Chapter 2: 1
From afar, he can see the man sitting alone inside the restaurant, with pouting lips, wearing an angry face. He did try his best to be on time. But looks like he got caught by work so much.
Joon quickly runs towards the restaurant, and almost got hit by a bicycle. He did realize being late is unacceptable today. That man will kill him for sure.
"Watch it!" the man almost cursed at him. He put his hand up. A gesture asking for an apology. He walks with a silly grin toward the man. That man sighs and turns away.
"Sorry baby… There's… Traffic! Sorry…"
"Joon, you didn't even drive!" Jein crosses his hand and gives his husband a deathly glare. Joon sheepishly smiles and takes his seat just across from Jein.
"Jein, sorry bae… At least, I'm here, right? I'm just two hours… Holy shit!" Joon looks at his watch.
Two hours late is a bit too much!
Jein sighs, take off the napkin from his lap and smack it on the table. He then gestures to the waiter to bring him the bill, and the takeaway that he ordered just now.
"I know you will be late. But not THIS late!" Jein stands up and leaves the restaurant, with Joon hastily following him from behind.
"Bae, wait…"
"Go away, Joon. Before I smack you for good!"
"Jein…" Joon immediately hugs Jein from behind. He knew Jein loves back hugs so much. His heart will get melt, and he will be forgiven. That's the only trick that he uses every time whenever Jein gets mad.
"Leave me!"
"Sorry, bae… Please?"
Jein pushed the man away, giving him a so-done look. This is not the first time Joon did this to him. He always ends up having lunch alone, even though they did promise beforehand. That's the only time Joon has for him.
Lately, Joon always came home late. He's too dedicated to his job. Being a department leader is not a fun ride, especially in something historic like archeology. Jein did understand that too. But, he can't surpass the feeling of loneliness whenever Joon is not around. He's too lazy to work again, but too sad to stay alone at home.
"I hope you can give at least just a tiny bit of your time for our marriage, Joon. I had enough of your hectic schedule," says Jein. Joon stares down, but still holds Jein's hand tight.
"Sorry, but lately, there's a lot of new founding in Cosmos. It's fascinating, you know! And I couldn't help but get caught in. You see, just now we did discover this one area in Cosmos. No one ever explores the area, until our drone manages to capture the magnitude…" Joon stops talking when Jein gives him a deathly gaze.
"You just told me that you were sorry, yet you're passionately explaining your job, even before I forgive you!" the man looks furious this time. He walks away, leaving Joon flabbergasting in front of the restaurant.
"Bae, I'm sorry! Please!" Jein smirks. He loves when Joon pleads with him. He looks cute and sounds cute and sexy at the same time. But, as all know, Jein is a kind of stubborn man. So, he decides to punish the man a little. He ignores Joon and walks with his head up.
"Jein, just stop…" Jein giggles a bit.
"Bae, wait for me!" Jein just ignores Joon.
"Jein! Slow down…"
Well, you want me? You need to work hard, bitch!
"Jein!"
"Dr. Jein Austin, stop!" Jein feels someone grabs him from behind. He turns around only to find Joon dragging him to the side. His eyes enlarge, and he is deathly serious right now.
The scene right in front of them is gruesome as hell. There's something growling, with blood splattered around the road. Everyone's frozen. Some even shaking so bad, almost unable to react properly.
Jein and Joon look at the eerie figure in front of them. The thing has a body like a human, but the face is unlike a human anymore.
"What's that?!" Jein harshly whispers at Joon.
"Not sure. A man? A woman?"
"More like a zombie for me,"
"Zombie? Here in Cosmos?" they look at each other.
Suddenly, the thing screams hard. Everyone scattered, running for their life. Jein and Joon stay hidden behind the wall. It launches itself, attacking people around. Few victims fell instantly, only by one swing of its hand. It jumps on a man. The man screaming so hard, fighting for his life.
A loud bang makes everyone silent. The man shut his eyes tight. A few seconds later, he feels heavy. When he opens his eyes, they meet directly with a pair of red eyes, which lay helplessly on top of him. He pushes it and scoots away from there.
