#sejeong updates | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

raevior · 6 months

Text

A familiar feeling - Somun x reader

warnings: blood, violence, choking, punching, cursing, smoking, drinking, fighting

genre/type: angst, slight fluff, slight comedy, enemies to lovers

wc: 8.2k

synopsis: evil spirit!yn is teamed up with hwangpil. fighting the counters has been a journey. you hate the counters, you hate hwangpil, and you hate this never ending battle. despite hating everyone, there's something that no one knows about you. until the truth is revealed when you wake up at the counters hideout, one day after you were almost killed.

title track: tunnel (inst) - kim sejeong

a/n: hello everyone! thank you all so much for being patient! I know a lot of you guys anticipated the release of this! I apologize for the delay, but it is finally out! I hope you all enjoy this as it took me a while to write. I hope the wait was worth it :) enjoy and I will update you all when a new story is going to be released!

“You seriously think that?” you ask Hwangpil while taking another sip of red wine. “If I’m able to just kill that kid, think about how powerful I’d be.” he says while lighting another cigarette. You smile and bite your lip out of nervousness. You’re fairly new to this whole evil spirit thing, as you have only consumed three souls; whereas Hwangpil has consumed over 10.

But, there’s a secret he doesn’t know about you.

He keeps you around as his own personal sacrifice, since to him, you’re weak. You lean back on your chair and sigh. Hwangpil cocks his eyebrow at you, but you already know what he’s thinking; you don’t need to ask. You never expected to be a so-called “evil spirit”, but here you are sitting beside the strongest, most evil man you’ve ever encountered.

Though you hate Hwangpil, you also love him. You constantly try to please him, but he is never satisfied. To his knowledge, you’ve only consumed three souls; he doesn’t know the full truth about you. To him, you are a beginner and nothing but a rookie, but there’s much more to that story.

Hwangpil stands up, bringing your hand to his lips, placing a kiss. You smile before he quickly shuts you down. “Get to bed. Long day tomorrow.” and before you know it, he’s gone.

*next night*

You and Hwangpil walk into the crowded junkyard. You lean against an old car and look up to the night sky. You laugh and feel butterflies grow in your stomach. “This is my first fight with Hwangpil. I’ll be able to show him that I’m more than just his toy.” you think silently. After about 15 minutes pass, you sigh impatiently as you wait for the counters to sense Hwangpil’s territory.

Just before you start to stretch, you see headlights blaring at you and Hwangpil. Hwangpil covers his eyes with his arm, squinting; while you stare directly at the car ahead. You smile at him and you two run separate ways, making sure the counters have to split up to find you two.

You run into the maze of abandoned cars and wait, but you can’t see or hear anything. You look around cautiously, anticipating one of the counters to sneak up on you. With your back turned, you leave an open spot for vulnerability. As soon as you turn around, you are met with a strong hit to the face. You cover your face and wipe the blood off, looking up and seeing a short girl with dark curly hair. You smirk as you stand up in an attempt to land a punch on her, but she trips you and you fall on your back. You moan in annoyance, “Ahh, you’re that annoying bitch aren’t you?” you say sitting up. You swing your arm and hit her in the leg with full force. She falls as you get up to run away. While running, you feel a force stopping you in your tracks. You look around and see a man. “It’s him.” you think to yourself.

You break away from his force and run towards him. You leap and miss your hit on him. He lands a punch right on your nose and blood runs down your face once again. You shriek out in pain. “You fucking bitch!” you yell out. The man smirks, “Actually, my name is Somun.” he says calmly. His calmness angers you even more. He lands another forceful punch on your abdomen and you stumble backwards. “He’s stronger than I thought.” you say under your breath. You look up and your eyes widen as he stands there, inching closer towards you. Somun stands there, not doing anything. You lock eye contact with him and his eyes widen. “You’re not… an evil spirit?” he says with a sharp inhale

You don’t have time for small talk. You muster up the strength to punch him, but he stops you with just one of his hands.

You hear footsteps running up behind you and flinch, covering yourself with your arms, crouching down. “Stop.” Somun says. The footsteps stop and you overhear a female voice, “Somun! What are you doing? Summon her!” she yells. Tears form in your eyes. Now that you’re in actual combat, you come to the realization that you’re not fit for this life.

A force picks you up from the throat and drags you across the busy yard. You open your eyes and are met with Hwangpil. He furrows his eyebrows at you as tears continue to stream down your bloody face. “I’m sorry.” you say through a choked voice. You look around through blurry vision and see all the counters staring at you two. You sniff once more, until Hwangpil throws you 50 feet across, making you crash into a car. Your back crashes against the metal as you fall onto the cold dirt. You wipe the tears from your face, standing up again.

You hate the counters.

But you “hate” Hwangpil even more.

