#y'all don't even fkn know how proud i am of this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

linderu · 4 years

Text

utakata hanabi. - ch 1/2

characters: khun, bam, rak, shibisu pairing: khunbam series: tower of god / kami no tou ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24567637/chapters/59331619

based off siu’s blog post from s2 ch298 with rak khun bam lighting sparklers. included: quite a few of my headcanons for khun’s character development/thought process throughout the series, shibisu wingmanning, and rak comprehending more than we think.

super cheesy since it’s set on the floor of tests, before bam knows michelle light is rachel. no webtoon spoilers for this chapter.

“Shibisu, what are you holding?”

“Ah, these? They’re sparklers.” Shibisu held the box up with a grin, giving it a little shake. “Have you really never seen these before? But they’re so much fun!”

“No, I haven’t.” Bam eyed the box curiously, tilting his head as he wondered what they could possibly be used for. “‘Sparklers’...? Do you eat them?”

“Huh? No!” Shibisu looked at Bam incredulously, before barking out a laugh. “Maaaaan, you really don’t know about sparklers? You’re missing out!”

“What do they do? Can you tell me?”

“...” Rather than giving Bam the information he wanted, Shibisu grinned wide, and tossed the box of sparklers his way. “Why don’t you ask Khun to show you?”

With the object of interest in his possession, Bam turned the box over in his hands carefully, examining its sides. It seemed they were sticks… that lit up? Was that it? Why would Khun be interested in something like this?

Heading off to find him, Bam didn’t notice the knowing smile Shibisu was wearing as he watched him leave.

---

“What? Sparklers?” Khun furrowed his brows. “Isu gave you them?”

“He told me to ask you how to use them… will you?”

“Ah.” Everything clicked into place at once with that small piece of information, and Khun practically deadpanned. “Isu… that bastard.”

What did he think he was doing, trying to set him up like this? Out of all the regulars that were present on the floor of tests, Khun felt Shibisu was the guy he had to watch out for the most.

He knew things about Khun no one else was aware of just from observing him. Maybe he should plan to kill him sometime.

“Is that a no…? Maybe I should go give them back.”

“Bam—wait a second.” Khun extended a hand, grabbing Bam’s shoulder just as he turned to leave. Was he really about to do this?

One look at Bam’s eyes told him everything he needed to know.

“I’ll show you, okay, Bam? So don’t give them back to Isu.” Letting go of Bam’s shoulder, he smirked. “Meet me by the exit when it gets dark out, send me a message over your pocket. But it’s our secret. Don’t tell anyone else.”

“Okay--!” Bam’s lips stretched into a wide smile, and, Khun, finding his happiness absolutely contagious, felt the corners of his lips tug too. “I can’t wait!”

If it meant he could see more of Bam when he was enjoying himself, then maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

---

From Bam: Khun, I’m here!

Khun peeked around the corner he was hiding in towards where Bam stood by the door to the “outside”. Of course, he had gotten there first (and well before Bam), but it wasn’t like he was going to let him know that.

He watched his teammate look around, presumably for him, and seemingly nervous.

Really... what an interesting guy, he thought to himself. How could someone who came into possession of the Black March before the floor of tests be so meek? He was chasing after some girl who Khun guessed didn’t want him around with such conviction despite having zero battle sense or intent to kill. What did he expect to accomplish, coming into the tower like this? Even just standing around doing nothing and Bam seemed like he was out of place.

He really couldn’t leave him alone. Every time he reassessed his goals, Khun found himself sinking more and more into this idea that he just had to climb the tower with him.

“Yo, Bam.” Coming out of his hiding spot, Khun rounded the corner, a hand held up in greeting as he smirked.

“Khun!” Bam’s face lit up in a bright grin, and Khun’s own expression softened at the sight.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No, not at all!”

“That’s good to hear.” Walking over to Bam, he gently grabbed his wrist and gave it a tug. “Let’s go.”

“EHEM.”

Khun stopped in his tracks and scowled, the door to the outside partially held open with his foot. Of course this guy just had to get in his way...

“Where do you turtles think you’re going without your leader?!”

“Rak?!” Bam stared at Rak, eyes wide with surprise, while Khun just palmed his face with his free hand, exasperated.

“You stupid crocodile!” Khun snapped at the third of their ‘trio’, rounding on him with what was almost a pout. “What are you doing here? Go to sleep!”

“I saw the black turtle go somewhere suspicious. As I thought, you’re trying to do something without me! I’m coming too!”

“Ugh. And who said you could join in, huh?!”

“Khun, why don’t we let him come…?” Khun glanced back towards Bam, who was looking at him with almost pleading eyes.

“Bam…”

The two exchanged a look—Bam, silently conveying his intent on including their friend, and Khun, who already knew what he had to do, but didn’t want to do it.

In the end, he just couldn’t say no.

“Fine.” Khun sighed, wondering if Rak’s interference was planned by Shibisu, too.

---

“Ready, Bam? You light them like this.” Khun clicked his lighter and brought the flame towards the end of the stick. Sparks flew everywhere, a couple even tickling his arm, and through the muted light of the firework, Khun could tell right away that Bam was captivated by the sight.

“Wow…! It’s like there’s stars coming from it!” He exclaimed giddily, watching the sparkler slowly burn. “But, doesn’t it hurt you? It seems like some of the flames are touching your arm, Khun.”

“Oh, that? I guess you can feel it a little bit, but not by much.” Khun glanced around for Rak idly, wanting to pass the sparkler off so he could light a new one for Bam to hold. “Hey, you crocodile. Want to hold it? You can have the first one, since you’re the leader.”

