Reality Quest: Questism

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was warmth.

The second was weight.

Ahrin was still curled against me, her breathing slow and steady. Her hair tickled my jaw, and for a moment, I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, letting the haze of sleep fade. My arm had gone numb where it rested around her, but I didn't move. Not yet.

Then, as my senses sharpened, a sudden realization struck me like a jolt of electricity.

We'd slept too long.

My head snapped toward the window, where sunlight filtered through the curtains, far brighter than it should have been. The panic set in instantly.

Ahrin stirred beside me, groaning softly before lifting her head. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep, her hair a mess. Then she blinked, sitting up straighter as the same realization seemed to dawn on her.

"What time is it?" she mumbled.

I grabbed my phone off the desk and turned it over. My stomach sank the second I saw the time.

"Holy shit," I breathed.

Ahrin leaned in, peering at the screen. "Why didn't anyone wake us up?"

That was a damn good question.

I scrolled through my notifications, and then I saw it. A message from Jihan.

Jihan: Told the teachers you had a fever and Ahrin was helping take care of you. 

I let out a slow breath, relief flooding through me.

Ahrin must've caught on, because she asked, "What did he do?"

I turned the screen so she could read the message for herself. She scanned it quickly before sighing and falling back onto the bed. "I swear, that guy…"

I sighed happily. "Saved our asses."

She huffed but didn't argue.

Jihan's next notification caught my eye, a news article.

[BREAKING: High School Gang Leader Arrested for Assaulting Over 50 Students in Brutal Gang Fight]

My breath stilled.

Paljeon.

I clicked on the link, skimming through the details. The report described an all-out brawl, mercenaries included. It claimed that Paljeon had incited the fight and been arrested in the aftermath. No mention of us. No mention of Jihan, Eunsung, or what really happened.

It was a clean wrap-up.

I exhaled through my nose, locking my phone. "Paljeon's done for. He got arrested last night."

Ahrin let out a long breath, her shoulders finally sagging as if some invisible weight had been lifted.

"Good," she murmured.

We stayed like that for a bit, neither of us moving and just letting the silence settle in. It wasn't heavy anymore… just natural. 

Then, with a groan, Ahrin swung her legs off the bed and stretched her arms over her head, her joints cracking like fireworks.

I raised an eyebrow. "Jesus, are you okay?"

She let out an exaggerated sigh, shaking out her arms and rolling her shoulders. "I think I aged ten years overnight."

I let out a tired chuckle. "I know the feeling."

She turned up to the ceiling and said softly. "I still can't believe it all happened."

I blinked. "What?"

She turned to me. "Maybe the fact that you fought a million people last night." Then she grinned. "Or the fact that we slept together."

I blinked once again. Then–

"Ahrin!"

At least she was back to normal.

Eventually we both went to our respective bathrooms, freshened up after the sweat and dirt of the night before and then met up at the nearest restaurant for breakfast… well lunch if you sort it by time.

But chronologically for us, it was breakfast.

"Please don't order me a living octopus."

She perked up immediately. "Do you think they have any?"

"No Ahrin." I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. "No I do not think they do."

She frowned. "Shoot. I was really in the mood for something that fights back."

I shook my head, trying not to groan. "Why are you like this?"

"Keeps life interesting."

The waiter arrived before I could argue with that logic, and we placed our orders, something simple, something warm. I needed soup. I needed something to heat me up from inside.

Ahrin tapped her fingers against the table, glancing outside. "So… what now?"

I exhaled, leaning back in my seat. "Now, we eat."

"You know what I mean."

I tapped my fingers against the table, mirroring her. "Firstly… should we go to Gyeongju World?"

"I… I can't do loud music, remember?"

"Oh right, hmmm… "

"Oh yeah." Ahrin tilted her head. "That guy from yesterday, Eunsung? What did he show you on his phone? You froze when you saw it."

Ah yes. That.

I remembered the message Eunsung had shown me, almost like he was a messenger or a postman. 

Unknown number: Meet me near the exit to Gyeongju World at 5.30pm.

And then the name Eunsung had whispered into my ear. 

"Seokyoung."

I didn't know what Seokyoung wanted from me here… was he trying to take the video back? Or would this be an explanation for his betrayal?

I wasn't sure.

"I… I need to meet someone in Gyeongju World at 5.30."

Ahrin giggled. "Dowan, that was 10 minutes ago."

"Ah fuck." 

I hurriedly slapped a few bills down onto the table. "Take care of the paying for me, yeah? This should be enough. I'll meet you back at the dorm for dinner?"

And then I scrambled out of the restaurant, waving goodbye to Ahrin and stuffing my phone into my pocket whilst breaking into a run.

Something that could be the answer I was looking for and I'd just missed it?

No way.

Besides… SSR speed was nothing to scoff at. I almost left a dust trail down the road as I pumped my legs as fast as they could go.

It was 5.50 by the time I made it to the exit… rushing through the horde of people trying to buy tickets to get in.

The gates were yellow, some people in mascot costumes waving around and giving lollies to passing children and taking photos with them. It was loud, fun. 

Did I mention it was loud?

