★★★★★ ━━ ❪ @CH_TWENTY_THREE ❫

eonni's noodle shop...

JUNWON answers the final question on her math homework with a sigh of relief, which then turns into disappointment when she remembers her chemistry test tomorrow.

she removes her earbuds from her ears and stands up from her seat, stretching her body after sitting down for 2 hours.

HANA comes out from the bathroom (?), drying her hair with a towel and briefly glances at the high schooler, but her eyes widen at something she sees from the window.

" MS. CHU... i've never seen our territory shift like that "

her words catch the two counters' attention.

JUNWON stops stretching and hurriedly looks out the glass window.

their shining, colorful territory looked like the northern lights but brighter, really brighter.

" neither have i "

MS. CHU says, taking off her glasses to soak in the sight.

sensing something going on, JUNWON calls for her yung partner, but he beats her to it.

" JUNWON-ah "

" oh- JEONGHAN-oppa, is something going on? why does the territory look like that? "

" WIGEN, she's dying. you need to find MUN, he's going to kill somebody "

" what? "

one of HYUKWOO's minions crawl towards them with a knife in his hand, but someone's foot steps on his arm, forcing him to release the weapon.

JUNWON uses her foot to make him look at her, a few seconds later, she lightly kicks him, knocking him out.

" see that? just throw little jabs like that. whack them without killing them "

the short-haired girl looks at the bully with disgust and anger, but when her eyes connect with MUN's, her rage dies down.

" SO MUN-ah! "

MS. CHU comes running towards the counters, looking around in disbelief.

" what happened here? MUN, did you do this? "

" i'm sorry... "

the teenagers apologizes, finally realizing what he did.

" MUN, this is wrong. we cannot use our powers like this! "

JUNWON stands in silence, still trying to process everything.

why did the territory look like that?

did MUN open the territory?

i thought only i could do it,
but it's never looked like that...

sirens intrude the counters, immediately making them panic.

" what do we do? we don't have time to heal them. let's erase their memory and run "

" no, don't. "

MUN tells the leader, making her and the other counters halt in their steps.

" i'll just... get punished for this "

" what? "

" why? don't complicate things "

all the counters, even HANA look at him, perplexed.

" if i don't put an end to this now, this will never end "

" SO MUN-ah... "

" UNGMIN and JUYEON... they're like parents to me. they helped me overcome my aphasia and walked by my side when i used to limp. yet they keep getting hurt because of me. i won't let that happen anymore. things got out of hand, so i'll be punished. but i'll deal with it, to end this for good "

" why should you be punished? "

MOTAK yells at him with a scolding tone.

" if you can't do anything when your friends are hurt, what are your powers for? well done. you did the right thing, so stand tall "

he encourages the high school boy.

" just let us sort this out, MUN, yeah? "

MS. CHU tries to convince him, but only receives a head shake from the boy.

" goodness gracious. this reminds me of how my son made me feel "

" what? what do you mean? "

MOTAK asks the stressed counter.

" he made me angry "

" this reminds me of what it's like to be a son "

MUN quietly says.

" what? "

" what it feels like to make mom angry "

" gosh! "

" MS. CHU, we have to leave "

HANA interrupts their moment before leaving.

" MUN- "

" go now. i'll be fine "

" gosh, what do i do? "

MOTAK pats his shoulder before dragging a frantic MS. CHU with him.

JUNWON walks towards MUN in silence, their eyes connecting, one receiving reassurance and one giving reassurance.

the short-haired girl gives him a hug, to which the bloody teenager reciprocates.

" you'll be fine, i trust you. stay strong, MUN "

the teenagers pull away from each other.

though not wanting to leave, JUNWON gives him one last smile before fleeing.

the 4 counters now sat in the vehicle, the older ones in the front while the younger ones were in the back.

" what if he gets expelled from school? "

" he said he'll take responsibility and deal with it, so have faith in him "

" deal with it all on his own? how? he doesn't have parents "

MOTAK looks down in realization.

" kids' fights are no different. rich kids get away with everything. the poor ones always take the fall. that's not 'dealing with it.' it's unfair "

" then how about we say we're his parents? "

the former detective suggests.

" what? us? you and me? "

" as if that's going to help him "

HANA tells them.

JUNWON, who's been silently listening, comes up with an idea.

she pulls out her phone from her pocket, but sees the other counters do the same.

" what? "

" what is this? "

" are we thinking the same thing? "

" he wants to put an end to it "

JUNWON breaks her silence, making the older ones look at her.

" i was wondering when you'd start to talk "

MOTAK says, immediately getting a slap from MS. CHU.

" to sort this out, we need our boss "

from JAE.

you asked, i answered! an update finallyyyy. thank you for your patience 🫶

i've made a new schedule, so hopefully i'll be able to keep up with it. see you again soon!!!

▻  𝗆𝖺𝖽𝖾  𝖻𝗒  ©  𝗝𝗝𝟬𝗡𝗚-𝗢𝗦𝗧  ™
𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒.  𝑡ℎ𝑒  𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑦  𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟
★𝔦𝔫𝔤  .  .  .  𝓚𝐈𝐌 𝓜𝐈𝐍𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆  ?!