The odd trio that had trampled his doorstep turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Jae knew he was being watched. He always had been, so he knew the feeling well enough to notice a new pair of eyes on him. He first noticed it a week ago. He and Ms. Soo were going out for a nightly walk, Jae could never stand the outside air of Seoul and saw no point in 'going for a walk'.
Why walk without purpose? Why move without destination?
But it made Ms. Soo happy, she loved the night air as well as any and all frivolous activities, like walking without a destination.
It makes her happy. Therefore, it's done.
It was on one of these walks that Jae noticed a man, seven feet tall or more, in a jumpsuit following them. Jae noticed immediately the obvious oddity of a man of such height in a country where the average for men was five foot seven. It became apparent that this strange giant was following them when Jae guided Ms. Soo to make three consecutive left turns. The giant stalked them with only the faintest attempts at stealth.
Anytime Jae moved his head, the giant would do his best at hiding, mostly ducking down alleyways or abruptly stopping and leaning against walls. Jae thought that he would attack then and there, he had readied his friend, loosening the sharp blade from its slumber in the sheath hidden in his coat, but they reentered the building unaccosted. This first encounter gave Jae a great amount of information:
The immense height, large forehead, comically large feet, and oversized hands of his pursuer suggested gigantism.
This man was not particularly intelligent or was confident enough in his talent for violence that he didn't care if Jae noticed his stalking, perhaps both.
This man was not associated with the paparazzi.
The giant had a way of knowing where Jae lived as the man was there when he and Ms. Soo left the building.
He was planning something. Most likely the murder of Jae himself. Why else stalk someone?
The giant was working alone. There are three groups interested in Jae enough to stalk him: A. His father's men and private eyes B. Paparazzi C. Fans/Stalkers. The giant had no camera, and that ruled out paparazzi and stalkers. The giant couldn't be working for his father either as his father only employed Koreans as he did not trust foreigners.
So, what did all of this tell Jae? It told him that this man was virtually no threat at all. He believed that there was not a man alive that could beat him in single combat, and though his body sadly bore no scars to prove he tested that theory time and time again. But that was the catch, no one could beat him in single combat. Jae was trained to fight against multiple opponents at once in the dojo, but fighting multiple master martial artists at once and fighting multiple trained killers at once were two different things. That's why he abandoned his plan to kick out that foreign trio once they revealed multiple attackers were coming.
A shame, really, I was so excited to deal with the assassin my father thought I needed help with on my own. He continues to be my greatest nuisance...
After telling the soldier, the street tough, and the little prince his plan, they agreed.
They all stalked off back down the service elevator to take up their positions, as Jae instructed.
"Please be careful, my love, you have to come back to me." Ms. Soo pleaded, holding onto Jae's arm with all the strength her painfully thin body could muster. Jae had never liked thin women, or women, or people in general, but Soo Kyung Park was nearly everything he didn't like, and still, he loved her more than anyone he had ever met.
"Always." Jae promised, kissing her on the forehead before finally pulling away from her feeble grasp and heading out the door.
In the elevator, Jae woke up his friends. He carried twelve of them, eight small friends for throwing, two larger ones, two to hold in his hands, and a backup. And then there was his best friend, his oldest friend, Ilbubun, the Jeoson Era sword that had been in his family since it was crafted. The sword had a 'proper' name, some long blowhard name given to it by a dead man. But it was Jae's friend now, and so it bore the name he gave it.
And it will until my death.
The doors slid open onto the lobby floor, the light was gold as it reflected off the opulent paint. The giant was still there, mopping away at a spot that didn't need mopping. The staff was gone, too, Jae had ordered the manager to make himself and all other staff scarce.
Just me and you...
Jae licked his lips, his skin prickled with excitement. The thought of fighting, of killing, a monster of this size was exhilarating.
But not yet...everything isn't perfect yet.
Jae took out his phone from the pocket of his heavy, grey, great coat and dialed.
"Hello, Mr. Kim, is the lobby sealed off as per my request?" He said in Korean, using the business casual voice he had learned many years ago.