He has been manipulating and using you as his toy for the past few months. You sit and think about the outcome, if you just consumed one more soul you could please him. Whilst standing up, you hold your abdomen from Somun’s punch. You let out a scream and run towards Somun, successfully landing a punch. Hwangpil smiles at you and you can’t help but feel proud of yourself. This feeling quickly changes when Somun wipes a tiny amount of blood of his lip turning towards you, “Is that all you’ve got?” Your eyes widen in fear and determination. You punch Somun in the abdomen with little force that you can muster up. Somun spits out blood and you laugh. But you remember the part you promised to play. You step back in realization. Hwangpil then grabs your throat once more, lifting you off the ground. You struggle for air as he looks at you with a face of disappointment. “You poor thing. I really thought you could be of use to me.” he says with a low tone. His fingers tighten around your neck and you shut your eyes, accepting your fate. Just then, you fall back onto the ground, gasping for air. You look up and see that Somun now has Hwangpil in his grasp. You scoot back in fear, until you feel a soft touch against your head, and you drift into a coma.

*next morning*

You wake up to the smell of pork broth infiltrating your room. You think to yourself, “Is Hwangpil making breakfast?...” but as soon as you open your eyes, you realize you are not in your room. You shoot up, looking around the room in confusion. You walk to the mirror and gasp. You’re in comfortable pajamas and all of your wounds are healed from last night. You hear the sound of a small crowd laughing and talking just outside your door. Your heart warms at this nostalgic feeling. Just before you’re allowed to smile, your neck twitches and you grow with anger. You hate that you are always fighting this constant battle. Hwangpil’s manipulation has really taken a toll on you, as just a few months ago you were celebrating your birthday with your closest friends and family. That was the last time you felt genuine happiness and peace. You continue to fight with yourself between your feelings. But eventually, curiosity gets the best of you.

You crack open the bedroom door, making eye contact with the same woman you saw last night. You gasp and turn around to run back into the bedroom, but you're caught in your tracks when someone catches you by the collar of your shirt. You attempt to fight back but the person isn’t budging. “Ok, I give up.” you sigh out. The pressure from your shirt releases and you turn around to confront the force. You are met with a tall, semi middle aged man with curly hair. You look at him and say nothing, furrowing your eyebrows with hate. He laughs right in your face. Your expression changes from hate to confusion. You speak up, “why aren’t you hurting me?” “You’re not an evil spirit.” he says. You say nothing and look at the floor. He clears his throat, “Come eat.”

You shoot the man a dirty look and walk over to the table where everyone is sitting. Once you look around, you realize that you had just slept at your enemies hideout. Your eyes widen and squint in anger, then soften again in seconds. The counters continue to stare at you, till an older woman gestures for you to take a seat; a steaming bowl of soup and an empty chair waiting for you.

You stare around awkwardly, while the group stares back. You gulp, “Why am I here?” you say in a flat, monotone voice. “You’re not evil.” the young boy that you had punched last night speaks up. You dart your eyes at him and snarl. “Yes, I am.” you say confidently. The table falls silent once again. The older woman leans over and rubs your back. In the matter of 3 seconds, you go to slap her hand off of you, but something stops you; your conscience. You make eye contact with her and she gives a reassuring smile. “Don’t be afraid, we are here to help you.” You finally relax your stiff shoulders and slouch over, bringing your hands to your face to avoid the overwhelming emotions running through your body.

After you compose yourself, you remove your hands while clearing your throat; readying yourself to dump everything on the counters.

“Hwangpil. He found me while I was outside walking home after celebrating my birthday. He saw that my guard was down, and to him, I was his perfect victim.” you speak up. “These past 3 months have been a living hell. He had forced me to watch him kill and consume my best friend's soul. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. He laughed right in my face and I saw his body contort in a way that I didn’t think was humanly possible.” You pause your sentence and look up, the counters are staring at you with both empathy and hatred. Not hatred for you, but for Hwangpil. “Continue.” the young man speaks up. You nod and continue.

“After that, he continued to manipulate me and overtime, his words got to me. Everyday I fight with myself, battling the internal war between good V.S. evil. I want to be good. I really do. But something about pleasing Hwangpil excites me so much.” you say as you squirm in your seat.

The counter's empathy then turns to confusion. You twitch your neck and start laughing. The counters all stand up, backing up out of fear. You stand up, laughing even harder. “Did you really think I was serious?!” you say. You clutch your stomach in pain from laughing so hard. “Go ahead! Open your territory Somun!” you say pointing to the ground, mocking his ability. Somun opens the territory, and immediately, the young girl's neck twitches. “Someone has step foot.” You burst into laughter once more. “You still don’t get it, do you? I didn’t expect you all to be this gullible!” They all stare at you once more. “Here, I’ll spell it out for you since you all are too dumb to understand… I am a so-called “Level 3”, or whatever you wanna call us. My power you ask? Hiding all the souls I’ve consumed! Meaning, you won’t be able to sense me. No matter how hard you try.” you say with a cocky smile.

