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Hanbin’s convinced there’s something like karma. Case in point: the bad karma of having a mandatory eight AM class is counteracted by the good karma of getting to see Hao every single time.
He droops into his Statistics 400 class running on exactly three hours of sleep and the Big Gulp filled with iced americano and three additional shots he is desperately clutching in his hands. His hair looks and feels greasy, and he’s sure his eyebags are visible from the other side of the class, but at least he managed to grab his laptop and student ID before leaving his dorm. And he managed to catch the little boy group gang that has been robbing convenience stores on the other side of the river and deliver them to the local police precinct to be dealt with. All in a day’s—or night’s, technically—work.
Two rows ahead, Hao looks absolutely angelic. Hanbin has a hard time peeling his eyes away from the boy who is ducking his head together with one of his friends, his cheekbones scrunched up in joy as he laughs. Today, he wears a thin, pink sweater that charmingly flashes the tops of his collarbones when he tips his head back. Hanbin wonders how it would feel like to—
“You’re staring,” Matthew says flatly, dropping himself down in the chair next to Hanbin’s. “Also, your pencil is floating.”
Ears burning, Hanbin slaps his hand on top of the levitating utensil, head whirling around wildly as he tries to figure out if anyone saw him. Luckily enough, students typically don’t tend to function well at eight in the morning, so all he spies are slumped figures, some with their hood drawn up to block out the light. Muted sounds of the other students shuffling fills the room.
“Loverboy again?” asks Matthew, pointedly raising his eyebrows at Hanbin.
“Shut up!” Hanbin says, his voice a hiss. He still can’t force the flush away from his face and the back of his neck, and he hopes he doesn’t look too idiotic. “And you know his name is Hao.”
The reason they know that his name is Hao is because he’s probably the smartest person in the room, maybe even smarter than every student combined. He often replies when the teacher throws a question into the room, and when he does so, his answers are always correct. That’s how Hanbin learned his name—because the teacher always looks so relieved when someone interacts with him, and he’ll say, thank you Hao or I knew I could count on you, Hao.
Hao. Not to be a simp, but Hanbin thinks the name suits him. The boy indeed is like a clear summer sky, vast and boundless. His skin is pale and dotted with the sweetest moles on his face and his deep brown eyes are framed by attractive, long lashes. Hanbin wishes he could touch his small hands with his own or cup his rounded cheeks.
But that is impossible. This is something Hanbin has made peace with a while ago.
Before the teacher shuffles into the room, Hao turns around briefly and smiles at him. Hanbin doesn’t expect it—this brief moment of contact that Hao sought out specifically with him—so all he manages is a baffled and unattractive gape. Then the teacher clears his throat right into the microphone, startling about half of the dozing students, and Hao turns around again.
The moment passes.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Here’s the thing—
Ever since he was young, Hanbin has been different from his peers. There was no defining moment he could pin down as the moment he diverged; he was not bitten by a radioactive spider nor was he given a ring from a dying alien. His parents didn’t die tragically in an alley either. Ever since he can remember, he has been able to make objects levitate. Telekinesis is what it is called—the ability that allows an individual to influence an object without actually interacting with it physically. Apparently, when he was just a toddler, he used to make his stuffies float around his crib. Hanbin has just always been able to do it.
He went to a tiny primary, middle, and high school back in Cheonan when he was younger, where the same fourteen classmates shuffled through the grades together. His parents would always nervously hover in the background with their, don’t tell anyone, Hanbin and Hanbin-ah, remember to focus and not make anything levitate. They feared Hanbin standing out, of getting swallowed up by the corporations that train powerful people up into superheroes. Once he was close to finishing high school, though, he was getting sick of their protective,suffocating love. He needed to fly the nest and figure out who Sung Hanbin actually was. Without all the embellishments.
That’s how he ended up applying for and getting accepted into Yonsei University. That’s how he ended up packing his life up in four cardboard moving boxes and his panda-shaped backpack. That’s how he—indirectly—tumbled into the whole Nova persona.
Hanbin stopped a girl from getting robbed once and now he’s one of Seoul’s most prolific heroes.
He hadn’t meant to. The truth is that he wasn’t even supposed to be there; he happened to be at the convenience store to get a midnight snack of a tuna triangle kimbap. He’d stumbled over a girl getting cornered by a man in an alleyway. The man had been threatening her with a knife, demanding she hand over her wallet and phone. Before Hanbin knew it, he’d levitated the weapon out of the man’s hand and tossed it somewhere away. In the momentary shock that had frozen the assailant, the girl managed to get away, and Hanbin managed to flee. And he got lucky, so lucky. Because of how dark it was, neither the girl nor her assailant had seen his face. The girl had reported to the authorities and the local newspaper that she’d been saved by a man with supernatural powers.
Hanbin had felt the rush of saving the girl and the incident had received enough media coverage. Soon enough, whispered rumours of a new superhero followed him along crowded streets and university corridors and Hanbin couldn't help but ponder, what if I continue doing this?
What if I could be something more?
And that’s how Nova was born: named by the public after the way his hands glow when he uses his full power, and the starlight pattern he’d sewed onto the first spandex suit he whipped up to hide his identity. Though he’s not part of the superhero Corporation, he’s well-known and loved by Seoul’s inhabitants.
No one had managed to figure out that it’s Hanbin. No one until Matthew, that is, who is the only person Hanbin allowed himself to get close to—in part because Matthew is determined like a sticky little octopus and had glued himself to Hanbin’s side with absolutely zero intention to let go. But the problem with Matthew getting close is that sees how Hanbin is always a bit tired, always a bit distracted, and worked out perhaps a bit too much. He’d even sat Hanbin down intervention style after he’d fallen asleep one too many times in class.
Hanbin had just flopped out, actually I’m Nova. You know, the superhero. And he’d done awkward little jazz hands, totally terrified.
Matthew had succinctly said, what the fuck! and after some thought added, well actually it makes sense , and that had been that. Hanbin had been terrified of telling anyone, but if someone had to know, Matthew had been the right call. He’d take Hanbin’s secret to the grave, if he had to. And Matthew had proved to be useful to Hanbin’s operations as Nova too. He was just smart enough with technology that he’d managed to hack one of the police scanners from a precinct nearby university so that Hanbin always knew if something was happening.
And that’s how Nova was born and sustained. Hanbin got to do his thing, Matthew got to do his thing (freak out whenever Hanbin went out), and all of Seoul is safer and better off. It is perfect. It is exactly how Hanbin wants it to be. It is how it should always stay.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Back to the present, to Hanbin’s most loved and hated class, Stats 400. The teacher drones into the microphone, forcing Hanbin’s attention to the front again. But the problem is, the teacher’s voice is boring, with exactly zero tonal and volume fluctuation, and combined with the little amount of hours of sleep he’d gotten, it actually lulls Hanbin into a light doze . . .
