Chapter Text
Past
The weight of her bass in her hands was grounding and Jisu was able to use it to focus on what she was doing, she swayed from side to side, listening to the beat coming from the other instruments and she was able to play chords to match it. The heat was thick and suffocating this time of year, but when it came to busking, she was most happy outside.
Her friends were just playing around, playing whatever tune came to mind, it sounded not their best but they were really just having a good time and that’s what was most important. She played along with them to kill time before her next class, but really she was using it as a distraction, to pretend like she didn’t have to go to class. She didn’t want to have to sit still for the next hour, the anxiety that was running through her veins was enough to make her jittery.
She was running low on her medication and she knew that she would have to pester her mom if she wanted to get more, but that was already such a hassle in and of itself that she decided to try skipping a day. That was a very poor mistake and now she was feeling like she was on fast forward and everything else around her was on normal speed.
The class that she was avoiding in question was a particularly boring one. It was her religious studies class, which was by far her least favorite, but as it was a primarily christian school, they were required to attend at least one religious class. She took the chance to pop her earphones in, using her hair to hide it, settling into her seat and withdrawing her notebook.
She scribbled nonsense that flowed through her head down on the page, mostly about how badly she hated this class, but then about how bad the guy in front of her smelled. It wasn’t until the class was over that she put her notebook away and turned to leave. Her earphones cord got caught on her seat and as she stepped towards the door, her hand phone and earphones were yanked and slapped onto the floor.
The noise was loud but thankfully not many people realized where it had come from. Jisu went to retrieve her phone and was shocked to see that someone from behind had already bent down to grab it. It was a young man, her own age, thin wire frames leaning on his nose as he scooped her cellphone into his hand.
When he handed it to her, his eyes were intense but quiet all the same. His gaze trailed from her phone to her earphones to the blush on her cheeks. Her gaze trailed from his serious expression to his button down shirt (in college, really?) to the bible that he was clutching in his other hand down by his side.
“You dropped this,” he spoke, not extending her phone back out to her. Instead he lifted one of the earphones to his eardrum, lifting it close enough to hear Babymetal come blasting through the earphone.
Jisu’s blush grew more and more intense until she snatched her phone back, as well as her earphones. She glowered at him. How annoying that she got caught listening to music at school!
“You play the guitar?” he spoke again, making Jisu’s eyes shift from his face down to her phone. In the back of her phone case was a guitar pick, as well as a cute guitar sticker that her friend had given her.
“Bass,” she tucked her phone down into her pocket, stuffing her hands in shortly after.
“I see.”
She pushed past him to leave, only to be annoyed to find him close behind. He was watching her like she was a bomb on the loose, ready to explode at any time, so why he was following her she wasn’t sure. She rounded on him, her long black hair flowing out around her head as she moved swiftly.
“What do you want?”
“Excuse me,” he bowed low. “I meant no offense. My name is Jung Jaeheon.”
“Yoon Jisu,” she replied, stopping to stare as he held his hand out to shake. What was he, a 40 year old man? She thought about shaking his hand but memories came flooding back to her, the first one was the pack of cigarettes she had been puffing down just a few hours previously, her hands must still smell sour. The second memory was from just two years ago...
“I'm Haerang!” the boy grinned at her. It was the first year of university so of course everyone gets to know each other well, but Jisu was wishing it wasn’t her. She didn’t want more friends right now.
“Nice to meet you,” she grinned.
He grinned back and grabbed her hand, pulling her a little closer. “You play the bass? That's cool.”
She did not take Jaeheon’s hand, she simply kept hers low and stared at it.
“I'm sorry. Was that too hasty?” Jaeheon murmured more so to himself and he stared down at his hand, confused, before he tucked it away into his pants pocket.
“No,” she smirked, lifting her fingers to take a whiff. “My hands smell like cigarettes.”
She wasn’t lying, however that was definitely not the reason. Also you remind me of my dead boyfriend. She simply smiled politely in return, looking a bit sheepish.
“You go to the religious studies class?” he asked, sounding like he was trying to memorize as much about her as possible, like he was interviewing her or something.
“It's required.”
“Ah.”
Jaeheon shifted awkwardly, clutching his bible almost desperately. He seemed like he wanted to say something else but decided against it, so he took a step towards the staircase. “I'll uh... see you around, Jisu,” he bowed politely before disappearing down the stairs.