Somun and the young girl jump at you, fists full of power. You land a kick on his stomach and grab the girl’s hand, looking at her in the eyes. “What was your name again? Jana? Dana?” you say laughing. You land a strong punch on her, causing her nose to bleed. “Doesn’t feel good does it?” Once you see Somun getting up, you can feel the anger piercing the atmosphere. You smile and wave at him, “Bye!” you say. As soon as he pounces onto you, the counters look around searching for you. You’re nowhere to be found.

*clink*

Your wine glass taps Hwangpils, as you two laugh together about your interaction with the counters. They don’t know that you and Hwangpil have been teammates for 11 months. “Their faces were hilarious! And they totally thought you were gonna kill me! And you know what? That Somun kid is pretty cute.” you say laughing. Hwangpil smiles, “You did a good job playing your weak girl role the other night. When I was holding you, I almost believed you.” he says. “What else?” you ask teasingly. “Yes, I read your mind when I was choking you, even your inner monologue was perfect. You almost had me fooled.” You smile at his compliment and tilt your head down, blushing. Hwangpil grabs your chin and tilts your face so that you two are eye to eye. “But don’t let that get to your head.” he says with a wink, slowly leaving the couch where you two are sitting.

*timeskip: 1 week*

You wait inside the empty abandoned mall, waiting for the counters to show up. “I hate waiting” you say while pacing, fixing your leather gloves. Finally, you sense him. “Ahh! Somun! Long time no see my love!” you say waving, purposely trying to anger him. He runs up to you, wasting no time. He hits you straight in the face, causing blood to stream down your face. You smile as you wipe it off nonchalantly. “Is that all you’ve got?” you say, mocking him from your fight last week. He runs back up to you and you kick him in the stomach. He smiles, grabs your leg, and slams you onto the ground. You moan in pain and quickly try to stand, but Somun overpowers you, straddling you. He begins to repeatedly punch your face, until there is a pool of blood around you. You grab both of his hands, squeezing his fists. He winces in pain as you smile, blood covering your teeth. “Where’s the rest of your team, darling? Or did Hwangpil take care of them already?” Somun screams, loud enough to bust both of your eardrums. You slide across the floor from the waves of his voice. You put your finger up to your ear, feeling blood leaking out. You’re drenched in blood, but you won’t let this fight end this early. You reach out your hand, pulling Somun to you. You knee him in the abdomen. As he bends over in pain, you knee his head. He stumbles backwards as you continue to slap him around, not allowing him to land a single hit on you.

You stop for a moment to catch your breath, panting from the intense fight. You look over and see Somun laying on the ground. Your eyes widen in excitement, thinking you have actually killed him. You walk over slowly, kicking his head once more to ensure he’s out. He shows no reaction. You smile and bend over, preparing to consume the strongest power you have ever encountered. Just as you open your mouth, you are flung across the floor. You crash into an abandoned store's entrance, hitting your back against the hard wall. You groan in pain, but before you can process what happened, you are flung back towards Somun. In what felt like 1 second, you are met with his grasp around your throat. You feel his fingers tighten. You flail your body in an attempt to fight back, but each passing moment you are getting more and more lightheaded. As soon as your eyes begin to roll backward, the grasp is let go from your throat. You stumble onto the ground, looking at Somun. He straddles you once again, landing punch after punch. You don’t try to fight back, you are exhausted at this point. Somun goes to land his final blow, but you stop his fist, speaking up through gurgled blood. “I hate you.” Somun lets out a cocky smile, “I hate you even more.” As he delivers his final punch, he completely knocks you out unconscious.

Somun stares at you with immense hate and anger. He takes your hand in his and places it upon your chest; summoning you.

*next morning*

You wake up, rubbing your eyes and yawning. You walk to your bathroom with fuzzy eyes, but you are met with a wall. You bump into the wall, stumbling back. You rub your eyes once more, scanning your surroundings. Once again, you’re not at home. You get a feeling of familiarity. You take a deep breath, trying to remember, but the smell of pork broth hits you. You still don’t quite understand, as everything is both physically and mentally blurry. You walk to a mirror, gasping at all of the cuts and bruises over your body. You whine and throw your head back, frustrated from confusion. You exit the bedroom expecting an empty room, but there sit 4 faces that you have seen somewhere before. You stare at the group and immediately yell in anger. “Who are you and where the hell am I?!” The group laughs, “Seems she hasn’t calmed down yet.” a middle aged man speaks up. You furrow your eyebrows, stomping towards the man. “Hey! Listen! You can’t kidnap me and expect me not to a-” just then a voice interrupts you. “Y/N, sit down.” a young boy says. “And how the hell do you know my name?!” you yell, rubbing your forehead in immense frustration. “Just sit down.” he repeats.

