00 - 00 - 00

Mark remained tense for several days after his encounter with Jinyoung, expecting the other to suddenly turn up at any second. He stayed away from his usual cafe during normal working hours. He added a black cap, sunglasses, and face mask to his daily work outfit whenever he would step outside. Every time he turned a corner, he would look behind him for the curious boy with black hair.

Yet, Jinyoung never showed.

But that didn’t stop Mark from thinking about the other. Even after several weeks of not seeing the other male, Mark still pulled up his picture almost every day, wondering if somewhere, somehow, they once knew each other. But each time, he nearly tossed his phone across the room in frustration as his mind kept turning up blank.

Jinyoung may not have been there, but he was always on Mark’s mind.

Even now, as the time neared three in the morning, Mark still stared at Jinyoung’s photo. Each time Jeongyeon brought over a new, warm coffee, Mark could tell the other was holding back questions. But Mark just nodded his head in thanks and avoided her questioning gaze.

Why did this boy have to disrupt his life so much?

Mark only had a few sips of his new cup of coffee when his work phone buzzed on the table. Jinyoung’s face disappeared only to be replaced by the name of one of his area manager’s. Remembering that he had a job to do, he answered the call half-heartedly. The job was located a short walk away where some young supernaturals were showing off their powers and scaring the locals, hiding in alleyways as they brought streetlights and garbage bags to life or jumping out at passer-bys with demon-like teeth and glowing red eyes.

Jeongyeon silently gestured to him for good luck as she saw Mark get up. He gave her a small smile as thanks, picked up his briefcase and black cap, and headed out into the night with the company app leading the way.

Ten minutes later, he was strolling along a side street off the main city strip. Just as his phone buzzed to tell him to turn left, he heard the laughter of several boys coming from that direction. They weren’t bothering to keep quiet even among the houses and apartment complexes. When Mark turned the corner and began walking toward the group of boys, his footsteps alerted them to his presence.

“Oh great, they sent one of their mutts to fetch us,” one of the boys said, nudging his friends and pointing to Mark. They all snickered and turned to look at the company employee, faces smug. Mark stopped a few feet in front of three boys, the one who spoke standing in the center.

“Your parents will be getting a bill for our emergency Memraser services,” he began, the company’s standard protocol for the law violations by minors a well-rehearsed speech for him. “We insist that you be more careful from now on as we have a 3-strike policy before disciplinary action will be taken. Upon receipt, you will be asked to...”

The boys tuned Mark out almost instantly, throwing insults and jeers at the suited man in front of them. Mark, however, remained unfazed as he finished his speech, warning them that if they did not return to their homes immediately, company officers would be dispatched to their location. With a roll of his eyes, the boy in the center led his friends away, throwing Mark one last sour glance over his shoulder before the three boys sprinted away while whooping and hollering loud enough to wake the neighborhood.

Mark sighed and turned around, pulling out his company phone to check the locations of any witnesses he needed to Memrase. A dark blur at the end of the street caught his attention, though, when it quickly whipped around the corner as he turned around. Mark cautiously walked toward where he last saw it, but when he looked around the corner, there was nothing to be seen.

Though an ounce of suspicion still remained, Mark decided it was probably just an animal and continued on his way. He found the several witnesses he was instructed to find, pretending to be a special divisions officer to ask about what they had experienced. Once he got them talking, he would flash his Memrase and be on his way, thanking them for their cooperation in an investigation they will no longer remember.

He tried not to think so much about the dark blur that he kept seeing disappear around every corner. The more it happened, though, the more nervous he became. He pulled his cap down even more in an attempt to cover his face as he finished his job and began to head back to the cafe. Worried that one of the young boys from earlier might be tailing him, he contemplated calling the company car to take him back to the cafe instead of walking. However, it seemed that whoever was following him had stopped. Or had become better at hiding.

Either way, Mark would definitely be writing about this in his case report.

Several minutes later the warm light of the cafe appeared up ahead, promising warmth amidst the early morning chill. Mark rushed inside and looked toward his usual seat, anxious to start drinking the warm beverage that was always waiting for him when he came back from a job.

This time, though, there were two beverages. And an extra person.

Any relief Mark felt upon entering the cafe immediately disappeared. When he looked at Jeongyeon for an explanation, she just gave him an apologetic look. Her eyes conveyed the excuse that she tried as hard as she could to get rid of the unexpected gu