Matthew nudges Hanbin with his sharp and pointy elbow, immediately snapping him back to full awareness, and rolls his eyes at the sharp look Hanbin casts at him. “Listen. This is important.”
“A partner project,” the teacher announces, smirking when muffled groans echo around the class. “In groups of two and one group of three, according to the class register. Before you start clamouring, I have already assigned the partners, and there’s no option to change.” He raises his hands. “That is final. Now, if you’ll please pay attention to the front again, I’ll read out the list of names.”
Great. Hanbin is aware of his reputation as the loner of campus and he kind of likes that, even if he came to Seoul to make friends. People are probably not lining up to be on a team with him, but being Nova has become more important than all of his earlier plans.
“Matthew,” mumbles Hanbin, crossing his fingers below the table. “Please let it be Matthew.”
At least the chance that Hanbin will be paired up with Hao is only about one out of fourty, or something. That is such a small possibility, Hanbin needn’t even consider it, right? Right? But as more and more names are being called out, the chances of it not happening slims down.
“Zhang Hao,” says the teacher, sounding almost smug. “And Sung Hanbin.”
With a groan, Hanbin closes his eyes and puts his head back. Just his luck.
After class, Hanbin hesitantly shuffles to the front, nudged forward by Matthew’s insistent knuckle punch. Which, rude. Wounded, Hanbin rubs his arm and makes his way over to where Hao is standing with his friend. When Hanbin draws closer, the friend nods at Hao once and leaves, a small smile on his face. It means that it is just the two of them when Hanbin gathers his courage to ask Hao for his number so that they can talk about their project.
“Hanbin,” says Hao, grinning pleasantly at him. He tilts his head. “You’re Hanbin, right?”
All Hanbin can do is nod, mouth dry, trying not to wonder how Hao even knows his name. Up close like this, Hanbin is nearly knocked off his feet by how pretty Hao is. He is all flawless skin and a thin waist, and he is slightly taller than Hanbin but smaller than him everywhere else. For the first time in his entire life, perhaps, Hanbin wishes that he was a normal student. Maybe then he could’ve asked Hao out.
For now, he just programs Hao’s KakaoTalk ID in his phone and promises that he’ll text Hao his availability for the upcoming days. And he tries not to hurt from the longing, the wanting . What a joke.
Sung Hanbin. To Seoul, he’s: Nova, superhero. And to Hao: nothing.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
“How about the influence of superhero involvement on crime rates?” asks Hao innocently, causing Hanbin to inhale the coffee he’d been gulping down. He hacks as he tries to catch his breath, eyes watering. When he finishes, he looks up at Hao and tries not to stare too accusingly, because he obviously doesn’t know why Hanbin’s reacting the way he is. Hao just glances back, wide-eyed and concerned.
Hao chose their meeting spot today, a cafe on campus which is all cute decor and sweet desserts. Hanbin doesn’t know enough about the available options of cafes to refuse him or make a better offer, but he doesn’t mind it when he gets to see Hao in his pale white sweater against the baby pink painted wall behind him.
Obviously, they’re discussing ideas for their Statistics project. Hanbin had only wandered the streets of Seoul for a few hours last night, desperate to get to his meetup with Hao marginally rested, so that he could add something to the conversation.
“Are you okay?” Hao asks, all softly.
Hanbin waves his hand at him. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” he says, even if his voice croaks awkwardly. He gestures at Hao. “You were saying . . .?”
“Right.” Hao perks up, a sparkle appearing in his eyes. “I’m just saying that we could do something about supers for our project. I know Seoul doesn’t have as many as Tokyo, for instance, or the United States, but I still think they’re pretty cool.” His smile goes a little bashful. “Like Nova, for instance.”
Sceptically, Hanbin raises one eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re a fan of Nova, Hao-ssi.”
Hao’s cheeks redden so quickly Hanbin worries whether the other is having a stroke, or something. “I just.” He huffs, slightly defensive. “Nova helped one of my dongsaengs before, and I can’t repay him for that, I don’t think. But since then, I’ve been interested in him, I guess.”
“That’s sweet,” says Hanbin, slightly amused.
“You aren’t a fan, then?” Hao asks, tilting his head to the side in a way that makes him look like those sweet white puppies Hanbin’s sister is so fond of.
Hanbin shrugs and smirks. “I think he’s a bit of a poser. Anyway, should we go back to the topic for our research project . . .?”
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Two nights later, Hanbin’s legs dangle off the edge of a low building. The phone Matthew had converted to pick up police chatter floats above his fingertips. It’s been a relatively quiet night, and the weather has also been favourable so far, but by now, Hanbin knows not to count his chickens before all his eggs have hatched. If it stays quiet like this, maybe he can practise his leaps a little bit. Matthew doesn’t like it, but Hanbin has figured out how to fly—well, it’s not really flying, but if he pushes his body away from a wall or the ground with the opposite force that he uses to make things levitate, he can stay afloat longer than normal humans can.
It’s fun to practise it, even if Matthew always gets a heart attack hearing about Hanbin attempting such manoeuvres.
But it is too early to celebrate. The phone sputters to life, so Hanbin lets it drop into his palm and holds it up to his ear. The lady on the line reads out the area code, whilst Hanbin wracks his brain trying to remember where it is. “We have reports of gang unrest,” she says. “No violence yet. Dispatch one unit to prevent escalation.”
Hanbin stands and slips his phone into one of the pockets of his suit, before tugging his mask back into place. The location the lady had communicated can’t be more than a ten minute run, especially if Hanbin uses the rooftops to his advantage. It is regrettable that he can’t practise his leaps as thoroughly as he would’ve wanted, but crime doesn’t listen to anyone. Not even Hanbin’s desires.
The gang unrest turns out to be just that—unrest. Interestingly enough, Hanbin recognises some of the members present from the little boy band gang that he rounded up a handful of nights ago. There’s a guy with pale blond hair that must be dyed, a tall guy with the air of a large dog, and a kid with broad shoulders and thick eyebrows. They barely look old enough to be out of high school, nevermind being in a gang. They seem to be squaring up with another group of guys that look as young and as unthreatening as them. Hanbin perches on the edge of the building above them and looks down.
“Kids, let’s not do this tonight, shall we?” Hanbin calls out to them and all six heads turn at the sound, their gazes sharpening. But Hanbin is unmoved by the display. “I’m tired and it’s getting late and I’d really hate to deliver all of you back to the police station one by one. Can we just call this one an uneasy truce?”
Luckily for Hanbin, the kids decide to play nice to him, and they droop off in different directions. The guy with the pale blond hair looks back at Hanbin, gaze thoughtful and eyes narrowed. Before Hanbin can really figure out what that is all about, he too disappears into an alley.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
“Are you really okay?” Hao asks, his hands flailing and his eyebrows furrowed.They’re in the same, pink-coloured cafe today. Beams of sunshine fall in through the window to the side and spill across Hao’s cheekbone.