Jae didn't like speaking with emotion unless he truly felt it, which he rarely did, but he knew that, sometimes, a mask was necessary to get what he wanted.
"Yes sir! Will...uhm...will that be all...sir!" He added quickly at the end.
Disgusting. All of them. They cower before money and status like it can do them any true harm. He'd probably quiver less if I held my friend to his throat rather than a wallet.
"Yes, of course! Have a good night." Jae's stomach was beginning to roil in disgust because of the put-on humanity in his voice and so he hung up before the weakling could respond, he didn't want cowards ruining all his fun.
Now...everything is perfect~
Jae chuckled to himself in excitement and walked up to the giant, not even trying to conceal the wolf's grin that stretched across his face. He stood directly behind him now and Jae was sweating with excitement as he tapped him on the shoulder, which was an effort for the six-foot-one singer.
Clearly over seven feet tall, such massive limbs, this is going to be fun~!
"Excuse me, do you—" the giant didn't wait for Jae to finish, he clumsily whirled around and swung some giant tool in an overhead arch, aiming for Jae's head.
But it didn't matter.
Slow, how disappointing, he's so slow! But then again, against me, they all are.
To Jae, the giant may as well have been moving in slow motion. Jae dived to the side, the air wooshed past his ears as he ran. He stopped on a dime and pivoted to look back at the giant, still in mid-swing. The brute missed and tripped on the fresh air. Jae couldn't help but laugh.
"How rude! I was only going to ask you a simple question." Jae mocked.
He reached back into his coat and found his face. His true face. Not the hideous mask the surgeons and studio executives forced on him, and not the pitiful mask his parents had birthed him with, but his face. The one he chose. The one that the brilliant and darling Ms. Soo made to protect him. He was no longer Ahn Jae Yoon, he was himself, The Grey.
The giant looked at The Grey with eyes of contempt, that peeked out from a clinically large forehead, the eyes of a killer. And to Jae's surprise and delight, the monster revealed that he wasn't so slow as initially thought. The giant pressed against the floor and launched himself forward, Jae barely had time to move out of the way. The air rushed past him again as he pushed it out of his way. The Grey stopped and turned again, the stupid giant had buried his oversized wrench into the earth, leaving a small crater in the ground beneath him. The Grey looked over at where the beast had leaped, another crater. The Grey was now giddy with excitement.
"You're strong! You're fast! You're like me!" The Grey shouted with ravenous delight and the crackle of a carrion crow at the sight of a battlefield littered with bodies.
The giant said nothing and simply pulled his wrench from the ground, breathing heavily from an open mouth, revealing teeth that were too far apart.
"Not going to say anything? How drawl, a fight is only half as fun as it could be with no banter."
The giant launched himself again, and this time, The Grey went on the counterattack. It removed the heavy great overcoat and elegantly drew two of its small friends from the sheath on the small of its back. As the coat collided with the pouncing giant, The Grey threw its friends at him, pinning the coat to the giant's body. The Grey ran and the air rushed past him again, it stopped and pivoted once more and drew the two medium-sized friends from the sheaths on its thighs.
Now it stood before the giant in all its glory, wearing the skin made for it by its one true love. The ash gray bodysuit, padded and armored with love and care clung tightly to its body, as skin should. The Grey struck a pose to reveal itself to the giant as the beast removed the coat so cruelly pinned to its body. The giant removed the two small friends and threw them to the ground.
"A lovely trick, isn't it?" The Grey mocked, he was having fun, but something was bothering him.
The wounds his friends inflicted on the giant didn't seem to be causing the assassin any trouble in his movements and at no point had the giant's face been overcome by the look. The look of shock and awe that came over the faces of everyone The Grey battled. The look happened when they finally realized that It was not only faster than them, but faster than anyone who had ever existed. This told The Grey a few things:
The giant must have encountered people like The Grey before.
That meant that there had to be others with abilities.
It meant that the giant was one of them.
The Grey has already deduced that the giant must have some form of inhuman strength as evidenced by the large craters he left behind when he pounced or struck.