She watched him go, thinking to herself how odd he was, but as soon as she left she was surprised to realize she missed his presence. You’re being ridiculous, Jisu. She shook away the feeling and set off to find her friend to grab lunch.
Present Day
Living in Green Home was far from her ideal situation, but Jisu knew that when you’re out of options, you’re out of options. She was on her way to work, her bass strapped to her back. She had to hurry or she’d miss the train and she didn’t want to have to walk there, already a bit late.
The building was old and the technology was far from up to date, so she waited for the elevator, humming to herself. It always took forever to come up so she had grown accustomed to waiting, even if she had only been here for a week, she adapted quickly.
A woman’s voice humming drew her attention, she looked to see a woman pushing a stroller. There was something about her that seemed haunted, like her thoughts were very far away from here, but then she smiled at Jisu and it was hard to deny that she was pretty and seemed kind.
“I guess you just moved here?” the woman asked as she got closer to wait with her.
“Yeah, just a week ago. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself. I’m in 1510,” she gestured down the hall towards her room and then bowed low, not forgetting her manners. “Nice to meet you!”
The woman got a look of pity on her face. “Oh dear! It's okay. my sweetheart, she’s just a loud neighbor.”
A pang of guilt struck Jisu. “I'm sorry. I guess I was a little loud. I might have a lot to be sorry about in the future, though,” she confessed, knowing that her playing was by no means quiet.
“That's okay.”
Jisu got low to greet the baby. “Hello!” her heart panged again, not with guilt though, with a mixture of fear and sorrow. The stroller was empty. She felt a need to leave now, she wasn’t sure what the situation with this lady was but she wanted to get away. She didn’t want to ride down in an elevator with her. No way, no how.
When the elevator arrived, the woman got on and Jisu made an excuse about forgetting her wallet. Really convincing, Jisu . She thought to herself as the lady allowed the doors to shut, Jisu watched her eyes shift down right before they closed. She looked even sadder than before.
“What the fuck is wrong with her?” she wondered allowed, not afraid to be rude since she was alone.
Or so she thought.
“It's alright. she’s a kind person,” came a voice to the right of her. She slowly turned to look, seeing the figure of a man silhouetted by the sunlight from the window behind him. “Last year she lost her baby-” He began to explain as he approached but he stopped once he got a good look at her.
Jisu’s eyes widened as she took in his features now that the back light wasn’t so harsh. She could see him clear as day, the last person she expected to see here.
“J-Jaeheon?” she stuttered.
His expression barely changed, his eyebrows flinched upwards before he looked relaxed again. “Jisu... I didn’t know you lived here.”
“I moved in a week ago,” she scoffed, reaching out to grab onto the collar of his suit jacket. He looked so put together for some reason, so clean cut and adult like, nothing like he had when she last saw him. “What is this? You look so stuffy.”
She was laughing, however he was not. He took a step back and she dropped her hand quickly. She felt a bit sorry all of a sudden. “You look...grown.”
“As do you,” his eyes moved from her face to her tattered iguana tee and dyed hair. She did not look grown in the slightest, she knew this. He had not gotten any better at lying.
“Where are you going?” she asked, taking note of the bible in his hand.
“Church... it’s Sunday.”
That shocked her a bit. Jung Jaeheon going to church just because it was a Sunday, not because it was a holiday and his mom was forcing him to go or anything? How odd. He must have changed a lot.
“I see,” she nodded, looking down. “You look well.”
“I am.”
She pursed her lips, looking at his pressed suit. “What do you do now?”
“I'm a korean language teacher in the city,” he looked at the guitar on her back. “Are you going somewhere?”
“A gig. At a bar.”
“I see.”
“It's good money.”
“Right.”
Jesus, this is awkward . She mentally scolded herself. How embarrassing, I should’ve acted like I didn’t recognize him.
He was the first to leave the elevator, walking surprisingly quickly and bumping into a man carrying groceries on his way. She watched him go, surprised by that familiar ache that he usually left her with when he walked away first. She thought she had outgrown that.
The man with his grocery bags stepped onto the elevator and gave her a look. He had burn scars on one side of his face and the bags she could see were filled with rolls of green duct tape, he must have had some kind of project.
“Are you getting off?” he murmured, teeth gritted around a cigarette. She was surprised by how soft his voice was in comparison to his looks.
“Oh! Yeah,” she nodded, dashing out across the lobby to head for her gig.
