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Watching Han Maru in action made Seonwoo doubt the theory of natural selection. Because if “survival of the fittest” was law, Han Maru was a criminal on the run. He had to be.
Han Maru fought by wielding his emotions as his sword. That type of motivation made a deadly monster out of him, blessing him with the strength to take down even the Director himself. That sword, however, was fragile and inconsistent, leaving Han Maru vulnerable at the worst possible times. Far too unreliable for Seonwoo’s taste.
Emotions are only a weakness.
Seonwoo thought, with zero self-awareness of his own douchebaggery.
As he pulled into the parking lot, Seonwoo spied the crouching figure of a man by the office building door.
“Han Maru?” he shut the car door and approached the pathetic man. “What are you doing out here?”
Han Maru and Officer Kang were supposed to be out on a Nachal hunt in the mountains. Why was he here?
“Seonwoo! I’m so glad you’re here. Please open the door for me!” Han Maru popped up from the ground and gripped Seonwoo’s arm pleadingly. Seonwoo felt his body stiffen at the sudden touch. “I forgot my keycard inside and now I can’t get in…”
“Dumbass,” Seonwoo retorted, but pulled out his keycard anyway. Not that he was
helping
Han Maru – he would’ve left him here in the cold if he could. Seonwoo was simply opening the door for himself.
“You’re a lifesaver, thanks so much Seonwoo!”
------
“You’re not Han Maru.”
Seonwoo stopped in the cubicle doorway, his eyes fixed on a familiar yet foreign silhouette.
“Am I not?” the creature looked up at him with a smirk that looked nothing like Han Maru’s dopey grin. “Who else would I be?”
It was so
obvious
now. How did Seonwoo fall for it so easily?
“Han Maru would never…” Never what? Be nice to him? Work properly with him? That didn’t feel right. “He would never lose his key card.”
In the end, he could only come up with a lie. Still, he was more than certain – he was talking to a Nachal.
“Seonwoo Eden.” Although the demon continued to talk sweetly, yellow dust began to ooze from its lips, clouding the air of the office with a golden fog. Seonwoo took off his gloves and gripped his wrist, ready to break.
Before he could complete the act, ‘Han Maru’ spoke.
“Killing me kills Han Maru, too, you know.”
Kills-?
--------
In this field, a moment of hesitation means death.
When the Captain told him this, Seonwoo scoffed. Obviously, he was not the one who needed such emotional advice.
--------
Seonwoo’s eyes cleared, revealing ‘Han Maru’s’ face and the ceiling.
The demon’s body no longer attempted to replicate a human form. Twisting dementedly into a creature unrecognizable, its sharp eyes crumbled away into dust and its spine arched like a rope – or maybe the body remained the same, and its image of Han Maru had always been an illusion. Seonwoo was too dazed to tell.
A searing pain emerged from the back of his head. Thick, twisting, grey limbs crushed him against the tile with inhuman force.
It had tricked him. Killing it would never have hurt Han Maru. He was out with Officer Kang, far, far away from here. The Nachal
knew
Seonwoo would hesitate at the mention of Han Maru.
Seonwoo opened his mouth attempting to shout. To speak, fuck to
breathe-
He couldn’t breathe.
Clawed hands curled around his neck, gripping without mercy. He felt the filthy nails dig into his skin and pierce his flesh. All he could do was hold on to the hands that choked him, attempting to pry them from his throat to no avail.
His mouth gaped open silently and his eyes began to glaze over.
Fuck.
Fuck-
He attempted to shift his body weight to his side but that creature pinned him to the ground at the waist, incapacitating his entire torso. He pushed with his legs but all that accomplished was kicking up dust.
Air
.
No air.
He was losing it.
What was he losing?
Shit
, what was happening?
The world was collapsing into a puzzle of blurry shapes.
Think.
A finger.
He needed to crack a finger.
He let go of the hands holding onto his neck and felt the full force of the beast on his airway. The claws cut deep gashes into his skin, spraying splotches of blood onto his navy suit collar.
The pain, however, was his friend; the only thing keeping him from completely losing consciousness.
His vision had gone dark and he could no longer see, but the weight of his right hand was enough to guide him. Seonwoo pulled his index finger back until the knuckles shattered, and the Nachal’s right arm twisted off, releasing the chokehold.
