그늘
MINA GULPED HARSHLY as she stood outside of the barriers surrounding her house, Jungkook beside her, fully transformed in their suits. They were looking up at Mina's bedroom, the only way inside of her house considering she knew she always left her window unlocked, along with the fact that they couldn't exactly just walk through the front doors that easily.
"You sure he'll be here?" Jungkook clenched his fists once nervously, glancing at the girl beside him, a serious expression on her face.
"Yeah," Mina answered. "I think he's waiting for us."
"You have the vial?" Jungkook asked. She held the small vial up in her fingers, the black liquid inside swiveling around. He only nodded before she put the vial in her side pocket, her eyes promptly turning purple as she used her powers to open the window. As soon as it was open, the two gently and stealthily flew up to it, climbing in one by one.
Mina's face fell at the sight of her room, silent and still, her blankets tucked in nicely and her bed made. She had only been away from her room for a night, however, it felt like years. This room didn't even feel like her home anymore.
Jungkook glanced around her room, again mindblown at how neat she always kept it. It was a complete contrast to his own room, and he looked around her desk, seeing a picture frame. It was a picture that Hoseok had taken on his film camera at the beach on that night of the field trip weeks before. Jungkook was squished between Jimin and Seokjin, with Mina at the edge of the picture with Bitna's arm around her shoulders as they all smiled. The picture brought his own smile to his face, the memories flooding of that night with the full, bright moon and the sound of the waves. That was the night he had kissed her on the cheek; how much he would like to go back to that night.
Mina saw his warm smile, raising her eyebrows in curiosity. "What?" she whispered. Jungkook reached for the picture, holding it up to her.
"Cute."
"Put that down," she tried to hide her smile, taking the frame out of his hands and setting it back on her desk. "Focus."
Jungkook softly chuckled, the existing tension in the air slightly dissolving, calming Mina's nerves a bit.
After making their way toward the door, Mina slowly curled her hand over the knob, twisting it gently. It would be better if they could have the element of surprise; that way Mina could quickly deprive him of his powers, and they'd have the upper hand.
Jungkook bumped into her shoulder when she suddenly stopped on her way out of the door, her body frozen still. He curiously rose his head up, seeing her staring down at the foyer below the hallway balcony that they were standing on.
At the center of the foyer stood Shadow, suited up as he noticed them, calmly looking up at them. Mina's heart dropped to her stomach, her body tense as she glared down at him over the modern marble railing. Jungkook appeared beside her, giving him the same look.
"Welcome home, Mina," Sungyun smiled a bit, nearly making her sick to her stomach.
"This isn't my home," Mina spat as they began to walk toward the grand staircase. "Home is where you're supposed to feel safe, with your family."
"I am your family."
Mina and Jungkook stood at the top of the stairs, glaring down at Shadow at the bottom of them, his hands clasped behind him.
"When have you ever treated me as family?" Mina clenched her jaw, making Sungyun do the same.
"Why can't you see that I'm doing this to keep you safe?" he asked persistently, his voice stern.
"Safe? Hurting and manipulating innocent people, like my friends, is supposed to keep me safe?"
"Nobody is truly innocent," he pointed out calmly, his smile making Mina's blood boil.
"Obviously," she scoffed, her fists clenching.
"Do you remember when your mother was killed, murdered in broad daylight? Who's going to get justice? The people responsible for her death are still out there, and I'm trying to protect you," Sungyun explained, his words echoing through the wide foyer.
"That's not justice, that's revenge," Mina argued. "There were better ways to cope with Mother's death!"
"I can't."
"I did!" Mina exclaimed. "In the times you shut me out! So don't think you've ever tried to protect me. You're a liar and a coward."
Those words took him back a bit, anger fueling his veins before he promptly scoffed. "So who's going to protect you? It's not this boy, is it?" he asked, amused, sticking his chin out at Jungkook condescendingly.
"At least I was there," Jungkook spat through gritted teeth, making Sungyun glare at the boy in fury.
"Don't make me use force to get you on my side, Mina," he grumbled, his eyes darting to his daughter.
"I'm never going to join you, you monster."
Sungyun straightened his posture at the disappointing answer, an unreadable expression on his face. "Then you left me with no choice."
Suddenly, emerging from the shadows were several figures, coming from the ground all across the foyer below. The two immediately stepped back, recognizing them to be several villains who they had fought in the past, including Mrs. Sato, Bitna's mother, the spider, Hanseong, and more.
