Chapter Text
Ham Jiseon has always been an ambitious person with a strong sense of justice - but not an extreme one though. She knew not everything in life was always black or white, including even the concept of villains, which surely made her different from other psykers. She tried to hide such an approach though, it could be troublesome after all - probably the only exception was Daewung who admittedly got scolded by her a few times for not keeping in mind such aspects.
Not taking certain factors into consideration in some situations can be risky sometimes. Besides, she wanted to work directly side by side with Tuppence Schiller someday, who had recently become one of the youngest directors at Lampas - someone who had become a role model for her work - so she could never allow such a situation to happen and endanger anyone thereby.
The safety of civilians should always have a higher priority than combat.
No matter how much you fear, keep your cool and think.
Nothing but hard, systematic work will lead you to success.
Any major change begins with a change in attitude.
Words she heard from a younger age continued echoing in Jiseon's head as she turned her gaze to the light-haired woman in a suit sitting in front of her and studying one of the document files thoughtfully.
Psykers in trainee had a special opportunity to be reassigned to work in other Lampas branches around the world, so they could be spotted earlier and train with the best psykers - allowing them to progress much better than anywhere else from the start.
The positive request itself was a matter of aptitude, current skills, as well as luck. Considering the last, she was not expecting any miracles. Director Tan Hyesu, sitting in front of her, was the terror herself of the entire Lampas branch in Gadam. She demanded a lot, which for this profession Jiseon thought was right, but she was somewhat hostile on many issues as well.
She decided to set her goal on Washington, the very headquarters of Lampas, where the best of the best worked - the most desirable place for young psykers to progress. Well, that might make things a bit more difficult, but still not enough to completely abandon the idea. The future could be twisted after all. And people with less merits managed to get a recommendation, so theoretically she had a chance to-
"Unfortunately, it's not possible.”
Somewhat she was unsurprised by the answer.
"You are a really promising psyker, Jiseon. So far, your physical fitness test results and professional competencies are above average. People like you are truly desired for such positions…"
"I understand" she replied calmly, to which the director only sent her a somewhat surprised gaze. She continued. "My merits may not be sufficient to apply for a reassignment to Washington, but nevertheless, I am interested in this option and will continue working to be able to get closer to it."
"I think we misunderstood each other… I had in mind that it may not be possible at all."
.
Jiseon took a moment to process the sentence she heard, word by word.
Did she just cross her off at the start?
"Director Tan, with all respect, but I have been actively participating in actions involving the capture of criminals disturbing order in Gadam, including two most dangerous ones, especially Walter."
She sighed and straightened up more in her seat, putting down coffee cup and once again glanced with boredom at the bundle of documents lying on the wooden desk in front of her.
"Of course, I remember" she admitted, trying to put out of her head the thought of annoying villain turning a large part of Shinwa and Gadam residents into Reptilians. It was a tragedy indeed. "And it's really impressive, considering the age psykers are assigned to such missions and the complications they usually encounter on their the way though."
A moment of silence.
The director continued.
"However, after all, it is the CEO himself who confirms who is going to be reassigned. As for Washington, I, unfortunately, will not recommend you at this point, because even if I wanted to…"
She directed a gaze of brown eyes at her, which contrasted with the blue sky visible through the glass wall behind her.
It could have been the light, and Jiseon really wanted to believe it, but she still had the indispensable feeling that her gaze was sort of mocking.
She squinted, though the light was not at all glaring at her.
Oh, I see.
"I need a really solid reason for that."
"Did you hear about the new karaoke bar that opened recently?"
"My sister was there with her friends and apparently it's pretty cool, but I think it's better to do sleepovers for a while, because..."
Rang Jihae yawned, as she passed her classmates who were chatting loudly about new places to meet.
Not that she was particularly interested in it - she usually didn't talk much or make any attempt to make friends with people in the class, although at first some tried to chat her up. They left her alone after a few well-chosen excuses and "apologetic" smiles - if she wasn't nice enough, she was afraid they might pick on her, and she really didn't want that. She also had a huge guilty conscience for thinking that way, because they could actually turn out to be truly wonderful people. But she wasn't an overly social person, nor one looking for trouble. In other words, she usually remained neutral.
Outside, the sun was shining and the sky was cloudless. The quiet sound of garden sprinklers coming from the park filled the air, as did the chatter of other high school students who had also decided to leave school during their lunch break.
A light breeze carried the scent of mint and a hint of coolness to the steamy summer noon.
As she walked, she struggled for a few minutes with the tangled headphones pulled from the pocket of the oversized sports sweatshirt she had tied around her hips.
