thinking that going to jail was the worst they could do…"

"If we run, we look suspicious. From what I've heard in the precinct, Seokga is monitoring what gumiho have entered and left the city. The best thing we can do is stay here, and the best thing that you can do, Somi, is to trust me. Okay?" She nudges a stray sock away with her foot. "Trust me. Seokga isn't going to get me, or you, in any trouble. And I'm going to help stop the darkness demon, too."

Somi is still breathing heavily. "I—"

"Somi, calm down," Hani presses. "You're practically walking around and screaming that you ate their livers. It's going to get us into trouble."

Her face screws up like she's about to cry. Hani braces herself for the incoming waterworks. "I'm j-just so scared," Somi wails. "What if Seokga comes for me? I mean, I always hoped he would, but not in that way!" Her wails grow louder.

Hani is beginning to develop a migraine. "He won't," she says firmly. "I said I'm taking care of it, and I mean it."

"But what if he does?"

"Then you defend yourself."

"W-with these?" Somi draws her claws and stares at them in derision. "They're so—so small—"

"No. Not with those." Hani crosses the room and sits down on Somi's bed, tucking her legs underneath her. She's sitting on a GodlyGossip issue, and her butt is squashing Yongwang's printed face as he grins at the camera while lounging on a Jeju beach, but she couldn't give any damns about that. Somi wavers, furiously scrubbing away her tears with the back of her hand. "You're a gumiho, Somi. And what do gumiho do? What is in our nature to do?"

Somi shakes her head, tears spilling from her eyes.

"If you need a better defense than your claws, siphon power from your fox bead, or steal their soul."

"Steal their—no. No." She's still pulling at her hair. "No, no, no."

"It wasn't always taboo to steal a soul," Hani replies quietly, patting the mattress. Somi sits down shakily and stares at her, with her lower lip quivering violently. "Or to eat a man's liver. It was the most normal thing in the world, darling." Until she went a bit too far, and the world overreacted.

The younger gumiho sniffles. "Really?"

"Really. Back then…" Hani closes her eyes, remembering the thrill of the hunt, the slap of her feet against the cobblestoned roads of Joseon and London, the taste of souls and blood. "It was different."

"How?" Somi whispers. She's beginning to calm down now, although she's twisting her cream sweater tightly in her hands. "How did you…What was it like?"

"It was the best feeling in the world," Hani replies, and Somi falls into hushed silence, her red-rimmed eyes widening to discs.

"Really?" Somi sounds curious, despite herself.

Hani smiles. "The greatest part of it all is the seduction."

"The seduction?" Somi whispers.

Hani nods. "You steal a man's soul through a kiss. And you can't steal a soul if you force yourself onto him, so…" She winks. "Seduction. You find a target, and you pull him closer. It'll come naturally to you—it does to all gumiho. And when you've lured him into your trap, you summon your fox bead to your mouth. Here—you can try it now." Hani closes her eyes, letting herself reach for that orb of power that rests in her heart, hot and burning, rippling with one thousand and seven hundred years of accumulated power. "Find your fox bead," she murmurs, aware that Somi has fallen completely silent, undoubtedly following her lead. "And let it rise up from your heart, into your throat, and then…into your mouth."

Hani smiles as she tastes her bead—crushed sugar and syruped cherries, rich chocolate and spiced cinnamon, clover honey and sweet vanilla. Her tongue heats as the pearl rolls atop it, the size of a large marble. Her voice is slightly muffled as she says around the bead, "When you kiss your target, you'll let your bead roll into their mouth. It'll collect their soul and return to your heart." Opening her eyes, Hani lets her bead retreat back into her chest. "And that's how it's done."

Somi swallows her bead—which is undoubtedly little more than the size of a tiny pebble. There is a spark in her eyes that had not been there before, all terror and guilt gone, replaced by…awe? Amusement? Hani cannot tell, but she feels a rush of warm satisfaction all the same. "It's as easy as that."

"What if they swallow my bead?" Somi inquires breathlessly. "What would happen?"

"Ah." Hani winces. A mortal man once almost swallowed her bead, nearly giving her a heart attack. "If a man swallows your bead, he'll absorb its power, which will convert itself from energy to knowledge. He'll possess knowledge of the heavens, and your fox bead will be gone. You'll die. So you need to be quick about it, and make sure that your bead returns to you."

"I see." Somi hesitates. "And do…Do the souls taste good?" She leans forward, her voice hushed. "As good as…the livers?" There's something behind her eyes that pokes at Hani in a way that she doesn't entirely enjoy. She quickly shoves aside her concern. Perhaps she is a bad influence, but it is her belief that gumiho shouldn't deprive themselves of a good male snack every once in a while.

She winks. "Better."