Season one, chapter twenty-eight

"Poor little girl, still waiting
for her happy ending"

AS SOON as Thea opened her eyes, she immediately sat up, assimilating what had just happened and what was coming next. Had Mun really just been fired from his job as Counter? Wasn't it just a bad dream that she had just woken up from?

"What's with him?" Jangmul asked when Mun fell from his chair

"Mun..." The brown haired girl muttered realizing that everything had been real, she stood up from her chair immediately with tears falling down her cheeks

"Whats wrong?" Jangmul asked holding the boy in his arms while the others approached the unconscious boy in his arms 

"Mun. Don't tell me he's relapsed into a coma. He won't die, right?" Ms. Chu began to say worriedly

"Mun, wake up. Mun!" Mo-tak began to say, shaking the unconscious boy

"Mun..." Thea broke even more when she noticed how Mun's hair returned to how it was before. His distinguished popcorn hair becoming straight once again, as it once was.

"Mun" Ms. Chu said softly as the teenager finally opened his eyes. Thea stood on her feet, sighing with relief as she made sure that Mun was really okay or that was until he tried to get up but fell back to the ground

"My goodness! What's wrong with him? Hey, what's going on!?" Jangmul asked exalted as he hadn't still received an answer from the Counters

"He is... no longer a counter" Mo-tak explained softly

"What? How did that happen?" He exclaimed, raising his voice "What did you guys do up there!?"

"Thea, erase Mun's memories" Hyun-ki's voice echoed in the brown haired girl's head

"What?" Thea said exultantly feeling the lump in her throat finally break. Why did they give her the most difficult job? Was it to torture her even more? She really couldn't do it, ever, she couldn't let Mun forget about her

"Whats wrong? What are they saying now?" Ms. Chu asked worriedly when she noticed the younge's expressions

"Why!?" Mo-tak suddenly exclaimed "Why must we erase his memories? It's not like he'll tell people about us!"

"I'll do it" Jangmul said putting a hand on Mun's head. He then stood next to Ms. Chu under everyone's watchful gaze "I understand you guys don't want to erase Mun's memories. The memories of working together while risking your lives"

"But... must it be done?" Mun asked with tears in his eyes still on the ground "I must track down the person who killed my parents, you know. And I have to remember what my fellow Counters look like"

"You must forget everything, Mun. We have no choice" He crouched in front of Mun

"Wait, just a second" He asked before looking at each of the members who couldn't help but cry along with him. His eyes remained on Thea a little longer, as if he wanted to take in all the possible features and details on her face and tattoo them in his brain so he wouldn't forget anything about her. Neither of them could look away from the other, those looks that were said to be everything

However, this would be their last time looking into each other's eyes, he would forget about Thea and Thea would end up broken and destroyed with only the memory of him inside her mind.

"All right. Goodbye, Mun" He put his hand in front of Mun and he fell to the ground without being able to say another word

That night Thea did nothing else but lock herself in her room and cry for hours on end, for that same reason she had not wanted to get attached to him from the beginning, much less fall in love, but it was almost impossible to do so when it all happened so suddenly. Now what was she supposed to do? Those feelings are not easy to forget, much less when he had really marked her life.

Even the next day it had been too difficult for her to get up to help in the restaurant. However, she had no choice but to appear unaffected in front of her teammates in order to provide them with a little comfort.

However, her teammates knew that all of this had affected her more than anyone else, they could swear that the moment Mun left, the shine in her eyes also disappeared.

Apparently her emotional state depended more on him than she imagined.

"There's no way it was done by a human. It's impossible. Could it be..." The detective began to say, sitting in front of the table with photos spread out on it

"That's right. It was an evil spirit" Mo-tak confirmed her suspicions

"This one is on Ji Cheong-sin's level. Higher than level three" Ms. Chu added inspecting the photos in her hands

"Here's a suspect" She put one more photo on the table "If he's on Ji Cheong-sin's level... does he also use psychokinesis?"