Past
“Jisu-ssi!” that voice was familiar but she couldn’t place it. Her eyes peaked open, her hand going up to block the sun as she peered up at the face above her. Clean shaven, dark hair down over his eyes, soft eyes that were looking at her blankly.
The kid from religious studies who had caught her listening to music during class. She scrambled through her brain to try to remember his name but she drew a blank. She sat up from the grass where she was laying, annoyed that the sun had moved since she first laid down, the tree no longer providing shade.
“Hey,” she grumbled.
Bible Boy seemed to take her greeting as an invitation and he sat down on the grass next to her. “What are you doing out here?”
She scowled at him. He was chipper which bothered her but most importantly, he was nice and that was what bothered her the most. Why be nice to her? How annoying.
“I'm photosynthesizing. What are you doing?”
“I was walking.”
His eyes were unfocused as he replied and she squinted to get a better look at him. He had a slight flush to his cheeks, he wasn’t wearing his glasses and he wasn’t even wearing his usual suit. He was dressed in the university sweatshirt - she didn’t think anyone actually wore those - as well as jeans and his hair looked soft and freshly washed.
“Where to?”
“A party,” he admitted. Surprisingly honest for a kid she had met in religious studies. “I suppose I should get going before it’s too late.”
She looked down at her clothes, her own zip up hoodie, band tee and torn jeans looked a little dirty but not too far from his outfit. They almost matched, not that she’d admit it. A party sounded nice.
“Take me with you,” she grabbed his sleeve as he started to stand back up.
His eyes widened as he looked down at her, her own eyes looked so innocent and the sun made them twinkle just a bit. He huffed out a laugh, his hand subconsciously going to cover his mouth as he grinned.
“Very well. Come along,” he pushed her hand down his sleeve until they were grasping each other’s wrists. He pulled her to her feet.
The party was not what she was expecting. She figured he’d be going to some kind of frat party where all of the guys tried to impress each other, where they bragged about their parents' money and how many scholarships they’d gotten. But that was not the case. It was a beach party.
There was a bonfire already going, despite the sun not having fully set. A group of people were surrounding the fire, some of them seemed to be fairly drunk already, dancing to the slow music that was strumming from a stereo that sat in the sand not far from the group.
She followed close behind him, more out of curiosity of what kind of party a church boy would go to than anything, but also because it looked like a decently nice party. The weather was nice and everyone seemed to be having a good time. She was shocked by the change in the church boy’s stature. He had been so tense whenever she saw him on campus, but he called out to a friend and stopped to ditch his shoes in the parking lot, taking off in bare feet through the sand.
Another student his age was waving him over, shouting in delight at his arrival. Jisu saw the grins on their faces, illuminated by the light of the fire. The warmth that was radiating looked healing and she closed her eyes. You can do it, Jisu. You can meet new people, you can enjoy yourself for once.. You don’t have to be alone.
She removed her shoes, leaving them next to his and took off across the sand, wincing at how hot it was. When she got closer, her feet stinging, she heard bible kid announcing her presence.
“Everyone this is Jisu! She’s in my religious studies class.”
All of the students waved back, excited to meet someone new. She recognized a few faces, but none from her crowds. There was a few people she knew were in the theater department and a few that she vaguely recognized as living in her building, but other than that she knew no one. When she transferred here she had made a promise to get to know a wider variety of people but she had not followed through on that. She didn’t know hardly anybody.
“Hi,” she waved shyly.
The church kid’s friend nudged him, giving him a look but he politely greeted her. “I’m Yujin,” he said while bowing. “Jaeheon’s best friend.”
“As if,” Jaeheon scoffed.
Jaeheon. That was his name. She kicked herself for forgetting.
“You’re right, I’m your only friend!” Yujin smirked.
Jaeheon made a swipe for his head with his palm, before pushing past him to get to the cooler that was full of soju. He grabbed two bottles, waving jisu over. She reluctantly walked around the fire to follow him. He was treating her like they’d been friends for years, it was so strange to have someone completely comfortable around you on your second meeting.
“Here,” he gave her one of the bottles.
He was pulling a blanket out of a basket and laying it out on the sand. Apparently whoever hosted these parties came prepared, as there were enough drinks, blankets and snacks for an army. she carefully sat next to him.
“This is nice,” she nodded.
He laughed. He looked like just any other college kid, but his voice sounded so matured already, when he laughed she was reminded of those kind older monks who sounded like they knew everything in the world. “You’re just saying that.”
She frowned. “I’m not.”