As if every day at school wasn't annoying enough.
When she finished, she turned on a trailer of a new series she had found recently.
After a few minutes, she walked into the store without taking her eyes off the phone. When she saw nearly fifty messages she almost grabbed her head - of course, before she saw all of them were from her younger sister. A day like every day then.
"You're fucking insane!" shouted one of the main heroines, turning to the other with hate in her eyes.
She likely sent her some series recommendations during her classes, but Jihae didn't seem particularly interested - most of the ones she found were crap anyway. Typically, they started with a rather interesting plot, only be turned into a boring, predictable romance between characters just after a few episodes, while their motives and goals became forgotten by everyone, including even themselves.
She should scold her for not paying attention in class instead.
And trying to look for some better series, because maybe a few of those would be worth watching.
"I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe m-"
The dark-haired heroine burst into loud laughter, interrupting the statement, as fury grew in her eyes.
"And why do you supposedly think my husband would be a killer? No. Actually I don't even want to hear it."
"You are just a perfidious liar who's trying to destroy me on purpose, don't you?"
"On purpose?! And what makes you think I would want to do such a thing?!"
"Maybe because you tried to seduce my man earlier and thought I would never find out."
Jihae smiled slightly as one of the heroines threw herself at the other and they started wrestling. Each drama and unexpected plot twist was quite interesting to watch, she had to admit. The only thing she missed at this point was popcorn, which she theoretically had, but unfortunately she couldn't open it because she was still standing in the checkout line.
She croaked when one of them threw a high-heeled shoe at the other's stomach with all her might.
.
Suddenly she felt someone bump into her, causing her to almost knock the phone out of her hand.
The screen locked up and the video paused. She quickly snapped back to reality, raising an irritated look at the culprit.
Who dared to interrupt her enthusiastic cheering for the fight between two furious k-drama heroines?
"Watch where-"
She paused as she took a closer look at the person. It was Ji Yong, one of her classmates.
She needed a longer moment to recognize her, because her face was practically invisible through the hood of her oversized black sweatshirt pulled over her head and-
Oh.
"Sorry" she tossed nervously, as she tried to look away and quickly headed toward the exit.
Jihae could swear she saw smeared traces of blood on her face, especially near her nose, as if someone had hit her. Out of surprise, she didn't know what to say.
"Are you-"
She didn't manage to finish. The girl almost ran out of the store.
...All right?
The bustle in the store continued at its best, as if nothing had happened. Small groups of students queuing were fiercely talking about something, while some two girls were trying to chat up a cashier they found attractive. Individuals had blank stares, stuck on some point in the store and most likely present only with body but not the mind.
In the background, the store television was broadcasting the news.
Jihae took a longer moment to snap out of her thoughts and walk up to the cash register.
"Currently, Lampas units are constantly working on the search for the perpetrator. Uniformed services are also appealing to citizens to remain calm and cautious. It is also suggested to possibly avoid leaving the house at late hours as long as the criminal is on the loose."
"As for further information, in exactly five days the long-awaited exhibition will take place..."
At that time, student groups became much more lively.
She ignored them. The background noise blurred, becoming more like a hum unable to shout out her own thoughts.
"It must be some bigger deal" announced confidently one of the students to another, who nodded, clearly interested.
"There were also single incidents before, but damn, this sounds a bit more serious?"
"That's exactly why I'm afraid for my older brother... He's coming home really late from work, after all!"
"I hope they'll finally catch this loser! It's been a good few days since I went to a bar with friends!"
.
Jihae stared at the pack of popcorn she was holding for a moment before placing it on the counter.
For some reason, she had a momentary blank in her head - no thoughts, no emotions, literally nothing.
Yong was usually nice at school and didn't impose on anyone, so she quickly liked her and from her classmates' perspective, I seemed the same. She didn't look like she had a problem making friends. Family problems then?
No. They weren't even talking.
It was none of her business…
As she paid, she left the store, oddly hoping to meet her somewhere nearby.
Of course, that didn't happen.
She didn't meet her again at all later that day, not even after she returned to class.
Choi Yoseop was turning a ring with a blue amethyst in his fingers, staring at it with a sort of fascination before finally switching his gaze to the other two people in the room.
A tall, pale man with oxygenated hair, dressed in a white suit sat at a long table, looking somewhat impatient, while the woman across him with raven-black short hair tied up in two ponytails impassively finished her fifth piece of strawberry cake, meanwhile listening to the conversation.
"So how many magic crystals should I get from Chaeha?"