But it can't be just that. He's done this before, a few times. And yet, there's not a scar on him. His face is youthful, but all the color is gone from his hair. The kisses of my friends don't bother him. And what's this? There, where his blood fell, it's only black dust now! He must heal..! Oh, how exciting! This battle can go on and on. A lovely little pincushion for me to play with.
The Grey knew the hidden trio must be getting impatient. It did not like being rushed in Its playtime, but he'd make an exception for these unusual circumstances.
I'll only do a few tests before finishing it.
The Grey readied its two friends in his hands and watched as the giant prepared to pounce on him. The Grey rushes forward in a zig-zag pattern to force the giant to stall his pounce. It was in position in the blink of an eye, and It ever so slightly brushed Its friends against the giant's face and torso, the tiniest of gashes on the assassin's skin. The Grey back peddled faster than any man could away from his assassin and observed. The giant had made no sound as The Grey's friends kissed him, and the giant's face was still the same piece of placid stone.
Does he not feel pain? Or perhaps, he only tolerates it.
The giant wiped at the small cuts in his face to move the blood away from his eyes and shaked it off onto the ground. The Grey watched as the blood bubbled and smoked a bit into a pile of dark gray dust.
Oh my~. How lovely!
"You, giant, can you speak? I would prefer to know your name before I kill you." The Grey asked, pointing one of his friends at the assassin.
"It doesn't matter." The giant replied, readying his pipe wrench once more.
Slavic accent. He speaks slowly, simply. His tactics are nothing like those of Russian fighters, with no hint of SAMBO, ARB, or Judo. Then again, he's just been swinging that wrench around like a barbarian this whole time, so I could be wrong.
The assassin pounced again, clearing the twenty feet of distance between him and The Grey in a second.
Stupid. Boring. Predictable. How annoying!
The Grey lazily sidestepped the assassin and punished him by jamming one of his friends in his throat before getting an observational distance away from him.
"You use the same attack over and over again and expect a different result, you really are dull. Take my friend out of your throat and maybe try something new, imbecile!" The Grey scolded as It watched the great rivulets of blood fall to the ground from behind the giant.
The pool of blood the wound formed on the ground quickly sublimated into the dark grey ash. The giant turned and faced The Grey, face still a mask of calm. The giant removed the friend from his neck and tossed it aside.
How rude!
"You...will be punished..in the name...of...GOD!" The giant choked and rasped.
Amazing! He can still manage to speak even though my friend must have at least scratched his vocal cords! Has he healed already?
The Grey drew his other friend so that he had one in each hand again. He was ready for the giant's counterattack when a voice rang out.
"Look out!" It was the ruffian of the trio, the fangirl.
The Grey had no time to sneer in disgust, he had to run. He ducked down and sped off behind a nearby pillar. It looked back and saw the giant had been struck through the chest with an arrow. The Grey looked for the source of the shot but saw nothing. The soldier and the little prince came out of their hiding spots, unbidden.
Idiots! They've ruined the plan.
"Heads up, he disappeared!" The soldier called from the other side of the room.
The Grey was puzzled for a moment before something collided with his face, The Grey rolled its head with the blow. Whatever it was scraped against its face, its true, armored face, and left no mark. The Grey turned and saw an ugly man whose face resembled the picture of the Native American asssasin the strangers had shown The Grey, but his skin was different, it now had the texture and color of an octopus, he also wore no clothes. The newcomer barred his large square teeth like a growling wolf.
Oh fun! Someone new to play with!
No sooner had The Grey thought that than did the newcomer fade out of sight like a chameleon.
Intriguing.
The Grey sped off far from where he stood to be near the foreign trio.
"He's invisible." The Grey confirmed.
"No shit." The ruffian replied.
"Idiot! He attacked once from afar, next from behind, and then retreated again, which means he's not confident in his abilities head-on! If we can outdistance him enough, he'll be forced to reveal himself again and I can—" The Grey stopped talking as he saw the giant begin to move again, but not toward them, toward the corner pillar that The Grey retreated from.