For the past few days, Hanbin has been chasing after the little boy band gang (as he's now gotten used to calling them) that has been terrorising his nights. There’s only so often you can grab a person by the scruff like a little kitten, shaking them around and sternly telling them, don’t rob corner stores you’re going to give the poor old ahjussis a heart attack. Apparently, it’s not even worth it to deliver them to the police station anymore, since they’ll end up sweeping the streets again the following day.
“I’m fine,” Hanbin says, blinking heavily at the other boy. He’s aware that he doesn’t look fine—with dark eyebags and grease-curled hair. “I don’t sleep very well on average.” It’s just enough of the truth that it doesn’t feel like a complete lie, and the soft smile he gives Hao afterwards feels completely real.
Hao’s expressive eyebrows draw together above his deep eyes. “If you say so,” he says, hesitantly. “Can I buy you a coffee, at least? That should keep you awake for now.”
“That would be nice,” says Hanbin, unable to stop the blush crawling up his face and burning the backs of his ears. Being tired lowers his guard and makes him feel unhinged. A little deluded, even. Like the attraction he feels for Hao can’t possibly be one-sided. Not when Hao looks after him so sweetly and always stares at him with those big brown eyes of his.
Anyway.
As Hao goes up to the counter to order, Hanbin fires up his laptop and loads the documents he prepared for this meeting. While his ancient beast awakens from its slumber with heavily whirring fans, Hanbin looks around the cafe, thoughts slowing in his mind as he fights against his heavy eyelids and his lowered guard. That’s exactly why it startles him so much when the bell above the door chimes softly and in walks the pale blond guy he keeps seeing on the streets at night with the little boy band gang. He’s with a lanky, even younger looking kid with a bunny-like face, and they don’t seem to notice Hanbin gawking at them at first.
Instead, they make a beeline for the counter where Hao is standing and . . . greet him familiarly? The blond guy throws his arm across Hao’s shoulder, chattering excitedly, and the younger tucks himself into Hao’s other side, looking up at him with wide and worshipful eyes. Hanbin kind of gets him - but what?
The guy tilts his head at Hanbin, clearly noticing that Hanbin has been staring, a small and attractive grin on his face. He nudges Hao in the side, and nods at Hanbin, who is trying his best to hide between his bulky laptop and failing miserably. Sung Hanbin, pathetic man.
Of course, once Hao receives the coffee, the three of them walk over to Hanbin.
“Hanbin-ah!” says Hao as they stop at the table again. “These are some of my closest dongsaengs, Ricky and Yujin. I told you before about my dongsaeng that was saved by Nova, right? This is him, Yujin-ie.” He turns to the guys—Ricky and Yujin, apparently. “This is my classmate, Hanbin. We’re doing a project together for my Stats class on superheroes, but he said he doesn’t even like them.”
“Not everyone likes Nova like how you or Yujin-ie do, hyung,” says Ricky, sounding amused. Then he turns to Hanbin and bows. “It is good to meet you, Hanbin-ssi. Hao-hyung has told us a lot about you.” As he finishes speaking, he suddenly jumps and yelps, looking at Hao with accusing eyes and rubbing his side.
It looks like Hao might have punched Ricky in the side, but Hanbin can’t really determine that for sure, and Hao beams so sunnily at Hanbin that it doesn’t look like he’s even capable of that kind of violence.
“Nice to meet you too, Ricky-ssi, Yujin-ssi,” says Hanbin, ducking his head and accepting the coffee Hao hands him with an appreciative nod. As he looks at Yujin more closely, there’s a flash of remembrance—windows shattering around him as he plummets to the ground, voices shouting above his head, and small hands clutching onto his shoulders. It’s gone again as soon as it appeared but leaves Hanbin reeling nonetheless. He turns to Hao again. “And I didn’t say that I don’t like Nova, I just said that I think he’s a bit of a poser.”
“You’re crazy,” says Hao, but if Hanbin knew him any better, he’d said that the other boy almost sounds fond.
Hanbin watches as Hao says goodbye to Yujin and Ricky, trying to not look at Ricky for too long or intense in paranoid fear of somehow giving himself away. In turn, the two kids send Hanbin a polite little wave and walk back up to the counter to order for real this time. After they’ve gone, Hao turns back to Hanbin again. “Shall we start for real, then?”
“Let’s do it,” Hanbin says, taking a happy sip from his coffee. It’s just iced americano, but Hanbin thinks it tastes just a bit better than it normally does.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Hanbin only realises that he isn’t alone on the rooftops that night when he leaps up the side of the building. There’s another super standing a few buildings away from where he normally hunkers down, looking down into the city with his hands resting on his hips. He’s easily recognisable as a Corporation super from the bland design of his suit, though Hanbin won’t know what his power is until he actually uses it.
“If it isn’t Nova,” the guy says, smarmily.
“Wow, what a line.” Hanbin rolls his eyes. “If it isn’t a corpo drone.”
The super scowls at him, and for a moment it looks like he might attack Hanbin, but then the Corporation training seems to kick in again. He straightens, smoothing down the front of his suit. “Whatever.”
Hanbin turns away, already over the conversation and the guy. When he was just starting to make a name for himself as Nova, the Corporation tried recruiting him, but he always turned them away, not fond of the way they seemed to suck the personality out of every super they recruited. On top of that, Hanbin had always thought the Corporation guys were too aggressive and rigid in their approach, even if their whole thing is to protect the public.
In Hanbin’s pocket, the police scanner app on his phone fizzles to life. The lady reads out an area code again, which Hanbin immediately recognises as one of the locations he’s frequented a lot lately. “Convenience store robbery. Assailant is armed with a weapon. Dispatch one unit immediately.”
The Corporation super tilts his head, interest written into every line of his body.
Hanbin growls. “This one is mine, corpo.”
“We’ll see about that,” the guy says, and the Hanbin can just hear the grin in his voice. “Let’s see who gets there first, shall we?”
Luckily for Hanbin and unluckily for the guy, he actually knows how to get to the place quickly from where they are. And at least the guy can’t fly, though he seems fit enough from the rigorous training the Corporation forces onto their supers.
Before long, the convenience store comes into view, LED-lights spilling onto the pavement outside. Hanbin wonders if the convenience store workers have had enough with the frequent robberies, even if the kids doing it are never aggressive. The report saying the kids are carrying weapons tonight is a first, though.
As Hanbin arrives at the scene, the boy band gang kids are idling outside again, plastic bags filled with what looks like ramyeon dangling from their wrists. They stay relaxed as they spot Hanbin, but their hackles raise as soon as the other super also appears. Hanbin raises his hands, trying to approach with an air of apprehension, but the corpo guy apparently has no such holdups.