"Jimin-hyung," Jungkook's eyes widened when he saw his best friend, his solemn expression disheartening as his eyes glowed a bright blue. His stomach churned at the sight of someone he cared for once again turned into a villain.
Stood across the room was Heejin, the same devilish grin on her face that created goosebumps across Mina's body as she stared at the others in the room. The six villains stood across the room, glaring at the two superheroes malevolently.
"You'll come back to me. You'll see," Sungyun told her before sinking into the ground, his shadow traveling away on the floor.
Mina panted, her eyes darting back and forth between each villain, who were slowly advancing up the staircase. "He's abducted them and transformed them."
In an instant, Jimin rose his hand, shooting a sharp icicle through the air toward the two, watching them disperse and for the icicle to impale the wall instead. Jungkook steadied himself on the railing of the second floor, quickly scanning the villains who have begun to attack them.
"Take their shadows!" Jungkook shouted toward Mina but let out a shriek when a head suddenly appeared below him, revealing herself to be the familiar spider from days before. She had clung to the bottom of the indoor balcony, glaring up at Jungkook with devilish eyes before the boy kicked her face in shock, watching her fall onto her back. Tugging him off of the railing and onto the floor was an invisible figure, who Jungkook immediately knew to be Hanseong. His eyes searched, but were met with a fist to the cheek as he tumbled on the floor, immediately springing to his feet as he clenched his jaw.
"Seems Shadow doesn't learn from his mistakes," he uttered to himself before he jumped toward the empty space, sensing the unseeable swinging arm in front of him. He grabbed onto it, mentally mapping Hanseong's body in the air before swinging his leg, making contact with his now visible body which fell onto the floor. His eyes darted to the shadow, and within a second, he tugged it off.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the foyer, Mina leaped away from a flying chain, hearing it clash against the wall. Another chain was sent to her by Bitna's mother, and she quickly rose her hand, activating her power and watching it stop in the air. Before she could do anything else, a pair of arms clasped around her body, limiting her movements until her eyes ceased to glow. A dark figure was behind her, one she recognized to be Mrs. Sato.
Bitna's mother cackled before hovering two chains into the air, ready to strike her. Letting out a frustrated grunt, Mina's eyes began to glow once more and she held her palm in front of her own chest, sending a ball of energy through her body until it reached Mrs. Sato, pushing her away. She took this time to trip the woman onto her bottom, catching the chain mid-air and using it to pull Bitna's mother toward her. She tied the chain around as if it were a lasso, and hastily, she pulled off the shadows of the two women.
"Oh, Mina, dear," Mrs. Sato cried out when she fully regained her senses, seeing Mina above her.
"Mrs. Sato, Mrs. Song," she helped the two women up. "Please get somewhere safe."
A piercing scream fell out of Bitna's mother's mouth at the sight of something arising from behind Mina. She slowly turned around to see the spider villain, looking down at them with a malicious glare.
"I hate spiders!" the woman cried before Mrs. Sato pulled her away, and off they ran.
"Me too," Mina grumbled to herself before using her power to fly into the air, matching the spider's height. From there, she sent a ball of energy to the villain, watching her stumble back from the impact, her steps thunderous.
Suddenly, the spider was swept off of its legs, landing harshly on the marble floor of the foyer and making the house nearly shake. Mina looked over the railing, seeing Jungkook take off the shadow after pulling it down. He helped up the woman who transformed back into a human.
Mina was about to look up until she felt a sharp pain strike her arm, and she yelped out. Stood in front of her at the end of the balcony was Heejin, a grin on her lips. Mina hissed as she held her arm, previously hit by one of her lasers.
Jungkook made sure the woman exited safely, but within a second, he sensed a danger incoming, and he quickly moved his head. Darting past his ear was a long icicle that had found its place in the wall instead. He swiftly turned around, seeing his best friend standing a few feet away from him.
"Hyung," Jungkook spoke up, raising his hands in defense. "We don't have to do this."
Without another word, Jimin was sending another icicle toward his way, and Jungkook promptly flew up, landing back on the second-floor balcony, using the railing to help him steady himself. Jimin used his power to push himself off of the ground, leaving a trail of ice from his feet as he stepped onto the railing, balancing on it perfectly.
On the other side of the room was Mina, dodging the dozens of lasers sent by Heejin, an erratic pattern that she could barely keep up with. In a second she had to spare, Mina sent a ball of energy that sent Heejin onto her back, until she stood up quickly.
