dark side | minsung

14

Once more, Jisung had agreed on hanging out with Chan after work. How the older managed? He had no idea, but the hero didn't have it in him to say no.

Over the past few weeks, Jisung had come to realize a couple of things, and they all revolved around Chan. Maybe hanging out with him wasn't all that bad, because the blue-haired boy genuinely felt less lonely with the male's company and the Australian was a safe person.

He was caring, which made Jisung feel like there was at least someone who gave a shit about him. Yet, as worried as Chan might've been about him, he never pried when Jisung was being secretive about the bags under his eyes or about his cuts and bruises. He hardly asked any hard questions, and dropped the subject when the hero struggled to formulate an answer. Chan was a warm and gleeful person, and Jisung would've considered him a friend if he hadn't sworn to keep everyone at a distance.

But even Jisung, who was tearing at the seams almost perpetually, longed for some company every now and then. It just so happened that his co-worker at the Seven-Eleven was a great person, in a way even the hero couldn't resist.

So there he was, strolling over the sidewalk with Chan right by his side. The other was talking animatedly, like he usually did. The younger was listening to every word that fell off his lips, but barely processed what he was talking about. Well, until a particular subject was brought up.

"Mate, have you seen the news?" the Australian said, the level of excitement in his voice going up quite a bit.

Jisung wasn't stupid. This could only regard one matter, and he wasn't at all happy that it was brought up. He knew it was the talk of the city, so it wasn't much of a surprise that Chan started talking about it.

"I don't really watch the news," Jisung lied. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Are you serious?" Chan asked with mild disbelief. "Everyone is talking about it all over the TV, radio, the streets, literally everywhere. How can you miss that?"

"Miss what?" the hero urged, acting as if he was utterly clueless.

"The superhero," Chan said, almost as an exclamation. He was clearly excited about the whole ordeal, and Jisung grew uneasy. This was exactly what he had feared.

The Australian continued, "surely you must've heard the rumors about some sort of hero, right? They've been going around for a couple of years now."

Jisung nodded, "vaguely, yeah."

"Well, they showed themselves on camera when they saved a bus from falling off a bridge, so their existence is basically confirmed and no longer a rumor."

The blue-haired boy whistled lowly, as if he was impressed by the news flash.

"That's pretty sick," he forced out.

Yeah, he felt sick by the news, mostly because a wave of anxiety crashed down on him without mercy. His fear came true; Seoul knew of his presence and he had no idea what would come from that. He didn't want fame, he didn't want attention. He just wanted to be the secret hero who protected the large metropolis. What if people came to look for him? What if they would give it their all to figure out who was behind the mask? What if bad guys would come after Jisung to get rid of him?

But then there was the other side of the story. If he had wanted to protect the clouds that shrouded him in mistery, he should've stayed off-camera and watch the bus plummet into the Han River. Like the Black Blur did. What person was worthy of calling themselves a hero if they did that? No, Jisung did the only right thing. He just wondered, at what cost?

"Pretty impressive, right?" Chan nodded eagerly. "I wonder if he's gonna apear more often now that people know he's here."

Probably not, Jisung thought.

"Who knows?" he said absentmindedly.

There was another hazard to this all. Now that people knew about a superhero watching over the city, they would expect him to show up whenever something went wrong. A new weight had dropped onto Jisung's shoulders, a new kind of pressure that was heavier than what he already carried. He was pretty sure Seoul's citizens would think highly of him, and he was so so afraid to disappoint them. People would start blaming him if bad things happened before he could prevent them. They would call him a failure, a fluke, a good-for-nothing. Jisung's poor heart sank in his chest as he realized. It was his dream to see everything and keep the city one-hundred percent safe, but that was mission impossible.

He was bound to fail now.

"You don't seem really bothered by it," Chan pointed out, giving Jisung a short glance.

"Ah, I'm just not really into superhero stuff." Jisung carefully faked a chuckle. "Like, it's cool and all, but it doesn't really mean anything to me."

"Really? Not even when Seoul gets its very own Avenger or something?" the older asked, clearly elated about this all.

The hero grimaced. An Avenger? Really now? He would never get on their level, no matter how much he tried.  If people were expecting an Avenger, they'd truly be disappointed in him.

This was so unfair.

Jisung felt his breathing grow shallow as panic slowly consumed him. He was bound to fail. People would expect more and more from him, and he would never be able to live up to that. He would never be good enough.

"Ji!" Chan's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, along with the light jab to his upper arm.

"Huh?" Jisung brought out, confused.

"Isn't that the guy who made you freak out at work a while ago?" the Australian said, subtly pointing to the left.

The hero's heart stilled for a moment, before picking up in a rapid pace. Chan could only mean one person, and indeed, as Jisung followed the male's index finger, he found an all-too familiar face among the crowd.

Min.

He was doing the bare minimum, just walking while rummaging through his bag, the leg of his sunglasses loosely  clenched between his teeth as he had no hands free to hold it. And yet, he looked absolutely and effortlessly stunning. Once again, he was wearing all black, and Jisung figured it was his usual go-to color. And boy, did he look good in it.

The blue-haired boy nearly tripped over his feet as he was too busy staring, and Chan laughed next to him.

"Yeah, you totally have a crush on him," he chuckled, poking Jisung's arm with a knowing smile. "I mean, look at you."

If only it was as simple as that, Jisung thought wistfully, his eyes still on the Black Blur. Where was he going? What was he doing? And why was he so stupidly handsome no matter what he did? All Jisung's previous worries were temporarily wiped from his thoughts, as once again a certain pretty villain kept a tight hold on his mind.

Even when he was out of sight again, he remained in Jisung's head, and the fact that Chan was teasing him certainly wasn't helping.

——

a bit of a filler but i'm excited for next chapter. you'll see why ^^