"That's possible. Or pure physical strength" Mo-tak responded

"We have to catch him soon, or he'll cause big trouble"

"Were they both killed by the same person?" Hana questioned

"Yes" She nodded

"Are you sure?"

"The female victim is the suspect's wife. She cheated on him with the male victim. And they died at the same location" She explained

"Was the woman killed first?" The detective nodded once again

"Why do you ask? What is it?"Ms. Chu asked her, turning to look at her

"The time gap between the two murders?"

"Five minutes? I'd say, ten minutes at the most? Based on the blood viscosity, that is" She explained as Hana thought for a few seconds before getting up from her chair

"Doesn't this look like it was done by a level-one evil spirit? I'd say it's pretty ordinary. Is it possible to level up like this in just five to ten minutes?" She put both photos on the table

"This... wasn't done by the same spirit. Two were involved" Mo-tak explained

"Hey, Han-ul" The detective said putting the phone to her ear "What?" She hung up and then took the control of the TV and turned it on

"Suspected serial killer Ji Cheong-sin was found dead in a burnt-out vehicle, which he had stolen while on the run. When the police arrived at the scene, the vehicle was completely burnt out, and a burnt body was found in the driver's seat. The police have stated that the body was severely damaged. The National Forensic Service is carrying out an autopsy to confirm his identity. We'll have to wait for the results, but the special task force is convinced that it is Ji Cheong-sin based on the belongings and evidence found inside the vehicle. According to authorities... footage from nearby surveillance cameras and dash cams showed no evidence that anyone else had been near the burnt-out vehicle..."

"What? What's going to happen now?" Ms. Chu asked "Mun's parents. This means their souls have dissipated"

"No, that can't be. These bastards are putting on a show" Mo-tak exclaimed "That's not Ji Cheong-sin. There's no way it's him"

"It can't be him" Thea hesitated with mixed emotions, now Mun's parents would not ascend to the afterlife and it was something that would leave her uneasy for the rest of the day

"I rarely spot evil spirits these days" Hana started to say as she put the cutlery on the table "Don't you think it's odd?"

"Maybe your radar is broken" Mo-tak joked, trying to liven up the depressive atmosphere

"No, it is really strange" Ms. Chu agreed as Hana took her seat

"The vacation villa murder Detective Kim told us about. One was level one, and the other one was level three. Two evil spirit did it together. Can they recognize each other?" Hana began to explain

"Let's call the old man tomorrow and ask him"

"Okay"

Everyone took their seats ready to start eating. Realizing the emptiness that was felt in the restaurant without Mun, he had truly left a big mark on the team and none of them would be able to forget about him.

"Mun loves bulgogi" Ms. Chu began to say "But Mun's not here"

"My goodness. Talk about unrequited love, Ms. Chu. Oh, boy" Mo-tak exclaimed with amusement

"You know, I was thinking about enrolling in school" Thea suddenly blurted out, avoiding the curious looks of her teammates

"Why so suddenly?" The eldest on her side asked "After having refused to do it when I literally begged you to do it, now you want to?"

"It's because of Mun isn't it?" Hana questioned, raising an eyebrow, she had guessed so easily

"We all here know how much you like him, but you can't do that just to be by his side. He doesn't remember you anymore, so what would be the point?" Mo-tak tried to reason, but that seemed to affect more the brown haired girl who started sniffing

"You didn't have to remind me" Thea stated, covering her face as she felt her eyes sting

"God, look what you just did. You already made her cry" Ms. Chu resorted to patting the younger's back in comfort, also feeling her eyes sting

"Now it's my fault? You two really got attached to that brat." He exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief

There were a few seconds of silence as Hana admired the scene in front of her with an amused expression on her face. How she loved these types of moments with her team, although it seemed to be interrupted in a matter of seconds.

