The treadmill was at 2.6 km/hour and I still couldn't place my legs one after the other. They felt like they were made out of cement, but my eyelids were heavier.
Everything was spinning and blurred, and all I wanted to do was curl up on one of those bean bags and sleep through the week.
That was the problem though. I couldn't sleep. It's been this way for the past week now. Nightmares have been a constant in my life. But for once, the nightmares weren't about my past.
It was about the future. And it was about Woo Bin.
Only Van knew what happened last weekend. We were asked to keep the details minimum to those who asked about our mission. None of our wounds were obvious, except for the slight concussion Woo Bin had got.
As for the Monster, it was basically my personal vehicle of choice, so nobody looked for it.
It was unfair to sweep all this under the rug and wait for the dust to settle while danger could be lurking right around every corner. And the guilt was presenting itself in the form of nightmares.
Woo Bin was the victim in every single one of them and I was positively helpless. There had been nights when I walked about in my apartment, keeping awake, afraid of what I'd see if I fell asleep.
Then there was the matter of my blind date. It was today and my mind was torn between going to it and staying back to keep tabs on Woo Bin.
This past week I'd been breathing down his neck, more than just keeping tabs. He was an adult who was capable of taking care of himself. I needed to remind myself of that.
Yu Na kept giving me concerned looks from the treadmill next to mine. Every time she looked in my direction, I attempted to pick up the pace but my body just wouldn't listen.
"Sunbae, you okay?"
"Yes, yes. It's just the cold, cramping up my muscles."
I stretched my hands over my head for emphasis. She gave me a sceptical look, but didn't say anything.
For once, I'd spent the previous night obsessing over something other than the Magi and lycans. It was a welcome distraction. So, I'd stayed up all night, choosing and changing my choice of outfit every half an hour.
How was I going to tell Yu Na that I had a blind date set up for tonight?
Me who punched a guy at a bar, thinking he was spiking Yu Na's drink, when he was only getting her one on her request.
Me who had shut down any kind of intimacy with the dumber sex for so long, that I had forgotten how a date is supposed to be like.
Gwendoline Bane, the Assassin, was going on a blind date.
I decided I didn't want to hear that in the local gossip for as long as I lived with the gang.
Besides if I tell Yu Na, there was no such thing as 'just Yu Na'. If she knew, Kyro would too. Might as well announce it to the entire population of Seoul then.
My phone lit up from the holder, with a message. It was Min Ri.
*All set?! He'll meet you at Joonie's at 7:30. Don't even think about ditching like you did with me last weekend. Got it? *
After all that happened, I mostly regretted having to miss out on Gong Do's exemplary cooking.
Shit. There was only 3 hours to go. I still had sparring sessions with Woo Bin and I had to clean up after that and then shower. It was a good thing I had my outfit in my backpack.
"SUNBAE!"
Yu Na's voice startled me out of my reverie.
"Huh, what?"
"You've been staring at your phone for over 5 minutes now. Looking like someone sent you a death threat."
I had spaced out again. Min Ri's chat was open and it had a couple more messages.
Ri Ri : *This is his number.*
There was a contact folder attached with the message.
Ri Ri : *I was going to give him yours.*
NO! I grabbed the phone, stumbling over my own feet and grabbing onto the side rails for support.
Ki Ki : *Min Ri! If you've sent him my number I am never coming over to the restaurant again!*
Ri Ri : *But I didn't. Because I knew you were going to react this way.*
Yes. Let's all tease me and have a good laugh.
Ki Ki : *I don't have a good feeling about this, Ri. Do I have to go?*
Ri Ri : *Nae. Absolutely. Think of all the free cappuccinos you can drink with him.*
Ki Ki : *Yah! Don't get ahead of yourself. How do you even know if it'll work out between us?*
Ri Ri : *Because I have a good feeling about this. He's totally your type. And besides, he is VERY good-looking. Aww, you'll make the cutest babiestogether!*
Ki Ki : *Goodbye, Ri Ri.*
Ri Ri : *Yeah, yeah. Don't be late, Ki Ki and do not forget to text me once you get back!*
Cute babies? Totally my type? This was so not my scene. What was I doing, agreeing to this?
If this were a mission to capture a rabid gargoyle, I would have jumped at the opportunity. Sadly, it involved interaction with a boy. Apparently, a very good-looking one at that.
I could scare him off. Play around with the knives at our table. Or maybe I'd wear my resting bitch face to the date. I would get the free coffee and freedom from dating. Win-win. For me, ofcourse.
Yu Na's phone went off distracting me from my evil plotting.
"Huh. It's an unknown number."
I glanced at her phone screen and sure enough, it was a local number but an unknown one.
"Take it."
