thursday evening at the bowling alley w/ @endlesshvngerâ
min-ji holds the rented shoe by its lace as she inspects it for any sort of stain. once satisfied, she slips it on and does the same with her other foot. she stands and glances over at herâboyfriend? date?âroommate with a grin, and does a twirl in the them. âhow do i look? wait, i knowâlike iâm ready to kick your ass.âÂ
7 notes
·
View notes
levi.â
âYeah- of course.â Levi straightens up, dusting the dirt from his work gloves but not removing them. He squints against the sun, regarding Min-ji curiously. âIf this is about Ms. Stockton, I already told her twice that she canât bribe me to give her husband that hill spot under the tree. I donât think she gets thatâs not how it works.â
Min-ji tries for a smile at Leviâs joke, but it falls flat. âItâs not that. Itâs not work related at all, actually.â This conversation is a long time coming--Itâs one sheâs tried to avoid. But if her and Levi are going to keep being friends, they need to clear the air. âI know this is old news, but Iâve been trying to figure out a way to bring it up...So I guess I should just rip the band-aid off. Where were you, when people were fighting in the streets and all those other people were held hostage?âÂ
2 notes
·
View notes
jaewon.
HE NODS IN understanding. Heâs relieved that sheâs okay after all that has happened the past month.  âIâm glad you came over,â  Itâs the truth but a pang of sadness hits his chest since he feels like heâs talking to a stranger, perhaps it was the time away from each other, she isnât really treating him the way she normally did so many years ago. He finds the question she asked strange,  âI mean, weâre both mutants, you and I, thatâs the reason we metâŠâ  He trails off as he thinks it through. Does she have memory loss? It makes sense but it feels so rude to ask. Instead he decides to wait for her to reveal it to him.  âWe both went to Xavierâs Institute, does a bald guy with telepathy ring any bells to you?â
When Jaewon says Xavierâs Institute, thereâs a familiar twinge of pain in her head. A warning that sheâs wading into a past she isnât supposed to remember. âHe does, because of a gala I went to. But before thatâŠâ She looks down at the floor, frowning at the chunk sheâs missing. Sometimes, ironically, she can forget sheâs forgotten. But, when sheâs faced with someone she once knew, thereâs no way she can ignore how much sheâs missing. âSomething happened to me. I donât know what, but someone messed with my mind and made me forget I was ever a mutant, and everything that came with it,â she explains, meeting Jaewonâs eyes again. âI only rediscovered I was a mutant by mistake, and anytime I try to use my ability or think too deeply about my past, wellâI describe it as a bomb counting down in my head to detonation.â
5 notes
·
View notes
jack.
     âi hope youâre right.â he has no way of knowing what will happenânone of the escapees have precognition in their rosterâand he can only hold onto that feeling that it might. essex wonât fall when it airs, but is it so improbable that they take a hit? is it so improbable that someone, somewhere, might care for the plight of a few tormented mutants? heâs not convinced. maybe he couldnât be convinced. but pessimism isnât helping and for once he doesnât want to argue with her on this. âso you were waiting for me,â he teases gently, trying to coast past his complicated feelings on the interview. he can still feel the shock of the crew burrowed into the back of his eyes. wants to forget. thankfully, min-ji makes that easy. âiââ now jack is speechless. âwellââ he feels hot under the collar, uncertain of himself in a way that only sheâs managed to bring out. âmaybe it would⊠make sense? you know, financially.â yeah, financially.
âiâm always right,â she points out with a grin. itâs not entirely true, but she likes to think sheâs right more than jack is. plus, it never hurts to be optimistic. thatâs what her brother would say anyways, which min-ji would usually respond with an eye roll. but, today, she wants to believe in it. after everything jack and the other escapees have been through, she wants this to be beneficial. they deserve a break, a win.Â
she doesnât expect him to take her seriouslyâor maybe she does. sheâs not sure. relationships have been few and far between for her, and jackâs her longest one yet. relationship??? the word sticks out neon red in her head, and she has to try to hide her shock on her face. technically, by definition, any connection between two people is a relationship. it doesnât have to be anything deeper than that. right? right. min-jiâs overthinking this, so much so that she nearly misses jackâs response. when she does process what heâs saying, her heart skips a beat. âyeahâŠyeah, it would, wouldnât it? we live on the same floor already, whatâs the point of having two apartments?â her body leans more into his, hips against each other now. her face has moved closer too. âit would save on time, too, if you think about it.âÂ
8 notes
·
View notes
âI know youâre probably busy,â Min-ji begins, then winces at how true that is. Deaths didnât end that dayâThey continued throughout the month, into July. âBut, I need to talk to you.âÂ
@ascrowesflyâ
2 notes
·
View notes
jaewon.â
HIS HEAD QUICKLY shoot towards the entrance of his shop when he hears the familiar voice. âminji, i- i didnât expect you to come over.â he composes himself, âiâm fine. come take a seat,â he motions towards a chair. he then pauses when he remembers that she claims to not know him. âitâs been a pretty shitty summer so far, how are you?âÂ
itâs oddâhearing her name on someoneâs tongue with such familiarity that she canât connect to. thereâs a pull there, a spike of pain in her head, but thatâs all she gets in terms of a sign that she did know jaewon at some point. âi would have come sooner, butâŠi had to heal and there were manyâŠclients after everything that happened.â her funeral parlor hasnât been that backed up in years. she takes the seat jaewon offers, dropping her back beside it. âmine too,â she admits with a mirthless smile. âbutâfinding you is something good. iâm sorry we didnât have more time to talk before, but i want to ask now, youâre a mutant, arenât you?âÂ
5 notes
·
View notes
jack.
