CHAPTER 107: MOVIE TIME

By the time they were at the cinema, it was obviously already evening.

This was, at least, something she had control over so she went ahead while Hades trailed behind her with the air of a bodyguard who hated his job.

"I’ll handle this," Alice said as they approached the ticket counter, determined not to let him bulldoze this one too. She didn’t even wait for his reaction as she picked the movie—horror, of course—and bought their tickets.

He didn’t protest. He didn’t comment. He just stood there.

He didn’t even use his phone. He was just... there.

She moved to the concessions next, ordering the largest bucket of popcorn, a drink, and a small candy bar for herself.

Her wallet was empty now. Hahaha.

He made no move to pick anything. She didn’t ask him either. Since he was too refined for dirty snacks, she thought, remembering the pastry incident.

Also, why else would there be a big sized popcorn bowl if it wasn’t meant to be shared?

The theater was modestly full, the atmosphere buzzing with a low undercurrent of anticipation. Couples sat together in pairs, some tucked into each other like they owned the world, others already whispering into the dark. There was even a family of five with two teenage kids.

Alice led Hades up to the very back row, the last seats at the top, which was surprisingly empty considering how she always thought couples liked to... well... go there.

The vantage point was perfect for both viewing and staying unnoticed. She took the seat by the wall, sinking into the soft cushion, and he settled beside her, long legs stretching out with a restless grace.

Then it occurred to her.

He could have sat down anywhere. Yet...

The movie began.

It was about a family who moved back to a remote rural town for a funeral. The main character had travelled down there with her family for her mother’s burial.

Unsettling signs quickly surfaced, hinting her late mother had belonged to a secretive cult. The family soon learned that before her death, she had failed to fulfill her obligation to sacrifice one of her descendants. Now the cult wanted blood.

They had been the ones to send the invitation to her.

Alice was hooked.

She had come here with a mission: subtly seduce, subtly gain trust, subtly nudge Hades’s heart toward her favor. But the movie was so good she completely forgot herself. She was perched forward in her seat, one hand casually tossing popcorn into her mouth even during the scariest parts. Where other viewers jumped or clutched their partners, Alice’s eyes were fixed on the screen, unflinching, devouring every detail.

Hades noticed.

He leaned back in his seat, his posture deceptively relaxed, but his gaze wasn’t on the movie. It was on her.

Her lips parted slightly as she watched, her brow furrowed in concentration, the screenlight casting a soft glow on her face. She looked alive. Entirely unguarded. The occasional crunch of popcorn was the only sound she made, her hand dipping into the bucket with the practiced rhythm of someone who’d done this a hundred times.

She didn’t even notice.

A loud shriek tore through the theater as a character on screen discovered a bloodied handprint smeared across a wall. Several people gasped. Alice didn’t flinch. She just popped another kernel into her mouth and muttered under her breath, "Amateurs."

But when one of the younger characters, the main character’s son, and the obvious horror movie fool moved toward a door in the dead of night to investigate a strange noise, Alice suddenly leaned back into her seat, exasperated.

"This," she whispered fiercely, jabbing a finger at the screen, "is why Northerns are better."

She was quietly ranting, animated, entirely caught up in the story. "Who the hell opens a door at night to check who’s outside? He deserves whatever’s coming. What... why is he reaching for the handle? Idiot! I can’t—"

She turned to Hades mid-rant, ready to pull him into her commentary.

And... froze.

He was staring at her.

Not just looking—staring. His eyes were fixed on her like she was the movie, like she was the only thing in the room. The ambient light from the screen made his gaze seem sharper, impossibly deep, and for a brief, disorienting moment, she forgot how to breathe.

What the hell?

She felt heat crawl up her neck. She turned back to the movie, suddenly hyperaware of their proximity. Hyperaware of the way his arm brushed hers when he shifted slightly, of the warm, quiet presence he carried like a mantle.

She shoved more popcorn in her mouth, determined to ignore it.

But the awareness didn’t fade.

Intact, it started suffocating her.

At first, it was subtle: the weight of his presence beside her, the way his shoulders shifted when he breathed, the ghost of heat radiating from his body that she felt through her sleeve. It was ridiculous. This was Hades. He wasn’t even trying. He was just sitting there, expression flat, eyes fixed on the screen now as if he was watching a security feed instead of a movie.

But she noticed everything.

Who was seducing whom?

Alice swallowed and tried to remember why she had come.

She had to take the chance.

She needed him to feel. And if she was going to pull this off, she couldn’t just sit here crunching popcorn like a gremlin.

She needed to act.

The next time a scream ripped through the theater, she seized her chance. She flinched deliberately and leaned slightly closer to him. Not a full lean, not yet. Just a subtle shift, like her body had moved of its own accord.

Hades didn’t move.

She risked a glance. His eyes were still on the screen, but there was something in the angle of his jaw, the slight twitch of his fingers on his knee, that made her pulse quicken.

Okay. Step one.

But she was still not confident. Every instinct screamed at her to retreat, to remember that this man could break her without blinking. Yet... she forced herself to stay.

Another scene. The cult was surrounding the family’s farmhouse now, chanting. The camera cut sharply to a figure at the window, a grotesque face looming out of the dark. Someone screamed in the theater.

Still, he didn’t react.

She needed to do something bolder.

Her fingers dipped into the popcorn bucket, heart hammering in her chest. She plucked a single kernel and, with a deep inhale that was supposed to give her courage, lifted it slowly toward his face.

She didn’t look at him at first, focusing on the screen like this was completely casual.

But when the popcorn touched his lips, he blinked.

Slowly.

And turned to look at her.

Alice’s pulse skyrocketed. Her hand was trembling, but she held it steady, praying he wouldn’t break her wrist for daring this much. She didn’t even know what she’d say if he asked her what the hell she was doing.

But...

His lips parted.

Her eyes widened as he leaned slightly forward, his gaze locked on hers.

His teeth closed lightly over the popcorn, catching it, but then... his lips went deeper. She felt the warm brush of his mouth on her fingers as he took it fully, his teeth grazing her skin with an unhurried precision that made every nerve in her hand jolt awake.

She was STUPEFIED!

Her breath caught somewhere in her throat. He had been watching her the whole time, and now, even after the popcorn was gone, his lips lingered a beat too long against her fingers, as though he could read every erratic thought blazing through her mind.

Alice’s heart was slamming so loudly it drowned out the movie. Her entire body screamed at her to pull back. Abort mission!

But she was frozen.

Then, the movie hit them with a perfectly timed jump scare, a grotesque figure lunging out of the dark with a piercing screech. The entire theater flinched, a collective gasp filling the room.

Alice flinched too, snapping out of her haze. It was as if she had been caught.

And before her brain could catch up, her hand, still hovering dangerously close to his face, reacted on instinct.

She slapped him.

A sharp crack echoed softly between them in the dim theater.

Hades’s head jerked slightly to the side.

Alice froze, horror flooding her veins.

Oh. My. God.

She had slapped Hades Wildfire.

"I—" Her voice cracked. "Reflex."

Hades turned back slowly, his eyes blacker than the theater’s shadows.

"Funny," he murmured. "Mine too."

Before she could react, his hand shot out.

It clamped gently but firmly on her nape.

He pulled her close, their noses practically rubbing. They were so close she even heard him swallow what she knew was the piece of popcorn.

Her mind was everywhere. This was insane.

Was he... was he going to...

"Pervert," he said simply, his voice a low, amused rumble, before letting go of her just as abruptly.