The giant swung his wrench and the pillar exploded into dust and rubble, revealing the Indian once more.
What...?
The Indian scrambled to his feet and leaped backward like a frog, creating a good fifteen feet of space between him and the giant before he disappeared again. The soldier shot off rounds in the direction where the Indian once stood but to no avail. It was then that the giant, with the arrow still buried in his chest, pounced across the room and slammed his wrench into the ground. Dust and pebbles flew through the air and, to The Grey's great delight, coated the Indian with dust.
The giant could see him! But how?
The Grey couldn't think for long, as the soldier and the ruffian opened fire on the dusted outline of the Indian. They struck true once or twice and even hit the giant with a few rounds. However, the invisible man rolled over the reception desk and made his exit through the employee lounge.
I can finish him later, but first...
The Grey drew two small friends from his back pouch.
"It was fun while it lasted. A real shame we couldn't go any longer." It said as it casually walked towards the giant, who was trembling from the blood loss. "You should really tell me your name."
"It...doesn't matter. I am... the Lord's justice." The giant strained.
"No. You're dead." The Grey said as he launched the two small friends into the giant's knees.
The assassin fell to one knee and The Grey drew Its best friend, the sword Ilbubun, and in one, graceful, spinning motion decapitated the giant. His overly large head sailed through the sky. The body fell over as it spouted blood like a fountain and created a river on the floor that reached its severed head, staining the long grey hair red before it all faded to dust.
Curious, I had to adjust the force of my swing. Are his muscles affected as well as his bones?
The Grey let go of the vessel then, and Ahn Jae Yoon removed his face to reveal the pretty mask underneath. He called his contacts to clean up the mess, they said they'd be over in an hour. Jae then called the manager and told him that he and his staff could return in two hours, and the money-hungry fool agreed happily. Jae followed the blood tracks left by the Indian, but they ended after exiting the back door of the employee lounge. This told Jae that:
The Indian had stopped the bleeding most of the way, if not entirely.
That suggested that the Indian had some form of healing ability
Which also meant that the Indian had at least three powers
The Russian Giant with three, the Indian with at least three, why is it that I only have two? Or perhaps it's one. Maybe my speed is connected to my limited healing ability. Perhaps my cells move faster as I move faster? Curious, it certainly affects my reaction time, that's how I rolled with the Indian's attack, a shame though, it would be lovely to have scars from my best playmates as mementos. Then again, Ms. Soo wouldn't tolerate me taking damage...oh well.
Jae took the elevator back to his room, leaving the foreign trio below. They had yelled questions at him as he went up, but he ignored them.
Ms. Soo is what's important now, her and retrieving all my skins and friends.
Upon entering his apartment, the frail woman rushed him into an embrace. He returned it, though he thought she should have waited until after he showered as the battle left him covered in sweat, but thankfully no blood, for Ms. Soo's sake.
"Are you ok? Are you hurt? Are those foreigners safe?" She rambled off the questions in a hysteric frenzy of concern and fear. Jae silenced her by putting a finger gently over her lips.
"Everything is fine. The assassins fled. You need to pack our things. All of my equipment and clothes along with whatever you need. I'll shower and we'll go down to the lobby together, understand?" Jae whispered. She nodded and they went their separate ways.
Fifteen minutes later, they returned packed and ready to the dusty and blasted lobby.
"Where the hell did you go, asshole?" The ruffian shouted.
"We need to move. Now." The soldier insisted. The little prince was staring at the floor, eyes still wide in disbelief.
"That's exactly why I have these bags. Where is the car?" Jae asked.
The group led him through the back to the device area of the building and they exited into an alley where they found a flower van waiting. The back of the van was opened by a woman dressed as a maid. Jae helped Soo Kyung Park into the van and entered himself.
"Yo, what's up, I'm Eric Scarborough. You must be the rich kid, what's with the fancy clothes though, guy? You know we're undercover, right?" A young man in a lab coat asked.