    âi just hopeâŠâ he trails off, fighting a grimace. what does he hope? after all is said and done, whatâs left? âi donât know. i hope it does something.â jack wants to allow himself some ( careful ) optimism, but the memories lingering at the forefront of his mind make it difficult. a difficulty only slightly lessened in his distraction, in his focus on min-ji. sheâs embarrassed, he thinks, but it endears him. since when had someone elseâs feelings endeared him? âis it a no or a kind of? you canât have both,â he teases gently, tiredly. heâs never been much for rest, but he feels like it might do him some good tonight. âi donât know if mistaken is the right word,â he continues, a breath of amusement escaping him. âiâve been here so much the past month, this might as well be my apartment, too.â
âi think it will.â she means it sincerely; itâs hard to imagine that the escapees coming out of the shadows will impact nothing. her worry lies with the negative effects it could have, but no matter what, sheâll support jack. the idea of life without him seems foreign now. her chest feels tight and throat choked up from imagining him one day just up and disappearing from her life. those feelings fade away as he teases her, and she rolls her eyes at him with a slight smile. âi definitely can. maybe i was here for the purpose of recovering from my injuriesâŠthen i figured iâd also wait for you at the same time.â min-ji doesnât care how little sense that excuse madeâsheâll never miss a chance to argue with him. of course, neither can he with her it seems. but, this is one of those rare times his retort leaves her at a loss for words. âiââ her flush is back in full force, and her stomach fills with butterflies. âyouâre claiming squatterâs rights now?â she tries to sound unaffected, but thereâs a breathlessness to her voice. âor is this your way of asking me to move in together?âÂ
8 notes
·
View notes
âjaewon, you said last time, right?â min-ji knows sheâs right, and if jaewon does know her like he claims, he also knows she knows. still, he feels mostly like a stranger to her. âiâm sorry i didnât call before coming down to your workâi couldnât find the number, but i needed to see if you were okay. are you? have you healed alright?âÂ
@toxicfvmesâ
5 notes
·
View notes
jack.
     for once, he fully appreciates the luxury of physical contact, letting his arms curl around min-ji the moment she leaps up to greet him. this time, he needs it. maybe more than this time. baby steps. âiâŠâ jack trails off, exhaustion written into every inch of his expression. âi donât know how i feel, yet. but it went better than i expected.â for all his misgivings, all his turmoil over exposing this to the rest of the country ( if not the world ), thereâs a sense of relief, too. he isnât hiding. essex is going to be in shambles. âhave you been waiting here for me the whole time?â
a soft sigh escapes her lips before she can stop as jackâs arms wrap around her. it feels like sheâs finally home. the second the thought comes to her head she banishes it, ignoring the warmth that floods her cheeks. itâs only because sheâs been so on edge this month, nothing more. sheâs being dramatic. she watches his face with concern in her eyes, then smiles softly as he says it exceeded his expectations. âiâm sure it will take time to settle in. but, and i mean this genuinely, iâm proud of you for doing it, jack.â thereâs no way her face isnât entirely red by this point. his question makes her even more sure of that face, and she glances away, despite still holding onto him tightly. â...noâŠkind ofâŠâ she finally answers. her eyes meet his again, and she raises her eyebrows. âdid you somehow mistake my apartment for yours?â Â
8 notes
·
View notes
jack.