His first breath flew in too quickly, creating a coughing fit as he attempted to lift himself from the floor. The creature's weight continued to push him down, however, this time biting down at his shoulder.
“GH-!”
There was no other defense besides his power. He pulled a second finger, and the Nachal’s left arm contorted with a chilling crack. Without a moment to catch his breath, Seonwoo used his foot to push the monster off of him, yanking out his body from under the beast to put some space between them.
Damnit.
The blood loss combined with the lack of oxygen made for a deadly combination. Seonwoo was on the edge of passing out.
He held out his right hand.
“Hehehe! Seonwoo! You little sociopath~! You’re really going to kill your own teammate?” Maru’s voice floated out of the demon.
Even with his vision still blurry, he could see the demon’s face melt into Han Maru’s once again. Seonwoo gripped his right wrist and yanked it backward.
“Shut up.” The sound of his wrist breaking resounded through the office. “You’re not Han Maru.”
The final snap sounded at the Nachal’s neck, as the head fell to the ground with a wet thud.
Seonwoo followed suit, letting his body crumple onto the office floor.
---------
“Seonwoo?”
Han Maru entered the office only to find Seonwoo’s unmoving body lying next to the door.
“Ah,
shit
. Seonwoo!?” Han Maru quickly crouched to put his fingers against his neck, looking for his pulse — a gentle beating connected with his fingertips. Glancing at Seonwoo’s face again, he could hear a snore on his lips. Oh.
The past few weeks had been a lot for everyone on the Ganghwa Island Squad. Although the sight was unusual, he wasn’t surprised Seonwoo had fallen asleep.
Han Maru let a sigh of relief escape him before giving Seonwoo a swift smack on the face.
“Hey! Wake up, you bastard. Sleeping while on duty?”
“Ugh…” Seonwoo cracked his eyes open, only to widen them in shock at the sight of Han Maru. “You-!”
Upon noticing Han Maru, Seonwoo slammed the back of his head against the wall, pinning himself as if to escape. The way his feet had scrambled back, his face going ashy white; Seonwoo was
afraid
.
The hand Han Maru used to slap his teammate awake, remained paralyzed in the air.
“Huh?” Observing his face, Han Maru thought he spied a dot of blood on Seonwoo’s collar, but he was too far to tell. The panic in his eyes, however, stood clear as day.
Panic.
And Han Maru was the cause.
“Seonwoo, hey, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”
Seonwoo’s hands twitched, and he took a moment to eye Han Maru up and down.
“Oh,” Seonwoo’s tense posture dropped, but his eyes remained alert and wary. “It’s you.”
“Who were you expecting?”
“...You.”
“What?”
“Never mind,” Seonwoo pinched his eyebrows briefly before crossing his arms in front of his chest. His bangs fell heavy, casting a dark shadow over his eyes; eyes which refused to meet Han Maru’s. “How was the mission?”
“Not good.” Han Maru scratched his head. “The Nachal escaped.”
“Escaped!?” Seonwoo jolted up. “How could you let it escape?”
“Listen! That Nachal was weird, ok? It had intelligence! It could speak to us!” Han Maru waved his hands like an idiot trying to prove a point. The Nachal he and Officer Kang had witnessed in the forest only stayed for a few minutes to fight before fleeing. They spent the next several hours searching for the creature but to no avail. “We came back to headquarters to gather more information — see if there are any other signs in the area.”
“I see.” Seonwoo glanced around the room for his glove. The team had come across more and more Nachals with almost human levels of intelligence. They played mental games and toyed with the servants, weaponizing their own emotions against them.
“Ah. But while fighting it, we did feel the full effects of the Nachal’s ability.” Han Maru clicked his tongue as he recalled the fight. “One of the weirder ones for sure.”
“Yeah?” Seonwoo pushed his hair back with his hand, clearly calmer after talking for a bit. “What is it?”
“That Nachal takes the form of the person you care about most.”
…
A silence fills the air.
“You’re fucking lying.”
“Excuse me?” Han Maru exclaimed, gaping at Seonwoo who looked furious now. What was his deal today? “Why would I lie about that?”
“How- why would that be a Nachal ability!? What is it, a damn cupid?”
