Leaning on the alley wall, Gyun tore off his helmet, dropping it to the ground, coughing as he gasped for air simultaneously. His chest burned with pain, and the pain would sharpen every time he breathed in.
He had managed to hold the pain in just long enough to make it down the street before he had to stop. That was why he had to be so brutal, he couldn't afford the fight to go on any longer, and to do that, he had to ensure they wouldn't get back up after he knocked them down.
Pulling his shirt up, he looked at his left side; a large ugly bruise had appeared on his left rib it was a dark purple; letting his shirt fall back down, he sat down on the ground as he breathed in and out, gritting his teeth through the sharp pain.
Biting his lip, he felt a headache coming; though Gyun had managed to avoid damage to his body largely, he had been hit a few times in the head. The remnants of the concussion from the crash evidently still lingered as he had his vision swirl at the time, but he couldn't afford to show weakness in front of the Gangseo Kings or the Gangbuk Golden Age.
He pulled out one of the four pill bottles he had carried on him at all times since the accident; he popped open the top and poured out a single pill. The doctor had prescribed it to help with the effects of the concussion of the crash, like the headaches or the nausea.
Swallowing it in one attempt, Gyun leaned against the alley wall he used the letterman's jacket he'd stolen off the Gangseo King's leader to cushion his head. He breathed in and out, closing his eyes as he fought through the waves of pain and nausea, clenching his jaw as his chest pain began to spike.
After a little less than half an hour, Gyun stood up as the pain had subsided, licking his lips he put his helmet under his right arm and threw the letterman's jacket and sweatshirt onto his shoulder. Pushing up his hair he wiped the blood from the top of his eyebrow where a few stitches from a small shard of his visor had pierced into his eyebrow; it seemed to have reopened when Gyun had taken a kick during the scuffle with the group of Ganseo Kings on the first floor even with the helmet on.
Somewhat recomposed and recovered he hobbled down the sidewalk; his leg felt like it had been hit with a bat.
"Painkillers don't seem to be doing their damn jobs" He muttered to himself as he took a deep breath, and glanced around the street he was on.
He smiled as he made it down to the end of the street. Turning onto the next one, he spotted an open cafe.
"I should enjoy myself a bit."
After a brief walk, he reached the cafe and pushed open its door, there was a short ring as the door was opened, hitting a small bell. Gyun gave the small cafe a quick survey, he found no obvious red flags or dangers, the cafe was neither empty nor crowded.
It was noon on a Sunday, so there weren't many people, but it wasn't empty; the atmosphere was quiet, with some conversations going on. Around fifteen people were in the cafe, the ones that caught his eye were the seven teenagers in the corner of the cafe; they were the only ones being loud in the cafe.
Though they didn't seem like that big of a problem, he finished his initial survey and limped over to the register; as he reached the register, he set down the helmet on the counter before fishing into his pants pocket for his wallet.
His tone was no longer cold, but he held no emotions as he spoke to the barista at the register, "Two lattes and a sandwich, please."
"18 thousand won, sir"
Handing her a pair of 10 thousand won bills, "keep the change as a tip."
"thank you...here's your receipt." She handed him a paper receipt, which he briefly read to see his order number before stuffing it into his jacket pocket; the barista was staring as blood welled up from his eyebrow stitches reopening.
"Your drink will be out in a few minutes," she added as he turned around immediately to find his way to the corner of the cozy little cafe.
His footsteps were heavy as he walked to the corner, his limp was noticeable, and his eyebrow was still bleeding; he made it to a table in the corner. Plopping himself down onto the comfy seat, he sighed, setting his helmet on the table in front of him; he melted into the chair, he still felt some nausea in his stomach and though his headache hadn't entirely disappeared, he felt better with just the thought of some lattes.
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He grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the table, holding it to his eyebrow he leaned back, closing his eyes. The soft lighting and ambiance of the cafe gave a sense of coziness. Gyun felt like he could sleep right then; a few minutes passed and as he felt like the peacefulness would last forever a voice pierced through his calm.
"You look awfully comfortable for someone who should be dead." The voice was warm and kind and said in a joking manner, but it chilled him to the bone,
Gyun stood up and knocked over his chair in the process, his head on swivel as he searched for where the voice came from, and those in the cafe turned to look at him.
"What the hell?" someone said, annoyed at the loud disruption Gyun had caused
His breathing quickened, and his heart started pounding, but he shoved those feelings down as he calmed his expression, standing the fallen chair back up and sitting down. His breathing was still shaky and irregular, and Gyun's eyes darted around.
Whispering under his breath to everyone else watching him, it seemed like he was talking to himself but to Gyun, he saw the man in front of him who served as an older brother figure for seven years in murim. The long black hair on the light olive skin of a man in his 30s, the outfit down to the minor details was a strict Dreamwalker battalion combat uniform, the black cloak over the black armor. The paint on the armor was a dull black that didn't reflect the light; even the tiny scratches on the paint were the same as Gyun remembered.
"Lee, w-what are you doing h-...." Gyun paused as he noticed the strange looks he was getting from the other customers and even the barista.
Sighing, he lowered his head, and a sad smile pierced his emotionless face. Biting his lip, there were things he wanted to say aloud but he couldn't in front of other people. Instead, he swallowed the swelling wave of words, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
-ah, what am I doing? Am I really hallucinating?...how pathetic, they're all dead anyway, but still...-
He walked through the apparition of Lee, grabbing his helmet. Gyun plopped it onto his head as he limped out of the cafe, not bothering to wait for his drink. He had lost his appetite; there were better things to do than waste time on dead friends.
Gyun shoved his trembling hand into his pockets, ignoring the words of Lee, who peered at him through the cafe windows and hadn't moved from his original position.
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2 hours later,
It took Gyun a long time to calm himself down, at first, he wandered around aimlessly, but after a while, he found himself sitting on a bench in a small park a few blocks away from the cafe.
He stared out at the small pond, and there was a lively atmosphere around him: kids playing, concerned parents watching from afar, and even dogs roamed around on leashes as their owners were pulled along at the dogs will. During all this, he stared out onto the lake; his gaze was unfocused but didn't waver, staring at the shimmering reflections of the sun on the water. He talked to himself as he did; at least to the outside observer, it seemed like he was talking to himself.
This went on for nearly half an hour until, eventually, his phone rang; blinking a few times as if to snap out of his trance, Gyun grabbed his phone, briefly checked the caller ID, and answered it.
"CEO Young-il," Gyun's opening words were curt but not cold; he realized that this call could be about only one thing.
"We have the contract ready, we already sent a digital version to your phone but we couldn't send a physical version since we don't know your address."
Gyun opened his messages, and it was true; there was a 20-page document that was sent to him by Young-il's number.
"I'll have a lawyer read through it and get back to you in 48 hours or so with an answer." Gyun kept it short.
Young-il replied, "Well we at the AFC are eagerly waiting for your reply, I see talent in you that can make you a star."
Ignoring the older man's compliments, Gyun concluded the conversation quickly not looking to extend it any longer. "Well, I'll send you the signature if I decide to sign, bye."
"bye," Gyun hung up immediately when he heard CEO Young-il's goodbye.
He hung his head for a moment of silence afterward, finally addressing the hand on his shoulder. "Lee if you came to talk you should say something meaningful, you bastard."
The figure of Lee that was standing behind Gyun was slightly distorted as if Gyun wasn't seeing him as he used to be, "beating on kids now are you?" even if his face was no longer as clear as when he saw it in the cafe, and it was now blurry. Gyun could tell that Lee was smiling, he noticed that the light breeze did not disturb Lee's longer hair or cloak.
-Well I'm happy with this type of lie to myself-
"Tch, bastard since when did you pick on your junior?" Gyun said it seriously, but no anger was behind it, and Lee's figure snickered.
"Don't change the subject; you haven't been the same since you died."
"I've killed enough to drown me in blood dozens of times over, and this isn't war anymore Lee." Gyun's face didn't change nor did his tone, it was still serious but he played with his fingers trying not to look at Lee's face
"Then what do you call what you're doing?" Lee's voice remained unperturbed but had a hint of curiosity peeked through his words.
"Revenge"
"I'm surprised you haven't had your fill of revenge after all that fighting all that death" Though Lee's tone didn't change nor were his words at all attacking him Gyun took it personally; something about the statement angered Gyun
"Well, you thought wrong." He remained stone-faced but his tone had a harsh edge as he spoke.
Lee stayed silent, watching a trio of young kids around ten years old run by on the trail path with their mom behind them. They smiled and laughed, Lee silently watched them Gyun also watched them with a stone-faced expression, but behind his cold violet eyes, there was a deep sadness.
Only after the kid's laughter faded in the distance did he speak, "You know I'm dead right?"
Gyun scoffed, "What type of question is that? I watched you die in front of me I'm just enjoying my delusions a bit longer before I take the meds again since you're not bothering me."
"Then you know I'm just a reflection of your thoughts right?" Lee said looking at the shimmering water of the pond from the sun.
Gyun froze, he knew what Lee was implying "Don't." his voice dropped to a low voice.
"If you're not going to hear it from yourself, then from who? Even before you died and returned here we were all dead by then; everyone who slighted you is dead, and everyone who stood on the other side is dead. Even those who heard only rumors are in another world, tell me who you're going to talk to....a fucking therapist?! They might think you are so crazy that she'll put you in some psych ward in the middle of nowhere! So tell me Gyun, who do you plan on talking to?"
"I don't need to hear it from anybody." His tone nor his face changed, but his words were definitely quieter.
"You didn't talk about it then and don't want to talk about it now...do you think that makes it better?" Lee said, trying to persuade Gyun
"shut your mouth...you don't know what you're even talking about."
"On the contrary, I know everything because I'm in your head; you could say I'm your conscious."
Grabbing his schizophrenia pills, he popped them in his mouth, swallowing them. "That's the last thing I need right now."
Lee just stared at the back of Gyun's head who was staring out at the park's lake avoiding Lee's gaze. "Well you can't avoid it forever anyway...delay it as much as you want, there is only so long you can hide from it."