Hwanin gives him a look so withering that Kisa can finally see the family resemblance between him and his brother.

Seokga brushes crushed glass off his suit and fixes his hair moments before Somi—yelling something unintelligible—launches herself toward him. Thus ensues another fight, one in which the two circle each other, utter hatred on both their faces.

Kisa frowns, watching the pair. Clearly, they know and loathe each other. But how?

“I don’t care if it’s a family matter,” Korain snaps, attempting to shove past Hwanin. The emperor doesn’t budge. “You’re disrupting the party, you’re abusing the cutlery—” Indeed, Somi has swiped a fork from a nearby server and is trying to stab Seokga with it. Kisa can’t stop her mouth from dropping open in growing alarm. Really. Forks are not meant to be used as weapons. “—and if you don’t get control of them, our reincarnations will be set back by years! We’ll be held liable for this—”

The words send a flare of acute anger through Kisa as the haetae reminds her of what, exactly, is at stake. Korain is completely right. Yeomra will hold the crew responsible for this utter fiasco. Well, she thinks firmly, if Korain can’t get past the glaring emperor, she can. Korain is distracted and won’t pull her back this time.

Determinedly, Kisa marches toward Seokga, inserts herself between him and Somi (narrowly dodging the fork), and stretches her arms out between them. “Stop this!” she demands.

Somi pants, narrowing her eyes at Kisa, a ball of energy. “If you don’t move out of my way, I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Seokga snarls. “Betray her again? Sell her out to an insane demon?”

Bewilderment replaces indignation. Kisa falters, glancing back at Seokga’s snarling face before returning to Somi, who blinks rapidly. Brain aching, she shakes her head.

“I only met her this morning,” Kisa says—rather stupidly, she thinks a moment later as she realizes what Seokga is implying. She stares at Somi, who’s still stricken. Did they know each other? In her past life, as an ATM-stealing woman? Is Seokga referencing Eodum, the demon who instigated the 1992 Dark Days? How very, extremely interesting…

“Look at her eyes,” Seokga spits to Somi, yanking Kisa out of her musings. A hush has fallen over the greenhouse. “They’re the same, aren’t they?”

To Kisa’s bewilderment, Somi is the one who is trembling as she meets Kisa’s curious, wine-brown stare. “Hwanin’s tits,” Somi whispers, and takes a step backward. The same expression from this morning in the sick bay—confusion and disbelieving recognition—flashes across her face again. She suddenly looks very young and very uncertain. “H-Hani?”

Kisa blinks. Hani. Yes—that was the name of the gumiho, the one that still makes headlines in Godly Gossip. The Lonely God Continues Search for Kim Hani! and Seokga Concusses Hani-Imposter: You Can’t Out-Trick the Trickster!