The plastic bags with food drop to the ground from the guys’ hands as the other super rushes forward, hands lighting up with orange light.
“You idiot!” yells Hanbin, throwing himself at the guy just as flames burst from his hands. Hanbin knows this guy, Blaze Bright or whatever, and he’s a right old prick. Always too aggressive, a terrible temperament when the power he wields is literally controlling fire . As Hanbin’s side slams into him, pain laces up his arm, and he looks down to see the flames licking up the side of his suit. He’s incredibly relieved that he’d had the foresight to fireproof the material, even if he’s sure the skin underneath is burnt.
“What are you doing?” Blaze Bright hisses, scrambling to his feet again. “They have weapons! The report said so.”
Hanbin rolls onto his side, coughing, and then manages to force himself vertically again. “You didn’t even see a weapon yet, idiot, ” he says. “And are you planning to set this entire block of buildings alight? Use your brain, man—they’re just kids.”
Blaze Bright makes another move to jump for the kids, but Hanbin doesn’t waver, pieces of broken asphalt rising threateningly at his command. The super assesses the situation and realises that there’s no way he’s getting around Hanbin. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, kid,” he growls and backs off, disappearing into the night again.
“Good riddance!” Hanbin shouts, huffing annoyedly. The adrenaline wears off and pain firmly settles into his arm now, reminding him that yes, ouch , he just got burned. By magical flames. Despite everything going on in his life, this is a new low for him. He rolls his wrist, grunting as his skin pulls tenderly.
“Wait!” the puppy-guy calls after him as he turns to leave, sounding slightly worried. “You’re hurt!”
“It’s fine,” says Hanbin, shaking his head, a small smile on his face even if the kids can’t see him. “I’m going home, anyway. Take this as your win. But I don’t want to catch a whiff of you guys for the next few nights.”
The kid with the eyebrows salutes, and it is such a comical sight that Hanbin almost bursts out in laughter.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Matthew always opens the door for Hanbin, even if it’s the middle of the night. This time, he looks kind of awake still, despite the fact that it is definitely past two in the morning now. When Hanbin stumbles inside, the pain and the fear and the exhaustion of the night catching up to him, Matthew worriedly grasps him by the shoulders.
“Hyung?” he asks, brown eyes soulful. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Hanbin says as a reflex, then winces when he moves his arm. “Actually—do you have some bandages? And maybe some burn cream?”
“What the fuck.” Matthew herds Hanbin into the kitchen not unlike a slightly neurotic herding dog. He sits Hanbin down at the kitchen bar, hands fluttering, before going in search of their first aid box.
It turns out they don’t have burn cream. But they do have aloe. It’s not Matthew who finds it, though, but his roommate Taerae, who wanders out of his room with his gaming headset still curled around his neck, after Matthew slams the kitchen cabinets one time too many. From what Hanbin knows of Taerae, the kid’s the N to Matthew’s S, all steady conviction, dry humour and a gaming obsession a mile wide. And of course the slightly pathetic crush on Matthew, who wouldn’t know attraction if it hit him in the face with a questionable bright red sweater.
Under Matthew’s watchful eye, Taerae spreads the aloe across the burned skin of Hanbin’s arm and then neatly wraps it up with the roll of gauze Matthew had managed to procure. When Taerae asks what happened, Hanbin just shrugs and says, “Making ramyeon went very wrong.”
Obviously, burning yourself making ramyeon can’t go this wrong, but Taerae is wise enough to know he’s not getting more out of Hanbin. He doesn’t ask any further questions, just pats Hanbin on the shoulder before he shuffles back into his room.
Hanbin is left with a sour taste in his mouth.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Two days later, Hanbin meets Hao again at the cafe he’s starting to consider as theirs . The streets have been empty, as Ricky and the little boy band gang had promised, and so Hanbin has been getting a solid six hours every night. It’s been more than he’s gotten in a long time.
As soon as Hanbin sits down, though, Hao seems to spot the bandage wrapped around Hanbin’s bicep. He makes a questioning sound and gestures empathetically at Hanbin, who can only put his hand in Hao’s upturned palm. Goosebumps scatter across his skin as Hao pulls his arm closer, studying the way the bandage has been wrapped with careful eyes. “What happened?”
“Just a burn wound,” Hanbin says, shrugging helplessly. “I’m a bit clumsy, is all.”
A shiver runs up Hanbin’s spine as Hao’s gaze goes a little bit dark, his eyes narrowing. “I hope you’ll be more careful with yourself in the future, Hanbin-ah,” says Hao, stroking his pointer finger along the inside of Hanbin’s wrist.
Hanbin swallows and nods. “I’ll do my best, Hao-hyung,” he says, and prays that that won’t be a lie.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Over the next few weeks, Hanbin’s life changes like so—
He meets more and more of Hao’s friends, because Hao keeps introducing them to him. His friends who happen to all be in the little boy band gang.
The boy that looks like a friendly dog is called Gyuvin. Eyebrows is called Gunwook, though he’s softer and less intimidating up close. Then there’s Kim Jiwoong, who’s older than all of them and isn’t actually in the gang. He’s a cop and so clearly the reason Ricky and Gyuvin and Gunwook can’t seem to stay in custody for longer than a handful of hours.
Hanbin worries that he’ll get too attached. With what he knows, as Nova, it might not be smart. With what he learns about them, as Hanbin, it’s very hard not to.
The thing is, they’re all so sweet. Ricky and Gyuvin are adorable together, and Gunwook will curl himself into Hao’s side like a big bear curling into its cave for slumber. Yujin is wide-eyed and eager, and he talks about Nova more than Hanbin perhaps would have liked (it’s him after all) but he’s so endearing that Hanbin can’t bring himself to be annoyed about it. Hanbin’s study dates with Hao always drag out longer if one of Hao’s friends comes up, but that just means that they get to plan more, so Hanbin can’t bring himself to be annoyed about it.
Life on the streets and his patrols also change. He wouldn’t say it’s necessarily for the better. Sure, the kids of the boy band gang keep their promise and don’t show up for about a week, which at least allows Hanbin to breathe a little easier.
But the next time Hanbin bumps into a corpo drone, he almost gets strangled. Luckily for Hanbin, it’s actually a kid and they’re clumsy in their eagerness, but they’re no less dangerous because of it. It cracks the pavement below Hanbin’s feet as he leaps away, just in time. That’s the thing about the Corporate supers, their powers are also so violent. Who are they protecting the people of Seoul from? Themselves?
Is this how it is in Tokyo and New York too? Somehow, Hanbin doubts that.
Hanbin tells Matthew about the incident, because Matthew’s his best friend and there’s no secrets between them, but he doesn’t like how his gaze darkens, fingers tapping nervously against his desk. Taerae putters around somewhere in the room next to them, loudly humming to himself, and the relative normalcy of it keeps Hanbin firmly tethered to the ground. Otherwise, he might start floating away like how his pencils do when he’s looking at Hao too dreamily.
