dark side | minsung

07

Jisung's apartment was fairly empty.

It was pretty clear that it wasn't someone's home; sure, the hero lived there, but he hardly used the residence for he was away most of the time. He slept there – for as much as he was able to catch any sleep – and occasionally lounged inside for a couple of hours if he was free. But his house only held the necessities, and was void of decorations that brought some fun to the place.

The couch against the wall was red and ugly but strangely comfortable, the few pieces of furniture he owned were all mismatched and mostly empty, only there to fill the otherwise empty living room a little. The off-white walls were blank, only some nails sticking out that indicated where the previous renter had hung up decorations, and the hardwood floor was dusty and full of dents and scratches.

It was safe to say that Jisung hated his apartment, but it was purely functional and really cheap. It didn't stand out in any way, it didn't scream a superhero lives here, it held nothing you'd expect to find in a hero's lair. If any, it told of either poverty or lack of care. Or maybe both.

It was somewhere around eight in the evening, and it was one of those rare moments where Jisung was curled up on his ugly couch. The TV was playing, but the hero wasn't really paying the images shown any mind. He was tiredly fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve, his eyes staring nowhere in particular.

He was exhausted, to say the least. He hardly slept since his encounter with the Black Blur, scouring the town to make sure he didn't cause harm and risk people's safety again. Jisung was sacrificing precious hours of sleep to make sure everyone in Seoul was safe, as he had sworn to do. He relied on caffeine more than ever, and empty cans of Monster Energy piled around his couch. If Chan would see that...

Jisung's stomach grumbled, which disrupted his tired daze. The boy vaguely realized he skipped both breakfast and dinner. Well, duty would call him soon, and he couldn't protect the city on an empty stomach. He pushed himself up from the couch, groaning in the process as he stretched his stiff limbs before he ventured into the kitchen.

His kitchen was as dead as the rest of the hero's apartment, if not even worse. The cream-colored kitchen cabinets were downright horrendous, and Jisung wondered what kind of evil-doer decided to use turquoise tiles on the wall behind the faux-wooden kitchen counter. A single lightbulb dangled from the ceiling, giving off a harsh light as Jisung flicked the switch.

His almost-prehistoric devices came to life as he started to prepare himself a bowl of instant ramen to satisfy his grumbling stomach. While other people would likely hum a little tune as they got to work, the blue-haired boy was utterly silent as he boiled the water and poured it over the noodles. Steam arose from it, and Jisung sighed. Humming happy tunes was something for people who actually experienced good moods. Not something that really happened to him.

Moments later, he ventured into the living room again, now holding a cup of ramen and a pair of wooden chopsticks. Steam arose from his cup and it was hot against his hands, so he quickly set it down onto the coffee table and flopped back onto the couch.

This time, his attention went to the TV, where the news had started while he was busy in the kitchen. It told of the usual crimes but always Jisung listened intently, curious whether he heard a newsflash that called for a superhero's aid.

Until something interesting appeared on the screen in front of him.

It was a picture of yesterday's wildfire, and it was clear how the inferno set the streets ablaze. But what really caught Jisung's eyes was a figure clad in black, overlooking the chaos from atop a roof.

The Black Blur, Jisung thought, watching how the camera man zoomed in on his fellow superhuman. It was clear that the boy in black had no idea that he was being filmed – or maybe he knew, but simply didn't care. He stood there amidst the swirling smoke, and even though he was wearing a mask, the hero could perfectly imagine the smirk that likely rested on his lips.

"–looking at the number one suspect of yesterday's fire in the heart of Seoul," the news anchor said, stacking a pile of papers on the desk in front of him as he looked at the camera. "The rumored Black Blur has finally been caught on camera, after allegedly wreaking havoc in our city for a few weeks. There is no solid proof and the police department has yet to arrest him for interrogation regarding the fire."

"As if they will catch him," Jisung muttered. Though he knew next to nothing about the superhuman, he had a feeling that he wasn't an easy catch.

"–outsmarted the police multiple times and all attempts of arrest have failed," the man added, still looking into the camera. "Now, that brings us to another rumor, that of a superhero who guards our city. Now that we have a new threat in town that has yet to be caught by the authorities, can we rely on our rumored hero to protect us? Can he permanently put an end to this threat?"

"Of course I can," Jisung scoffed, angrily pointing a chopstick at the TV right as it switched back to a picture of the Black Blur.

He used to have mixed feelings about the attractive superhuman; the hero had been suspicious about him ever since their first encounter, but at the same time couldn't deny that he felt a strange sense of hope – and come on, the handsome male made his gay heart beat a little faster. But that was forced to the back at this point, now that the Black Blur was confirmed to be on the bad side. The guy was supposed to be Jisung's nemesis, so that's how it was going to be.

With a sigh, Jisung switched the TV to a different channel, as they kept going on about the fire and the Black Blur – the hero swore he would go nuts if he were to hear that name once more that night.

Now he found himself on a channel that aired some kind of cartoon, and he decided to just watch that until it was time to put on his mask and become a hero again, which would be soon, as twilight was falling.

He just hoped he wouldn't run into the Black Blur again.

——

the downside of writing about someone with no friends is that the chapters are incredibly boring help. fortunately we have a minho to solve that problem.