     @memorymistressâ !!
     walking back into theirâ âherâ âapartment feels surreal, after everything. after the interview. jack isnât perfectly confident that it was the right decision ( particularly in exposing himself like he has ) but it doesnât matter, anymore. whatâs done is done. setting his keys aside, he turns to face min-ji. heâs glad sheâs home. heâs been hoping for that. âhey.â
min-ji practically leaps off the couch when she hears the turn of the lock, and is less than a foot from the door once he comes in. she smiles, before jumping on him with a hug, burying her face in his shoulder as she does. heâs okay, heâs okay, heâs okay. of course he is. itâs not as if oprah was secretly working with essex, and this was all a trap to imprison them again. but, sheâs had some minor anxiety about jackâs safety since he took a hit meant for her back on that first day of june. âhi,â she finally says and pulls her face back, arms still wrapped around him. âhow are you feeling? did everything go okay?âÂ
8 notes
·
View notes
jack.
     despite her half-assed attempt at a reassurance, jack is still far from convinced of her wellbeing. at the very least, sheâs going to be an easier target for anyone looking to fight ( or worse ) and that instantly puts him on the defensive. it shouldnât. he should be more worried about lachlan, or monique, or seven, or⊠any number of them that could still be on the street. but heâs not. heâs worried about her. âwell, donât,â he says, after a pause to realize exactly whatâs been said. does he⊠no, he doesnât question it. he canât. not right now. âyouâre the one thatâs injured. besides, i can handle myself.â he doesnât know what else to say.
     as it turns out, he doesnât need toâa bold step forward brings her right into his arms. not exactly graceful, or expected, but sheâs certainly managed to prove his point. âi think you might be right about that,â he agrees, likely unnecessarily. âhere, letâsââ with a grunt, he hefts her up into his grasp, hoping he can carry her somewhere nearby without making them both into targets. she clearly canât walk like this. âiâll get you to the alley. maybe through there we can find a way out of this mess.â
when she was moving, whatever aches and pain she had were in the back of her mind. now, that her bodyâs stopped every cut and strain is suddenly at the forefront of her mind, and it feels like her entire body is throbbing. the only relief is resting on jackâs chest, as embarrassing as it is to be this weak from a few minor injuries. but itâs hard to care about her ego when sheâs seeing spots in her vision. âso can i. i justââ she grumbles, then finds herself cut off by suddenly being picked up. the ache in her leg melts away into a twinge, and she feels her face flush from the realization sheâs being bridal carried.Â
min-jiâs tempted to argue she can walk fine, that her slip wonât happen again. the effort to do so slips away, once she relaxes into jackâs warm hands and secure hold. despite being in the middle of a battlefield still, she feels a lot safer like this. âthank you, jack,â she says quietly, barely loud enough for him to hear over the chaos. âbut, just so weâre clear,â she adds, louder this time with a weak smile. âi worry about you because i care about you, not because i doubt your abilities.â if sheâs asked why she tells him that, sheâll blame her foggy head. even if every word of it is completely true.
8 notes
·
View notes
jack.
    the instant she winces, his eyes snap to the leg she had put weight on. his initial overlook, it seems, is incorrect. she is injured. something leaps into his chest the moment he realizes it. âyouâre hurt,â he blurts ( thanks, captain obvious ) reaching forward before he can think to stop himself. shoved off her bike⊠and god, her hand looks like itâs almost been cut down to the bone. and still, all she does is deflect. turn the attention back on him. he thinks he might do the same, if their positions were flipped. âdonât worry about me, iâm not hurt. are you sure you can walk like that?â she has so far, but that doesnât mean itâs the best course of action. but what else is she supposed to do, be carried? that seems⊠a little intimate.
     âno, itâs better if you keep out of any more fights,â he agrees, sending a glance over his shoulder. thereâs chaos in every direction and no clear exit from the street, but he knows that thereâs one out there. more than one, even⊠they just have to find one that isnât being blocked off. an impossibility, it seems. âi, uh⊠letâs try going this way. you can lean on me, if thatâs easier.â
âitâs not as bad as it seems,â min-ji tries, but she knows jack wonât buy it. when he touches her arm, she leans into it, partly from how good it feels and also because the sight of her own hand is making her woozy. it looks worse than before somehow. âiâm going to worry about you either way,â she huffs, before it hits her what she said. well, itâs too late to take back now. itâs the truth, too. as much as jack has been through and survived, he can still get hurt. or worse. she sees jack, blood covering his abdomen, wincing in pain on her couch. by her next blink, the vision is gone, but sheâs rattled. she doesnât want to see it happen again.Â
âi donât need to lean on you.â she rolls her eyes, taking a step forward and regretting sounding so confident. a flare of pain shoots up her leg, and sheâs falling into jack whether she wants to or not. âi think i made it worse,â she groans, face still half buried in jackâs chest as she leans on him.Â
8 notes
·
View notes
jack.