"Lo?" Noise blared out through the phone's speakers when she took the call and Yu Na winced, holding the device away from her ear.
Someone was shouting from the other side but the music was too loud to make out who it was or what they were saying.
I grabbed the phone from her and put it on loud speaker. EDM mixed with the voices of people screaming echoed through the gym. One voice was louder than the rest.
"YU NA-YA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" His voice was scattered but we knew who it was.
"Kyro. Where the hell are you instead of being at the centre?"
He said something but we lost him. I turned down the volume and held the device closer to both our ears.
"Can you hear me?? Gwendoline? Yu Na?"
"Not a thing! It's way too noisy over there, you idiot!"
Yu Na took the phone back and turned the speaker mode off. She must be able to hear better now, because she was waving her hands about as she spoke to him.
He better not have gotten into trouble again. We can only use the 'mentally unstable' excuse so many times with the police.
"I cannot believe that boy!"
"What did he do now?"
She mumbled something under her breath while she wrung her hands together.
"Say it."
"He-wants-us-to-cover-for-him-again", she let out a deep breath at the end of the sentence.
"Again?! Where the hell is he anyway?"
"At a bar. With that receptionist he hit on from the eat-out we went to, last weekend."
"If Van found out...."
"Leader-nim!"
Yu Na bowed low and tied her hands behind her after greeting the person who had just arrived.
Please don't be Van. Please don't be Van.
"What is it that you do not wish for sunbae-nim to find out, Miss Bane?"
It wasn't Van. But now I wished it was.
I bowed deeply and greeted him.
"Nothing at all, Dong Woo-ssi."
His eyes narrowed in on the two of us, and the omnipresent sneer on his face grew even larger at the sight of us squirming.
"Very well. Have either of you seen the runt?"
I knew he meant Kyro and my blood boiled for the way he referred to him as. Young Dong Woo looked down upon everyone except Vangard. But somehow I felt guilty that it was mostly because of me, that he disrespected my friends a great deal more.
"Runt?"
Dong Woo's mouth hardened around his sneer at the tone of my voice. I stared him down. I refused to stand down like a scared child as he so openly insulted my only friends.
"No, Leader-nim! We haven't. He must be at the stimulation centre." Yu Na grabbed my hand and squeezed it in warning.
I looked down. If he found out about Kyro, there would be even more trouble. For all three of us. I needn't add my temper tantrums as icing.
"Is that so? If I may have your phone, Yu Na-ssi."
"Sorry?"
"Your mobile phone."
Crap.
"Nae, Leader-nim," she couldn't deny a direct order. She dropped the phone into his open palm.
"Ah, I see you've been in contact as of recent. You wouldn't mind if I used your phone to call him back, would you?"
He didn't wait for a reply and was placing the phone next to his ear.
"You saved the number?!" I whispered to Yu Na. She gave a helpless look in return.
We were so dead.
As expected, music was booming when the call got accepted, but Dong Woo's expression gave nothing away
"YU NA-YA! WHAT IS IT? I'M A LITTLE BUSY RIGHT NOW,"
"I'm sure you are, Kyro. You'll find yourself even more busy when you come back from your current activities."
There was a moment of silence, even the music seemed muffled.
"Leader-nim?"
"Annyeong." And he cut the call.
We stood there, still as statues. Yu Na wouldn't even lift her head up, and I stared straight ahead.
"Yu Na, here. I believe you've been misinformed about your friend's whereabouts. Or would you rather call it a misgiving of information? Miss Bane?"
We said nothing. It was obvious that he'd already made up his mind about it. Kyro was definitely in a bad place now. Van would atleast have heard him out, but Dong Woo was a man who looked for an opportunity to take revenge and make your life miserable.
I snuck a look at my watch.
6:29 PM
I'd have to cancel sparring sessions today if I wanted to save myself from Min Ri's wrath and go meet my date.
"Any prior engagements you need to attended to, Miss Bane?"
Ugh. Why me? Why him? Why today?
"None at all, Dong Woo-ssi."
"Good. Because today you both will be examples of what happens when you prioritize guilty pleasures over your life's mission."
"What?! But,"
"Quiet! You will not walk around insulting our honourable profession by choosing your carnal desires over it!
You have chosen your priorities and it's time you learned, that you were stripped of making that choice the moment you accepted the Weapon of the Hunter, or perhaps you are the oddities for a reason. None of you were chosen truly, you were simply an act to make us appear charitable. To appeal to our human nature, as sunbae-nim insists on calling it."
Dong Woo had drawn the attention of the every single person in the centre, to us. They maintained their distance, knowing Dong Woo. But I could feel their stares on my back. Whispering, pointing. Shame coursed through me, mixed with rage and guilt. Yu Na was silent next to me and the only consolation I could offer was my firm grasp.
