Season one, chapter twenty-two

"Facts over feelings"

THEA HAS ALWAYS liked family trips, the kind in which her smile radiated with happiness. She really liked seeing her brother's smile, whenever they went on one. She swore that he had the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. But this type of trips with the counter members we're different, every time they traveled there was a chance that one of them would not return alive.

She knew that this type of job carried a great responsibility because it was fighting to live or surrendering to die. It's for that same reason that from the very beginning she did not want to get attached to any of them because she would end up losing, but now the group of counters was like her family and safe home.

She couldn't lose any of them or she would literally go crazy.

"Where is it?" Mun's voice brought her out of her thoughts, her eyes fell on the figure of the boy running towards the car that was parking at the entrance of the school and an unconscious smile appeared on her face

She scooted a little closer to Hana, to give the boy room to sit next to her when he opened the car door. Though Hana gave her a side eye at the proximity their bodies were whereas Mun smiled gratefully at Thea before sitting in the space next to her.

"Songwon, right next to Jungjin" Mo-tak responded stepping on the car's accelerator "Songwon used to be a part of Jungjin, but they broke away in 2013. There's a reservoir there"

"So this is where they buried Kim Yeong-nim's dead body" Ms. Chu exclaimed watching the video that Mun's father had recorded on Mo-tak's phone

Although Thea gasped in surprise when someone grabbed her hand so suddenly that she didn't hesitate to reciprocate the same act when she saw the car coming in their direction about to crash into them.

"Whoa"

"What's going on?"

"What's with him!?" Mo-tak exclaimed in annoyance, turning the steering wheel to the side just in time to avoid crashing

"My gosh"

Thea sighed in relief after having seen her life flash before her eyes for a few seconds. She swallowed hard, daring to look at who had been the person who had taken her hand as if their life depended on it. Although when her eyes made contact with Mun's for some strange reason she felt a flutter inside her stomach, were they butterflies?

Apparently he had been staring at her much longer before she caught him, although it was already normal for one of them to hold the other's hand, it was almost like their thing now, holding hands, getting nervous but without letting go of each other's hands. So Thea swallowed her nerves and squeezed the black-haired boy's hand with no plans to let him go and it was something that gave Mun butterflies too.

He swallowed hard, feeling his heart beat rapidly, the intense look that the girl gave him caused him too many feelings at the same time.

"We steeped on one" Hana announced with her eyes closed, forcing both teenagers to separate their gazes to pay attention to her

"Is it Ji Cheong-sin?" Mun asked hopefully, leaning forward

"No. My uncle" Hana muttered shaking her head keeping her eyes closed

"Your uncle?" Mo-tak asked curiously

"What's the level?" Ms. Chu asked, turning in her seat to see her

"Level two. A person. A person is about to die" Hana exclaimed exalted, opening her eyes just as she said that

"Damn it"

Mo-tak stepped on the accelerator as hard as he could, determined to save the person at risk. Although seconds later Mo-tak let out a loud gasp in surprise, drawing the group's attention and when they least expected it, a truck coming from the opposite side crashed heavily into their car. Mun reacted quickly and hugged the brown-haired girl beside him protectively, as if she were the most precious and valuable thing to him.

And in reality she was, since that time he saw her so vulnerable to the memories of her past, he promised himself that he would take care of her no matter what, even if he had to put his life in danger, he would gladly do it.

Thea closed her eyes tightly, clinging to Mun's body tightly just as he did to her, as if their lives depended on it, or perhaps with the same plan to protect each other.

She tightened her grip on Mun's jacket every time the truck crashed into their car repeatedly, as if they were doing it on purpose. Thea gasped in pain as some small glass shards made contact with her face, cutting her soft and delicate skin.

And when it was all over, Thea's grip around Mun's body loosened little by little, making sure that it was truly over. She looked up when she realized she was leaning on the chest of the boy who was complaining in pain just like her.