"What is it? Did you spot one?" Ms. Chu questioned upon seeing Hana's sudden behavior

"Just the voice. Sounds like he's nearby" She responded with a hand in front of her

"Where?" Mo-tak stood up from his seat ready to take action but Hana stopped him

"There are two" Hana commented still keeping her eyes closed

"What level?" He sat back down, listening with great interest

"'Hazy like smoke'? It's what Ji Cheong-sin said. He must be gathering evil spirits" Hana said exalted with her eyes wide open

"What?"

"Wait a second. The place where I spotted the spirits" She turned to look at her teammates with concern written on her face "It was Mun's neighborhood. If Ji Cheong-sin had been after us..."

Thea opened her eyes in realization, realizing where this could all lead.

"Mun. No. Mun"

"Shit"

"He got disqualified as a Counter and doesn't have the power to fight!" The group began to take their coats ready to leave the place

Although Thea stopped halfway when her phone started ringing in her coat pocket. At first she thought it would be SuHo or SooJin and she was going to hang up the call but when she saw who it was her heart managed to stop for a few seconds.

"Mun's calling" Thea let the group know before answering the call, putting her phone on the table so everyone could see

Thea frowned as she saw the teen on the screen with both hands tied and a sack over his head.

"Goodness"

"Mun"

"Mun?" Thea asked and almost as soon as the words came out of her mouth the bag was removed from his head revealing the almost unconscious boy

"Mun!"

Ji Cheong-sin suddenly appeared on the screen, grabbing Mun's hair tightly, forcing him to look towards the camera.

"Ji Cheong-sin..." Hana muttered in horror

"Where are you? Where are you, asshole!?" Mo-tak asked, raising his voice, watching as Cheong-sin roughly pushed Mun's head to the side

"Mo-tak..." Mun's broken voice said "No..." he shook his head

"Hey" Greeted the short-haired woman, who Thea recognized quite well, she laughed before pointing at the camera with an amused expression. Something that made the younger's stomach turn when she remembered everything she put her through by making her remember her horrible past

"That's the crazy bitch from the department store" Mo-tak recognized her

"Yes" Ms. Chu nodded in acknowledgment

"Mun, where are you? Tell us where you are! We'll be there!" Thea raised her voice in despair

"No, don't come. You can't come here" Mun shook his head, refusing to tell her where he was

"Your camaraderie makes me cry. Anyways, what happened to this kid? I read him, and he's an idiot now. He has no power nor any physical strength" The short-haired woman suddenly broke Mun's finger making him scream in pain

"Mun!" The group gasped in surprise

"Mo-tak, don't come here. You'll all die if you do. Don't come! Don't come" Ji cheong-sin suddenly punched him in the stomach, leaving him gasping for air

And Thea could swear she felt something break inside her. Of course she would make him pay, yes she would.

"Derelict factory in Jungjin, 9 p.m. He'll lose a finger for every minute your late" And so he hung up the call leaving the group of Counters overwhelmed

"Those psychos" Mo-tak exclaimed as he hurried out of the restaurant "Evil spirits can read memories?"

"Yes, I'm sure they read everything about our team, so they probably know the type of power each of us has" Hana responded, following the elder behind with the rest of the women behind her

Thea opened the truck door roughly, impatient and determined to go after the person responsible for Mun's kidnapping.

"How many evil spirits did he gather?" Ms. Chu asked putting on her seatbelt

"We'll get them all no matter how many. Mun's been taken hostage" Mo-tak responded before stepping hard on the accelerator

Thea zipped up her black leather jacket, preparing for what was to come. She just hopes no one gets severely hurt or she'd really go crazier than she already was.

Author's note;

I'm trying to move quickly with all this because I already want to upload the confession scene between these two lovebirds, I need them to become a couple like now. Once the long-awaited chapter is uploaded, it may take me a little longer to update or maybe not, I don't know yet 🤷‍♀️

Question of the day: What is your favorite subject? 📚🧮🧬

See y'all in the next chapter cuties! 💕