Kapitel 18: Friend Or Foe?

Almost a week had passed and everyone had returned to their daily routine. Well, at least the trio that was composed of Byung, Kwan, and Cho. The question about how his leg healed within hours eventually died down during this week as Byung told them that it was simply a misdiagnose and he could walk it out but had used that as an excuse to rest up.

Kwan had let him rest for the entire duration for he knew the prison experience must not have been an easy one, coupled with him losing his job but he needed to know just what occurred.

He waited for a weekend, where both Cho and he would be home so they could discuss just what was said behind those closed doors.

Cho would dread this but he knew it needed to be done and complied with Kwan's request. Seated on the bed of Byung, with Byung laying down, but he had caught a cold because he stayed out too long with insufficient clothing layers.

"Kwan, do we have to do this now. The room feels icky." Cho would complain, clearly conscious of the germs that resided in this room. With Byung's clothes littered everywhere with a box of tissues on his bed. He was covered from his levator scapulae down to his toes, his hair was messy with a reddened nose.

"Get the f*ck out if you don't want to be here, you lazy bum." Byung cursed but his voice was barely audible due to the inflammation of the structures around the vocal cords., letting out a loud sneeze.

"Ewww! Kwan! He is sneezing! This is so gross!" Cho would cry, this was probably the most emotion he had shown in the past week, Kwan would chuckle upon seeing Cho's childish reaction before he wore his serious face.

"Alright, Byung. We have been patient with you but you seem reluctant to speak about it so we have no choice but to do this. Why were you arrested and why were you the suspect?" Kwan said with Cho still clearly grossed out but he agreed with Kwan,

"Huh? I cannot disclose what was discussed, I had to sign papers to keep my mouth shut." Byung replied.

"Were you threatened? You can talk to us." Kwan would reassure and an awkward silence ensured but it was broken by Cho.

"You had us worried, it is only fair you tell us what happened," Cho said, this surprised Byung and it finally hit him just how worried they must have been. I mean, for Cho to put on his serious face, that alone was enough to make Byung tighten up.

"Fine, fine. I get it, I am sorry I had you guys worried. Here is what happened." He would say, pausing, as he sat up. He rested his back against the wall and the covers would fall to his lower torso, revealing a thick pink sweater he had on.

"But you have to promise you won't tell anyone." Byung continued, coughing at the end of his sentence.

"I promise." Kwan would reassure like a soldier taking a vow of undying fealty with a fiery expression

"Whatever." Cho would say in a passive but agreeable tone while cringing at the response of Kwan.

"Alright, listen up idiots because I am not going to repeat this," Byung said, increasing the suspense to a highly anticipated tale, their eyes lighting up like little children about to be told a Christmas story.

"The reason I was arrested is simple. Believe it or not, I blame this whole thing on my immaculate physique and looks. Has a lady ever been so attracted to you, she arrested you and made up false charges implicating you just to gaze upon your face for even a second longe-!"

He would be interrupted by a closing door, looking around, both Cho and Kwan were nowhere to be seen as he heard both men whisper behind the door.

"Like hell that happened," Kwan said with Cho laughing so hard, Byung could tell he was out of breath.

"Why you! You both are f*cking dead once I recover!" Byung would shout with a strained voice but Cho would be the one to reply him.

"Sure, lady killer!" Cho said in a sarcastic tone while laughing out loud, much to the chagrin of Byung.

"Huh? How long was I asleep?" Jinwoo would mumble as the sun rays would momentarily stun his just opened eye.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, young one." The elderly man would say, seated beside him on a brown recliner chair.

"How long was I asleep?" Jinwoo asked, clearly disorientated, he noticed the needles were no longer sticking out his body, it was removed at some point during his slumber.

"You were asleep for approximately a week, young one. I am glad you are awake, your wounds have closed up nicely but I couldn't take the bandages off, not yet at least." The elderly man would say, getting to his feet to retrieve a pinkish looking substance within a cup.

"Here, drink this. It will help ease the pain." The elderly man said, handing Jinwoo the cup and waited till he emptied the contents within. Looking over him like a hawk, this made Jinwoo uneasy and suspicious. Then again, if he wanted to do anything, he could have done it while he was asleep.

"There I go, being all paranoid once more." He thought to himself, letting out an exhaustive sigh as he drank the fluids within the cup, and after a few seconds, to his surprise, the pain subsided.

"How do you feel now?" The elderly man asked him, as if rhetorical, but waited for an answer.

"Actually, I feel more than good! Despite my obvious wounds, my body feels much better than it was before I even got the injury! Crazy right?" Jinwoo would say with a surprised expression, winding up his right arm but the man would gesture for him to stop.

"You may not feel the pain but the wounds are still very much there. Do well not to overdo it or I fear the recoil once it wears off will sting much more than your initial injuries." The elderly man asked like he had a question to add to it and the look given by Jinwoo gave him the go-ahead.

"Young one, mind telling this old man just what happened to your body?" The elderly man asked with a smile but the raised eyebrow from Jinwoo prompted him to clear his throat and rephrase his sentence.

"Ah! Forgive this old man's curiosity. When you get to my age, exciting things stop happening so I keep myself busy with the adventures of the younger generation. I will leave you to rest now." The elderly man said, exiting the room like he was in a hurry, shutting the door behind him.

Jinwoo would remain silent, he had stayed here long enough and knew everyone in the guild must be worried sick, he needed to leave as he was certain the man was not aware of him being an Abnormality.

"I should just sneak out but…" He thought to himself, he couldn't just leave after all the man did for him, it would not sit well with his conscious. Flashing back, he remembered what the old man had said about favors not being free and would ponder on just what he meant by this.

Jin-Hyuk's arm was fully healed, it was restored by unknown means/person and that could explain why he was not shaken by him losing his arm in the first place but his endurance was not something to laugh at. Not everyone could brush off the pain of losing an arm but Jin-Hyuk did so casually. Meanwhile, Chaewon was still shaken. Unlike physical injuries, mental trauma was not so easily healed but Chaewon picked herself up from the ground, this was commendable, to say the least.

They had finally set out to try and retrieve what the master so desperately sought out because they knew once the rest of the members assembled, the city will be drowned in blood to retrieve this and they will most probably be killed.

Needless slaughter, this was what Jin-Hyuk tried his best to avoid but now, he knew he had to do whatever it takes it to retrieve it, even if it means slaughtering a few people.

Both him and Chaewon are seen walking on a barely lit street. Jin-Hyuk had a white short-sleeved V neck shirt with black shorts and a palm slipper matching the color of the shorts. He had artificial makeup on to hide his tattoo. Chaewon had on a baggy black shirt with bum shorts on but the shorts could not be seen due to the length of the shirt.

Bumping into a lady in the dark, the street lights flickered so making out the feature of the lady was rather difficult as her groceries hit the ground, tearing the bag that it was inside but luckily, none were damaged.

"Oh! I am so sorry, forgive my carelessness." Jin-Hyuk would apologize for his clumsiness and a voice would reply.

"Oh! It is alright, I should have watched where I was going." Replied under the flickering lights, bending down to inspect the groceries but looking around for something that she could put it inside but none was in sight as Jin-Hyuk would bend to assist her.

"How about this. My lady and I will help carry your things back with you as a way to apologize. I know we will all look ridiculous but I cannot leave you like this." Jin-Hyuk would further the conversation, the fact that they were no shops nearby would act to his advantage.

"Really!? Thank you so much!" The flickering light would become steady, for just a second, to reveal Hayoon and a hidden smirk on the face of Chaewon.