XI - Patience, again
"A new criminal?"
Chaewon steps in, shaking her head, "Not even. It's most likely a new villain."
Jungeun's eyes widened and she snapped her head towards Haseul, who only returned a wary smile. She blinked a couple of times as if trying to study their situation - but what was there to study? With what Haseul and Chaewon told them, they have close to nothing about this man. "And the victim hasn't woken up yet, right?" Jungeun asks.
Haseul nodded, "Unfortunately, no. Yeji said that the student is slowly recovering but no signs of her waking up." She frowns at the news but tries her best to hide it from the others.
Jiwoo looks up from her hands, worry evident in her eyes, "Are they safe there? With the amount of people that were killed by this guy.. is it ok for them to be so quiet about this?"
Chaewon and Haseul share an uncertain look but quickly recover - Chaewon is the first to answer, "We told them but they said the city officials issued a curfew. They didn't say the real reason but said it was because of the influx in criminal activity. Civilians are following the rules, for the most part."
Haseul smiles, hoping to reassure Jiwoo knowing she's built a deeper friendship with Yeji over the past year, "As for ITZY, they'll be fine. They're being careful too, so don't worry about them too much, ok?" Jiwoo simply nods, looking back down at her palms as she wrings them nervously.
Yerim sits beside the older girl, hoping to lend her some warmth to which Jiwoo seemed to have noticed. Albeit not being close, Jiwoo finds it endearing that Yerim chose to comfort her regardless of their fresh acquaintanceship.
"Is that all we really have?" Jungeun steps forward, "We have nothing more on his identity except that he's, what, male?"
Haseul simply nods. She can hear the tinge of frustration in Jungeun's tone but decides to push away the need to tell her off about; she can't really blame Jungeun for acting like this when she can feel her own worries build in her stomach. Haseul lets out a sigh - seemingly the tenth one she's done today - and meets Jungeun's eyes with guilty ones, "The footage is all we have - and the victim but I don't want to depend on her - that's all. The officials are trying to find more but their lives are technically at risk here if they aren't careful."
Everyone shows disappointment, their shoulders drooping as they look away, dejected. Haseul wants to lift their spirits up, wishing that they could all somehow let their eyes burn with determination and hopefully, hope; but that's was pointless. Haseul guesses - no, knows - that she can't just do that with a snap of a finger. They were all struggling.
As heroes, Haseul is sure they're all itching to save the lives of others; she is too. But with nothing to use, they were practically rendered empty handed. They're living on pixelated footage and an unconscious victim - they had nothing. Yet their time is ticking.
"But we have one thing." Chaewon chirps, her back straightening. Her words and the certainty in her voice catches everyone's gloomy expressions, some of them physically lightening, "Well, it's a theory but my gut tells me that I'm sure of it."
Hyejoo hums, "Trust your gut."
Chaewon nods in agreement, "There was a mark on the garbage bag, the one by this guy's foot. It had a mark on it - like a symbol." She pulls up the image, inwardly cursing at the blurred image but she continues, "Here."
Jungeun's eyes narrow in an attempt to piece together the clump of red lines that was barely a shape; however, it soon started to come to mind. "That's the MOON's emblem, isn't it? Their mark of existence, or something like that?"
Yerim slowly stands, peeking over Jungeun's shoulder as she catches the red circle. Though the image was poor quality, it wasn't completely difficult to make out the shape and the outline of the symbol. It was a blood red circle and in the middle of it had a line that crossed straight through, horizontally.
Her eyes almost burned by looking at the symbol, her mind filling with the image.
"So he's.." Hyejoo was the first to speak out of all them, breaking the silence, "He's part of them? This basically means, they're starting, doesn't it? If this guy is part of them, then surely that means they're coming back, right? Don't we have to do somethin-"
"We can't." Haseul snaps her head towards Hyejoo. Everyone slowly stepped away from the computer - Yerim sat back down beside Jiwoo, slightly intimidated by the way Haseul held her tone. "We aren't going to act - not yet, at least."
Hyejoo raises an eyebrow, "What?" She switches glances between the image and Haseul before keeping her eyes on the latter, "Are-Are you kidding? Haseul, this is our chance to find answers, to find them and to exploit them and- you just want to sit back? We need to lure this guy out so we can find where their base is, where they're hiding before things go to shit-"
"And what, possibly get ourselves killed?" Haseul raises an eyebrow and her voice filled with authority, "We don't know this guys quirk and he's already killed 9 heroes. You want to face him head on, Hyejoo? We need to find more information on him - we need to wait."