"Are you guys okay?" Ms. Chu asked with difficulty, turning to check on the three minors

"You okay?" Mun asked softly but with concern, grabbing Thea's shoulders to make sure she was

"I'm okay, are you?" Thea asked him the same question, just as worried as he was

"Yes, I'm also okay" He responded, letting out a sigh of relief as he only noticed a few cuts on the girl's cheeks

He brought one of his hands to the girl's cheeks, small drops of blood were visible on the small cuts. He wiped away the blood with his thumb as Thea held her breath and battled the intrusive thoughts that ran through her mind. Fortunately their moment was interrupted when Hana kicked the door of the car open encouraging the rest of the group to get out of the car.

"I'm okay to0" Ms. Chu said having been ignored by the group of teenagers

"What the hell?" The individual, the cause of all this exclaimed a few meters from the group with his phone in his trembling hands "Hey! Hurry, quick!" He hastened to say, returning inside the truck and thus the group of counters watched as the truck drove away from them

Thea glanced at the destroyed car behind them, it was nice while it lasted. But it was time to get another new car.

Thea completely understood the anger and sadness Hana felt the moment she entered the building in search of her unpleasant uncle. The group had to run the rest of the way they had left in order to save the victim from dying.

And now that Thea was standing in front of Hana's uncle she couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to meet hers after several years without hearing from him. Meanwhile Ms. Chu rushed into the small room where she saw the victim lying unconscious on the floor. Luckily they had arrived just in time.

"Who are you people?" Man-ho asked, getting up from the ground after having been pushed by his niece

"You piece of..." Mun exclaimed with annoyance, approaching Man-ho threateningly but Hana stopped him with a hand in front of him, preventing him from taking another step

"Don't touch him. I got this" Hana assured with her gaze glued to her uncle, the resentment towards him was more than noticeable in her gaze. So no one stood in her way when she ran towards the man with the intention of strangling him with her legs but he easily threw her to the dirty floor

"Hey, are you doing this because your family lost everything? Is that it?" Man-ho exclaimed in annoyance something that made Hana even more angry and so they both began to fight, the man receiving most of the blows "Let's be honest. Did I kill your family? They took pills and killed themselves. Why take it out on me? Seriously, what the hell?" He began to say each word in her ear as he now had Hana by the neck

"Shut up, you bastard!" Hana shouted, having enough of him she did some incredibly agile movements before finally throwing him to the ground thus freeing herself from his grasp

"Want to get some vessels ruptured?" Ms. Chu asked, taking him by his legs but before she could step on his genitals, Mun and Mo-tak stopped her, making Man-ho erase his scared expression and start laughing mockingly

"Damn it"

Ms. Chu compulsorily let go of his feet, everyone noticing the great disappointment on her face. Thea sighed in disbelief when she saw how Hana's uncle began to crawl on the ground with the intention of escaping, so she did not hesitate to quickly approach him, grabbing him tightly by his shirt, successfully ruining his escape plans.

"What do you want?" Man-ho asked her seriously but with fear, Thea could see clearly through him as if it were a cup of glass

"Apologize to Hana" She demanded coldly, causing a shiver to run down his spine, and on the other hand Mun couldn't help but feel his hair stand on end as he remembered the only time she spoke to him in that same way

Although when the individual's eyes made contact with Hana's, who was holding two white balls in her hands, he did not hesitate to change his expression to one of total terror.

"Hana, im... I'm sorry. For old times' sake..."

"Don't..." She put a ball inside his mouth "Apologize" He put the other one "You son of a bitch!" Thea stepped aside as Hana raised her fist and smashed it into her uncle's face, leaving him unconscious. Hana sighed heavily watching as the balls came out of the man's mouth "I'll evoke the spirit" She explained, dragging her uncle's unconscious body inside the room, putting him against the couch, she then proceeded to place her hand against his chest ready to start summoning him though she let go of his hand unable to contain her emotions

She raised her fist in the air, letting out a shaky breath, and Thea didn't hesitate to approach her when she noticed tears coming out of her eyes.

"I'll make him rot in jail!" Hana exclaimed angrily

"Hey" Thea said gently taking her shoulders

"Until the day he dies. Let go!" Hana began to say, moving abruptly until she managed to escape from Thea's grip, who decided not to do anything else until she calmed down

"Hana. I'll do it" Mun suggested, approaching both girls and Hana helplessly stood up from her spot, walking away from both teenagers as tears ran down her cheeks

Thea did not take her gaze off the girl, because even though she did not admit it out loud, Thea knew that Hana longed for a big hug to forget all her pain.