“I may not know you well, Jisu, but I know what kind of person you are. You don’t find parties like this nice.”
She reached out and punched him in the arm, annoyed when he didn’t have much of a reaction. “Then tell me. What kind of person am I?”
Jaeheon took a drink of his soju, swishing it in his mouth for a second. Definitely something an old man would do. Why was he such an old soul? “A tough person. The kind who thinks these sorts of parties are annoying, the music isn’t loud enough, it’s boring, the people here aren’t ‘cool’, the sand isn’t comfortable. That’s the kind of things you would say to someone after you leave here.”
“Then why did you let me come?”
He grinned at this, he didn’t cover it this time. “Maybe I wanted to annoy you.” He took another drink.
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. He was teasing her. It had been awhile since someone had teased her. If he wanted her to be annoyed, well, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, so too bad. She laughed in response.
“No. I like this. I like these kinds of parties.”
He raised his eyebrows at her. “You’ve never been to these kinds of parties, have you?”
“No, but I haven’t been to any kind of parties, so for my first, this one is nice.”
The music that came through the stereo was karaoke selection worthy, it was the soulful music from the 1980’s that her parents would listen to. She tried not to cringe. Jaeheon seemed to be enjoying it as he took another drink and then closed his eyes and laid out on the blanket. The sun was going down which made it a bit chillier than usual. She wrapped her arms around herself.
“I’m cold,” she complained.
Jaeheon peeked through his squinted eyes at her. “Go get in the water.”
“That’s going to be colder!”
“Nut the air will feel warmer after that, won’t it?”
“Stupid,” she playfully smacked his shoulder. “Then I’d be wet and I’ll catch a cold.”
He sat up and looked at her. “Then I’ll go with you and we’ll both have a cold.”
Jisu stared at him. “You actually are stupid.” She couldn’t believe that a person like him existed. He was kind and appeared a bit stiff, but he was actually impulsive and did what he wanted to, not caring what others thought.
Jaeheon rose to his feet and stretched, drinking the rest of his soju and dropping the empty bottle at his feet. He grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt and started to lift it. Jisu immediately covered her eyes and turned away.
He was actually crazy? He was taking his clothes off right in front of her?
“Jisu-ssi,” he called her attention.
She slowly spread her fingers to get a glance at what kind of state he was in. Underneath his sweatshirt he had been wearing a t-shirt, much to her relief. It was tighter across his chest than she had been anticipating and she was surprised to see how... firm his chest looked. She blushed and looked away.
“I’m going to swim now,” he announced. “You can join if you want.”
She opened her mouth to respond but he was already running away, heading straight for the water. She watched him go, her heart pounding in her chest. Being impulsive and young was something she had forgotten how to do these past several months and she forgot how exhilarating it was.
Taking a quick drink from her soju and abandoning it in the sand, she raced after him, taking her zip up hoodie off on her way. When she reached the water she hesitated, not seeing where Jaeheon had dived in.
His head emerged from the water and his hand followed, wiping the water out of his eyes. Seeing her standing on the shoreline, he grinned and waved her in. “Go quick! It’ll lessen the shock!”
She scrunched her face up tight and plunged her whole body into the water. It was cold. No, it was freezing. Jaeheon really was insane, she decided. He needed clinical help. He needed a doctor. He should be locked up. But then she came to the surface, the weight of her wet clothes rocked her body and she fell into warm hands that were grabbing onto her shoulders.
She rubbed the water out of her face and saw Jaeheon’s face in front of her. His eyes were bright and he was laughing, that same old man laugh that she hated... except now it was the best sound she’d ever heard. He looked happy, it made her heart throb.
You don’t need to be alone anymore, Jisu . She reminded herself and pushed her way into his arms. She was shivering and despite also being in the cold water, he was warm as she leaned against him.
He happily encompassed her body in his arms, still laughing as he stood up, lifting them further up out of the water. The air was even colder and it bit at her skin, usually she would scowl, but she looked up at his face. He was watching her closely, a grin fixed on his lips.
Water droplets clung to his tan skin that almost glowed in the sunset and his wet hair was slicked back off of his face. He was looking at her with a soft expression, she didn’t want to read into it too much, but she grinned back up at him.
“You know how to smile?” he teased.
She dunked him back into the water.
When the sun had fully set and they climbed out of the water, where they had been splashing each other and playing volleyball with some of Jaeheon’s other friends, Jisu was now freezing cold. She grabbed the blanket from the sand and huddled close to the bonfire, which was even bigger and warmer than it was before.
