paper cranes | uc.

( 05; worthless )

' paper scent.'

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the new hideout was the first thing the counters arrived at the next morning. 

[name] and the rest had already been informed about the fact that they would be moving into jang-mul's company's building, believing it would be a safer place for them to reside in for the time being. after all, sleeping in a noodle shop with broken glass was not very attractive to the customers.

the new hideout looked almost like a university dorm to them all. 

in the middle of the room was a boxing ring for more easy training sessions ([name] could already imagine herself in one of the corners, begging for mercy against ha-na), and there were some boxing equipment around the place too. there were hanging punching bags, boxing gloves, shelves full of hand wraps, giant tires, and body protectors.

there seemed to be a second floor as well, and that was where [name] had rushed up the moment she walked into that room. when she gazed upon it, she saw shelves of household equipment, and most importantly, canned foods in case of emergency or lockdown.

heck, there was even a bicycle in the corner of the room.

while so-mun was excitedly running across the entire boxing rink, [name] walked over to one of the arcade games at the other end of the room from the entrance, mouth gaping at each machine she saw.

there are darts, a juke box, and even a vending machine?!

"there's a bunch of fun stuff too..." she saw ha-na playing with one of the darts, while [name] gazed around with saucer-wide eyes, taking in as much as she could all at once, realizing just how comfortable and cozy it all was. 

it was like a university's common room, but much better in every way...

"a juke box?! there's a jukebox, ms. chu!!"

said elder woman had just come out of the kitchen, and boy, did she look excited as heck. to ms. chu, what looked the most appealing to her wasn't the entire area, but rather, the small kitchen. [name] snickered cutely at the childish behavior of the elder woman.

everyone was so excited - jumping about, running wild through the new space - and their energy infected [name] as well. she gazed and ran around the place like a stunned mullet, in awe of their new hideout.

her new home.

[name] then hurriedly strolled off to the mannequins that stood near a set of rooms with peculiar door designs, realizing that each mannequin of a different size was wearing a different version of the usual tracksuit the counters wore.

instead of red and white, it was black and had red stripes on the sleeves, and [name] was left in awe the longer she stared at the mannequin of her own size.

the uniform of a counter...

"gosh, look at these clothes...!"

"haha, do you like it?!" jang-mul excitedly asked, enjoying seeing all his teammate's bright smiles. "it's my housewarming gift!" 

ms. chu and ha-na kept examining the suit, pulling the zipper up and down as a reaction to their growing excitement.

meanwhile, [name] hesitantly touched her soon-to-be uniform, feeling its fabric against her fingertips, feeling her excitement get slowly replaced with anxiety. i'm going to be wearing that...as a counter...

...I'm feeling kind of scared now...

"what about our rooms?!" ha-na excitedly asked jang-mul, pushing open one of the doors.