AUTHOR: SECOND PART IS KINDA WORD VOMIT BUT WE GETTIN CLOSE TO SEEING KAYDEN SO LEZ GOOOO
I'm kinda eepy sleepy rn so leme edit it tomorrow GOODNIGHT
WARNING: SLIGHT WORD VOMIT
CHAPTER 18: MY MISTAKE: PART TWO.
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WOOIN'S POV:
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I arrived fairly early in class this time. Sitting quietly in my seat and preparing my school books and notepads was about all I could do in the time to spare.
Ever since yesterday when I discovered where Doctor Delein's pride sample went, I've kept quiet about the whole situation.
I wasn't particularly fond of hiding such a thing from him, but I needed time to think.
I still wasn't even sure if Jiwoo Seo was a tracker. And even if she wasn't, she would still inevitably be caught up in an unfortunate mess if the Doctor were to discover her.
Which is why I have decided to stay quiet.
I want to confirm things myself. Cautiously investigate and see if Jiwoo is a tracker. And if she isn't, then I'll do what I can to take that cat without involving her in this whole mess.
I hoped for the latter.
As if on cue, Jiwoo entered the classroom, particularly bright and cheery as she flopped her backpack onto the floor beside her desk.
She whipped her head around and smiled at me, "Hey Wooin!"
I blinked. The sudden attention sent an awkward flush into my face.
"I'm glad you were able to come to school today!"
The words caught in my throat, and I ended up awkwardly reaching for another one of my notebooks and fiddling with my pen.
Eventually she sighed dejectedly and turned back in her seat.
I glanced back at her.
The Doctor said she uses speed. It makes sense that she would be the one to take that cat seeing how just yesterday, she used speed to dodge all of those good for nothing delinquents.
I could sense a minuscule surge of numen coming from her at the time she picked a fight with them. Had she not arrived at the time she did, I would have silently taken them out myself, but I got the feeling their 'leader,' the kid with the white hair was also an awakened one.
Something I had noticed about Jiwoo was that she seemed rather clueless about the whole ordeal and it bothered me.
First, she strides in heedlessly just to back me up? We don't even know each other.
Secondly, she almost obliviously uses her numen to increase her speed, completely ignoring the fact there were regular humans there. Even worse, there were two other awakened ones there who could have easily intervened.
At the time Jiwoo was arguing with those thugs, the white-haired kid seemed transfixed on the whole ordeal. Despite his careless demeanor, he kept his eyes on them the entire time. Observant. Calculating.
He seemed quite unusual as well.
Even after their leader shut down the whole situation and left Jiwoo alone with me, she continued to act so unusual.
Though she was the one talking practically the whole time, I had half expected her to drop the nice facade and attempt to kill me, which was why I kept silent and refused to let my guard down.
I even bothered rerouting my way home so that she wouldn't know where I lived.
And as much precaution as I took, she never did anything threatening.
It seemed so wrong.
But as I watched her yawn and chuckle at something on her phone, I came to a realization.
Maybe she has nothing to do with this at all...?
Perhaps she was just a common awakened one with no connections, no major family or affiliation.
Perhaps she didn't know right from wrong, dangerous from harmless and merely did things the way she saw fit.
Perhaps when she dashed in front of the doctor and swept the cat away, she thought that it was just an animal in trouble.
Perhaps...
The teacher entered the classroom and ordered everyone to settle into their seats.
The dots in my head finally connected.
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KAYDEN'S POV:
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Jiwoo was still at school and I was left alone with the three musketeer cats.
All three of which laid sprawled on the floor, asleep and basking in the warm sunlight.
It was tempting to join them. How comfortable and relaxing it looked to just lie there and sleep, warmed by the sun...
My body involuntarily relaxed. And it was then that a thought struck me. What if this was the work of an awakened one!? Maybe somebody has the ability to cast intense fatigue over living beings, and is currently out to assassinate me while I slept? I will not allow this!
The attempt to rile myself up was futile.
Maybe it was because I was already completely conscious of there being no present numen in the area, but my body was only draining itself more of the will to live on.
I've got it... I can just sleep somewhere away from the sun!
That thought was also futile because every drop of blood in my fat body was pulling toward that wonderful sun covered spot on the hard wood floor waiting just for me.
"No... I mustn't..." I collapsed on the floor, my paw involuntarily reaching for the sun.
"I must not give into these animalistic urges...!"
But oh, it was too late. For I was already laying sprawled in the sunlight, heavy eyelids pulling my eyes shut and urging me to rest.
Damn it.
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JIWOO'S POV:
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There was a bounce in my step as I continued my short journey home.
