"Fuck, I feel like shit." Minseo groggily whispered, not sitting up on the bed. Not because she didn't want to, but she was being crushed by Hyerin's embrace.
"Tell me about it." she said back, snuggling closer to her side. The scent of the floral beverage still lingered on her mouth, no matter how many times they all tried brushing the bittersweet taste out.
Gently moving out of the arms and legs swung over hers, she made her way to the restroom, cringing as she remembered fragments of last night— almost throwing up being one of them.
Brushing fingers through her tangled hair, she cursed herself as she saw a pimple rising on her forehead, realizing she hadn't even washed her face the night before. Splashing cool water onto her complexion, it sent shivers down her spine, automatically feeling rejuvenated from the night before.
The aroma of food had greeted her as she made her way downstairs, seeing two familiar heads at the table.
"Oh, you're up." Seorin smiled, motioning her to come over. To her surprise, Jisung was sat across from her along with a plethora of breakfast foods. Tentatively sitting next to the blue haired girl, her mouth watered at the waffles in front of her garnished in many fruits.
"Jisung got us all breakfast, he's the morning bird in this relationship and neither of us can cook." she chuckled. With a quiet nod, Minseo took one onto her plate, indulging in the sweet syrupy taste.
"Be ready by eleven, we're paying a visit to someone." Jisung wiped his mouth, straightening out his plain black shirt. The sounds of Hyerin's footsteps made their way towards them, pulling out a chair next to him.
"Mark's taking us to church, isn't he?" she asked in an exhale, a lot more awake than she was before. Minseo looked up with the same curiosity, seeing a small smile arise on the cold boy's lips.
"You all may need to repent sometime soon," he joked, aware of all the things they did last night. "But no, we're gonna visit our favorite old man."
"Lee Jin's Pharamacy?" Minseo thought out loud, hearing a jingle ring over their heads as they walked in. It was an herbal scent in the air, perhaps eucalyptus and another floral aroma mixed into the humidifier. The store was just as she remembered, the same aisles and walls.
"Uncle!" Seorin cheered, making the gray haired man turn around at the counter. His gummy smile exposed, making the growing hair on his beard crinkle upwards.
"Uncle?" Minseo questioned, not seeing any resemblance. Maybe it's the age, she thought to herself.
"It's Uncle Jin, he's everyone's uncle." Hyerin chuckled, walking up to the counter where he stood. Jisung followed along, greeting the man with a respectful bow.
"Who's the lovely lady?" the old man raised an eyebrow, his smile unwavering. Despite his aged wrinkles, his energy was as youthful as ever, making the corners of her lips rise unwillingly.
"I'm Minseo, I actually get my medication from here." she greeted him, making him nod in remembrance.
"I remember you." he hummed, sitting on his high stool with a heater blowing towards him. "What brings you children here today, always forgetting I have a job to do." he teased, looking at the four.
"We have a couple of unanswered questions, a lot of them actually." Jisung began, making the wonder grow in Jin's chest.
"Oh dear, we all know what happened last time you kids tried to solve something by yourselves." he shook his head, making all their faces blank for a second. Minseo stared at them cluelessly before they nervously laughed.
"We accidentally unraveled a government secret and exposed the previous fire leader for attempted murder a couple months ago, nothing too big." Hyerin brushed it off, making her eyes widen just a fraction.
"Anyways, Minseo is our friend and she just found out she had shifting abilities." Seorin digressed.
Uncle Jin scanned her up and down, quirking an eyebrow upwards. "You're either five years old or have just been oblivious your whole life. How do you not know you have shifting abilities?" he questioned.
"Trust me, I'm wondering the same thing." she sighed, leaning against the glass counter.
"Her energy is highly unbalanced, I've noticed it since she moved here." Jisung mentioned. Jin looked at him impressed, nodding his head in approval. "Sensing energies, excellent. You're utilizing those prodigy abilities very well, son." he commented, ruffling the hair on his head that always stuck out.
"Unfortunately since I'm not a shifter anymore, I can't vouch for that. Where did you come from?" he asked, making Minseo's conscience wash with guilt even if the three of them knew the truth already.
"Jaegu, just outside of Seoul."
Uncle Jin's brows raised in surprised, a realization hitting him. "That answers one question. That's a non-shifter city, you're not surrounded by anyone who has abilities like you." he began.
"Since you moved to the most populous place in Korea, your body probably went into shock. Have you been experiencing drastic emotional changes in your life?"
Who knew this would be a therapy session.
"I guess, to say the least." she shrugged awkwardly. "I thought it was just the stress of moving."
He let out an exhale, pondering all the possibilities in his head. "That is definitely one of the factors, but it doesn't explain it completely. With changes in your energy, it can cause imbalance, especially if you're already undergoing stress." he explained more thoroughly.
"You take medication for your anxiety, correct?"
Taken aback by the sudden mention, she nodded slowly.
He began typing on his keyboard, clicking through different tabs as the rest of them waited patiently. His lips pressed together as his actions came to a stop, titling his head at the screen.
"I don't have all of your medical records, but you take a very intense prescription, prozac and sertraline in a hybrid form. This isn't normal— way too high of a dosage." his eyebrows pinched together in distress.
"There's other usages for these medications concerning spiritual imbalance, but I'm not sure if I'd want to worry you." he sighed, locking eyes with hers.
Purple.
He didn't let the shock show on his face, yet it gave him some sort of confirmation.
"Say, where were you born, Minseo?"
She bit her lip, looking up in thought. In all honesty, she had never been informed of where she was actually from, considering her parents were always the ones filling out her paperwork for whatever reason.
"I always assumed I was just born and raised in Jaegu, why?" she responded, lips pursed.
"I suggest checking your birth certificate. Other than that, I won't be able to confirm anything else with the knowledge I have and I wouldn't want to feed you conspiracies." he pressed his lips into a thin smile.
The group of friends exchanged the same eye contact, ultimately coming to a dead end for the day. "Thanks anyways, Uncle Jin. We'll visit you when we find out some more information!" Seorin chirped, leading the rest of them out of the store.
After holding his smile as they walked out, he finally let out a deep exhale, hand flying to the telephone. He pressed in the number he had memorized since his early adult days, letting it ring a couple times.
"Lee Jin, it's been a while." the aged voice spoke on the other end. A hearty chuckle came out of the old man, grinning at the nostalgic voice.
"I need your help, Han Kyubok."
thirty seven — the morning after
oh shiittttt what's going downnnnn
updates may be coming later than usual just cause i got a lot of school work to do, but things are getting spicyyy
keep the theories coming if u got any ideasssss, other than that things are starting to kick off a lot faster now