You sit down, staring at the group. “Y/N, do you remember anything?” the boy speaks up. You reply with silence. He cocks his eyebrow at you, awaiting your response. “I remember being punched. I don’t know if it was last night or last month.” you speak up. “Do you know my name?” he asks. “No. But I have a feeling I have met you all before. Especially you.” you say pointing to the younger girl. She smiles and looks down. “Yes, we have met before. I’m the one you called a bitch.” Your eyes widen. You don’t remember any of this, but this topic sounds familiar. “We’ll explain.” she says.

The counters explain everything, a long list of information that you can barely process. “Okay so let me get this straight. A man named Hwangpil is an ‘evil spirit’ and he killed people and made me consume their souls, then we were teammates. Then I met you all and we got into a fight. I told you all my power, and then I fought Somun and he summoned me. So I was an evil spirit? Am I getting this all right?” the group nods. “Pretty much.” they all say in sync. “I’m sorry to have put you all through this much trouble. I don’t remember much. But the Hwangpil guy sounds really familiar.” you pause. “Thank you.”

“Hey, just because you’re all nice now doesn’t mean we forgive you.” Motak speaks up. Your eyes dart down. “I understand.”

*time skip: 10 months*

It’s been 10 months since you saw the counters last, but for some reason, Somun won’t leave your mind recently. Maybe because winter is approaching and this is around the time the whole thing went down. Your life has returned to normal, and you feel at peace again. You lay down, preparing to sleep. You look out your window admiring the beautiful city lights of Jungjin. While staring at the city, you see beams of light radiating from the busy street below. You look at the people walking below; but they seem to not notice the lights. You can almost feel the luminescence calling your name. You throw on a jacket, and run out your door. You step outside, seeing the bright lights leading you towards a location. You run, following the light. While running, you bump shoulders with someone. You turn around quickly to apologize, but see the familiar face of Motak. “Y/N. We need your help.” You stare at him in confusion, knowing you haven’t had anything to do with the counters in months. “Why me?” you ask. “Do you see the lights?” he asks. You pout your lips, “These lights?” you say pointing to the beam between you and Motak. His eyes widen and he grabs your wrist in a hurry, forcing you to follow him. “Motak! What is going on?” you yell, out of breath. “Somun.” he says. You sigh, not feeling any less confused. Motak stops and looks at you. “Hwangpil. He’s back.” your eyes widen. The name rings in your ears, it sounds so familiar, but not in a good way.

You reach the end of the lights, seeing the silhouette of him. You stumble back, all of your memories from the fight coming back. Blood is scattered on the ground of the same junkyard you were once in. You fall back, Motak catching you. You look over and see Somun lying on the ground, while Hana is in combat with Hwangpil. Memories infiltrate your mind as you see Somun coughing up blood. “He needs your help.” Motak whispers to you. “What can I do? I don’t have any powers!” you reply. “You said you see the lights right?” he says. You nod in reply to his question, “Then you can do anything.” You gulp in nervousness, but you are determined to save the life of the boy who once saved yours. You sprint towards Hwangpil, but before you can do anything, you check on Somun. He’s barely conscious, blood and tears falling from his face. “Somun, you’ll be okay. You saved me. This time, I’ll save you.” you say kneeling over him. While standing up he grabs your wrist, “Don’t.” he says weakly. You look at him while tears form in your eyes. There is no way you’re going to let him, or any of the other counters die.

“Well, this is unexpected! My dear Y/N, how I’ve missed you! You’re all innocent now. What happened to my determined teammate who worked so hard to satisfy me?” Hwangpil says in a degrading tone. You rip your wrist away from Somun’s grasp, standing in front of him to guard his body. Hwangpil laughs, “You’re weaker than ever now. What are you going to do to me, honey?” he asks. The lights from earlier rise once more and you feel adrenaline rushing throughout your whole body. Before you can react to Hwangpils words, you are sprinting towards him. You land a punch under his jaw, sending his head flying back. You are running on pure energy. You land punch after punch, making Hwangpil stumble backwards. Just then a pole hits the back of his head. You stop your punching and look besides you. There stands a bloody Hana, holding a 4 foot steel pole in her hands. You two smile at each other and continue kicking and punching Hwangpil until he is completely knocked out.

Before you know it, you are straddling him, placing his hand under yours. “Y/N! You’re not a counter. It won’t w-” Hana yells before Somun quietly shushes her. You yell and the lights around you grow. You can’t even comprehend what you’re doing until a bright glow rises from Hwangpils chest. He yells out, then collapses. You slouch down, rolling onto the ground. The counters stare at you in shock. “She just…” Motak stutters. Somun smiles and lays his head back. “He’s really gone..” Hana speaks up.