I can't wait to see Kayden and my three adorable kittens again! The thought made me hum in delight.
In the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of something small scurrying about.
I turned and soon spotted the source; a neighborhood cat. This one was white with light gray patches.
"Hello there!" I reached into my bag and pulled out one of my spare cat treats as the feline tilted its head in curiosity.
"Here you go, buddy." the cat gladly ate from my hand.
Yet again, I am reminded of my undying love for cats.
"Jiwoo Seo."
I blinked at the sudden calling of my name by an unfamiliar voice.
I turned around and, surprisingly, found Wooin Myung standing just a few steps away from me.
"Wooin? Nice to see you!" I offered a warm smile. His expression remained unfazed.
"Where did you get that cat of yours?" his voice was just as emotionless as his face.
He was so strangely robotic...
"This little guy here?" I pointed to the neighborhood cat in front of me, "he's not mine. I was just feeding him."
The cat arrogantly licked its paw and stared at Wooin with a look of sass.
"...no, not that one. The cat you had last night. The gray one with black stripes?"
The black one I had last night...
Oh!
"Oh, you mean that one?" he had seen me on my way to the vet. How coincidental.
"I had seen the cat before. I first found it when it was badly injured, so I decided to look after it."
As frozen as his expression was, it seemed to darken as I continued explaining.
I'm just imagining things.
"Why do you ask?"
"I thought it might have been my cat..."
Oh! That's why he seemed so off-put! "You lost your cat!?"
He nodded shyly.
"Wait for just a second and I'll bring him here!"
Ever so slightly his eyes widened, "What?"
"So you can check and see if he's your cat!" I smiled reassuringly and hurried the rest of the way home.
My house being just a block down and to the right, I made it there fairly swiftly. I tapped the code in and swung the door open, announcing a positive "I'm home!" as I dashed into the living room in search of the gray cat.
Kayden groggily lifted his head from where he lay face down on the floor. "Huh?"
"I think I found the cat's owner!" I spoke as I gently lifted the sleeping kitten in my arms.
Kayden blinked and let his face fall back down on the floor. "Oh.... 'Kay."
I stood back up and adjusted the cat in my arms, "I'll be back soon!"
"...M'kay..."
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"Wooin! Hey! Is this the cat?" I huffed out through the cold wind. A puff of white frost fluttered out in rhythm to my panting.
Wooin stood absentmindedly where I left him. Upon hearing my voice, he flinched and swiftly locked his eyes on me and the cat in my arms.
I held the cat up for him to see. The feline slowly stirred awake.
Wooin's eyes narrowed.
The air took wind to a sudden chill that had me shivering despite the heat produced from my excessive running.
Something about the way he looked at the cat didn't sit right with me, and it was then that I noticed the stiffness in his neck and the brooding shadow stilling in his towering frame.
The smile on my face lowered.
"It certainly is." his voice seemed to be the only thing sound producing in the silence of winter.
To my alarm, the cat in my arms suddenly screeched and thrashed in fear. I nearly dropped him but kept a firm hand at the main base of his body.
"—huh? What's wrong buddy?"
He continued to thrash and hiss at the person in front of him.
In front of us.
Wooin.
"Jiwoo, give me the cat." his voice was dangerous and low and I was beginning to understand the situation.
"—Huh?" asking him to repeat himself in the midst of the mess in my arms was the only way I could think of stalling.
"Hand the cat over." his gaze continued to drill holes into the fear-stricken cat.
The veins in Wooin's face stood more prominently, and the lift on his upper lip exuded anger and distaste.
He...
It finally clicked.
I need to get away from here.
"...Wooin..." I took an anxious step backward, "...Are you sure this is the lost cat you were looking for?"
"Yes." He took a dangerous step forward and I gulped.
I bit my lip. I couldn't find my smile anymore. "If he's your cat, then why is he acting like this?"
Anger flashed in his eyes and before he could say or do anything, I quickly spoke up again in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "I—I mean, uh... are you sure you're his owner?"
A shadow cast by a cloud covered the remaining sunlight of the afternoon, making everything freeze even colder than it already was.
I grit my teeth and held the cat close to my chest, fear gripping my heart, "Or are you... lying to me?"
He irritably sighed, "Jiwoo, just hand him over."
Though his glare was more directed at the cat, his anger was seeping into his words.
"You'll only put yourself in danger if you involve yourself with him."
He stepped closer, I did the opposite.
If I give him this cat, then he might do something to hurt him...!
My gut was screaming at me to get away. "No..."
His anger contorted his face, "Then you leave me no choice."
Faster than I could have ever seen coming, he hit me somewhere by the neck and darkness flooded my vision.