"As many as possible, as soon as it is the fastest way. Jinah had trained enough to take at least a few so far" Seongjun Yu stated confidently. "But that's not the main reason for us to meet here."
"Oh, possible complications already?"
Huiseon Kang wiped her mouth with a napkin and wandered with a longing gaze over another piece of cake but she quickly came to her senses and continued.
"As you know, Jinah will take over the position of Namkang vilzone boss relatively soon. Despite the fact that we sped up the process as much as we could, a certain problem occurred right at the start" she announced, especially underlining the last words. "And I'm afraid we have a very limited time to solve it."
"How much time exactly? When does Quinn plan to hand over his position?"
"Even within a week."
"He doesn't have any more benefits from owning Namkang, so he's going back to his casinos. Old sly man" Dark Glow added coldly.
Garnet stuck his gaze at a random point on the table. That's not good.
They couldn't leave the position of Namkang vilzone boss empty even temporarily because Shinwa and Boksan would throw themselves at it like hyenas. That much is known. But why can't Jinah take over it yet?
Hm…
"What's this problem you mentioned before?" he asked suddenly, turning towards Kang.
"Didn't you hear about Vilde?"
He thought for a moment.
Outside the window, the clouds flowed slowly, scattered randomly across the orange sky, with the bloody setting sun hiding in the background.
Vilde?
"That annoying bastard with light ability" she added. Garnet instinctively looked towards Dark Glow, who blinked confusedly.
"How can you! It's not about me!" he shouted, outraged.
Oh, actually, he remembered now.
Indeed, there was a villain running around Gadam for some time, terrorizing nightclubs and stealing lighting, but from what he had seen, his fighting style was nothing special - or at least so far.
Is such a poor gem the whole reason of this thing?
"And he's the whole problem?" he asked, as out of boredom. Kang shrugged her shoulders, while Yu still looked offended.
"A villain like a villain. It's worse because the local Lampas units cannot handle him."
Ah, yes. Branches in Seoul still haven't recovered from their losses after the defeat against Red Death half a year ago.
"So he could harm her newly acquired position" Kang continued. "Responsibility for the villain usually rests on the boss of vilzone he belongs to. And formally he's from Namkang, so despite his attacks taking place in Gadam, theoretically nobody from there has to interfere."
"Well, and we can't predict the potential reaction from the other vilzones. Incompetence is a fairly common excuse to attack."
"Oh, so it's a provocation?" Garnet smiled deviously.
So soon? Amateurs.
Was Jinah such a big deal that someone had to prepare for it in advance? Actually not prepare, but rather - put some minor obstacles in her way at the very beginning?
Hm, or was it perhaps just Blue Vi-
"Gosh, don't assume the worst in advance!" burst out suddenly Dark Glow, typical of him when he gets emotional. Garnet sent him a bored look, expressing 'be a bit more realistic'.
La Finette finally couldn't stand it, and after silently agreeing with herself that restricting oneself harms one's health, she put the sixth piece of cake on her plate.
"But why exactly Gadam?"
"That's a good question."
"It could be anything. Besides, it depends on whether we're dealing with someone more rational or a mere pawn…"
He recalled that so far all the attacks had taken place in nightclubs, either slightly before or after midnight and haven't been aimed at hurting civilians.
Maybe he just took a liking to the light district in Gadam?
Some Saturday Night Fever fan but a villain edition?
"Will you contact Gadam soon?" Kang turned to him. He nodded, so she continued. "That's not a demanding matter, but it could become troublesome. We need someone to help us take care of it while we're in Namkang, that's all."
"Actually, that's not all" Dark Glow began somewhat unsurely as both of them turned a questioning gaze on him.
"There's one more thing…"
.
Garnet was a bit annoyed as he left the meeting, he had to admit. Just a little bit.
That glowing bastard who was supposed to handle Jinah’s matters instead of him was now busy purifying the dishes.
Is this guy really getting mad and taking off his limiter literally each time he sees a darkness user?
Even if the side effects make him go crazy and chase cleaning service in hotels?
Seriously?
"That's just ridiculous…"
And at the worst possible time, because a confrontation with other vilzones was hanging in the air.
"Scandal…"
Meanwhile, Aroma and Otte ran up to him as he walked past the waiting room, busy with his own thoughts.
"What is he mumbling to himself?"
"Rendezvous with jewelry again. Trash."
"Well... As usual."
Garnet didn't even pay attention to them.
But most importantly, his gorgeous, expensive jewelry, which he had planned to spend more time with, must wait because some loser confused the definition of partying with making a fuss in the city.
That was just unforgivable.