The next time he sees a corpo drone, he quickly turns the other way, diving through the alleys he knows like the back of his hand, and he pretends they don’t follow him, somehow eager to catch up.
It all comes to head on a random Tuesday in what had started out as a very normal week. In the morning, Hanbin meets with Hao. Their group project is coming to an end and so is this semester, with spring bleeding into humid summer. Hanbin’s spandex suit is drenched in sweat every time he returns from his patrols. He always runs a little hot anyway.
He meets Hao in their cafe after their Stats class concludes. Summer looks good on Hao, painting his cheeks a rosy colour and his eyes a warmer shade of brown. Hanbin wishes he could reach out and touch Hao’s hand, just once wanting to be brave like Hao, but resigns himself to reading out the conclusion he wrote, like a pathetic loser. And Hao doesn’t attempt to bring them closer either, even if his smile remains as sweet as ever.
As the meeting concludes, so does their project, and Hanbin dreads when he’ll have no more reason to meet with Hao as regularly like this.
How stupid to first dread the start and then dread the end.
That night, Hanbin doesn’t even don Nova’s suit. That’s his first mistake. The nights have been so suspiciously quiet that it thrums a nervous energy underneath his skin, but he allows himself a single night of rest. Just to gather his thoughts and his energy.
As the night lengthens, he slides into his slippers and pads down to the closest convenience store, craving a snack. He thinks a triangle kimbap will do. That’s mistake two.
The corner store is quiet, with only Hanbin and the sleepy clerk around. He pays in cash, two crisp one thousand won bills, and fiddles with the thin plastic wrapped around the seaweed and rice snack as he exits the store, the bells above the door ringing out to thrill his departure. The night is balmy with heat, and it’s because of that that Hanbin stays for a second, trying to adjust to the difference in temperature from the heavily air conditioned convenience store.
Three strikes and you’re out, Sung Hanbin.
Voices sound from the alleyway beside the convenience store, and Hanbin thinks it is one he vaguely recognizes. Curiosity muffles the warning bell in the back of Hanbin’s head, but he pauses for a second before he goes, taking his phone from his pocket and calling his emergency contact as he cups his palm across the bottom to muffle the sound.
It clicks and Matthew picks up, his sleepy voice sounding through the receiver. “Hanbin-hyung . . .?”
“Are you smart enough to track this phone?” Hanbin asks, breathing quietly.
“What!” yelps Matthew, seemingly waking up immediately. “No! I don’t know?”
“Well, you’re going to have to be.” Hanbin makes sure his phone stays connected as he stuffs it into his pocket, and then creeps towards the sound of the voices.
It’s Gunwook and an older man, confirming that Hanbin indeed recognised the voice. Gunwook looks increasingly distressed as he backs away from the man until he hits the wall, his voice raising in anger. In turn, the man looks smugly amused, leaning in close to Gunwook so that he can say something to him, voice muffled from where Hanbin stands. His hand curls Gunwook’s bicep, clearly trapping him in place.
Hanbin thinks about taking one of the trash cans standing a little ways away from the man, power surging in his hands but not flaring yet as he imagines picking up the metal contraption and hurling it at the older man, just so Gunwook can get away—
He’d put his guard down. Out of nowhere, there’s a presence at his back, breathing heavily. “I’m sorry, bystander, but you shouldn’t have seen this.” A hand pinches the back of his neck, so suddenly that he can’t react to it before it’s already too late. Darkness fills his vision in such a way that he’s almost dizzy from it, his assailant chuckling darkly in his ear, and before he knows it the ground is rushing up to meet him. The last thought he has is that he didn’t even get to finish his triangle kimbap.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Hanbin wakes up with a pounding headache like he’s having a dreadful hangover, but at least he seems to be otherwise unscathed. As his eyes flutter open, he tries to take in his bearings. Horribly bright TL-lighting fills his vision, so he has to squint his eyes to slowly get used to the change. As he does, more and more of the bleak room he’s found himself in becomes visible to him, and he takes a moment to assess his surroundings.
He’s not alone in the room. On the opposite end, slumped over but seemingly awake, is indeed Gunwook. He’s wearing a force collar that Hanbin recognises as those used to muffle supers’ abilities, and his wrists are cuffed onto the wall behind him. A thin IV-drip connects to the crook of his elbow, feeding a green liquid into his veins. Apart from him and Gunwook, the room is completely barren, all white walls and impersonal concrete flooring. No hint as to where they’re at. Still, Hanbin can take a good guess. With this little personality, it can only be a Corporation building.
“Hanbin-hyung?” Gunwook must have noticed that Hanbin had stirred, eyebrows furrowed as he peers across the room. “Are you okay?”
With a huff, Hanbin twists his body, taking stock of himself. The corpo drone who brought him here must have no idea who he actually is, believing him to be some kind of random bystander caught out at the wrong place, wrong time. They’ve only cuffed his hands behind his back with a tie-wrap, something Hanbin can probably get himself out of if he uses his power well.
“I’m fine, Wook-ah,” he manages. “Are you okay? I saw them grab you.”
Gunwookshudders. “I’m fine.” His voice sounds wet. “You have to get out of here, though, hyung. It’s not safe here.”
“Hyung will get us both out,” Hanbin promises, even if he wonders why Gunwook sounds so familiarly resigned, like this is a situation he’s found himself in before. Still, he twists his hands, focusing his power on pushing against the closing of the tie-wrap whilst simultaneously tugging on the other end. With a quiet snap, the flimsy plastic explodes into two pieces, snagging against Hanbin’s wrist painfully. But at least he’s free. He stands, rolls his shoulders, and walks over to Gunwook, who is looking up at him wide-eyed.
Hanbin crouches over Gunwook’s body, hesitantly gesturing at the force collar. “Do you . . . do you need this?”
Gunwook shakes his head, fringe flying and eyes wet underneath the horrible lighting. “No,” he sobs, voice stuttering in his throat. “No, it didn’t take yet, I promise. Please, take it off and take this out. I don’t want to be used by them.” He tilts his arm with the IV up to Hanbin.
“Alright, kid. This will hurt a little.” Hanbin tugs the IV free, being careful not to pull on Gunwook’s skin too much, but blood still wells at the site. Gunwook barely flinches at what must be brief yet sharp pain, but his shoulders seem to slump in stark relief once he is freed from the drip. Hanbin wonders what it is for; but is a question for later.
The force collar is next. Hanbin puts his hands on either side of the locking mechanism. “As soon as I get this off, it’ll probably send an alarm to whoever is behind all of this,” Hanbin tells Gunwook. “So, as soon as you’re free from this, I’ll take off your cuffs and we’ll have to make a run for it.”