You sit up, dusting your hands like nothing happened. You look up and see the counters still staring at you in disbelief. “How did you do that?…” Hana speaks up. “Do what?” you reply. She says nothing and just points to Hwangpils body next to you. Your eyes widen and you scoot back. You cover your mouth in shock and stutter out random sounds. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll call the cops.” Motak says, pulling out his phone. You nod and slowly stand up, motioning to Hana to help you move Somun to the car.

“I’m sorry for calling you an annoying bitch Hana. You’re pretty cool.” you speak up shyly. You expected her to roll her eyes or just ignore you. Instead she grabs your hand and smiles. “That was so cheesy, but it’s okay. We’re friends now.” she says. Your stomach does flips over your once enemy calling you her friend. “Hey hey hey, we are not friends!” Somun whines while sitting up from the passenger seat. “Somun, she just saved your life.” Motak spits out. Somun begins to speak again until Motak pushes him back against the seat, making Somun wince in pain. You and Hana laugh. You move your gaze towards the window, beginning to drift into the sleep you were preparing for before you had to go and save someone’s life.

*next morning*

“Boom! I hit him right in the jaw! Then Hana came in and knocked him out with a pole. I don’t even know where she got that thing!” you blurt out, explaining last night's activities to Ms.Chu. She laughs and takes another bite of food, which she had prepared for you all. You sigh, “Thank you all again for letting me stay here and treating me to breakfast. But I should be going. I hope we cross paths again.” Just as you begin to stand, a sleepy Somun emerges from his bedroom. He yawns, scratching his messy hair. You laugh at him, never seeing him like this before. “Goodmorn-'' he says, interrupting himself, “What is she doing here.” you laugh, “Good Morning to you too.” you say. “Somun don’t be so rude to the girl who saved your life.” Ms.Chu speaks up with a mouth full of food. You laugh once more, preparing to leave. Somun looks at you and cocks his head towards his room. You look at him confused “Come.” he says through a raspy voice. The counters look at each other with a look of mischief on their faces. You hesitate, but follow Somun to his room.

“What’s up?” you ask him. “Y/N, I wanna talk to you about something.” he says, motioning you to take a seat on his bed. You sit down on his bed and stare at him. “I still hate you.” he says. You turn your head in confusion. “...but thank you.” “For what?” you ask teasingly. Somun clenches his jaw, then releases it. “Thank you for helping me.” he says stubbornly. You let out a breathy laugh, “You’re welcome, Somun.” Silence follows until you decide to speak up once more. “About those glowing lights, what are they?” you ask. “You don’t remember? You mocked me, asking me to open my territory back when you were still a spirit.” You say nothing. “Anyway, I opened them, hoping you could see them.”

“I saw them, and something told me to follow them. On the way, I ran into Motak. He told me that you needed help. I don’t know what happened but your territory helped me.” Somuns eyes widen and he grabs your hand, looking at your palm. On your index finger, there is one small little black dot. He looks at it with confusion, until you pull your hand back. “I thought you hated me? Why are you holding my hand?” you ask. Somun takes a sharp breath, “Hey don’t get any ideas, I was just checking something.” A moment of silence passes until Somun asks for your phone. You hand him your phone and he types in his number. “What is this?” you ask, staring at the screen. “What does it look like? Text me if you need anything.” You look at Somun full of confusion. ‘First he hates me and now he’s giving me his number. What is this guy's problem?’ you think to yourself. You shove your phone into your back pocket and grab your jacket, exiting his room. You say your goodbyes to the counters and walk on the cold streets of Jungjin, back to your apartment.

While walking back to your apartment, the beams of light rise from the streets once again. You look at them and whine out loud, turning around to make your way back to the counters hideout. After about 15 minutes of walking you storm in, “Somun! Stop opening your territory! I thought you asked me to text you if I need something!” The counters sit at the table looking at you confused. You widen your eyes, staring at Somun waiting for a response. “I didn’t open anything…” he says. You run your fingers through your hair, “Who else could’ve done that then? I saw them!” you say angrily. “I was just about to get home too!” you yell out. Somun stands up, “Maybe I wanted to see you!” he yells out. The room falls silent. “...What?” you say. Somun clears his throat, “Maybe I wanted to see if you could still see the lights!” he says through an obvious lie. You roll your eyes, “Okay well I can see them. Stop bothering me!” you reply. You turn around and walk out the door, rolling your eyes again. ‘Why does he want to see me now? He’s so weird’ you think to yourself.

You arrive home and plop on your bed, feeling exhausted. You start to think about your interaction with Somun. You saved his life, he says you two aren’t friends, proceeds to give you his phone number, then opens his territory for you to see. You sigh, getting up to take a shower. You look in the mirror and notice the ends of your hair curling up. You brush it off to stress and sweating. You hop in the shower, ignoring everything, trying to clear your mind.