    a cursory glance doesnât reveal anything about her appearance that would suggest sheâs in danger, but that doesnât stop a surge ofâuncharacteristic, some might sayâconcern from washing through him. is she injured? itâs difficult to say. he really hopes that sheâs not. and that bothers him almost as much as the fact that sheâs out here at all. âi wasââ he cuts off, shaking his head. âi was just trying to get home. i donât even know whatâs going on.â something something brotherhood, something something xavierâs instituteâhe cares little for the details when the entirety of new york, it seems, has been thrown into chaos.
     âare you hurt?â despite his outward, unwavering confidence⊠inwardly the question sounds almost sheepish. god, whatâs wrong with him? he should just keep going. drag her along if has to. theyâre wasting time, sitting ducks, like this. âwe really should keep going.â he steels himself, tries to put his priorities back in order. it only half works. âiâve been trying to figure out a way off the street, but itâs packed tight. have you had any luck finding a better exit?â
when he stops his first explanation abruptly, min-ji wonders if he isnât share something. again, she kicks herself internally for being so doubtful. itâs too easy for her to slip back into distrust and suspicion, especially when sheâs growing too close to someone. she can make up a reason to pull back, not get as invested and eventually be hurt by it. but, she canât do that again to jack. she doesnât want to.Â
âum.â she thinks about lying so he doesnât start worrying about her. thereâs no time to relax when they can easily be casualties in a battle neither volunteered for. she shifts her weight to her bad leg, and hisses in pain without meaning to. there goes hiding it. âi was shoved off my bike, and strained my knee, i think.â it feels worse than a simple strain, but he doesnât need to know that. âandâŠthis,â she adds, revealing her blood fist from her pocket. âi just need stitches, though. what about youâare you hurt?â her eyes move to where the scar from his halloween stab wound is, and her stomach drops at the memory of it. âi havenâtânot without fighting my way through a couple of fights, which seemed like a shit idea.âÂ
8 notes
·
View notes
who?
jaewon was inside his shop taking solace while nursing his sprained ankle, hoping that the shitty government was going to take care of whatâs happening in new york. he was just people watching from his window when he saw someone familiar passing by. his eyes were tricking him most likely, but he couldnât help himself when he limped his way out of his shop and called for that personâs name, âminji?â itâs been so long since heâs last seen her.Â
@memorymistressâÂ
for a moment, min-jiâs sure she misheard. in all the noise from the chaos, she couldnât actually have heard her name being called out. if anything, it was a past memory resurfacing and playing tricks on her because of the stress she was under. but, no, she turned around to see someone looking right at her. there was something striking about him, yet she couldnât place where sheâd seen him. so, all she could do was ask, âhow do you know my name? who are you?â
2 notes
·
View notes
jess.
it was always the heat of the moment, what could spur her to use the ability she commonly avoided ( certainly not for its lack of usefulness, rather its deep, deep, deep essex ties ) â and thank god the heat of the moment was upon them. a pyrokinetic was no joke ! best to shake them off as soon as possible ( reference: elliott⊠and various others, but mainly elliott ). then, as if to answer the womanâs unfinished question, she held her hands together and shook them by her ears. â ya act it out - â she tossed out a pair of dice - â - and it can happen ! â of course⊠the âyouâ in this scenario was⊠more of an âiâ.
â is he a real firebrand himself ? â whoever came up with the word âfirebrandâ needed a firm handshake ! great way to describe elliott, great way to describe those hot-heads, and it all tied back to fire ? incredible⊠but her admiration was cut short when she returned her attention to min-ji and her question. â not just here tâ steal phones, but i think i know how we can get one for ya without drawing too much attention. we just gotta find a store no oneâs payinâ attention to right now, â she remarked, beginning to surveil their general area for a front with no one⊠too near it.Â
â the ones in the masks are definitely the ones tâ avoid if ya wanna stay outta the line of fire. â if you werenât with them, you were against them⊠all thatâŠÂ â but, since itâs the brotherhood, drawing the line between strictly bad and strictly good is a little too⊠nuanced. â
there was a lot min-ji hadnât picked up on about jess from their brief interaction at the new yearâs gala, yet none of what she could do was exactly shocking. she realized she would have been more surprised if jess turned out not to be a mutant. still, her jaw dropped as she suddenly heard, then saw a pair of dice in hands that were empty moments of go. âthatâsâthatâs incredible,â she said in pure awe now. âyouâre incredible.âÂ
â firebrand ? â she repeated quizzically. â if you mean is he hotheaded, then yes. i donât let him handle the client side of business anymore for a reason. â elliott soon was off her mind once she learned they could snag a phone from somewhere. her parents wouldnât recognize the number, but hopefully they still picked up. more than that, hopefully they were okay. she followed jessâ lead in looking around the area, when she spotted a seemingly empty radioshack ( rip ) and pointed at it. â would that work ? âÂ
drawing the line between strictly bad and goodâŠmin-ji was knocked back with a sense of deja vu for a time she couldnât recall. sheâd had a discussion like this before, but when? â is there a side youâre leaning towards right now ? â
9 notes
·
View notes
jess.