"Heejin, listen to me, this isn't you," Mina panted, out of breath from Heejin's deadly attempts.
"What do you mean?" Heejin tilted her head wickedly. "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, trying to get rid of you."
With that, Heejin shot another laser toward the girl, but with her speed, Mina used her power to move the laser across the room, hitting Jimin in the back. The cold boy turned around, confused, giving Jungkook the time to attack him.
Heejin let out a grunt of frustration before running to Mina, engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Mina blocked all of her attacks, as insistent and angry as they were, her forearms taking the blows. It was effective until Heejin collided her fist with her unblocked stomach, making the girl bend over in pain before a foot collided with her nose. Mina grunted as she slammed against the railing, squinting from the pain and the blood trickling from her nose.
She felt a hand forcefully tug at her hair, making her look up to see Jimin across the room, holding Jungkook against the wall by his neck, a threatening icicle to his throat. She coughed as the grip got tighter, making her wince.
"Look at your boyfriend, so vulnerable and weak. Just like you. You guys are made for each other," she hissed.
Jungkook strained as Jimin's grip around his neck got tighter, his cold fingertips digging into his skin. Jimin smirked, his blue eyes amused as he motioned his head behind his shoulder. "Isn't that your girl over there? The one you stole from me?"
"I didn't—" he coughed, "—steal her."
"Oh, really?" Jimin gave him a fake gasp of surprise before his expression turned dark. "Because you knew I was in love with her."
"Hyung," Jungkook strained, tugging at his best friend's arm. "Don't do this."
"And why should I stop?" Jimin gritted through his teeth, pressing the tip of the icicle into the soft skin of his neck.
Jungkook licked his lips, a knowing smirk engulfing his features. "Because I can make you."
Jimin squinted in confusion for a beat before the icicle in his hand suddenly turned into water, trickling in his hand and spilling on the floor. The grip around Jungkook's neck began to loosen, and the younger boy took this opportunity to twist his arm away, pressing his hand against his chest and pushing him to the floor.
Seeing his success, Mina smirked before throwing her fist up, colliding her knuckles with Heejin's face, who shrieked as she fell backward, Mina's hair falling free. Turning around, Mina used her power to pull at Heejin's foot, sweeping her off of her feet and making her fall onto the floor. She hastily bent down and tugged at the shadow, watching it awkwardly travel along the wall, and the staircase until it collided with another shadow; Jimin's shadow that Jungkook had just pulled off.
The shadow reached the end of the staircase, joining with another shadow on the floor. It morphed oddly before suddenly, a being began to rise from the floor, Mina immediately recognizing it to be her father. He seemed weakened, barely on his feet, as if the two defeated shadows were harming him and his power.
"Minnie? What the hell?" Heejin's groggily voice pulled Mina's attention, who helped her up quickly.
"You have to leave. And get the police," Mina stated before grabbing onto the girl, who couldn't spare a word before the two were flying off the balcony and onto the first floor. Jimin and Jungkook landed beside them simultaneously, the four sharing glances before Jimin and Heejin both ran out of the house. Mina joined Jungkook again, her heart aching at the sight of his bruises and cuts, the same occurring for Jungkook as he noticed her bloody nose and her scratched-up jaw.
The two turned toward the man who had fallen onto the staircase, weakly panting as he leaned his elbow on a stair to keep him upright.
"It's over, father," Mina panted as she stepped toward him, blood fueling her veins.
"Surely you wouldn't hurt your own father," Sungyun coughed, chuckling almost desperately.
"That's funny. I thought, 'surely, you wouldn't hurt your own daughter', but look what happened," she tilted her chin up. "Using all of those people, putting them in danger just to win. You're a coward."
"You're here to take my powers, aren't you?" Sungyun laughed, the sound quickly being replaced with a grunt. "I can sense the anger in you. In both of you," he smirked. "Perfect."
Suddenly, emerging from his shadow for one final act were two shadows, each sliding across the floor toward Mina and Jungkook.
With time moving almost in slow motion, Mina widened her eyes and rose her hands, energy exerting from her hands and toward the shadows on the floor. Her heart paced as she stopped the two shadows on the floor, taking almost all of her energy to meet her father's power, as he himself grunted as he tried to push through it.
"Jungkook!" Mina strained, keeping the shadows from moving on the ground. "My pocket!"