In your robe, you go to grab your hair brush. Bringing the brush to your head, you notice the black dot on your index finger. You stare at it closely, thinking that it was a freckle. You remember back to sitting in the car with Hana, she had the same dots; except they were on all of her fingers. You remember Somun grabbing your hand that morning, he also had the dots on the tips of his fingers. You’re even more confused now. You brush it off once more as a coincidence, and continue brushing your hair. Your hair goes back to its natural state and you smile, until a small curl pops up, curling just above your forehead. You furrow your eyebrows, brushing the curl, only for it to coil back up. You’ve never seen a curl like this on yourself before. You continuously brush it, but each time, it bounces back. You sigh out once more, accepting the curl. You proceed to dress yourself in comfortable loungewear, needing to relax for a day after last night.

After about 2 hours of relaxing, you find yourself staring at the curl that’s now resting on your forehead. You pull it down, watching it bounce back into shape. Now that you think about it, this cannot be a coincidence. The counters all have curly hair, and you have confirmed that two of them have the same dots that you have on your index finger. Maybe they’re siblings? No that can’t be. You stand up from the vanity staring back at you, throwing on a pair of sweatpants and making your way to the counters 'hideout’. Once you step outside, you have completely forgotten how to get there despite leaving 3 hours ago. You pout, knowing the only person who can help you get there is Somun. You pull your phone out of your pocket, hovering your thumb over his name. You text him, “It’s Y/N. Open your territory please :)” You shut your phone off expecting at least a 10 minute wait. In a blink, the familiar lights are shining. You smirk, shoving your phone back into your pocket and walking to the hideout.

Once you reach the hideout, you walk in, only to see the normal meeting spot empty. You scan the room looking for Somun. You walk in further, finding a sweaty Somun in the boxing ring, throwing invisible punches. You stare and admire for a while, your face growing pink. You’ve never realized how attractive Somun is until now. The past times you’ve seen him you were trying to kill each other or thinking about killing each other. Somun turns around, flicking the sweat off of his forehead. “What’s up.” he says nonchalantly. “Can we talk?... Please?” you ask. Somun smirks and lets out a breathy life, sitting on the edge of the boxing ring. “You’re being awfully nice. Do you need me to do something for you?” You roll your eyes playfully, “Yes, well not really, but yes.” Somun stares at you. You point to the curl hanging in front of your eyes. “What?” Somun asks. “What is this!” you ask. “A curl?” Once again, you roll your eyes. “and what about this?” you say while holding your finger out to him. Somun stares at it with no emotion, until he starts putting two and two together. Under his breath he mummers out, “Is she turning into a counter?” You stare at Somun while he looks at your finger. A full minute has passed at this point. “So?” you ask. “I think you’re turning into a counter.” he says. You tilt your head in confusion, how is this even possible? “I thought I had to get into some type of fatal accident to even be granted the opportunity to become one.” Somun says nothing, he stares at your eyes and pulls the curl down, watching it coil back into it’s shape. You grab the curl with your hand, “What are you doing?!” you yell. “I wanted to see if it was real.” You breathe out, “Somun, you’re no help.” you say. “Did you want me to help?” he asks. “Of course I did! I came here for a reason.” He stares at you, then slips out of the boxing ring, taking a drink of water. Your face flushes pink once again. “Come sit. Let’s have our talk.”

You both sit at the table, waiting for each other to speak up. “Y/N, I want to be honest with you.” he says in a tone, different from his usual tone. This tone sounds more genuine, compared to the monotone and raspy voice he usually talks to you in. You raise your eyebrows, signaling him to continue. He sighs, dropping his shoulders down to relax. “I’m sorry,” he says. ‘Where is this coming from?’ you think to yourself.

“I’m sorry that I’m so rude to you. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to fight Hwangpil; I’m sorry that I had to rely on you. I’m sorry for all of the trouble that I’ve put you through. I hate you, because I envy you. No one would be brave enough to face their once enemy, but you did it with ease. I’m sorry, I really am.” he says.

You take a moment to process what he has said. You really don’t remember much from being an evil spirit, so this whole situation is quite confusing. Before you respond, you feel a sharp pain in your temple. You yell out, laying your head on the table. A few seconds pass, but you sit up and look at the Somun with tears forming in your eyes. Somun looks at you confused. “Somun… I almost killed you.” you speak up. “Our fight. I remember everything now. I tricked you all into caring for me, I hurt you and Hana, I almost killed you.” you say, now sobbing. Somun stays silent. “If anything, I should be sorry to you. I apologize, Somun.” you say bowing your head. While you feel tears of guilt streaming down your face, you feel a hand cup your face, wiping your tears. You look up, Somun is staring at you with pain painted on his face. You sniff, embracing his touch. “I’m sorry too.” he says through a choked voice.

