don't blame me

see you again

So Mun woke up with a startled gasp.

He looked up only to find a bedroom light, instead of a dark abyss of liquid night.

He knew that the evil spirits were bound to find out about his new power, but he didn't expect them to learn about it so quickly.

He knew that he had to tell his fellow Counters soon.

He'd just have to stop them from running off to fight the evil spirits the second he tells them.

Especially Hana.

So Mun slowly got ready and changed into jeans and a sweater, before plastering on his best smile before walking out of his room.

He saw Hana was stretching in preparation to go on her run.

"Hi, Noona! Do you mind if I join you?"

"Sure, just try to keep up." Hana said with a slight smirk on her face.

At first, Hana was flying out onto the streets of Jungjin with So Mun close behind. But, before long So Mun kept an even pace with her, and they ran for 4 miles.

"We should take a break, Noona. You need to drink some water." So Mun said gently.

Normally, Hana would have scoffed at that and refused his offer.

But she knew something was off with him.

He looked almost anxious, with fidgeting fingers and pent-up energy.

So they decided to stop by and get some ice cream. Mun got a scoop of chocolate ice cream, while Hana got a scoop of strawberry.

So Mun went to pay, claiming, "I asked us to take a break, so I'll pay Noona."

As Hana went to sit down, she made eye contact with someone she had been avoiding for months.

The last time she had seen Park Do Hwi was a couple of weeks before So Mun had come back from his trip.

He had invited her to come to learn piano at his academy, a surprise because she had long since erased his memories of her.

But he was still the same Do Hwi.

Kind, collected, and always eager to connect with Hana, with or without his past memories of her.

She had changed, however.

She no longer had only Do Hwi to rely on for comfort. She had her family. She had Mun.

She forgot about that when she decided to reconnect with him. It only led to him getting hurt. Like her parents. Her sister.

All she brought was pain to those around her. Well, that is what she believed until Mun made her believe otherwise.

~~~~~~

Do Hana was sitting at the dining table after a long, harrowing night.

She was exhausted and heartbroken after her fight with Gelly.

She knew she couldn't be anything more with Do Hwi, but him getting hurt only furthered the sentiment in her head.

All she brought was pain, suffering, and death.

As she felt a tear fall down her face, she heard the noise of a door opening.

So Mun had walked out of his room and sat in the chair right next to her.

She tried to hold in her emotions, but the look of concern and empathy in So Mun's eyes gave her the comfort to let go.

Suddenly, it was as if she couldn't stop crying.