Thea had a very clear goal, she would make sure that Hana finally managed to let go of her past just like she had done. She's not saying that she would completely forget about her past but it will hurt less when she remembers it. She would make sure to be there for her in every facet, in every step she takes, Thea would be there for her, like the younger sister she is.

"I found Song Man-ho's murder weapon" Mun exclaimed almost the moment he woke up from Yung

"Hana read his memory, so she already went to look for it" Mo-tak commented waiting outside the car

"He drank with a girl after killing someone?" Ms. Chu questioned in disbelief "He's pure evil"

"Hi, cuties" Jangmul greeted from the driver's seat

"Oh, good to see you" Mun exclaimed making the older man laugh

"Look at you. You get my jokes" Jangmul expressed happily

"What brings you here?" Mun asked him, leaning towards him without noticing a certain brown haired girl lost in her own thoughts, anxiously waiting for Hana to return

"I heard your car got crushed. Consider me your delivery man" Jangmul responded with his typical infectious smile on his face

"What? A deal?" Mo-tak asked confused without having heard well what he had said

"He said 'delivery'" Ms. Chu corrected

"I can't hear him" He defended himself

After Hana returned with the evidence they needed to put Man-ho behind bars they immediately went to Songju Police Station to report what happened and Hana once again wanted to be the one to take matters into her own hands and no one objected to that, after all it was her uncle.

"She should be coming out any minute now" Jangmul exclaimed looking towards the station entrance

Everyone seemed to be waiting anxiously for Hana to return, everyone knew how difficult this situation must have been for her, it was to be expected that everyone was worried about her, especially Thea, who moved her leg up and down and so on, with her gaze cast outside the window in search of a certain head of black hair.

"Oh!" Mun exclaimed letting out a small happy laugh before running with a big smile towards Hana after having been waiting for her for a long time outside the car 

"There she is"

Although an unknown feeling formed in Thea's chest before she could smile happily at the sight of her older sister, instead a heavy, unpleasant feeling that squeezed her heart planted itself in her chest. Why did she feel like this? Why did it bother her so much that Mun waited for Hana outside the car with so much concern?

Why did it bother her? She wasn't jealous, of course not, she's not like that and she would never be jealous of her sister, besides, why should she be jealous? She and Mun are just friends and nothing more, they're not a couple or anything like that to be jealous of, so why is she so upset?

"I'm hungry" Hana spoke completely ignoring him and walked past him getting into the car. Thea for some reason couldn't help but smile with satisfaction, maybe because it was funny or maybe because she liked the fact that Hana ignored him like that.

Anyway Thea settled into her spot now with Hana in between both teens, making them feel so close but so far at the same time.

"Hana, let's get what you want to eat. What do you want to eat?" Ms. Chu asked looking at her with a smile. Everyone looked at the black haired girl waiting for an answer

"Fried eggs" Hana responded after thinking about it for a few seconds

"Sure, sounds good. Let's go!" Ms. Chu said nodding her head as Jangmul laughed.

Thea put on her seatbelt, wondering if what she felt a while ago was jealousy or she was just getting paranoid and imagined it all. In any case, when they arrived at the restaurant, the events of a few hours ago vanished into thin air and all that remained was the joy of having returned home safely.

While they keep in mind that they almost died in the car, but thank the gods they didn't and now they could enjoy a great meal after a long day of work.

"Eat as much as you want" Ms. Chu exclaimed, placing a large plate of fried eggs in front of Hana

"Good job today" Mo-tak congratulated eating from his bowl of noodles like there was no tomorrow

Thea took her chopsticks ready to start eating the variety of food in front of her, she didn't even know where to start and her mouth was already watering. That night they had spoiled Hana as if she were a little girl.

Author's note;

I'm so tired! Y'all should see the black circles I have under my eyes, my brother says I look like a ghost from a horror movie and he's not lying because I really do like like one 😭 anyway, do any of you have any tips to remove these beautiful dark circles?

Question of the day: Do you also hate Man-ho as much as I do? 🤔

See y'all in the next update cuties! 💗