“Of course I am!” Rak snatched the sparkler up in an instant, and started waving it around wildly. “What is this thing, blue turtle?! It’s on fire!”

“You’re going to break your arm swinging it around like that. Cut it out.” Khun ignored Rak’s question, opting to let the lizard figure it out for himself.

“It looks so pretty when you wave it, though…” Bam murmured, watching the trail the sparkler left as it soared through the air. Rather than watching the sparkler, too, Khun was gazing at Bam’s expression.

“Bam. Do you want to try?” Khun held out a sparkler with a grin.

“Ah, okay! Yes!”

“You hold it like this. It’s the end that won’t burn, okay? When the sparkler is done, it’ll stop up here.” As he explained, Khun placed the stick into Bam’s hands accordingly, and pointed out the bottom of the actual ‘firework’ part. “I’m going to light it now.”

With a click of his lighter, Bam’s face was lit up by the soft glow of his own glittering flames. Now that he was the one holding the firework, Khun watched the sparkles dancing in the reflection in his eyes.

“You were right, Khun! It doesn’t hurt at all.” Bam stared at the sparkler in his hands with glee.

“Try waving it, Bam.”

Flicking his wrist, he swirled the sparkler around in the air in tiny circles, laughing at the sight. Khun couldn’t help but chuckle along with him.

“Fun, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is! It’s almost like…” Bam’s expression softened, and he looked up to the ‘night’ sky, his smile becoming slightly forlorn. “Like stars…”

Khun watched him silently for a minute, taking in the shift in his mood. He was well aware of who was on Bam’s mind when he became like this. Rather than asking about it, he held his tongue, and also directed his gaze to the fake sky.

The breeze tickled his hair lightly, and for a while, the only sounds there were came from the background noise which always accompanied the tower, and the quiet sizzling of the sparklers. Even Rak was silent, watching the last of his sparkler burn out a little ways away from the two.

“... The lights of the tower are pretty, though.” Khun said simply, crossing his arms. “They’re a lot like stars, in some ways… or so I hear.”

“Rachel knows they’re not the same. I wonder what they look like, for her to want to see them so badly.”

“Who knows. That’s only a question she can answer.” Khun turned back to him, his face solemn. “I wouldn’t think too hard about it, Bam. You’re on separate paths right now.”

“... I want to find her. And catch up to her so I can climb the tower with her.”

“Even though she threw you away?” Khun murmured. How could he have so much devotion for a girl who chose the tower over him, and didn’t even bring him along when he wanted to stay by her side?

He’d never had that much loyalty for anyone in his life.

“She must have her reasons.” Bam insisted. “I won’t know until I find her and ask.”

“Hmmm…” Khun hummed, his eyes narrowing in thought. It was strange, he realized. Through being around Bam, he felt like he was exposed to a much wider range of emotions than he was used to. Normally he just went through the motions day to day, not really striving towards anything except achieving his greater, long-term goals with his usual underhanded ways. With Bam, though…

At this moment, he felt envious. Concerned. Eager. Curious. Khun both wanted what Bam had, while not wanting it whatsoever. The ability to follow your heart no matter what life threw at you… it was such a rare and precious trait, especially when it came to the types of people who tested their fate by climbing the tower.

Why couldn’t he be that way, too? What would have changed if he had that same outlook in the past?

And yet, he was also worried about Bam’s loyalty coming full circle to burn himself in the end. Khun was disowned from his family in a similar way. The notion of the same thing happening to Bam, someone who was so selfishly selfless, didn’t make him feel good at all.

He had too many questions. About Bam, about this tower, about his family, about himself —maybe if he followed this guy for just a bit longer, he might figure something out for once.

“—Khun?”

Khun blinked, glancing over to Bam—except, it was too dark to see him. The sparklers had long sizzled out, and he had been so wrapped in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed.

Crap. He really was acting strange lately.

“Shouldn’t we head inside? It’s getting late.” Bam suggested, glancing back in the direction of their rooms.

“Yeah… where’s—” Khun, in the middle of asking where Rak was, peered around in the dark and caught the crocodile’s eyes. He cut himself off, watching Rak warily—though it was difficult to see without much light, the look he was being given coupled with the lizard’s unusual silence gave him a bad feeling.

“What are you looking at, crocodile…?”

“Hmph.” Rak merely huffed, before starting off ahead of them towards their dorms. “You still have a long way to go, blue turtle.”

“Huh—?! Why you—!” As he was about to storm after Rak, Khun paused when he felt a light tug on his sleeve. He threw a glance back to the source, his tension easing as Bam came into view.

“Thanks for showing me the sparklers, Khun. I had a lot of fun.” Bam smiled innocently, and a dangerous line of thought seeded into Khun’s mind—which he attempted to shut down immediately. (Was this how Bam looked at Rachel? At the one person in his life he cared so much for?)

“Bam…”

“I hope we can do it again sometime! I’m glad that we became teammates, Khun.” With a final flash of his grin, Bam trailed off after the crocodile, leaving Khun staring dumbly at his retreating back in the dark.

This guy—no. That was wrong, to refer to him in such an impersonal way. At this point, Bam meant too much to him for Khun to keep treating him like he wasn’t involved in his life. Bam was either going to become Khun’s demise, or a brand new beginning.

Either way, he looked forward to watching it all unfold. He was too curious.

#khunbam #tower of god #khunbaam #kami no tou #tog #drabbles #y'all don't even fkn know how proud i am of this #though that normally means it won't be as popular #but that's fine with me i wrote it for myself #vfdjbnjkgdsbngdjkb i am so emotional over these two and especially khun

18 notes · View notes