daybreak || minsung

Chapter 12

I hid a SKZ reference in this chapter... can you find it?

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I stared out the windshield of the Volvo. It was pitch black and pouring rain. I didn't know how Jisung could possibly see the road, but we hadn't crashed yet, so I didn't worry.

"We're not in public anymore," I said when the curiosity overpowered me. "You were going to explain some stuff to me — hypothetically."

He looked jittery. "Ah. Right. Hypothetically..." He bit his lip while he searched for words. "There's this person, and I admit that, yeah, they can read minds. But it's just hypothetical."

"Of course," I agreed. "So — I mean, not that you would know — but how did they get their powers?"

"It was a... phenomenon."

"Redacted?"

"Redacted."

"Okay. What does it sound like to the mindreader? Everybody's thoughts?"

"Imagine filling a room with a hundred radios — all on, all speaking at once. And then they tune into one, focus on it, and it's crystal clear."

"Can they hear everyone? Or are there any exceptions?"

He froze for a second, and then came back to life, moving his shoulders in a deliberate way. 

"One exception," he murmured.

"Oh. Hypothetically?"

"Yes."

"Like a busted radio among the working ones?"

He smiled slightly at my turn of phrase. "More like the mindreader isn't picking up their unique frequency."

"Does the mindreader know why the exception?"

"I have no idea... THEY have no idea. They are stumped — hypothetically."

I twiddled my thumbs, pretending not to be grateful for his obvious screw up.

"Interesting hypothesis," I said. "What about the mindreader's fortune teller brother?"

He sucked his lips into his mouth. "Their brother has premonitions — premonitions directly related to the choices people make, and the fallout of those decisions."

"Can the mindreader read their brother's mind?"

"Yes."

"So, technically, they can see the future, too?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. Trippy."

He laughed like that reminded him of something.

I chose my next words carefully, but I was sure he could see the fascination in my eyes.

"You're not human."

His smile faded a little, but he was calm. "No."

"You're more."

His eyes narrowed. "You don't know that... Maybe I'm less."

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I bit it back. "I think you're more and you just don't see it."

"You don't know me at all."

"Then let me get to know you, dummy."

He laughed, too raspy. "What do you want to know?"

"First, tell me how you're not human. Like, in what way."