“I’m ready,” Gunwook says, tilting his chin up.
“Close your eyes.” As soon as Gunwook does, Hanbin’s hands light up with his flaring power. The mechanism is stronger than the tie-wrap had been, but in the end, it’s just metal. It groans and shrieks underneath Hanbin’s hands, and Gunwook flinches at the sound, but he holds still until the shattered pieces fall from Hanbin’s hands.
“How did you . . .?” Gunwook looks down at the pieces of metal and mangled wire, and then up at Hanbin, eyes narrowed.
Hanbin shakes his head. “A question I’ll answer later,” he promises. He touches where Gunwook is cuffed to the wall. A thin chain link holds the cuffs together, so that’s where Hanbin focuses his power for now. It’s not often that he uses his power like this, but it’s similar to the usual push and pull he uses to make things levitate. Now, he’s just focusing the direction of the push and pull on the same object at the same time.
The chain link snaps satisfyingly.
“We have to run,” says Hanbin, hurriedly tugging Gunwook to his feet. “Please, come along.” The younger boy looks dazed but still follows Hanbin towards the door. They’re lucky this is Corporation property—despite the fact the upper management seems to be rolling in money, their buildings are always just a bit shit. Hanbin only has to kick below the handle once for the door to shoot out of the lock.
Outside the door, the hallway is still and quiet, but Hanbin’s not convinced that doesn’t mean they haven’t been caught out. As soon as they step through the doorway, Gunwook takes the front, leading Hanbin with such determination he must have been here before.
Turns out the quiet is too good to be true. They round the corner into a long hallway flanked by doors and rows of chairs on one side and tall windows on the other side. Awaiting them is a group of Corporation guards, donned in faceless masks and dark suits. One holds a stun gun, raising it to point at Gunwook.
Hanbin reacts on instinct. He grabs onto Gunwook’s shoulders, tugging the boy along as he runs towards the large windows to their left. The legs of a chair shriek across the floor as Hanbin pulls it closer, accelerating its speed as he hurls it against the window. As soon as the back of the chair hits the middle of the window, it shatters in a glorious rain of glass, and Hanbin tugs Gunwook into his chest as he runs towards the jagged opening.
Gunwook squeaks in protest, but Hanbin doesn’t pause.
For a glorious moment, they hang in the air, and then they plummet. Hanbin should’ve probably checked what floor they were on, but his power reacts before he can, the push and pull thickening around their bodies as they fall.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Hanbin remembers—
He remembers being in a corporation building like this, a young boy clutching to his shoulders, tearful eyes set on him. Please, please get me out of here, the kid had begged. They did something to me, please, it hurts.
It was close to the birth of Nova, when Hanbin had still been figuring out what he could be and what he could mean to the inhabitants of Seoul. He’d followed a police report to unrest near a nondescript warehouse, and had found a small group of teenagers standing at the bottom of a building peering up to the second floor. One of them had been crying. Hanbin had leaped up to where they’d been looking, still clumsy with this newfound use of his powers, and had managed to make his way into the building.
There had been a kid there, tears bright green and sad, and an unconscious body in a lab coat lying on the floor next to him. You have to help me, the kid had begged, reaching out for Hanbin.
And Hanbin had done the only thing he could think of to do, which was to grab the kid and tug him into his arms. They’d gone straight through the window, though Hanbin had hurt himself quite a bit shielding the kid from the impact of the fall. The police had arrived on the scene just as Hanbin had managed to pull himself to his feet again. The group of kids had gone one way. Hanbin had gone the other way.
Hanbin remembers now—that kid was Yujin.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Hanbin still feels the impact of their landing, but everything seems to be in order and nothing is broken as he hurriedly tugs Gunwook to his feet.
Gunwook looks like he’s ran a mile or like his entire worldview has shifted, but he still follows Hanbin on wobbly legs through the car park as they make a run for the nearest alleyway. As soon as they’re there, a hand grabs onto Hanbin’s wrist, and he manages to bite down on his yelp.
“Hanbin-hyung!” It’s Matthew, and relief and disbelief crash into Hanbin’s chest in equal measure.
“What are you doing here?” Hanbin hisses. “And you?” Behind Matthew is Taerae, for some reason, wearing a black hoodie and a beanie pulled over his blond hair. He looks somewhere between terrified and fascinated, his hand curled around the bottom of Matthew’s shirt.
Matthew frowns, tucking his hand through the loop of the backpack he’s wearing. “ You asked me to track your phone,” he says, sounding accusatory. “And I got worried. I can’t do it, but apparently Taerae can. We managed to track the phone to this location before it cut out. Honestly, we’ve been standing around here trying to decide whether we needed to call the police or not.”
“Shit.” Hanbin runs his hand through his hair. “No police, for now. But what should we do?”
“We should go to Jiwoong-hyung’s apartment,” Gunwook suddenly pipes up, sounding decisive even if his legs still wobble. “He can help us.”
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Kim Jiwoong lives in a high rise apartment on the fancier side of Seoul, which makes sense for a superintendent of the Seoul police. Hanbin doesn't necessarily like police officers, but he’ll make an exception for Jiwoong, who actually seems to believe in justice and doing the right thing. The way up in the elevator is tense. Gunwook has backed himself into one of the corners and observes Hanbin through narrowed eyes, while Taerae just seems fascinated by the level of wealth displayed.
They go up to the twenty-seventh floor, to an apartment hidden behind a heavy mahogany door. Gunwook punches in the code.
“Gunwook!” gasps Ricky, as soon as he pushes through the door, pulling Gunwook into his chest. His gaze falls on the other three standing behind Gunwook. “And Hanbin-hyung? And random guys?”
Taerae raises one hand. “I’m Taerae!”
“We should talk.” Hanbin shoulders past the two kids into the apartment.
The entrance way leads into the living room, where Jiwoong and Hao sit on one couch, and Gyuvin and Yujin on the other. As soon as they spot Hanbin and his friends, they all jump up in various states of shock and disbelief.
“Hanbin!” says Hao, running over and stopping right in front of him. “Are you okay?”
Despite everything, Hanbin can’t stop the flush creeping up his face from the way Hao’s staring up at him with those big eyes of his. “I’m fine,” he says. He turns to look over his shoulder, frowning. “But I think that you guys have something to explain.”
“How about you?” Gunwook bursts out, sentences choppy in his frustration. “You were there when I woke up—but you! You broke the collar and sent the chair flying!”
“Let’s all sit down and talk about this calmly,” Jiwoong suggests, clearly the voice of reason. He herds them back to the couches and they all sit down, either on the various pieces of furniture or just on the floor, in Matthew and Taerae’s case. Jiwoong turns to Hanbin and Gunwook, calmly. “Why don’t you two start at the beginning?”