“I didn’t say
love
. I said
care about
.” Han Maru stated defensively. “It takes the form of someone you care about and tries to manipulate you. The only reason it didn’t work on me is because I told my mom never to go into the mountains — I could tell right away it wasn’t really her.”
“How could a Nachal know who you-” Seonwoo’s face scrunched up like he bit a lemon and squirted the juice in his eye- “who you care about?”
Han Maru sat criss-crossed and closed his eyes in pondering.
“There are Nachal’s that can read your mind. Maybe it’s just someone you think about a lot.”
“Oh,
fuck. off
.” Seonwoo buried his face in his palms, obscuring his face, but the chill in his tone was unmistakable.
“What the hell is your problem?”
Seonwoo shot a glare to kill, but instead got up and threw the door open.
“Your stupid Nachal,” Seonwoo paused in the doorway, not bothering to look back at Han Maru. “I already killed it.”
“Wha-”
The door slammed behind Seonwoo, leaving Han Maru alone in the cold office.
“Huh!?”
-------
Seonwoo stared at the cell phone like a man questioning his marriage.
He had to call the Captain. He had to, he
knew
that. His finger hovered over the call button, dangling between life and death. The Captain has to know that a Nachal breached the office, this was so crucial. The Nachal had intelligence, and Seonwoo had been fooled, so he wasn’t entirely to blame. It wouldn’t be the first time a Nachal entered the building. Admitting he let a Nachal in should not be difficult.
Yet, the Nachal had taken
Han Maru’s
shape. The Captain would learn, and dorky as he is, he’s no fool. The Captain would connect the dots immediately.
Seonwoo pushed his head back into the car seat, feeling the prospect of a new headache. He closed his eyes and pushed the button.
Ring…
Don’t pick up.
Ring…
I’ll believe in God if you don’t pick up.
Ri-Click!
“Seonwoo! I never get calls from you, what’s up?”
…I was going to hell anyway.
“A Nachal entered the building today.”
“...What!?”
“I killed it. But I thought you should know.”
“How did it get in?”
“It took the shape of a person, and I,” Seonwoo paused. “I fell for it. I let it in.”
“Hold on.
You
let the Nachal in?” The chief’s tone was a mixture between dead serious and almost teasing. Seonwoo couldn’t read which one. “You always say how you would never fall victim to that type of mind-bending crap.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Is this the Nachal that takes the shape of the person you love or whatever? Who did you see?” The hidden question: ‘Who did you care about so much you let them into a government building.’
“...
Han
,” his voice trailed off at the end, leaving the name falling to the wind.
“What did you say?”
“Han Maru.” Seonwoo stated.
“It was Han Maru.” Seonwoo repeated.
“Fuck-ING SHIT, it was Han Maru.” Seonwoo reiterated calmly. His forehead missed the car horn by an inch as he dropped it onto the steering wheel.
“PAHAHAHA!!” The Captain crashed into boisterous laughter. “The Nachal decided you cared the most about Han Maru and it was right!?”
“Say a thing to him and you’re dead.” Seonwoo retorted, a chill echoing through his voice. “
I know where you live.
”
“Yeah, of course you do. I live right above you and
Han Maru’s
shared flat.” A mocking tone crept through his voice; Seonwoo willed himself from chucking his phone through the windshield. “Good luck~!”
The Captain hung up.
As much as Seonwoo hated the Captain’s teasing attitude, he couldn’t help the self-loathing sinking through his throat into his gut. For the first time in his life, Seonwoo felt unclean.
The way the Nachal laid its hands on him so easily, gripping his bare throat directly, no weapon coming between them. The weight of the Nachal still remained on top of him, lingering like missing a step in the dark.
From letting a Nachal into the building, to falling for its lies and hesitating to kill it, all of it made Seonwoo question his sanity.
The Nachal was only a level 5, its only weapon being the power of transformation. Seonwoo had dealt with so much worse and came out completely unscathed. He
quivered
in front of Han Maru. Humiliating.
Perhaps the most shameful part of this, however; having it take Han Maru’s shape in the first place. “The demon could transform into who you care about most.” Out of all the people, it chose
Han Maru
. It looked into his damn mind and knew Han Maru could crack open Seonwoo’s heart.
What bullshit
.
Yet Seonwoo understood he had fallen for the trap, hook, line, and sinker.