We sat on the bench for a while, in silence, letting our hearts return to a more normal rhythm. The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows over the park. Min-ah finally sighed and examined the cut on her arm.
"It's not deep," he said, though his face showed a slight grimace of pain. "But I need to clean it."
"I have a cut too," I said, touching my cheek. "It's nothing serious."
"Even so," Min-ah replied, standing up. "We should go somewhere safer. I know a place not far from here."
He led me through side streets and alleys to a small, modest-looking apartment building. We climbed several flights of stairs to reach an apartment on the top floor. It was small but clean and tidy, with large windows offering a view of the city skyline.
Min-ah went straight to a small first-aid kit and took out some antiseptic and a bandage. She carefully cleaned her cut and then mine. "Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome," he replied. "Now, we need to talk seriously."
We sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. The silence stretched between us for a moment. Finally, I dared to break it. "Why were you watching me, Min-ah?" I asked.
She sighed. "I've been looking for other Marked in the city for a while. After what happened in Central Park, I knew you weren't the only one. I felt... a resonance, I guess. It's hard to explain. But I knew there was another Marked nearby."
"And that's why you contacted me online?"
"Yes. I wanted to see if you were aware of what you were, if you knew about the Troubles. And last night... when I saw you confront that Trouble, I knew I had to intervene."
She told me she'd discovered her powers a few months ago, suddenly and unexpectedly, just like me. She'd gone through the same fear and confusion, trying to understand what was happening to her. She'd found some information on the internet, in occult forums, and in some rare books she'd managed to obtain, but she'd felt very alone.
"When I saw you last night, I felt... I don't know, a connection," Min-ah continued. "Someone else who understood. Someone who didn't run away."
He told me he'd been watching me for a few days, ever since he noticed the resonance. He'd seen me practicing in my room (I blushed at the thought) and had been there, in the shadows, when I faced the first Trouble. The gust of wind that had saved me had been his.
"Why didn't you show yourself then?" I asked.
"I wasn't sure if you were hostile, or if you were with someone else," Min-ah replied. "I wanted to wait for the right moment. Today in the park... it was an opportunity. And a warning. The Troubles are getting more aggressive."
He told me he'd heard rumors of other Marked who'd had encounters with multiple Troubles at the same time. It was something that hadn't happened before, at least not that often.
"We have to be careful, Ryu Hyuk," Min-ah told me, her face serious. "We don't know what's going on, but something is changing. And I don't think it's for the better."
He warned me about the importance of keeping our powers secret, not only from the general public, but also from anyone who might try to exploit or harm us. He told me about secret organizations that hunted the Marked, studying them like laboratory animals.
"We can't trust anyone easily," Min-ah emphasized. "We can only trust ourselves... and perhaps other Marked who prove trustworthy."
We spent several hours talking, sharing our experiences and our fears. For the first time since my powers had appeared, I felt understood—not just as someone with a strange ability, but as someone who was part of something larger, albeit dangerous. I felt a connection beginning to form between Min-ah and me, a bond forged in fear and the need to survive in a world that didn't understand us.
.
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