'ιт тσσк σиℓу α мσмєит σf мємσяу вєfσяє ѕнє ∂яσωиє∂ ιи тнє тι∂є σf вℓυє σи¢є мσяє.'
She's over him. Right?
...
Not everyone can be an S-rank.
E-ranked Dae jong-in is the failure of her family. The younger sister of the 'ultimate soldier', she serves...
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(BLACK)
☆★☆★
Jinwoo scowled, brows pulling together. "You were attacked by an-an ant? I killed them all, though. Are you sure you're alright?" He scanned her with worried eyes.
"I'm fine. It only destroyed my apartment." Dae sighed. Looked down at her boots when she noticed his concern for her. "Just tell me if you've seen this before." Examining the proffered paper, he nodded.
"It was on your dragon's wing, right? I think that I may have seen it before. On all the monsters in the Great Park?"
So he was going to be no help. He was just as clueless as she. "Would you like something to drink?"
Dae startled at the offer, but paused and smiled. "Sure." And it wasn't long after when he passed her a mug of coffee, but with three times the usual sugar and cream instead of milk. His'd be straight black, she knew. He sat across from her, blinking exhaustion out of his eyes, and blurted something he knew he'd regret.
"I could help you figure this out, if you want. I mean if you want me to."
A smile graced her face again. "Sure."
And, as much as he wished he didn't, as much as he knew it was endangering her, Jin-woo found himself elated by their short parley.
When she left, he stood from his chair and lifted the photo frame he'd hastily turned over when she'd entered; her arm over his shoulders, his eyes aglow.
He'd figure himself out, one day. He'd figure out the mess he'd gotten himself into soon enough.
For now, though, the best he could do was remember.
☆★☆★
Jinwoo blinked in the late evening sunlight, his stomach rolling. Peering through the window from his vantage point, he saw Dae's nerves written all over her, in the way she picked at the hem of her shorts, the flick of her hand at her unruly, wine-red hair.
With all his heart, he hoped she wouldn't be an A or S rank. He could imagine what would happen if she was; her becoming a weapon just as Choi Jong-in had, a public symbol.
It would destroy her, he knew. The isolation of being someone 'important', someone 'needed'. A role-model.
When Jinwoo saw her parents' faces as they exited the building, his heart rose. Suppressed rage, disappointment- good signs.They refused to tell him her rank, but she cried a little into his shoulder. She would see, in time, that what her brother's amount of power was was not something she should aspire to have.He was sure of it.
That night, his sister handed him a letter. "For you!" she said- a little surprised. He never received letters. Ripping it open, all he found inside was a thick lock of red hair and a note. that read:'Please hold Choi Dae aloof from now on. It would be a great shame if she would be to lose her life.'
All he could do was stare at the paper, eyes wide, trying to register the words. It was stamped with the Choi crest, a simple, curved flame. Why would someone from her family threaten one of their own? But the message was clear. He needed to break her heart and leave her life or they would kill her.
The next day, Dae was missing a large piece of her hair. When questioned, she rolled her eyes; Her mum, dad or brother must've cut it off as a prank in her sleep. The note was obviously from someone in her family- but who? He had no power to figure it out.
That evening, he hurt her. Told his sister they were moving somewhere closer to their mother's hospital, and left.
It scared him, the way he could make himself feel so little. She'd been the only one who made him feel safe to show the way he felt his feelings more than most people, the way they burst out of him and overflowed uncontrollable, and how the only way to control them was to shove them down into himself.
She'd been the only one, the first one, borne of luck and fire and that sweet, innocent hope you can only have when you're young. She'd been the only one and he'd had to leave her.
