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6

"there haven't been a lot of evil spirits around," ms. chu said, hopping onto the curb. mo-tak and ha-na walked alongside her. ha-na had sensed a level two hanging around an abandoned trailer park, and the three of them went to take care of it. they'd left mun out of it - he'd been so preoccupied with controlling his power over the territory that he didn't have much time for his duties as a counter. and they all understood that.

"yeah," mo-tak agreed. "this job is getting kind of boring"

ha-na scoffed, looking to mo-tak. "you just got your ass beat back there"

"so did you!" mo-tak retorted, his voice growing defensive. his mouth hung agape as he watched ha-na smirk. she knew just how to get him fired up like that.

"kids, stop," ms. chu laughed. the pair looked to her, and the two of them simultaneously sent her a glare.

mo-tak's phone began to ring, and he pulled it out of his pocket without taking his eyes off of ms. chu. he was still glaring at her.

after a moment of holding the ringing phone in his hand, he took his eyes off of ms. chu and looked at the caller. it was mun.

he answered, putting the phone to his ear. he attempted to say hello to the boy, but he was interrupted by his frantic, disheveled voice. "hyeok saw me"

mo-tak stopped in his tracks, holding his arm out to stop ha-na as well. ms. chu eyed mo-tak precariously.

"what do you mean?" mo-tak questioned the boy.

there was a silence that seemed to last a lifetime, before he finally answered. "i was practicing and he came in and saw me and then he ran. i-" mun took a deep breath, the sound rattling through the phone. "i tried to chase after him, but he was gone by the time i got outside"

"what's going on?" ms. chu whispered, leaning closer to mo-tak. he ignored her, listening intently to mun, nodding his head every once in a while.

"we'll help you"

mo-tak then hung up, sending the two a distressed glance before turning back to the ground. "hyeok saw mun practicing his powers"

the two were silent, though they each became tense.

back at the noodle house, mun paced under the pink sky, his hand tangled in his hair. how could he let this happen? it was bad enough to let any normal person see him using his powers, but hyeok was probably the worst. and now he was gone.

he never wanted to get hyeok tangled up in the afterlife and everything that came with it, and he never expected to have to deal with that. it's not like him and hyeok were best friends.

after a few moments, mun spotted the trio heading towards them. their pace was quickened when they spotted him as well. that walk turned into a jog, and then they were together, standing in front of the last place mun saw hyeok.

"we have to find him," was the first thing mun said when faced with the other counters. he knew they would be just as urgent as him, but somehow, he felt as if he cared more. and he felt as if he didn't care about the fact that his powers were revealed, but rather the consequences this would have on the boy.

mo-tak placed a hand on mun's shoulder, scanning over the surrounding area. "do you have any idea where he went?"

"no," mun quickly responded.

mo-tak sighed. "no ideas?"

this time, mun thought a bit longer, but he still came out with the same answer.

"okay," mo-tak said, removing his hand from mun's shoulder and clasping it with his own. "we should spread out. do you think he'd tell anybody?"

"i don't think so." mun couldn't say whether or not hyeok would say anything, because he didn't know; he wanted to assume he wouldn't. but it was hyeok. mun also didn't want the other counters to think he would do something like that.

mo-tak pointed in various places, ms. chu and ha-na following his direction. mun nodded to mo-tak as to say a thank you. then he left, going in the direction of his home. he doubted hyeok would go near his house, but he tried anyways.

his footsteps echoed off the buildings and through the alleyways as he passed. he kept his eyes out for hyeok.

by the time he made it to his house, he felt as if he'd made no progress. there was no sign of hyeok anywhere in this direction.

he texted mo-tak 'anything?' to which he responded 'nope'. mun sighed and placed his phone back into his back pocket.

mun moved up the stairs to his porch, then pulled the door open. it was only about 6 am now, so mun's grandparents were still fast asleep, leaving the house silent.

a phone buzzed. mun turned to his kitchen, seeing hyeok's phone that he had set there last night. another buzz.

mun moved and picked up the phone, attempting to read the messages, but his phone was locked and he couldn't read them. he sighed and flipped the phone over in his hands.

a ringing then came from his own phone, and he lifted it to see mo-tak calling. he answered.

"mo-tak?"

"we found him," mo-tak said, his voice weary. "you should get here. he's pretty freaked"

mun nodded, not realizing mo-tak couldn't see him, and hung up.

he was out of the house quickly, running back to the noodle shop.

he feared confronting hyeok after what he had seen. how would he face him? what would he think? he didn't know what this would do between the two of them. what kind of dent it would put in their relationship.

mun stopped in his tracks and shook his head. he doesn't care.

he kept running.

the noodle shop was quiet, dark. he walked inside and down the stairs and into the training room.

hyeok sat on the floor, his legs crossed and arms resting over his knees. mo-tak stood above the boy. his arms were crossed and a glare was set on his face. ha-na and ms. chu seemed to be afraid of mo-tak, as they were backed away from him a bit.

upon seeing mun enter, ha-na and ms. chu quickly moved to him. "be careful," ha-na said as she leaned closer to him.

mun pulled his eyebrows together and looked at the girl, then back to hyeok and mo-tak. he approached them.

hyeok was the first to acknowledge him. a saddened look took mun's face hostage as he saw hyeok cringe away from him.

"hey," mun said lightly, looking at the boy. he didn't respond.

"we need to erase his memory"

mun, shocked, looked to mo-tak. he hadn't removed his eyes from hyeok.

hyeok's eyes widened slightly, his mouth hanging agape. "wh- what?"

mun quickly grabbed mo-tak's arm and pulled him to the side. he stumbled along as mun pulled him, and subtly brushed himself off when they had stopped. he set a glare in his face once again. "what?"

"i- um..." mun stuttered. he didn't know what to say. why didn't he want them to erase his memory? he stared blankly at mo-tak.

"what, kid?"

mun was still silent.

as the two stared at each other, an idea came into mun's head. it was probably...no - definitely - a dumb plan. but seemingly without thinking, mun went through with it.

he ran past mo-tak and latched into hyeok's hand, pulling him up. the boy tensed and attempted to writhe his hand out of mun's, but mun held on tight.

"what are you doing?" he asked.

"just run!" mun was already pulling hyeok beside him.

it was as if in a flash mun and hyeok were outside, running down the streets under the rising sun. they ran for what felt like hours, hyeok practically being dragged behind mun's amazing speed.

they didn't stop until they were inside of mun's home.