That's not his name. The last name, anyway. I'd recognize that odd skin color anywhere. I'll keep this to myself though, he doesn't seem to recognize me, after all, we met before the doctors crafted this mask and I never did tell him my name.
Jae sat down in lieu of returning the greeting, he saw no point in doing so. Park, on the other hand, thought it to be the most necessary thing in the world.
"Hello, I Soo Kyung Park. No English." She said to every person in the van individually, shaking their hand and smiling her breathtaking, crooked smile.
I do find her earnest nature pleasant, but she shouldn't greet strangers with her full name.
Park finished her introduction by offering her hand to the young man whose name was not Scarborough. The uniquely reddish-brown youth waved instead of shaking her hand, and Park bowed in response, lowering her hand.
He still doesn't like to be touched. I thought his father said he was going to therapy for his autism. If he did go, it didn't work, anyone with working eyes could see that, the way he twitched, fidgeted, and avoided eye contact. Not a hint of masking, I can't blame him...
"Where to, Kamy?" Eric asked. The Soldier plucked the thin boy out of the driver's seat and took it for himself.
"I drive." The soldier growled, putting the van into gear and driving off.
"Ok, fine, you're no fun. but where are we going?" Eric insisted.
"We're going to take him back to his father."
Jae twitched with rage involuntarily, and Park, who had taken the seat next to him on the bench bolted onto the wall, took her head off his shoulder and held his arm tighter.
"What's wrong?" she whispered in Korean.
"They're taking us to see Father." Jae sighed. Park wrapped around him tighter.
"Ah! Please don't be upset..." she whispered again.
"I already am, but I won't hurt anyone if that's what you mean." Jae said. Park nodded quickly with a smile, making approving noises. Jae felt his anger fade, replaced by a faint warmth in his heart.
"Y'know, I was gonna ask for an autograph, but you're kinda an asshole, so I changed my mind." the ruffian called, sitting on the bench opposite them with the little prince.
"What did she say?" Park asked in Korean.
"She was a fan, after meeting me, she decided she doesn't like me." Jae explained. Park frowned.
"Ooooooh," she sadly intoned before turning to the ruffian, "Jae good man, he only....uhhh," she tried in English, before turning to Jae, "how do you say 'sujub-eun' in English?" she asked in Korean.
"Shy." Jae answered.
Her face lit up.
"Ohh! I knew this one! Jae. Is. Shy." She spoke the last sentences deliberately and triumphantly.
I wonder if her English teacher is really worth what I'm paying him...
"Shy?" The ruffian laughed. "Lady, he's a psycho! I mean? You should've seen him! He was all like woosh, STAB! It was freaky!" The ruffian shouted. Park turned to Jae looking confused.
"What did she say? She seems excited." She asked in Korean.
"She disagrees with you." Jae answered. Then another voice popped up, this one speaking Korean, and it was not Park or Jae.
"My colleague Mary thinks that your boyfriend's actions in the lobby, the super speed and knife work, are concerning. He seemed to enjoy it a bit too much." The man, whose name was not Scarborough, said from his seat behind the driver.
Still a nuisance, I see.
"Oh!" Park clapped her approval. "Your Korean is very good! Where did you learn?" Park asked, giddy with excitement.
"I took it in college, I found it fascinating." Eric answered with bravado.
"Oh, I see! How cool! And tell Mary that Jae is not scary, he just likes fighting and he hasn't killed anyone since I told him he's not allowed." Park explained, punctuating her sentence by playfully delivering a karate chop to Jae's head, he almost smiled.
"The Korean guy is crazy, the girl keeps him on a short leash." Eric answered Mary.
"No shit! Like a serial killer?"
"Maybe." Eric said.
Jae began to stand, but Park gripped his arm so frightfully hard as a warning that Jae sat back down. In the mirror, Jae could see Eric smiling. The man not named Scarborough barked to mock him.
Park can't watch me all the time. And I doubt someone like you will be sticking around for this journey. Once this is over, I'll track you down and cut open your head to see just what exactly hides beneath those strange birthmarks you keep hidden.