I lost my balance and fell to my knees, the strength in my body depleting as consciousness slipped away like a fleeting memory.
"You'll only be out for a couple of hours," he said, reaching for the cat that stood caught under the weight of my arm.
Not good...
The newly familiar sensation of numen surged somewhere past the ever-darkening veil covering my eyes.
I can't pass out now...
The cats' screeching dulled and overlapped with a sudden frequency.
...come on...
My finger twitched.
The cat's screeching turned into that of pain.
The feeling of threatening power stirred uneasiness deep within my chest.
Wake up...!
The presence slowly faded.
The pain in my neck where he had hit me began to ache.
I clenched my fist and pounded it against the hard pavement in an attempt to steel myself.
I grit my teeth and pushed myself up, the dark veil over my eyes parting and leaving my vision hazy.
"Wait..." I rasped, wobbling as I weakly stood to my feet.
The figure of Wooin and the unconscious cat in his grip stopped all motion.
"What?" he looked over his shoulder to scowl at me in confusion.
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WOOIN'S POV:
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"Wait..." Surprisingly, I heard Jiwoo speak again, her voice pained and desperate.
I froze and turned to glance at her.
Her feeble figure stood crookedly, but she raised her head just slightly to make eye contact with me.
I hit her right in the neck. How is she standing?
"Wooin..."
She took a wobbly step toward me. My scowl deepened.
"Why are you doing this?" She frowned, clearly distraught, if not just a little unfocused as she stared at me, almost disappointedly.
"Why would you attack me? And why are you after that cat?" her eyes went glassy as she looked at the cat gripped in my hand.
I bit the inside of my lip and turned to face her, "Jiwoo Seo. I don't know how you crossed paths with this cat, but you best forget everything that happened."
I gestured to the limp feline in my grasp, "Including this cat." Then turned back around to leave.
"What're you talking about?" she pleaded, "Are you working with that other awakened one? The older man who is also after this cat?"
I halted mid step. So she is the one who took that cat. And she is aware of the doctor as well...
But how? She's an insulant girl getting herself involved with more than she can handle. I still can't even tell if she's a tracker or not.
"Were you really the one who took this car from my mentor?"
I have to get this over with.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Mentor? What do you mean—"
Without any warning, I summoned numen into my palm and blasted point-blank into her face before she could react, sending her off her feet and flying a few yards back.
She coughed on impact and attempted to stand again.
Just be gone already...!
I fulminated another concentrated attack toward her head, but in the nick of time, she disappeared.
She's going offensive.
I bit my lip at the sudden silence. I could tell by the separate source of numen lingering in the area that she didn't leave yet.
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JIWOO'S POV:
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I'm not used to using speed like this...
I hushed my panting as I glanced behind the side of the building and to Wooin's side.
He hadn't moved.
So Wooin's an awakened one too... and he's working with that horrible man!
The side of my face where he had hit me was already beginning to throb and bruise. That hurt a lot more than I was expecting...
I activated my speed and surged out from around the corner, making a beeline for the cat in my direct line of sight.
Grab the cat and run!
Mere inches away from my hands, Wooin jolted the cat away and pointed his full hand to my face once again. Red aura gathered at the palm.
I may have been fast, but I wasn't fast enough to completely escape that.
The numen blasted once again and pierced into my shoulder.
Yet again the explosive attack pushed me back several paces, and I stood crouched on one knee and gripping my bleeding shoulder.
The pain sent a feverish flush to my face and burning shoulder.
I'm not finished...
I leaped forward with the help of my velocity. Wooin attacked from a distance this time.
Nearly grazing each burst of blood-red onslaughts and narrowly missing, I was able to get closer and just nearly grasped the cat when he, surprisingly, threw a left hook to my jaw, grasped the collar of my shirt while I stumbled, and threw me against the wall.
I choked back the yelp of discomfort that came from the uncomfortable pressure against my back.
He managed to keep me pinned with his forearm and elbow digging into my injured shoulder.
"What are you and who do you work for?" I could hear the venom in his voice as he continued to put more pressure and body weight into the arm Across my chest.
I turned my head to face him, "Work for? What are you talking about?" I hissed at the sharp pain.
His eyebrows furrowed in brief hesitation, before turning back to anger, "You mean you weren't tracking us?"
"What?" I glared at him, "Track? What are you talking about?"
He was the first one to break eye contact after a long moment of silent conflict. His grip on my collar loosened, followed by the rest of his arm as he pulled away.
I didn't realize how much my strength had depleted again until he released his hold and left me to fall to my knees.