Widening his eyes, Jungkook sprinted to her, swiftly pulling the vial from her pocket. Flying toward Sungyun in a haste, he fumbled with the cap before landing in front of him. The man widened his eyes and yelled out, but before he could do anything, Jungkook opened the vial, watching a cloud of black smoke explode in Sungyun's face.
The shadows on the floor disappeared and Mina fell onto her knees, gasping for breath, feeling extremely weak from all the energy she had exerted from that one action.
As the cloud cleared, Jungkook watched the veins in Sungyun's face run black, his power being sucked out of his body as if a ghost had been possessing him. When his face went back to its natural color, Sungyun fell weakly onto the stairs, his eyes closed.
Jungkook sighed in relief and fatigue before turning to see Mina on the floor, visibly weak. He ran to her, helping her sit up as he held her tightly. Mina slowly reached for his hand, squeezing it gently as she met his eyes, relief washing over them. Jungkook collided his forehead with hers, closing his eyes and catching his own breath as the sound of police sirens began to invade their ears from outside. It was over.
Within a minute or so, several policemen began to run through the open front door, firearms in their hands, pointing at Sungyun on the ground. Mina saw them and the guns, panic coursing through her veins.
"T-That's not necessary, he's powerless now," she told them, almost desperately as Jungkook held onto her. The policemen lowered their weapons, quickly making their way to Sungyun and pulling him up from the floor, taking his hands behind his back to handcuff them.
Jungkook helped Mina up onto her feet, and her eyes were glued to the floor as her father walked by them, guided by two officers. She couldn't bear to make eye contact with him, her heart thumping out of her chest. They followed the officers outside to the front gates, seeing several reporters somehow made their way to the front door and were bombarding the two superheroes with questions.
From afar, Mina watched as her father was placed into the backseat of a police car, sounds muffling through her ears as flashes nearly blinded her.
"I need to get out of here," Mina mumbled, low enough so only Jungkook could hear it and he glanced toward her in confusion before she suddenly flew away, leaving the reporters to call out after her.
They turned back to Jungkook, shoving microphones and cameras into his face. "Is Lee Sungyun Shadow?" a reporter called out.
Jungkook squinted from the cameras before hesitantly nodding. "He was."
"So, Shadow was Raven's own father?" a reporter clarified. "How does she feel about that?"
Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows. "What she feels is to herself. Now, excuse me," he stated before flying away, his wind powers making the reporters stumble back, their hair becoming messy.
He searched around for Mina, his heart racing. He couldn't imagine how she must have felt, and he needed to be there for her. Where could she be?
Then he remembered where she was the day the entire school found out about Mina's crush on him. The bridge.
With a clear destination, he set off toward the bridge, which was fortunately not too far away.
A minute or two passed before he spot Mina on the bridge, transformed back into her usual self as she leaned on the railing, staring out to the city. He landed on the bridge, tapping on his ring to transform back into his regular clothes. He hesitantly stepped toward her, his footsteps alerting her of his presence.
"Mina," Jungkook carefully called out, joining her side on the railing. He watched as she turned to him, a relieved yet sad smile on her lips. She leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his low back, Jungkook immediately resting his arm around her back as well. She snuggled into his chest, releasing a breath and watching it form in the cold winter air. Jungkook was warm, as always, and Mina clung to him, her body and her heart warming because of him.
Jungkook pressed his chin on her forehead, rubbing her back soothingly. "You okay?"
"I will be," Mina smiled as she pulled away slightly to look up at him, admiring the way the mole under his lip moved as he smiled down at her. "We did it."
Jungkook only nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear gently. "What are you going to do now?"
Mina took a deep breath, looking out to the city as she fixed her arms around Jungkook's torso. "Well, I'm 18, so I can live alone. I think I'm going to stay at that house with Yeojeong and Kangho. They still need somewhere to stay. If not, then it's okay. I'll figure something out."
"We're going to keep being superheroes, right?" Jungkook asked, almost worried as if that were a question that had constantly been lingering in his mind.
Mina turned to look at him. "Of course. There will always be bad people, Jungkook," she told him reassuringly.
"I'm happy as long as it's with you," Jungkook warmly smiled at her, making her heart skip a beat at his words.
"You and me against the world?" Mina asked playfully, her light tone enough to melt Jungkook's heart. He nodded, chuckling a bit before leaning down, firmly pressing his lips against hers. His lips quickly warmed her cold ones as she deepened the kiss, pulling away to lean her forehead against his.
She knew that nothing would ever be the same, but with Jungkook, she felt that she could take on the world.