"I would say atleast you were on the right path until Miss Bane walked into our home, Yu Na. Or rather, was dragged in. Must I keep reminding you of the reason you are here, Gwendoline Bane?"
I said nothing. My heart betrayed my silence as it rammed against my chest. I blinked my eyes rapidly and hung my head low. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me break.
"Kyro will meet me in my office, the minute he steps in. And the both of you will serve your sentence, today. Right now. Yu Na will make sure all the recent glitches of the stimulation rooms are cleared and restored to normal. While you, Ms. Bane," his gaze was penetrating as he turned to me in specific.
"You shall clean the Centrum. I'm sure it'll only take up to a few hours. You can use that time to be alone with your thoughts and preside over your mistakes. It'll be an enlightening opportunity."
And with that, he walked off.
Everyone went back to whatever they were doing the minute he turned away from us. From fear of him or for disgust of me, I won't know.
"That man is a monster, who least deserves to be here."
"Sunbae, don't,"
It was Yu Na who was clutching my hand now. She hadn't spilt tears yet, but the pain behind the hardened look she wore now was evident to me.
After all, we've worn this look for each other one too many times in the past years.
************************************
I started cleaning even as people trained. That way I could save atleast a little time. Kyro had arrived an hour ago. His expression was grim as he walked to Young Dong Woo's office. He hadn't walked out yet.
My phone had been going off constantly since 7 PM.
It was 7:45 now.
Min Ri would kill me the next time I step foot into the restaurant. I was sure.
But I couldn't bring myself to think about the date anymore. The words Dong Woo had insulted me with kept ringing in my ears. Over and over.
Dragged in.
The reason you are here.
An oddity.
And I accepted it all. That part scared me the most. He had infuriated me, with his disrespectful words and the way he had humiliated us in front of everyone. But now, in the quiet, it all made sense. I would never be one of them. However good of a hunter I was.
"Sunbae-nim? Are you okay?"
The mop clattered to the ground, from my hands.
"You scared me!" I yelled at the the kid. I wasn't aware that he'd snuck up on me. I really needed to stop spacing out.
"Oh! Im so sorry! I just- I wanted to see if I could help you in any way!"
"Help me? With what?"
"Oh. I know we couldn't have our usual classes today because of...."
He trailed away, dropping his eyes to the floor.
I cleared my throat and he started, returning his gaze back to me.
"Sorry! What I wanted to say was. Let me clean the Centrum for you, sunbae-nim! It is the least I can do for you."
I took a good look at him. Ever since the little trip we had with the shape-shifting Magi, Woo Bin had quieted down.
He was keeping to himself and the little conversation he held was with Yu Na and myself. He wouldn't even talk to Kyro as much. But his training had become more vigorous. He requested for extra hours and seemed more dedicated than before.
It didn't take too long to see the familiar routine he was adapting to. Like myself, he was looking for a distraction from his thoughts. If that was the only thing I could provide with him at present, I wasn't going to deny him of it.
Besides, a little helping with detention never hurt anybody.
"Well, alright. Make sure you turn off the lights when you leave the place. And! Lock the doors. Don't stay too late. Leave before midnight."
I tossed him the mop which he struggled to catch as he grinned eagerly at me.
Protect the Lock at all costs.
The Magi's voice sounded in my head again. There couldn't be a safer place than the centre.
"Rest well, sunbae-nim! I look forward to our training tomorrow!"
I raised a hand in response and grabbed my backpack and phone on the way out. As predicted, there were 12 missed calls and several text messages. Even a few mails.
I had no mood to deal with this right now. I would see to it tomorrow. Sleep was what I craved. And tomorrow I would start with a fresh new lie for Min Ri and hot black bean noodles for Woo Bin for being such a dedicated trainee.
I didn't wake up to the alarm that morning.
I woke much earlier to the sound of my ringtone crowing at full volume. I checked the time.
4:04 AM.
Why would Yu Na be calling me at this time? My heart began to race as unnecessary thoughts began to crowd inside my head.
"Yu Na? What's up? It's way too early for-"
"Sunbae," her voice broke at the last syllable.
"Yu Na....Talk to me."
"Sunbae, it's Jeon Woo Bin."
"What about him??"
"He's dead."
************************************
Apologies, for the cliffhanger. Hehe. Gosh longest chapter ever! I got really carried away with it. But enjoy! READ. VOTE. COMMENT. Few confusions that are being cleared up below.
Sunbae-nim = addressing term for a senior in occupation or level.
Clearing up some stuff : there will be cussing, there won't be as many Korean romaji words cos it actually sounds unappealing to be read along with English sentences so NO. Also 2018 Me and 2020 Me seem to be entirely different persons so LOTS of changes and editing *sigh* it is fun tho. Enjoy