"Wait?!" Hyejoo groaned, running frustrated hands through her raven hair, "He's what we need! He's basically our key and now you just want to wait? What if he gets away, Haseul? What are we going to do then?"
Hyejoo opens her mouth to spit out another question but Chaewon intervenes before she can do so, "Hyejoo."
"What!"
"Shut your mouth and listen." Chaewon pinches the bridge of her nose as Hyejoo follows her orders - though not, willingly. The younger girl's mouth shuts close, much to the protest in her eyes. "This guy is dangerous and that, we're sure of. We may be more trained and skilled but that doesn't matter right now. This guy seems to know his way around too, and we need to be wary of that, understand?"
Hyejoo grumbles, looking away with her fists clenched. Chaewon sighs, "Look at me, Son Hyejoo." Said girl has her head turn towards Chaewon but it's obvious she isn't the one willingly giving in. Chaewon crosses her arms, evident exhaustion in her eyes, "I know you don't like it when I use my quirk on you, but this is the only way for you to listen without interrupting every two seconds. We need a plan before we lure this guy out and attack him. I'm sure out of everyone here, you prefer that most, don't you?"
Hyejoo only stares, her body still in it's place.
Yerim switches glances between the two, studying the way their eyes met at such an intense level. She grimaces at the way Chaewon stares at Hyejoo with such certainty and demand that it almost mirrored Haseul's.
She must be watching Chaewon's quirk right now.
A control-like quirk?
Hyejoo grunts to which Chaewon seemed to have taken as a yes. She lets out a tired sigh, which gives Hyejoo the chance to mutter a subtle, "Dammit." under her breath. Chaewon looks away from the younger and yawns as she leans against the table.
Haseul glances at Hyejoo - who wasn't looking at anyone except the floor - and lets a soft smile grace her features. She clears her throat, ridding of the tension that filled their meeting, "Anyways, that's pretty much the report. Be careful and wary on your night patrols today, I'm sure you all know the rules by now-" She smiles at Yerim who gingerly smiles back, "-Alright. Off to work."
****
"She always says patience." Hyejoo mumbles, groaning at the thought. She digs her face into the palm of her hands, basking in the occasional breeze that passed.
Albeit disagreeing, Hyejoo understood why Haseul was adamant on waiting and watching the events unfold. She was right; this guy was merely a stranger to them and if they were to jump in, no information whatsoever, it would surely go wrong. Hyejoo didn't want to underestimate their power as a group but if this guy was capable enough to kill heroes with little to no struggle then it's best to gather more Intel on him.
And she knows this best.
But she was tired of waiting around. Hyejoo wanted to start looking for the answers that they deserved 2 years ago. It was no use, tip toeing around the one solid lead they have towards their goal of finally finding MOON. She needed this.
"Candy?"
Hyejoo looks up from her palms and she was met with a small plastic bag, a large opening at the top, that held in a colourful variety of candy. She stared at it, inwardly deciding whether or not to accept such an offer when she wasn't really craving for anything sweet at the moment. With a sigh, Hyejoo pushes it away, "I'm fine."
She feels a certain warmth graze her right side, to which she internally found comfort in. In the biting weather, anything warm was good enough for Hyejoo to feel at ease. "Are you still thinking about what Haseul said?" Yerim leaned back, making herself at home on the makeshift seat of a wooden log.
Hyejoo nodded, though she didn't say much afterwards. She figured that Yerim would understand her decision to keep the conversations as short as possible; there were too many questions occupying her mind and Hyejoo doesn't want to stray far from them just yet, as odd as that sounds.
"Chaewon said you, of all people, prefer having more Intel on that guy. What exactly does she mean by that?" Yerim didn't turn towards her and it was a fairly curious question but it didn't sit right with Hyejoo.
She didn't like it when people pried into her life. And yet here Yerim was, asking such a harmless yet direct question.
Hyejoo stood up, brushing away the little dust on her pants, "That's none of your concern." She grumbled, not meeting Yerim's eyes.