Jaeheon was walking with his friend Yujin, both soaking wet and shivering. They came up next to her, talking about some problem Yujin was having with his class schedule. Jaeheon was listening intently - he seemed to be a good friend - and he stopped to grab another blanket from the basket. Jisu pretended not to notice how sheer his t-shirt was now that it was wet, nor how much tighter it looked clinging to his skin.
Her eyes were focused on the fire only.
Wrapped in a blanket too, Jaeheon sat next to Jisu, still listening to his friend and without looking at her, passed her another bottle of soju. She took it wordlessly, but gratefully all the same. Drinking it quickly would warm her up faster.
Yujin eventually got distracted by the person he liked coming to sit by the fire and his whole demeanor changed as he went to chat with them. Jaeheon turned his attention back to Jisu, drinking his own bottle of soju. They enjoyed each other’s company in silence.
A cool wind blew across the beach and Jisu whined, leaning into Jaeheon’s shoulder subconsciously. “Ahhh, cold,” She complained.
Jaeheon grabbed the hem of her blanket and pulled it up over her wet hair, protecting her face from the wind. He leaned back. Her heart did that same throb and she cursed herself. Why was she letting him affect her like this?
The party was dying down now, a few people were leaving because they had lectures in the morning or because they were getting a little handsy with their partner and went back to the dorms for privacy. Jisu didn’t have anything to go home early for, plus the longer she could stay here, the less time she had to spend alone.
And the more time she could spend with Jaeheon.
She shivered again and looked at him, his eyes were unfocused and his expression was softened in the fireglow. She wanted to reach out and touch his skin, see if it was as smooth and warm as it looked.
Her eyes moved from him down to the ground, where his abandoned sweatshirt was. The wind blew one more time and her mind was made up. She reached down and snatched up the sweatshirt.
“If you’re not using this,” she muttered, releasing her blanket for a moment to tug his sweatshirt over her head. As soon as it was on, she pulled her blanket tight around her shoulders again. She turned to say something else and to gauge his reaction but as soon as she met his eyes, she couldn’t say anything.
The look in his eyes was the kind of look someone had when you were completely alone with them, when you were intimate and in love and desperate. He was looking at her like they were the only people on the beach, maybe the only people in the world. She didn’t know how to react to this, so she reached out and used her knuckle to push his mouth shut.
He instantly blushed and looked away. She burst out laughing. It was probably the soju, there was no other reason for it. But then he started laughing with her, his hand covering his mouth as he did so.
Why does he do that? she wondered.
Her fingers reached out and closed around his wrist, she pulled his hand away from his mouth, uncovering his smile. Her eyes were focused on it so intently, trying to look for some kind of flaw that would cause him to cover it up. She couldn’t find one. It was perfect.
She didn’t realize her mistake until it was too late. Her mistake was staring at his lips, what made her realize was his hand twisting to catch her fingers around his wrist and lifting them to press his lips against her fingertips. Her heartbeat caught in her throat.
The silence was thick in the air and she felt like if she touched the back of her neck, her hand would get drenched in nervous sweat. She was flooded with memories of Haerang grabbing her hand, kissing her forehead, hugging her tight, pulling on her arm, all of the subtle touches that she had sworn she would never let anyone else do to her.
She pulled away from him, her eyes shifting from the fire and back to him. She stood up, grabbing her soju bottle so tight she felt it might break. She wanted to say something, anything to announce her departure. Maybe an apology even.
She couldn’t.
The sand was thick under her feet as she walked away from the fire, away from Jaeheon.
Present Day
Fuck. Monsters. There were monsters attacking the apartment building and now she was stuck with an unconscious college student, armed with a baseball bat. Sangwook - she had learned the scarred man's name was - had left them here, telling Jisu to swing first, ask questions later.
She heard a noise outside of the apartment and she looked down at the kid who was passed out. He would be fine here, she was sure of it. If she shut the door, no one would know he was in here, so he’d be able to stay out of trouble. She decided it was worth the risk.
The hallway was empty. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but she couldn’t just sit in that kid’s room and wait for the world to end. She walked slowly and swung the bat in front of her to catch the motion sensor. It must have been broken.
She squinted to try to see through the dark, but it was no use. She had to just bear it and be ready to swing, like Sangwook had instructed. As she approached the stairs, she could hear a voice muttering. at the base of the stairs, on a landing, a man stood in the corner with his head pressed against the wall.