Jein sighs, as he puts away his gun. He needs to shoot it before it kills even more innocent people. Joon, who hides behind him, poking his head out.
"It is… Dead?"
"Maybe, or maybe not," Joon looks at him in disbelief.
"The bullet can kill an alien. But I'm uncertain if it applies to zombies. Technically, they are already dead," Jein slowly approaches the thing.
"Bae, are you sure it's a zombie?"
"What else we can call it? A dude?" asks Jein.
"What now?"
"Call Yoon. He must know something about this. Meanwhile, we need to bring it to the place where we can… Do some autopsy, or maybe a checkup…" Jein isn't even sure which one is true.
Because it looks dead, but it looks alive as well.
"I know a place. Let's call them,"
***
Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the star
Let me see what's spring is like
In Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, darling kiss me…
She closes her eyes as she tries to focus on her brain. The sounds of smashing waves down there seem to fade away from her ears. She tries to mute those seagulls that roam in the sky above her. Slowly the sounds disappear.
Only one main focus point right now; herself. She takes a deep breath as she endeavors to empty her mind. Listen to her breathing deep. Inhale and exhale. She waits for another minute.
Then her iris gleams.
It's not so bad when she can control and filter whatever she wants to hear right now. Chattering sounds didn't hurt her anymore. She explores the world within someone else's mind, and eyes. Seeing other people and the environment as well.
She did it super carefully. One mishap and she will kill a life, just like she did six months ago. Even though she knew the evil man deserved it, killing people, especially someone's important is unacceptable. She needs to control her emotion rather than be involved so deeply with cases.
Thinking about it makes her feel frustrated. She knew she did no wrong, but still, people judge her for what she did, noble or not. She couldn't control her anger anymore.
No!
She screams internally, trying to push away the anger. But it's too late! Her mind unconsciously drifts away, leaving a deep red, scarlet view. From afar, she could hear something.
A scream. A weak scream, and desperate.
Help! Please help me!
Who are you? Where are you?
I'm hurt! I can't…
Stay with me! Just stay with me!
Die…
Impulse: zero.
Hello? Hello? Where are you? Hello?!!!
She feels a sharp pain all over her body. She wants to scream, but there's no impulse. She struggles to breathe, struggles with the pain…
"Byul?" she grabs the hand that touches her shoulder and almost smashes the person down to the cliff. Luckily, the person can counter back the sudden move. He turns her body around and hovers her on top. The beautiful black hair tangle at the corner of the cliff.
Eyes staring at each other. Both huffing and panting for the intensity. The man brushes off hair strains that cover her beautiful face. Her eyes change back to normal color.
"I just changed the bulb. Twice this week,"
"Should I switch places? Maybe into the woods?"
"And what? Flooding the house?" the man stands up. He sticks out his hand and helps her get up.
"Yoon, I don't know what to do. I try everything, but I just can't," says Byul. Yoon leans his forehead against hers.
"I know you did your best. But remember what Kris said. All you need is time and patience," says Yoon. He brought her back to their home. The cliff seems gloomy and cold.
"I do have patience, but I don't have time,"
"Don't rush, honey. We still have a long way to go. We just built our life together. And I do wanna learn more about you," says Yoon. He pats the sofa next to him. Byul settles herself next to Yoon. He puts his head on her shoulder, pampering himself.
"You might get killed, Yoon. I bring nothing but harm," Yoon puts his finger against her lips. He caresses her lips slowly and stares at her attentively.
"I rather die than leave you," says Yoon. Byul touches his cheek with a heavy heart. Yoon presses his lips against her. Slowly grits and nibble it.
They're soaking in love and lust. Living every single moment to the fullest. But no matter how wonderful Yoon's touch is against her body, her mind wanders elsewhere. Something's bothering her. So much, until she can't feel anything, anymore.
Looking at Yoon, tears slowly fall from her eyes. She closes it shut, giving herself to him and letting him do whatever he wants.
As if it's the last!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone