Treasure tales

Short 15: Interlude #3

"This is insane," Hyunsuk muttered under his own breath. He stared, fixated, at the device in his hands. The device hand turned, and the bar entered the orange zone. Hyunsuk looked into the sky, wondering when it was going to arrive. It would probably take a few more months to hit the red zone at this rate, Hyunsuk estimated. It had after all entered the yellow zone just months before after stagnating at the green zone for an entire year. There was barely enough time.

"Should I turn back time?" Hyunsuk wondered out loud. "Maybe there's something I could have done differently. Would we have been more prepared?"

He stood up abruptly as Yoshi materialised beside him. 

"Just in time, Yoshi," Hyunsuk said as he hurriedly stuffed the device into his pockets. "Did you manage to find anything new?"

Yoshi shook his head. "I'm sorry, this is probably quite difficult for you. How many times have you done this already?" He asked, feeling concerned. Hyunsuk looked pale. He had evidently not been sleeping well. Most importantly was the exhaustion that hung about his eyes and face, an exhaustion and frustration of one that had tried and tried again only to fail each and every time.

Hyunsuk groaned. "What about Asahi? Will he ever come?"

"No progress," Yoshi confirmed. "He told me last time that he would never associate himself with the likes of us. He...seemed certain about it."

"This is bad. The last thing we need right now is for there to be one lone sheep operating all by himself. Why doesn't he understand that this is for his sake too?" Hyunsuk complained. He felt tears brimming in his eyes from frustration and imminent grief.

"Hyunsuk, mind if I ask, was Rin here the previous times?" Yoshi asked.

"No, this is the first time," Hyunsuk murmured. "What has she got to do with this, though? We might have to erase her memories eventually. Otherwise she might get hurt."

"You know why very well," Yoshi declared. "Hyunsuk, I don't know what it is about her, but something is changing. It could very well merely be the addition of a new face. All of us are madly curious about her, because she is the only link to the rest of the world, the only one completely unrelated to our problems that knows. There is something very comforting in that, something stabilising, something that detaches us from our problems without having to ignore it as a burden rooted in our hearts. She might be what was missing from your previous attempts."

Hyunsuk remained silent.

"Haruto told her about his true form."

"What?" Hyunsuk exclaimed. "He did not even tell us until much later!"

"I told you. Rin's presence holds more power than you think. Perhaps she can convince Asahi--" Yoshi proposed. 

"You do realise the gravity of your suggestion, right?" Hyunsuk said, looking directly at Yoshi in the eye. "The more she becomes involved in us, the harder it will be for her to leave. I took that risk when I made that decision to save her, and I don't want to be the one that will bring her downfall."

Yoshi sighed and patted Hyunsuk's shoulder comfortingly. "Do you have any other ideas, in that case?" He asked. "I will be happy to listen."

Hyunsuk looked away, unable to come up with an answer.

"What is it? Is everything going okay?" Hyunsuk asked as he picked up the phone.

"Where are you? Why did you leave everyone in my hands?" Jihoon barked over the phone. "What am I supposed to do with them?"

"Please, help me watch over them for a little longer," Hyunsuk pleaded with Jihoon. "I've got important things to settle."

"What important things? As your appointed second leader of Treasure, I would very much like to know what is going on!" Jihoon demanded. "This doesn't make sense, Hyunsuk. You showed up one day telling me it's time for Treasure to come together again, and then told me to watch over them, and then disappeared all by yourself? Heck, the last time you came was when Rin arrived! And that was the first time you came in months! You can't keep ordering me to 'trust you'! My trust isn't given out so freely, Hyunsuk."

"I know this is unfair to you Jihoon. I just...look," Hyunsuk took a deep breath. "Let me finish things up on my end first, all right? It's quite a long story. I will tell you about it once I am able to. Please just wait a little longer. I will notify the group once I am ready. Make sure they are ready too, okay? Please?"

"A week," Jihoon said firmly before he hung up the phone. Hyunsuk smiled to himself. As harsh and Jihoon could be, he was trustworthy. He was also patient, giving him chances time and time again even though Hyunsuk never succeeded in meeting his deadlines. Hyunsuk was glad there was someone like Jihoon around.

Hyunsuk shook his head. He could not be distracted. He had work to do. He had to focus. He turned off his black phone, and took out another one from his table drawers, coloured a rose gold, and stuffed it into his pocket. He left his original phone on the table.

Hyunsuk grabbed his jacket and put it on. The jacket was black, he had chosen it to be so in order to be as inconspicuous as possible. He made sure to wear a mask as well, a white surgical one, because many people wore that. 

His rose gold phone buzzed. He pulled it out and checked. It was from Jeongwoo.

"I'll be there in a minute," Hyunsuk muttered as he stuffed the phone back into his pockets. He grabbed his sling bag, and went on his way.