The muttering was coming from him.
“Excuse me,” she whispered.
He didn’t respond, still murmuring as she got closer. She raised her bat to have it ready. He looked human enough from behind, but she knew she couldn’t be too careful. She managed to slip past him, on her way down the next set of stairs when she heard him stop talking and drop the bottle that was in his hand.
It clinked and rattled, coming to bounce down the stairs next to her. She flinched at the loud sound echoing down the stairway. Slowly turning to check whether he was watching her, she jumped to see him turning towards her. He was still rasping, blood starting to pour from his nose.
He groaned and tore at his clothes, the blood flowing freely down his mouth and chin and all over his chest. She grimaced and as he took a step towards her, she struck out with her bat and caught him in the side of the head. His body twisted in a circle, his head coming to slam against the wall and he collapsed to the ground.
Once he was slumped, knocked out, she was able to look at him closer. He was human. He looked human, anyways. She knocked out a human.
“Oh shit,” she gasped. She extended her bat, preparing to give him a poke, to make sure he wasn’t dead. “Hey!”
“Jisu.”
She startled and twisted quickly to look at the bottom of the stairs. Jaeheon was standing there, his crisp blue church shirt was splattered with blood and his face was too. He must have already encountered a few monsters. In his hand was a jingum sword, blood dripping from it still.
“Stay away,” he spoke calmly. “You can’t be sure it’s dead yet.”
Just as she was about to reply, she heard a squelching sound behind her, the sound of flesh tearing and transforming. Her eyes widened in fear.
“Watch out!”
She screamed and ducked, trying to evade the monster's grasp. When she opened her eyes, she found Jaeheon standing over her, his sword gripped firmly in his hand which was outstretched. Her stomach churned, she knew what she was going to find behind her, but she looked anyways, biting back the urge to vomit as she saw a grotesque looking monster with half of its head chopped clean off.
Immediately she squeezed her eyes shut again and turned to flee back down the stairs. Jaeheon was close behind her, shutting the door to that landing as they ran into the hallway. she stopped to catch her breath, trying to keep her stomach from emptying itself right now.
Jaeheon’s hand tenderly patted her shoulder. She took a deep breath and looked up at him, his face was expressionless, but there was even more blood splattered onto his face and she fought the urge to reach up and wipe it away.
He had emerged from this hallway previously, and she could tell he had been busy by the blood that was splattered on the wall and the apartment doors that were wide open. There were blood smears from where he had clearly dragged a body, one apartment door shut. She assumed he had collected the monsters he had killed in that unit, locking them in.
Exhaustion hit her and she collapsed onto the ground, crouching against the wall to catch her breath. He knelt next to her and grabbed a bloodied white t-shirt from the ground. It was clear he had been using this for the same purpose earlier, as he used the shirt to wipe the blood from his blade.
She watched him closely. “How are you able to be so calm?”
“I am extremely shocked and nervous right now,” he replied, barely seeming bothered. She had almost forgotten how insane he could be.
“That man... no-” she couldn’t call it that. “that thing. Do you think it’s dead?”
“Let's hope so.”
She bit back tears and looked ahead down the hallway. She had so many questions, she wasn’t sure where to start.
“Since when do you have a sword?” she whispered, starting off easy.
Jaeheon’s eyes shifted behind his glasses, the flickering light in the hallway was reflecting off of them and masking the emotions that hid there. “If you recall, I used to take kumdo classes.”
She thought back to that time, slowly nodding. She did recall. She had caught him and his friends practicing out on the campus grounds with large sticks. On another day, she might have smiled at the memory.
“How did you know? About the monsters?”
“My neighbor,” he gestured towards the blood smears on the floor. “I was helping her bring her groceries up when she turned.”
“Y-you killed her?” she gasped.
“No,” he sighed, his eyebrows furrowing. “I killed a monster.”
There was guilt hidden beneath all that stoicism and gentle strength and she wanted to wrap her arms around him and apologize. She hadn’t been protective over him in so long that all the years she missed out on came rushing over her at once. She wanted to catch up on the lost time. but she felt in their current situation, she wasn’t the one who could do much protecting.
With that, she grabbed her bat and swung it up and on her shoulder.
“We can't sit here,” she sighed. If Jaeheon could show a strong face right now, so could she.
He stood up and twisted his wrist, his sword swishing through the air impressively. “Let’s go.”