Inked Bonds- My Demon

(17) A nuisance?

As me and Gu-won, stood in front of the locker, struggling to open it someone whispered in our ear,
"What are you looking for?"

We turned around simultaneously and were met with the sight of a weary woman, she appeared to be in her late 50s, her face lined with wrinkles.

"You're that arabica woman." Gu-won exclaimed.
I was extremely confused, "Arabica, as in coffee?"
"What are you looking for? I know this place like the back of my hand, maybe I can help you." The woman smiled.
"Who are you?" I asked her.
"Who do I look like?"
"A beggar." Gu-won blurted out.
"Bingo!" She hi-fived him with a grin.

The woman picked up a cardboard sign from the floor, revealing her account number written under the name Jesus Corp.
"I accept online donations as well." She explained.
"Where did you sneak up from?" Gu-won questioned.
"I never snuck up on you, you're the ones who entered my turf." She yelled.
"Your turf?"
"I have the best spot around here, warm and sunny." She pointed towards a small cardboard house nestled in a corner of the subway.
Gu-won rolled his eyes & grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the lady, "Yeona, let's go, we don't have time for this."

The woman smiled mischievously, "It's flickering. What flickers is bound to go out sooner or later."
"Do you know her?" I asked Gu-won.
"She's just another deranged human with a messed up soul, don't mind her." He replied, annoyance evident in his voice.

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As we emerged from the subway, I began looking around for any traces of Jae-eun, "Where did he go? Let's go find him."
"This would do." Gu-won plucked a white rose nestled amidst the side plants.
"What are you doing?"
He extended his hand towards me. Instinctively, I offered my wrist, and he clasped his fingers around it. In that moment, the white rose transformed into a red one.

"My powers work fine." He was lost in his thoughts.
"Let's go find Jae-eun now." I said.

In an instant, we found ourselves standing outside Jae-eun's house. He disappeared behind the closed door.
"Should we follow him in?" Gu-won suggested.
"No that's too risky. Let's call it a day, let's go home." I said.

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Gu-won and I sat across from each other at the dining table, he was holding onto my wrist and was deeply immersed in concentration. A paper plane was floating and circling around us. The continuous loops of the paper plane now started to test my patience. I pulled my wrist out of Gu-won's grasp and ran my hand through my hair, trying to clear my mind,
"It's making my head spin."

He looked at me, "That's right, it happened on that day, the day I lost my powers. I almost got hit by a car because my powers were acting up and that's how my tattoo transferred to you. You're clearly the problem here."
"If anyone has a problem, it's you. Don't blame me." I retorted.
"I'm not blaming you, it's just that my powers never flickered until I met you nor did my tattoo ever transfer to someone." He replied.
I raised an eyebrow, "Don't you hear yourself? You're clearly blaming me, for saving you from getting hit by that car and for your tattoo transferring to me. You're also blaming me for your powers flickering today."

"Yeona, what I mean is it'll be a nuisance if I'd have to cover up again in a crucial situation, like earlier."
That word caught me off guard, "Nuisance?"
"If it was such a nuisance, then why did you do it in the first place? Do you think I enjoyed it?" I scoffed.
"So you didn't?"
"Did you?"

There was silence after that, Gu-won reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
"Why isn't Mr. Kim here yet? I can't even have my coffee comfortably. Let me call him." He walked out of the room.