Treasure tales

Short 10: Kanemoto Yoshinori

[Treasure + Rin Grouppp]-- 1016 unread messages

[Hyunsuk]--20 unread messages

[Jaehyuk]--4 unread messages

[Doyoung] -- 3 unread messages

[Junkyu] -- 1 unread message

[Unknown number]-- 1 unread message

[Opening chat for Unknown number...]

Unknown number: Hey...you are Rin, right?

Me: ??? Who r u how u know my name

Unknown number: Ahh...I haven't introduced myself yet! Nice to meet you, I'm Yoshinori, one of the twelve Treasure boys.

Me: Ohh...pardon for the initial rude reply😅. I was a little taken aback by the sudden message

Yoshinori: Haha it's okay. Of all the members, you haven't met only me and Asahi, right?

Me: ...who? Yeah, probably

Yoshinori: it's all right. I finally have some free time, so I thought I'd contact you. Up to meeting me irl?

Me: [typing...]

.........

Me: [typing...]

Yoshinori: you can say no if you don't want to

Me: I can, actually. And I want to. I might not be able to see you guys that often though, busy prepping for my exams. But my last exam for this term ended yesterday so I can make it

Yoshinori: I see. Is that why you went MIA for an entire week? They were beginning to think that your life was in danger, haha

Me: =0 this isn't the movies, though
(I privately felt flattered that they would worry for me)

Yoshinori: it is, sometimes. Many movies are based off real life, after all. Speaking of which, I'm still in school too! Would you like to study together one day?

Me: :D sureee that sounds awesome

Excitedly I clung my bag and approached the training building, the same one as last time. Yoshinori had arranged to meet there, claiming it was convenient since I already knew the place. I looked around, wondering if Yoshi had arrived yet. Was it the top floor again? I realised he never actually told me which floor.

I walked to the security guard and showed him the verification, before entering the building. As I walked into the lift, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind. Nobody was there. I raised my eyebrows. I did not believe in spirits, but this was a little odd.

"Scared?" I spun around. A handsome young man with a wide forehead and a well structured jawline was smiling sweetly at me. "I'm Yoshinori. Sorry about that, I thought it might be fun to give you an unconventional greeting."

"You're lucky I actually don't believe in ghosts," I snapped.

"I might as well be one, though," Yoshinori said. "My power is collectively called 'Spy'. I can turn invisble, I can nullify any sound I make, and I can make my body intangible, so it's as if I were never there at all. I can also teleport as and when I like. Very useful powers for intelligence collection, eh?"

"I hope you've never used it to do anything indecent."

"Eh?" Yoshinori shrieked, his face turning red. "T-t-that's immoral! How could you even suggest I'd be so shameless!"

"I'm joking," I said, laughing. "Well, I hope I am. I shall believe your words. Yoshinori, right?"

"It's a mouthful," Yoshinori admitted. "Call me Yoshi."

"What kind of intelligence do you even need to collect, though? Hyunsuk said you weren't a superhero organisation," I asked curiously.

Yoshi looked uncomfortable. "It...it involves what makes us the 12 Treasure boys. The origins of our powers, we're investigating stuff like that," he said after a while. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can say much. We were forbidden to. In fact, Doyoung should have wiped your memories the moment Hyunsuk saved you. But...none of us had the heart to, so..."

"It will get harder to wipe my memories the longer you let it wait, though, if I'm not a despicable person, that is," I said. "Not that I want my memory wiped. There's something incredibly poignant about shared memories that makes it difficult. And the longer you let it stay, the worse it gets."

Yoshinori shrugged. "You're probably right," he admitted. "And don't worry, if you were truly despicable, Hyunsuk would have ordered Doyoung to wipe your memories already. He can be quite firm like that. In some ways, you are changing the dynamics of the 12 of us. You may not realize it, but it's happening. I think that's why nobody wants your memories wiped. And it's getting worse, as time passes," Yoshi coughed nervously.

"I'm just a boring old A level student who spends all her time grinding for exams. I change nobody's life, everyone gets on their life fine without me, what do you mean," I asked monotonously.

"Every human affects each other's life, some way or another, good or bad," Yoshi said. We arrived at the 22nd floor, and walked out of the lift. "Maybe it's not you specifically, but more of the notion of a fresh new face who isn't burdened by our secrets or our shared traumas. It's liberating...in a way. And...you suffice. You're nice enough, at least."

"In the right place at the right time for once."

Yoshi laughed. "Really?"

I paused, and looked around the place. In front of me there was a row of mirrors. I turned to Yoshi and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. This mirror maze was reminiscent of something you'd see in a movie.

"You're going to help me train today," Yoshi said as he placed his bag in a corner. I followed him and set my own bag down.

Yoshi walked behind me. "Keep your eyes fixated on the mirror, try to see where I am. At the end of the game, walk towards and tap the mirror I was last seen in," he whispered. Then he was gone.

I peered hard at the mirror. Yoshi was flickering across the mirrors, and it took me all my willpower not to lose focus. He zigzaged, went up and down, alternated mirrors and finally settled on the mirror situated at the bottommost right. Afterwards he disappeared, and I saw no more trace of him on the mirrors.

I walked over, and tapped the mirror at the bottommost right. A second later the mirror-door opened. I blinked, surprised that these mirrors were also doors. Yoshi peeked out from behind the mirror.

"You've got good concentration," He complimented me as he stepped out of the mirror. He chuckled. "What do you think? That's a move I've been practising recently. My powers are useless in combat, you see, so I made this move in hopes that I can help to confuse the enemy, if Jeongwoo can be the one to summon the mirrors for me."

"That's amazing," I murmured. "You're already doing so much just by collecting intelligence for them, but you want to help in combat too."

"In combat, the more the better," Yoshi nodded politely. "We must always be prepared. And since I am the one gifted with 'Spy', I must fulfill my duties."

Yoshi hesitated. "I wanted to meet you, actually," he confessed. "The day Hyunsuk saved you. But I was busy doing intelligence work. I'm always busy doing intelligence work. We are trying our best to learn as much as possible before..." he trailed off.

"You don't need to mention it if you aren't allowed to," I reassured him. I looked downwards. "So what do you think? Does meeting me satisfy you, after all? Am I worth all that curiosity?"

"Hmm...that is subjective," Yoshinori said, smiling wryly. "You're interesting. Maybe just as much as any of us. I shall leave it at that."

I nodded, satisfied by this answer, even if I could not really believe his words. "I will have to know eventually, don't I?" I asked after a while, while my eyes strayed towards the scenery outside the window. The sun peeked at me from behind a high rise flat which blocked any view of scenery that my eyes could enjoy. "If my memory doesn't get wiped anytime soon, that is."

"I won't deny that possibility," Yoshinori agreed. "And you might get entangled in our mess. In their mess. And...I hope that everything will turn out fine in the end."