Page 153 of Godless Saints

The jet climbed smoothly into the sky. Thirteen hours to Seoul. Moon eventually fell asleep against my shoulder. I kept my hand on his thigh the whole flight, thumb brushing slow circles. Mine. Even thirty thousand feet up.

We landed at a private terminal outside Seoul as the sun was coming up. The air hit differently the second we stepped off the jet—warmer, thick with humidity, faint pine and city exhaust. Moon’s home turf.

A black car waited on the tarmac. The driver loaded our bags. Moon stayed quiet the whole ride into the city, fingers tapping restlessly on his knee. I didn’t push. He was already bracing himself for his family.

The car finally slowed at a set of tall black gates. They opened onto a sprawling mansion set back on manicured grounds—sleek modern lines mixed with traditional Korean architecture.

Moon stared out the window, jaw tight.

“You good?” I asked.

He let out a shaky breath that almost passed for a laugh. “Not even close.” His gaze stayed fixed on the mansion. “But I have to do this. For me. For you. For us.”

I reached over and squeezed the back of his neck once. “Then lean on me until you don’t have to.”

CHAPTER 37

MOON

Nerves sat like lead in my stomach the entire flight. They still hadn’t eased. Cillian’s hand landed on my shoulder as the car rolled through the gates.

“You’re doing it again.”

I glanced at him. “Doing what?”

“Thinking too loud.” He gave me a small shake. “Relax. I already met your father. He likes me.”

I let my head tip toward him. “The last time I spoke to him, he was still trying to talk me out of this.”

Cillian pushed me playfully. “Stop overthinking, self-destructive boy.”

He was trying. The suit. The haircut. Though I preferred it messy and product-free, the way it matched the chaos underneath. He’d stayed quiet the whole trip instead of filling the silence with jokes, showing up polished for my mother and sister like it actually mattered. And here I was, still calculating the exact cost in my father’s eyes. Still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The car slowed. The mansion came into view exactly as I remembered it—dark tiled roofs, warm light spilling from the windows, cobblestone courtyard under an overcast sky. I hadn’t been back in years. We stepped out.

“Hyung-ah!” Yuna came flying down the stairs and hit the gravel at full speed. She launched herself at me.

I staggered back a step, arms locking around her on instinct.

“I missed you,” she mumbled into my shoulder.

“I missed you too, menace.” I set her down.

She barely let go before her eyes slid past me to Cillian. She lit up.

“You’re even cuter in person. You’re everywhere on social media.”

“Don’t call him cute,” I said immediately.

She ignored me completely. Went straight for him, wrapping her arms around his middle like they were old friends. Cillian blinked, then laughed and hugged her back.

She pulled away just enough to beam up at him. “Can I take a picture with you? Please?”

I reached for her phone. “Yuna, no—”

“Sure,” Cillian said, cutting me off. He was already smiling for her. “I don’t mind.”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “See? He’s nicer than you.”