"I won't say it again; forget about me. Forget about this cat. Forget about my mentor— just forget all of this."
My legs shook as I tried to get up and fight back. I couldn't stand and the pain of where I had been hit was really starting to hurt. Hot tears burned underneath my eyelids and I watched helplessly as he paced away, unconscious cat in hand.
In my moment of weakness, reality sifted its away into my head and I cringed.
I had gotten myself involved with something I shouldn't have.
Even when I tried, I couldn't save that poor cat.
I couldn't move my legs and my shoulder was losing blood.
And because I couldn't move, that poor animal has to suffer those horrible people.
All because I couldn't be just a little bit faster.
A little bit smarter.
A little bit better.
"Idiot...!" my voice broke, and hot tears dripped onto the pavement. I slammed my fist against the scratchy concrete, ignoring the pain.
This is all my fault... if I hadn't brought it home... If I had just...
I thought of the cat. I remembered the warmth of him in my arms. I recalled the way I felt seeing it sleeping so contentedly. I could remember feeling as if he had become a part of the family.
I can't believe I just let him slip through my fingers...!
"Okay, he slipped through your fingers. So what? Just go get him back."
I blinked, raising my head and looking around for the sudden voice.
It sounded like Kayden.
But I don't see him?
"If you make a mistake, go back and fix it. I'd say it's more shitty of you to just sit back and let something happen than to try and see it through."
I sat in frozen silence for a moment as the words sunk in.
Something like a smile tugged at my swollen cheek, "I guess even in my head, he's reprimanding me."
A dry chuckle left my throat as I wiped my eyes.
He's right... I can't just sit around.
I grounded my feet and forced myself up.
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KAYDEN'S POV.
I yawned and peeked an eye open. The sun had moved, and now I had to move with it.
Jiwoo's still not home yet.
It was getting late. But as soon as I thought those words I remembered she had come to get the gray cat.
What did she say? She had to give him back to his owner?
I lingered on the thought.
She had to give him back to his owner... I glanced back outside.
That was well over 20 minutes ago.
A sudden spike of numen had me standing back up and alert. Two separate sources not far away. One of them was too familiar.
Almost as suddenly as it came, it disappeared, leaving me baffled by a realization.
Shit. I should've known...
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WOOIN'S POV:
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"What!? You found it!" Doctor Delein laughed, quickly whisking the cat away from my arms and observing him.
With his eyes still glued to the cat, he threw one hand out and patted me on the shoulder. "Good work Wooin. See, you can do anything when you put your mind to it!"
I flinched when he swung a cage door open and nearly threw the cat inside, "I can finally continue my work again." he hummed.
"By the way, how'd you find him?"
"...by chance..."
He raised an eyebrow.
"I found a woman who had it and took it from her."
"By chance? Lucky. And what happened to the woman? Did you kill her?"
"...She ran away."
"Should've killed her. Though It would have been difficult since she had super speed..." he added as an afterthought.
Another one of his unusual silences came over the room before his narrowed pupils darted back to me, "Make sure you finish her off next time."
I nodded slightly.
"But anyway! Everything is okay now that I have the cat again," he continued chatting more to himself before he crossed the room and exited the door, leaving me alone with the gray cat.
A tinge of guilt tugged at my chest.
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JIWOO'S POV:
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Wooin went in there.
I watched from the corner as he entered a more reserved, well-hidden, and sketchy building.
Deep into this part of the neighborhood was much more sketchy and unrefined. It was less nice and more like a maze full of questionable and empty stores.
My legs were starting to numb from the cold which helped dull the sensation of weakness. However, keeping one hand on a building for support at all times was still necessary.
It had taken me a few minutes to catch up to him, but I managed to find him in the nick of time and followed him from afar.
I bit my nail and debated within myself whether or not to proceed.
I know I have to follow through, but how do I go about this? Can I really save the cat from the inside?
I used up my last second of speed to catch up to Wooin...
I took a few nervous steps closer to get a better look at the door he went through.
That was a blunder.
Because when I turned my head just slightly and caught a glimpse of the menacing figure just a few steps away, I knew I was done for.
"Looking for something?"
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AUTHOR: PLEASE I WROTE THIS SHIT IN LIKE 5 DAYS BC I KNEW I COULDN'T KEEP DOING U GUYS DIRTY 😘😘😘😘
Also- Wooin pulling out the most out of pocket, dirty attack move on jiwoo while she was talking was not it 😭😭
ONE MORE THING- WHEN THE HECK DID I GET THE NUMBER 24# RANKING IN AESTHETIC OUT OF 31K STORIES
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ELECEED R.E.A.U VERSION •
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