Gunwook sits back with a huff and crosses his arms. “I was just out to grab a drink at the convenience store because I couldn’t sleep!”
“You sneaked out is what you did,” says Hao, matter of factly.
“Whatever.” Gunwook sends Hao a wounded look. “As I came out of the convenience store again, one of the corpo creeps cornered me. He was there with Shock Grasp and I didn’t want him to grab onto me, so I went with him into the alley to try and grab him. I guess Hanbin-hyung was also out that night, and he was there. Shock Grasp ambushed him, and the corpo guy managed to knock me out at the same time. When I woke up, Hanbin-hyung was there, too. I immediately recognised that we were in a Corporation lab, but I didn’t know how we were going to get out. The creeps had already hooked me back up to a drip again. But Hanbin-hyung managed to break us out.” He turns to Hanbin, eyes narrowed. “How did you do that, anyway?”
“You guys are with the Corporation?” Taerae asks, raising his eyebrows and looking around.
“Not really,” Hao says. “Ricky, Gyuvin, Gunwook, and Yujin were raised by the Corporation from infancy. The Corporation has long dreamed of turning normal people into supers, so they acquired babies from orphanages or mothers who didn’t want them, and messed with them a lot. Genes, blood, the brain—they tried a lot, but it didn’t really take, because normal humans don’t work that way. But it worked on Yujin.” Hao puts his hand on Yujin’s arm, who shudders beside him. “Once the Corporation realised they were successful, they started making plans on how to use the kids. If they could do it to one, why not more?”
Hanbin remembers Gunwook’s terror at being connected to the drip. It makes sense now.
“We ran away,” Gyuvin divulges. “Me, Ricky, and Gunwook-ie managed to get out, and it was only Yujin left. But the Corporation was way more desperate to keep hold of him. That’s when Nova appeared, and he saved Yujin. I bumped into the kids on the street later, and I took them in. We lived in squalor for a while in my tiny apartment until we found Jiwoong-hyung, and the rest is history.”
“We don’t have papers,” Ricky says, bitterly. “To the government, we might as well not exist. So we can’t get a job, or anything. We didn’t even go to school apart from what the Corporation taught us.”
A dry smile appears on Gyuvin’s face. “We wanted to give back to Jiwoong-hyung, things like taking care of the food.” He looks at Hanbin from the corner of his eye, a pained little furrow between his eyebrows. “So we end up stealing from convenience stores so often. We didn’t know about giving up, I guess. But the Corporation is always hunting us down. That’s what happened to Gunwook.”
Matthew gasps, distraught. “The Corporation is like that?”
“I always knew they were sketchy,” Hanbin mutters.
Gunwook glares at him. “What are you, anyway?”
With a sigh, Hanbin makes his hands light up as his power flares, making some of the pillows on the couches float and somersault through the air.
For a moment it is silent, and Hanbin can see the gears turning in the heads of the people around the room. Then Hao yelps and jumps up to point at Hanbin. “You’re Nova!” he says, almost accusingly. “And you told me you didn’t like him. But it was you all of this time!” He throws himself on the couch again, sulking. “You even told me you thought he was a bit of a poser.”
“I’m sorry,” says Hanbin, smiling softly. “I couldn’t divulge my biggest secret that easily.”
“So.” Taerae spreads his hands on the coffee table in front of him, eyes thoughtful behind his glasses. “With all of this new and frankly baffling information out in the open, what should we do now?” He looks around. “We can’t let the Corporation get away with this, right? We have to stop them!”
His conviction seems to be infectious. Quickly enough, Gyuvin, Gunwook, and Ricky are all clamouring about doing something, but they’re subdued by Jiwoong again. The oldest turns to Hanbin, worriedly. “The Corporation is very powerful,” he says. “And they have a lot of money. If we just show up with this information unprompted, they’ll smother us and make the general public believe we are liars.”
“It’s easy,” smiles Hanbin, surprising himself with his own conviction. He curls his hand into a fist, power flaring briefly. “We’ll just have to go there and get evidence. Who's with me?”
A cheer goes up around the room as they all jump up in agreement.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
The following night, they get ready to leave—Hanbin, Jiwoong, Gunwook, and Ricky, who refused to let them go without him. They’ve spent the entire day cooped up in Jiwoong’s apartment, sleeping and planning. Matthew and Taerae will stay with Hao, Gyuvin, and Yujin in the apartment, monitoring them from a distance. Taerae manages to track Jiwoong’s phone and hacks Seoul’s CCTVs which is something he’s already done before for fun, apparently. Hanbin wonders what else the kid is capable of.
Before Hanbin leaves with the others, Nova’s mask clutched in his hand, Hao tugs him aside in the hallway with a hand around wrist. He stares, confused and slightly hopeful. “Hao-hyung . . .?”
Hao stands up on his tiptoes, carefully telegraphing his movements. When Hanbin doesn’t move away, he leans forward and gently presses their mouths together. It’s a soft and sweet kiss, nothing scandalous, but it still makes Hanbin’s feet curl in his boots.
“What was that for?” he whispers as Hao pulls back again, heart beating in his mouth.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” says Hao, like a confession, his eyebrows drawing together above his eyes.
“I won’t,” Hanbin promises. “I won’t, Hao-hyung.”
Smiling softly, Hao touches the corner of Hanbin’s lips. “Now you have another reason not to. Come back safely, and I’ll give you as many kisses as you want.”
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Hanbin thinks that perhaps becoming Nova all led to this exact moment. Jiwoong and Gunwook creep through the shadows in front of him, and Ricky takes up his flank. They’re all dressed in shades of black. Ricky’s vibrant hair hides beneath Taerae’s beanie. Whilst Matthew had brought Hanbin’s Nova suit with him, Hanbin had opted to wear the black hoodie and black cargo jeans Hao had handed him, needing to blend into the shadows and perhaps use the element of surprise against members of the Corporation they might meet.
Soon enough, they make it back to the lab Hanbin and Gunwook escaped from just twenty-four hours ago—it feels like lifetimes instead. From the outside, the Corporation is a nondescript, boring building made of dark brick and glass. Ricky knows of a hidden door around the back, so they sneak there, still and quiet as the dark night around them.
From here, they can’t see any stars.
Ricky fumbles with the door. It’s still an old lock, key and all. It makes sense that the Corporation wouldn’t update their buildings if they could use the money instead to line the pockets of the higher ups. A quiet snick sounds as the lock gives under Ricky’s prodding, and the kid raises his eyebrows, proud of himself.
They sneak inside, one after the other, with Jiwoong in the front and Hanbin taking up the rear. Hanbin knows that Jiwoong has taken his police gun, but Hanbin prays he won’t have to use it. If they attack first, I’ll have no choice but to protect, is what Jiwoong had said, quietly serious.