"But it is, isn't it?" Hyejoo hears Yerim's shoes scratch slightly against the concrete as she stands up, almost meeting her height. "You're my partner in these night patrols. It only makes sense if I get to know you." Yerim reasoned.
Hyejoo crossed her arms, glancing at the other girl with boredom evident in her eyes, "Didn't you say my attitude is - and I quote - something else?" Hyejoo raised an eyebrow, "If you want to learn something about me, here's what I can tell you."
Yerim looks up, her eyes almost immediately lightening up at the thought but Hyejoo only grimaces at it. With narrow eyes, Hyejoo stared right at Yerim, "You need to follow me. I don't want you jumping in, head first, without a plan. We won't accomplish anything if you mess things up-"
"Hey! Why am I the one doing the messing up-"
Hyejoo scoffed, "Because you already messed up once; I doubt that would be the last time." She waved off Yerim's incoming protests, "Just listen to what I say and we'll be fine. Don't be brash and actually think before you act. Not having a plan is stupid and a risk not worth taking."
Yerim visibly thinks for a while, staring at Hyejoo with a blank expression - to which the raven haired girl just tried to ignore. She looked away, feeling a little uncomfortable with the prolonged stare that Yerim was giving her; accompanied by an unreadable expression. It was almost as if she was studying Hyejoo's every movement, every twitch of her muscle and maybe even the way her pupils slightly tremble under such an odd gaze.
Realization dawned upon Yerim; it was obvious to see when the girl let out a soft gasp as she slapped her fist down on her palm like an important thought came to mind, "I get it now." Yerim mumbled, her eyes finally moving away from Hyejoo.
"Get what?"
"Why Chaewon said that to you." Yerim answered.
Hyejoo opened her mouth to ask but decided against creating another unnecessary conversation when they should be watching their city. She lets out a tired sigh and diverts her attention from Yerim and onto the city.
Because Hyejoo is honestly afraid of facing the store owner yesterday for the property damage Yerim caused, she decided it was best to proceed with their night patrols in the city and not on a hill that only overlooked the city.
It was better this way since it would be easier to catch any suspicious activity lurking around the streets.
(Is what Hyejoo wants to tell herself. Totally not because of her embarrassment.)
"Hey."
"What." Hyejoo mumbles out, slipping her hands into her pockets. Being on top of a building was a bit of a catch since the temperature had increased along with the biting wind that passed by occasionally.
"If we do ever encounter them." Yerim's voice was merely a whisper and Hyejoo had to tear her attention away from the peace of the city just to hear her properly, "What are we going to do?"
The question held more weight than they both could've thought. The answer seemed simple. These people were threats, threats to mankind and to the world as a whole, so it was only natural to know what they had to do. In fact, it wasn't even sensible to ask such a question when the answer was literally dwelling in their minds as they speak.
But it also seemed wrong.
Hyejoo hid underneath the warmth of her scarf, tucking her nose in the fabric, "We do what we need to do." She answers back but there was a tinge of hesitance hiding beneath her words.
Yerim only hums, but Hyejoo senses she doesn't like it.
She just stays quiet - they both do.
****
"How are you, darling?"
There was that same, agonizing rhythm. That mocking echo of little water seeping in between cracks and falling onto the broken tiles. It was a song that started to tear through the little sanity left in those tired eyes. Everything seemed rather faint, as if every corner and every wall had been taken by the shadows of the small cell.
It was suffocating.
"Look at your eyes.." A sigh left his chapped lips. He shook his head, feigning pity and worry, yet his eyes were only brimmed with pure satisfaction and joy, "..Did you not get enough sleep? How unfortunate." He looked up, and within a mere second, his mockery of a frown grew into a twisted smile.
He grabbed the metal bar with such excitement, "Your life used to be so grand yet look at you now!" He laughed wickedly, grinning widely at the body laying limp behind the bars.
His voice echoed harshly in the hallway, ringing every being present to hear his presence yet no one from outside can hear. They were all just passing by. Unaware.
His laughter was reduced to a gurgle of snickers before he let out a relieving sigh. He takes in a shaky deep breath and he looks back up with narrow eyes, "Oh my, I apologize for being so disrespectful. I should let you go to sleep. Goodnight.."
And alas, his lavender eyes became a thing in the shadows, slowly being swallowed by the pitch black darkness and within seconds there was no more sound. Just the same rhythm of droplets of water sung.
The world became so quiet - and so loud.