â if it helps, i wasnât hopinâ itâd knock you down or anything, but⊠â such a terrible thing when it not being personal wouldnât help⊠alas, what could she further say on that note ? it was true ! she wouldâve hit the sidewalk the very same ! oh, but you live, you die ! â any of âem, really ! iâm not really seeinâ any obvious âgoodâ or âbadâ around⊠â â hence why she had not killed yet, but bonking ? telling a little joke ? sure thing ! when the streets rained chaos, why deny them ?
â oh, collateral damage ? ya know, some of these real poorly barricaded stores have some phones that havenât been disconnected yet in them. you just gotta hope no oneâs - â - before she could finish her sentence, she had been yanked to the ground just in time to watch a literal fireball fly over where she had previously been standing. at first, there was a level of offense â however light â that someone would try to set her on fire ! what was society coming to these days⊠of course, the solution was clear: deploy her boxing glove gadget and, if nothing else, make them fall down ! ha ! who was laughing now ! she was ! idiots ! â then, just to ensure her and min-jiâs relative safety, she gave them a little finger gun, leaving a sweet bullet hole in their abdomen. â this is what âtarget practiceâ is really for ! â she stated⊠to no one in particular.
â ya saved my skin ! â as far as iâm concerned, you didnât need tâ say anything. â after all, she had tested her device on her only minutes before. even if the goal was just a tap, it was still a risk ! â you met any pyro guys before ? because iâm startinâ tâ think theyâre all the same. â sorry elliott, i love you.
min-ji watched, in shock and a sort of awe, as jess did a gun gesture with her hand and actually shot their attacker. she turned her head back and forth to the person who slumped to the ground to jessâ hand to make sure she had seen the events correctly. â how.. â if it hadnât sunk in before, it did now: jess was a mutant.Â
once she overcame her surprise at the situation around her, she tuned back into what she was saying. she laughed, shakily, and nodded. â i have, yeah. one sort of works for me. â he was barely in anymore, but she still considered elliott an employee. â so, to back up to what you were saying, youâre here to steal phones ? â she asked, then pushed herself up again. once she was standing, she held out a hand to jess. â have you gotten any yet ? could i borrow one to make a call ? âÂ
then, what jess had told her before a fireball had been sent there way popped back into her head. â arenât the bad the ones in masks starting the fights ? âÂ
9 notes
·
View notes
jack.
     @memorymistressâ !!
     there are a lot of things he would have preferred to go differently. he would have preferred not to step in between two of the other escapees and their poorly-timed squabble, he would have preferred not to have been stopped in his tracks by any of the assorted mutants ( brotherhood and xavier-adjacent alike ) that seemed to take advantage of the opportunity given to them, and most of all⊠he would have really, really preferred to take every shred of power around him for himself. itâs maddening. has his back drenched in sweat and his teeth set on edge.
     instead, heâs hit with a different sight, almost literallyâmin-ji. âwhat are you doing out here?â he barks, surprised.
min-jiâs eyes are locked to the ground for her missing glove, despite knowing itâs torn state would make it useless now. itâs easier to focus on that rather than the fact thereâs a cut across her palm bleeding all over the pocket sheâd shoved it in. her knee is beginning to throb from where it took the brunt of her fall from the bike, having a pedal dug right into it during the impact. but she has to be of some help to someone; she canât leave knowing she could do something.Â
with all of these thoughts swirling in her mind, she pays no mind to the body she runs straight into. her free arm moves to push them out of the way, when she hears their voiceâhis voice. âjack?â her head jerks up, and she takes a moment to look over him. thereâs no injuries as far as she can see. but that doesnât mean heâs okay. âi ran into this on my break. what are you doing out here?â heâs not with xavierâs. he would tell her if heâd joined the brotherhood, wouldnât he?
8 notes
·
View notes