You pull his hand away, sitting back in your chair, wiping your tears. “When you hurt us, that wasn’t you. It was the spirit inside of you, but it’s gone now. You’re safe now” he speaks up. Those are the words you needed to hear. ‘I’m safe I’m safe I’m safe’ replays in your head. You smile through your tears. “Most importantly, you’re safe with us.” he says once more. You look at his glistening eyes and nod, “Thank you, Somun. Thank you for everything.” He smiles, and grabs your hand. “You don’t hate me anymore do you?” he asks. You laugh, “I never hated you.” you confess. He shares a laugh with you, “Good.” He sighs out, “Well since you’re part counter, let’s train some.” You nod, accepting the challenge.

*2 hours later*

Hana, Motak, and Ms.Chu all walk in, all tipsy from bar hopping on their day off. They walk in and see you and Somun laying down in the middle of the boxing ring, completely passed out. Motak laughs, walking over to the ring. “Looks like these two are friends now. Just last night Somun was going off about how they weren’t friends.” “You know what that means when Somun says he doesn’t have interest in someone.” Ms.Chu speaks up. “It means he likes her.” Hana says in a monotone voice. The thing is, they don’t know that you woke up 5 minutes ago, you are just too exhausted to move. You fake sleep for another 3 minutes, until you hear the lights switch off, feeling a blanket drape over you and Somun.

You wake up in the morning, sitting up from the uncomfortable sleep you had. You rub your blurry eyes, until you notice Somun’s arm laying across your lap. Your eyes widen and your face grows pink. You go to move his arm in a rush, but right before you grab him, you stop. You stare at his arm, relaxing yourself. You decide to slowly move his arm off of you, slipping out of the ring.

Making your way to your unofficial room, you bump into Ms.Chu. “Ah! I’m sorry, I’m just getting ready to leave. I have a lot to do today.” you say in a hurry. She looks at you with confusion, watching you grab your things and rush out of the door.

You make your way back to your apartment, hoping that today you can relax with no problems.

You change into clean clothes and open your laptop, wanting to catch up with friends. You haven’t spoken with your friends recently, let alone see them. You and your friend Suyeon decide to meet up at a local cafe to catch up. You apply some light makeup but while looking in the mirror, you notice the stubborn curl is still there. You run into your bathroom, attempting to style it to fit your natural hair, but each time, it bounces back. You sigh in annoyance, pinning it with a barrette. You walk out the apartment door, heading to the cafe.

30 minutes pass by at the cafe, laughing and catching up with your old friend. You are having an amazing time until a familiar face walks in. of course, it’s Somun. You decide to ignore him and focus on you and your friend. You just want one day of peace. This feeling didn’t last long. Somun walks up to you two, smiling. “Are you stalking me or something?” he asks jokingly. “Weren’t we the first ones here?” you ask. He nods his head, “Fair.” “I’ll catch up with you later.” you reply. Somun gives you a look of what seemed to be puppy eyes for just a quick second, then his eyes return to normal. You stare at him while he walks away, turning to your friend like nothing happened.

“Bye! Text me when you get home!” leaving your friend, walking in opposite directions. You turn the corner of the building and bump into someone. Before you can look, you start apologizing. You look up and see Somun, again. “Somun! Are you sure you’re not stalking me?” you yell in a teasing manner. He laughs, “Just wanted to make sure you’re safe.” You roll your eyes, but secretly, butterflies are growing inside of your stomach. “Ms.Chu is making lunch, do you want to join us?” he asks. “I just left, and I kind of wanted a day to myself. But thank you for the offer.” you reply. He shoots you his intentional-unintentional puppy eyes, his silent way of saying please. “Okay, I’ll go today, but tomorrow you better leave me alone.” Somun’s eyes soften and he smiles. He starts walking and you follow behind him.

You two have been walking for 30 minutes, despite the hideout being 10 minutes away. You notice that you’ve been walking in the opposite direction. “Somun, are we almost there?” you ask, interrupting your conversation. “5 more minutes.” “‘till we’re there?” “5 more minutes of being with you.” he says. You stop in your tracks, and stare at him. Your face immediately turns red. Somun seems to notice this as he laughs and turns his neck at you. “Is that a problem?” he asks. You shake your head no, biting back your smile. You continue to walk alongside Somun until you reach the place you’ve become familiar with. You two walk in, smiling and laughing together. You two sit at the table, not even acknowledging the counters in the room. While you two continue your conversation, Motak comes and slaps Somun on the back of the head. “Hello to you too!” he yells out. You and Somun laugh, ignoring the room once again.

Motak walks over to Ms.Chu. “Jesus, they’re acting like they’re in love or something. They hated each other the other night. But they have one sleepover and now they’re lovers.” Motak says in a whisper to Ms.Chu. She rolls her eyes at him and hits his arm. “Leave them alone, just be glad they’re not fighting anymore.” They look over at you two, watching you and Somun stare into each other's eyes, deep in conversation, laughing and flirting. Motak fake gags. Ms.Chu grabs the pot of stew and sits it right in the middle of you two, halting your conversation. “Okay okay okay, let’s eat! Y/N, go get Hana.” she says to you. You nod your head and go look for Hana, but while looking for her, you overhear Motak and Ms.Chu nagging Somun with questions.