It was pretty fucking loud.

Eventually I located the one I was looking for. It wasn't hard… just look for the shortest person near the gates. The fact that his grey hair oddly stood out didn't hurt either.

Seokyoung turned as he saw me and immediately a scowl hit his face.

"You're late."

I put my hands on my knees, panting, holding a hand up in surrender. "My bad, I was eating… well… nearly."

Gathering myself up into the tallest height I could muster, I walked forward and stared at him down. 

"Now that's over… why did you want to talk to me?"

"Do you know why I wanted to talk to you here and not Gwanak?"

The immediate question took me off-guard. I blinked.

"...vacation?"

He ignored my answer. "I told you already… they can hear everything going on in Gwanak."

I tilted my head. "What do you even mean when you say 'they'?"

"Walk with me."

And walk with him I did. His hands were stuffed into the pocket of his baggy technical tracksuit… I pulled up the motivation to ask him the question.

"Why are you always so dripped out?"

"Because I'm short."

Wow… that was blunt. Not a bad answer though.

He continued. "I told you that I looked into the Sunshine Foundation after I received that video. After having it analysed, something my men were able to find was the size of the jacket–"

I cut him off. "Yeah? Medium… I found it too."

If I didn't know better, I'd say he looked slightly impressed. But honestly, with a face like Seokyoung's? I could barely tell.

"Nice to see you're good at something." He finally said.

"Bro I literally beat you in a fight."

He ignored me and continued. "And when I started looking into the records of the foundation… I made a mistake in using the Bully Council's detective agency to do it."

That made me pause. "Huh? Why?"

He glanced at me. "HQ came down on it."

I froze. "HQ? The Bully Council HQ?"

He nodded. "There's something there that they want to cover up and I don't know what it is. But they sent someone to stop me."

It felt like cold sweat dripping down my back.

Had they… had they sent Sunjae?

As far as I knew he was the only HQ member that got sent out for things like this apart from Eunsung who was more of an independent service.

Choi Sunjae. He had an entire page in my notes despite not even filling up 3 lines. Why?

Because he was the strongest. 

One of the strongest I currently knew of.

"She had me unable to move in less than a second."

That immediately broke me out of my thoughts. She? 

"She?"

"I don't know her name. She had a blue streak in her hair and was dressed like she worked in an office, she'd disabled all the security in my office and had taken me by surprise."

"Was… was she that strong?"

"Her strength wasn't in her fists… she used needles. Like acupuncture."

Needles? What the fuck?

He saw the look on my face. "You're surprised? Do you know how many pressure points the human body has?"

"...100?"

"361. And if I'm not mistaken, she could target every single one with terrifying accuracy. I was pinned to my chair before I could even move."

I stayed silent for a moment. "Is that why you had the puncture marks on your arm when we fought? I thought you'd taken drugs and maybe that's why you were fighting me."

He scoffed. "Do I look like Nanhyang to you? And I wouldn't fight from that anyways… no. I fought you as a distraction."

And then it all clicked.

"You… you said you couldn't give it to me but I could take it from you. That whole fight… you had me basically fight your whole neighbourhood to give me that video so that HQ couldn't beat you up?"

So everything had been staged. That whole fight had been a Play constructed for HQ to watch and just let everything happen.

I was looking at Seokyoung in a whole new light.

He nodded. "Not the whole neighbourhood, I had faith you wouldn't hit that hard. If anything I should thank you, it's actually motivated Baekchang to start training again."

"If anyone should start training, it's you."

"I know."

Once again, the bluntness in his tone caught me completely off guard. 

"I plan on stepping out of Bongcheon for a bit after today. I've got someone to visit."

"Someone to–?"

Oh… I remember now. His grandfather. Maybe another one of the candidates I had for the strongest… except he was practically ancient and probably had cancer or at least several herniated discs.

Of course that probably wouldn't stop him from annihilating me, all things considered.

"Which is the next reason why I asked you to come here. You owe me a favour."

I tilted my head and scrunched my expression up. "Barely… but okay."

"Look after Bongcheon while I'm gone."

"Look after?"

"With its Representative gone, I don't doubt that the other neighbourhoods might increase their borders. Baekchang isn't strong enough to keep them at bay. And if HQ decides to send someone else…" He went silent.

I looked at him, at his sombre look down at the floor, at the tightness of his jaw. That loss had taken a hit on him, huh.

He cared for his men… heavily. I remembered what he'd said when I first met him but… Seokyoung was a leader. I could see that now.

Despite everything… he cared about Bongcheon. 

I made up my mind and exhaled. "Okay, I'll try my best."

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, his voice firm. "No… try better."

And then he left.

I watched him leave, as he got into a car, maybe a taxi or a private ride… knowing him it was probably the latter.

Well.

At least that was informative.

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Seokyoung really does have too much drip. I actually bought an aviator jacket the other day because I loved how he looked in it in the beginning.

I am pleased to announce that it looks good on me also.

Hallellujah for small miracles.

Anyways... REVIEEWWSSSS.

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And if you have a few extra bucks and desire for more chapters.. feel free to visit my Patreon.

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