...okay.

"Can we get out of here and pretend that fucking guy doesn't exist."

Blink blink.

It - would be more strategically smart to in fact immediately try to figure out how to respond to, apparently, Kang Jaeha fucking dropping the assassin off, and how that has probably absolutely ruined the entire trail for how he was definitely the fucker who hired them, and -

- but yeah, she doesn't want to deal with it right now, either.

"Yeah," she agrees, nodding and. Trying not to cry.

Okay. Cool. Good. He takes her hand and they teleport.

It's night, where they arrive, and far away from city lights, so it will take a moment for her eyes to get accustomed to the darkness. Once they do, though, she will find herself on a plateau overlooking very, very extensive canyons. The view is...

...grand.

Tae-gun isn't going to wait for that, though; as soon as they arrive he's hugging her.

Oh. Good. Hugs.

... Sniffle.

"He's such a dick," she mumbles into his shoulder, even though Tae-gun said he wants to pretend he doesn't exist, and Hye-jin does too, just. Just. What a dick. What an entitled dick, even!!

Yeah. "Fuck him. Fuck him very much. I don't—Hye-jin-ah, I don't want him to ruin this for us. I want to—I want you to look at the sky, for me."

"I - yeah." Sniffle. "Give me like a minute or two to stop crying so I can see it properly, I'd be ruining it if I looked now. Um. And - thanks?"

"...yeah." He can keep hugging her and petting her soothingly and—that's also soothing him, honestly, he's not feeling like crying but he's feeling angry and he doesn't want to feel angry, he wants to feel in love. Hugging her close, feeling her warmth against his body. That's what he wants to feel right now. "You're my top priority. Not him."

"Saying sweet things like that isn't helping!!!" she giggle-sobs, because. Because. Being told that she's his top priority makes her want to cry more, not less.

Okay, well, so long as she's crying for a good reason rather than that fucking guy. He can handle that.

Yeah.

It doesn't take her too long to stop, though the first thing she looks at is his face instead of the sky.

...okay that's really flattering and is also making him blush again.

"H-hi," he says, which is approximately the dumbest possible thing he could say right now.

"Hi," she says, then she kisses him. Not a long kiss, just a gentle peck. To let him know that she cares. "What do you think, do my eyes look clear enough to properly take in the view?"

"...yeah."

Okay. Then - she'll look around, and see what kind of vista he's brought her to.

It's the Grand Canyon, in the United States.

It's the Grand Canyon at night, with no sun and no light pollution.

The moonlight lets her see her surroundings, and the sky is filled with stars.

It's a lovely and clear night, chilly though it is. There isn't a cloud in the sky, and they're far away from any lights that might disturb the view. It's gorgeous.

"Wow," she murmurs, staring up in wonder.

See, that was the reaction he wanted her to have immediately, rather than that fucking guy ruining it. But it's fine. He's fine. They're fine. Ha Si-yeon is dealing with it and he can actually just follow through on his promise to forget about it and focus on her.

He pulls away from the hug and takes her hand again. "I came here once to help with an S-rank that had been hiding for a long time," he says, rubbing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "And I never really got the opportunity," or had the willingness, "to come back and appreciate it without work hanging over my head. This is the first time."

"Really? I - guess it is a bit of an expense, isn't it," a frigid breeze whips past her dress and she lets out a snort, "and a little chilly, but." She leans into him and grins, then warms the air around them. "Funny thing, having you here makes it easier to keep us warm. Thank you for bringing me."

Honestly it had completely failed to occur to him that Hye-jin's dress was inappropriate for this weather, he had been too busy ogling her it is perfectly allowed for him to feel and express attraction for his arguably-girlfriend.

"I want to go more places with you. Make memories. Memories that aren't just dungeons. ...not that doing dungeons with you isn't, isn't fun or, I mean, you know what I mean. I want you to be in my life."

Giggle.

"Yeah. I - want you in my life, too. Even if all dungeons closed tomorrow and I were forced to boil water for my salary."

"...I had a thing I wanted to say and I'm not sure I'll remember it all but I don't want to just read from my notes, but—is it okay if I try?"

"Yeah. Though - honestly I - would also be fine if you read it from your notes, it's. Sweet to think that you put that much thought into this?"

Tae-gun nods but decides to not read them anyway. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then looks into her eyes. "I love you. You saved me from myself, and I, I hate being a story trope like this. I hate that I needed saving, and I hate that, that this, this maps so neatly to, to stupid romance stories. I love you. I think you're amazing. I love you for who you are, I want you to be the best you can be, I want you to be happy, and—you want me to be the best I can be, you want me to be happy, and you mean it, and, and you helped me get my friends back, and you helped me—have a life again. And I want to share that life with you." He stops as he realises what that sounded like, then stammers, "I, I'm not, like, proposing or anything," yet, "I mean, I just mean that I want to stay with you. But—if you ever want to leave—I don't—but if you—I just mean to—I'm bad at this." He definitely forgot how the rest of it went.

Another deep breath, then he continues. "I mean to say that I'm, I'm okay now. Or, not okay, not totally, but I'll, I'll live. I'm not gonna die anymore, I don't need saving or rescuing anymore. It's, you helped me get here. And I love you. And I want you to be with me if you like me, and not be with me if you don't, and not think about—about how I might self-destruct through backlash or neglect or anything like that. Because I'm okay now.

"So—what I mean is—do you want to date me? Officially, I mean."