For the first two levels, it’s still and quiet. Hanbin wonders how many corpo thugs are present in the building this late at night. TheCorporation must still have guards on rotation, especially considering the fact that they just broke out of this building a night ago. They make it to a lobby on the third floor, where Ricky brings the camera he’s carrying up to his eye and snaps photos of anything that could be incriminating: lists of names on the computer behind the desk, the names of the floors (Test Labs I and II, barracks, Test persons) pinned next to the elevators, the Corporation logo stamped on the wall.
Afterwards, they sneak up into the labs. Jiwoong plugs in the USB Taerae had given him in one of the computers, and it allows Taerae to access the computer remotely and download the files he needs. Anything incriminating, anything that will bring the distressing practices of the Corporation to light. Ricky sneaks around to the dorms and the training labs and takes as many pictures as possible, which are all immediately downloaded to the cloud and will appear on Taerae’s laptop immediately.
When they deem it enough evidence, they sneak through the lobby again, trying to go back through the door they entered from, but Hanbin bumps into Gunwook when the younger stops short in front of him, breathing heavily.
It has been too quiet after all, it seems.
“My my,” says a man, a poor imitation of a villain in a superhero story. He steps into the flickering light of the lamps above the desk, flanked on both sides by guards and other supers, and Hanbin realises with a stuttering heart that this is Choi Woonshik, the biggest head of the Corporation and a celebrity in his own right. Woonshik grins at them, but there’s no spark in his eyes. “Who do we have here, then?”
“Fucker,” growls Ricky, shaking with anger.
“Yes,” says Woonshik blandly. “You were always a bit crass with your words, hm, Quanrui? Good to see that nothing has changed.”
Hanbin steps forward, baring his teeth. “You better let us go, asshole.”
“Or what?” Woonshik raises one eyebrow. “What will you do, Sung Hanbin?” He grins when Hanbin falters. “You think I didn’t know who you are? I just wanted to figure out what you could do, and it has exceeded all of my expectations, truly. Nova has long been a thorn in the side of the Corporation, but do not worry. We’ll train you up into something better.”
“You are crazy,” Hanbin says, swallowing. “You are actually mad.”
Woonshik shrugs. “Perhaps I am. But you and I are actually not that different—all I want to see is Seoul’s safety. And I can’t have you all running around trying to put a dent in my plans.” He points at Hanbin. “Grab them!”
The supers and guards surge forward, and Hanbin is surprised to see his friends meet them halfway determinedly. But then again, Ricky and Gunwook were trained by these people for a long time, and Jiwoong is a high ranking cop. Even if fire and ice explode out of the hands of these supers, and the guards carry batons to swing at them, they bravely meet them in the middle while Hanbin uses his powers to whip weapons out of the guards’ hands and stop the attack of the supers.
Though the supers and the guards must have been ordered not to hurt them too much or kill them, it seems that there are simply much more of them.Ricky and Gunwook are tiring, and Jiwoong’s movements slow even as fire burns in his eyes.
Hanbin has to do something. It is like his power reacts to his desire, sparking low in his stomach. He’s glowing, he realises—not only his hands but his entire body, a reflection of the pure power he feels coursing through his veins.
“What—?” gasps Woonshik, trying to run for cover, but it is already too late.
Like a supernova, Hanbin’s power explodes out of him, but it is not uncontrollable. Hanbin imagines taking the shock waves and bending them in a path around his friends, making sure that they are not hurt by the bright light pouring out. It’s like Hanbin is dipping his hands into a star, all untapped, pure power, following his command exactly as he blasts the guards and other supers away from them, the furniture around the room exploding and tumbling over.
It’s over as soon as it started.
Hanbin stands and dusts himself off. The entire lobby is a mess of strewn papers and destroyed furniture, a smashed glass wall at the back, and the scattered bodies of the supers and guards around him. They’re all still breathing or twitching, but Hanbin figures it’ll be a while before they regain their strength and their senses. As he watches, Ricky, Gunwook, and Jiwoong all stand up, looking determined despite the fact that Ricky is limping and Jiwoong has blood dripping down his nose.
“Let’s go,” says Hanbin, throwing his arm over Ricky’s shoulder to support him. “We have what we need.”
Choi Woonshik coughs and tries to sit up, but the heavy desk pinning his arm to the floor stops him. He looks pathetic, Hanbin thinks with satisfaction rolling through him. “You won’t get away with this!” he calls, voice rasping. “Sung Hanbin, Nova, whoever you are. No one will listen to you!”
Hanbin looks over his shoulder and grins. “You are wrong,” he says. “I’ve already gotten everything I need. Soon, there will be no one who won’t know what you’ve done.”
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
They come back early in the morning, victorious and high strung on adrenaline. Hao meets Hanbin in the entrance way, curls his arms around Hanbin’s shoulders and presses his mouth to Hanbin’s, licking across Hanbin’s lips to deepen the kiss. When he pulls back, his eyes are sparkling. “I’m so proud of you, Hanbin-ah,” he says, voice thick. “You did it.”
Jiwoong hands Taerae the stick with information and the camera with the photos, both of which hold priceless evidence. Taerae immediately puts his expensive laptop on the coffee table and starts hammering away at it, Matthew at his side. Hanbin can’t help but notice how they sit a little bit closer together than earlier.
After the celebrations peter out, and the food is washed down by their fruit flavoured drinks, they go to bed, one by one. Hao takes Hanbin by the hand and takes him to the tiny room at the end of the hallway that he sleeps in, and points up at the ceiling. He’s stuck glow-in-the-dark stars to his ceiling, for Nova, ‘cause he saved my Yujin. Hanbin cups his cheeks, rounded from smiling, and sweetly connects their mouths as they tumble into bed.
Tomorrow morning, the article that Taerae is busily drawing up—with all of the pictures and all the written statements and all of the videos—will go online on the websites of at least four big newspapers and the Naver frontpage and three other content blogs. And it’ll be signed: Sung Hanbin, Nova. And Zhang Hao, student at Yonsei. Kim Jiwoong, superintendent at the Seoul police. Ricky, Gyuvin, Gunwook, and Yujin, victims of the Corporation—yet undefeated. The entire country will know how they’ve suffered and how they’ve come out on the other side victorious. Hopefully, they’ll rip the Corporate apart with the sharpness of their words.
But tonight, Hanbin has Hao in a bed, and the kids are asleep in their room, and Taerae and Matthew and Jiwoong are camping out in the living room. On Taerae’s hard disk are the forged documents that will allow the kids to be part of society soon. The moon has appeared from behind the slivers of clouds, pouring silver light in through the window. Hanbin can reach out and lace Hao’s fingers with his own, and press his lips to Hao’s warm, smiling mouth, and so that is what he does.
Everything will change tomorrow, and tonight, Hanbin lies in the circle of Hao’s arms and dreams of the future, bright like a supernova.