“Didn’t you two hate each other the other day?” “Why were you two cuddling last night?” “Did you guys go on a date?” “You might as well abandon us for her!” “You can’t fall in love this quick!”

You laugh, overhearing their questions. You continue walking down the hall to find Hana. “Hana, lunch is ready if you’re ready to eat.” you tell her. She pauses her workout and stands up, walking with you back to the table. Hana sits next to Somun, like she normally does. But before you sit, Somun is staring at her like she has a death wish. She looks at you and back to Somun, nodding her head in realization, scooting to sit next to Ms.Chu. You laugh awkwardly and sit next to Somun.

You all talk and indulge in conversation for hours, getting to know each other. During this, you had told them about the obnoxious curl and the single dot on your finger. They had no answer, but they explained Yung to you, and how summoning works. You feel grateful that they decided to share this information with you. You look at the time, realizing it’s 9pm. Time flew by while you were eating and hanging out with everyone. You stand up, announcing that it’s time for you to go. The counters nod, but Hana and Somun are shooting each other a look. Hana then shoots up, “Why don’t you stay here?” she says, shooting an obvious wink at the other counters. “She’s right! It’s getting late!” Ms.Chu says. By now, you can see right through them; but they are all horrible liars. Motak fake yawns, getting up from the table walking into your ‘unofficial’ room. “Motak! That’s my room!” you yell. He pretends not to hear you and slams the door shut. You look back at the table, seeing that everyone has left except Somun. He looks at you before you shut him down. “No! I am not sleeping in the boxing ring again!” you yell out. Somun laughs, “I wasn’t going to suggest that,” he says. You shoot him a confused look.

You are now laying in his bed, only a pillow dividing you two. You lay there with your eyes wide open, being able to hear your own heartbeat in the silence. With Somun laying beside you, you think back to all of the interactions you two have had together. First you were enemies, then you didn’t speak for months, and now you’re laying in the same bed as him with nothing but a pillow separating your bodies from touching. Somun groans, rolling over to face you. Throwing the pillow across the room, wrapping his arm around your waist. Your eyes widen, while you stare at his closed eyes. His touch instantly calmed you. You embrace his touch once more, admiring his face while he sleeps beside you. You feel a smile growing onto your face, now hearing your heartbeat 10x clearer. You hesitantly cup his face, “Goodnight, Somun.” you whisper, while closing your eyes.

As soon as you begin to drift into sleep, you feel Somun move around again. You try to ignore it, but his constant rustling around is not allowing you to sleep. You sit up, whining, “Somun, why do you keep moving around?” you ask. “I can’t sleep.” You ask in a panic, “Have you been awake this whole time?” “Yes” he replies. You fall back onto the soft pillow, covering your face from embarrassment. “So you heard what I said?” you ask through your hands. “I can’t hear you when you're covering your face.” he says teasingly. You sit up again, now facing him. The only thing illuminating his face are the city lights. “You heard me say goodnight? and you felt me cupping your face? you also purposely threw the pillow! this is not fair!-“ You are cut off mid sentence, but instead of being interrupted, you are silenced by Somun crashing his lips onto yours. You close your eyes, embracing the moment. Somun pulls away, his face a shade of light pink. “Now you can relax. Go to sleep.” he says nonchalantly. You stare at him in shock. “Did you just….” you trail off. “Kiss you? yes, do you want me to do it again?” he asks. Before you can answer, Somuns hand is on your waist, bringing his lips slowly to yours once again.

You pull away, still not processing what just happened. “Now seriously, go to sleep! You’ll be tired tomorrow.” he says while laying back down. You follow his action laying down beside him, this time with no border between you two. You hesitate, but you slowly move his arm to caress your waist; falling asleep together under the city lights.

*time skip*

It’s been 6 months since you joined the counters, and 7 months since you and Somun started officially dating. You have moved in with the counters now since you’re here everyday, and also, your landlord increased your rent. You train hard everyday so that the counters will finally allow you to fight one day. Over the past 6 months, you have found 5 new curls and 2 new dots on your fingers; one on your pinky and one of your ring finger. You have learned to summon territories as well, it takes 3 nosebleeds and an inhaler though. The counters have always been by your side, helping and guiding you.

You are so glad to have been accepted into such a wonderful space, and have a wonderful boyfriend. You don’t know where you would be if you never found them.

Though being evil was the worst time of your life, you feel a sense of thankfulness. You would have never been where you are now. You wouldn’t be dating Somun, you wouldn’t be helping Hana with her hair and makeup, you wouldn’t be training with Motak, and you wouldn’t be helping Ms.Chu prepare dinner each night.

You are beyond grateful for where you are right now; and it’s all thanks to Somun for believing in you.

143 notes · View notes