'tis the damn season

She said they needed time. That he needed time to feel at peace again.

He had agreed not because of himself, but because he could see how much it was affecting her.

She was slowly deteriorating alongside him, and he couldn't let her.

He couldn't let her suffer because of him.

So, he let her go.

His thoughts spiraled out of control to the point he almost didn't notice the flash of something in his mind.

An evil spirit.

He looked outside the window and noticed the colorful lights of the territory blooming across the road.

From what he could gather, the evil spirit seemed to be near his old high school.

He quickly asked the taxi driver to change destinations and sat back in his seat. He let out a sigh, both in annoyance and relief.

Perhaps he had more time to collect himself before seeing them. Seeing her.

Unfortunately, luck was not on his side today.

After being dropped off, he quickly took out his luggage and kept it near the entrance of his school.

With that, he closed his eyes and brought forth the territory. That's when he heard a yell from the other side of the building.

He ran to the area he heard the noise, making sure the territory covered the entire place.

In the alley, he found a whirl of bodies fighting against each other. With a glance, he used his telekinesis to send the evil spirit flying against the wall and held him in place.

The evil spirit tried to move but he was unsuccessful. He turned to see who was fighting with the evil spirit by themself.

In front of him was Do Hana dressed in a red hoodie and sweatpants looking extremely exhausted. Her hair was plastered against her forehead and blood was coming out of a wound on her arm. Her face was covered in bruises and a small cut on her cheek.

His eyes traveled across her worriedly, searching for any signs of pain or other injuries.

She just glanced back at him in surprise and scanned his face, memorizing the changes since the last time she saw him.

He turned back to the spirit against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut to calm his racing thoughts. He opened them up again and summoned the spirit.

By the time he returned from Yung, he looked to see Hana wiping the blood from her arm off with her hoodie.

"You're back." She said quietly. The first words she had spoken to him in a long time.

"I am." He stated. His eyes were hesitant, almost as if he didn't know what to say.

She just nodded in response before adjusting her movements against her arm. She let out a hiss in pain, making him immediately move closer to her.

Without hesitation, he quickly used his hands to check for any other injuries while softly rubbing the cut on her face.

She moved away from him, almost as if his touch had hurt her.

He quickly let go of her. He shouldn't be touching her. Not anymore.

"I'm fine, Mun. Let's go back to the warehouse." She whispered, before walking away from him.

All he could do was follow her.

~~~~~~

The taxi ride back to the warehouse was quiet.

So quiet that they could hear each inhale and exhale of their breaths.