Ryujin wiped the tears away from underneath her eyes as she scanned a book. Yoongi paced behind her.

”Anything?!” Yoongi asked, breaking the silence.

Ryujin shook her head, “nothing.”

”Maybe the soul broker lives near that alley?”

”We walked around there for an hour. If he lived there, we would have seen him. I would have been able to read his mind.”

”But you said you didn’t hear his mind before he attacked. Maybe he’s immune to mind reading.”

”I don’t know anymore. Woozi is the smart, he would have figured this out by now.” 

Yoongi stopped pacing and smiled, “that’s it!”

Ryujin turned her body to face him, “What?”

”Let’s think like Woozi.”

Ryujin sighed, “that was the best you got? All that excitement for that.”

Yoongi scoffed, “at least I’m trying here.”

”And I’m not?!”

”You are, but you’re-“

”My power isn’t going to bring Woozi back. I just,” Ryujin let out a groan, “wish I could do something!”

”And now you’re interrupting me.” Yoongi sighed. He tapped his foot as he thought. 

Ryujin buried her head in her hands. Yoongi stopped tapping his foot and looked at Ryujin, “we need to work together.” 

“We are.”

”No. We aren’t.”

Ryujin shook her head, “ridiculous.”

”Do you not hear us right now? We can’t even have a conversation. You shut down.”

Ryujin didn’t respond. She knew he was right, but didn’t want to admit it. Yoongi walked up to stand beside her. 

“Can we try to work together? For Woozi’s sake?”

Ryujin hesitated then nodded. Yoongi smiled at her. Ryujin took a deep breath then looked at Yoongi, “So let’s do this.”

Yoongi nodded and started to walk back and forth, “Okay. So let’s start with this girl Wooyoung.”

”The soul broker killed her for her soul.”

”But she escaped from him.”

”Somehow.”

”Somehow.”

”Then Woozi was given a sign, and the three of us go to help this girl. She knows who her murderer was.” 

“She didn’t even seem that surprised about our powers.”

”So we tried an ambush, it failed.” Yoongi added.

”This guy is immune to my powers.” 

“Which means he is mostly likely immune to mine.”

”We don’t actually know that.” Ryujin said as she ran through all the details in her head. “Everything that happened, happened in that alley.”

”So let’s go to the alley. That’s our only choice at this point.”

Ryujin nodded. The two gathered their belongings and made their way to the alley. As soon as they arrived, they saw police surrounding the area. 

“Did they find Woozi?” Ryujin asked to Yoongi.

”No way. I hid him well.”

”Dead bodies start to stink and decay, .”

Ryujin and Yoongi walked up to a nearby detective, “excuse me?”

The detective turned to face them. Before he could even speak, Ryujin had already begun her mind control. Yoongi looked back and forth between the two. The detective escorted them secretly to the crime scene. 

“You’re getting good at that.” Yoongi said.

Ryujin nodded, “thanks.” 

The two examined the scene. Woozi was zipped up in a bodybag, surrounded by a couple people. Ryujin and Yoongi scanned the area, hoping to find some clues. 

Ryujin’s eyes landed on a familiar face. She nudged Yoongi, who looked where she looked. Wooyoung’s spirit hovered over the ground. She didn’t stay long. Ryujin grabbed ahold of Yoongi and pulled him along as she followed the spirit.

Wooyoung hovered across the street, seemingly oblivious to being followed. A few turns and twists later, Ryujin and Yoongi ended up in front of an abandoned factory. 

“Set up.” Yoongi said, looking the factory up and down.

”Has to be.”

”It is the only choice we have.” 

The two entered the factory. Wooyoung was nowhere to be found. The two walked into an open area, where sunlight shined from all the windows surrounding them. There was a second floor, the stairs to reach it just in front of them. A man stood on the second floor, staring down at them.

”Welcome!” The man called out. 

Ryujin and Yoongi jumped at the voice then looked up. It was the soul broker. Wooyoung materialized beside him, looking sad.

”And thank you, sweet spirit. For being such a helpful serving.” 

Wooyoung didn’t respond. 

The man jumped down to the first floor, landing with grace. He sighed then created a ball of fire in his hand. 

“Now let’s make this easy. I have spirits to sell. And three gifted spirits will make me rich.”

”He still has Woozi.” Ryujin whispered to Yoongi.

Yoongi tried to manipulate the fire in the man’s hand but the fire wouldn’t move. The man chuckled at the attempt then launched the ball of fire at the two. 

The two dodged out of the way. The ball of fire exploded on a wall behind them. Yoongi conjured fire and threw it at the man. 

The man waved his hand. The fire was extinguished. Ryujin rejoined Yoongi. 

“Try your other power.” 

“I still can’t completely control it.” 

“We are desperate at this point!” 

Yoongi tried to trigger his disintegration power, aiming for the man. Nothing happened. The man conjured another ball of fire then threw it at Yoongi. 

Yoongi tried to control the oncoming fire, but couldn’t. The fireball hit him, sending him flying back into the same wall. Ryujin called out to him. The man touched the ground with an open palm, a strong force of wind sent Ryujin flying back as well. 

“Ow.” Yoongi finally said with a slight chuckle. Ryujin glared at him.

The man walked towards them. He drew the same knife from before. Ryujin eyed it.

”Yoongi.”

”What?”

”The knife.” 

Yoongi eyed the knife, “yes a knife. Our demise.”

”No, dummy. The knife.”

”What about it?”

”Long shot, but maybe that is what a soul broker uses to up spirits.”

”Did you not see him legit use his mouth to vacuum up Woozi?” 

The man gripped the knife tighter. “Who first?”

”Disintegrate the knife.” 

“What good will that-“

”Just do it!” Ryujin snapped.

Yoongi gestured his hand at the man’s knife. “I need to be touching it.” Ryujin looked back and forth from the knife to Yoongi. 

“Let him stab you.” Ryujin said.

”What?!”

”We don’t have much time. He is closing in.”

”What an for taking his sweet time to menacingly’ walk at us slower than a goddamn snail.” Yoongi said as he rose to his feet. 

Yoongi whimpered before charging at the man. The man smirked then raised his free hand at Yoongi. Yoongi was pulled closer to him. The man held the knife out as Yoongi was pulled closer. 

The knife was lodged deep into Yoongi’s stomach. Yoongi let out a cry of pain. The man looked at the boy with a smile of his face. Yoongi brought his hand to the knife’s handle, he willed it to disintegrate. 

Ryujin rose to her feet and ran off somewhere. 

Yoongi could feel something pull inside him. He struggled to keep the hold on the knife. He stared at the man, who began to open his mouth. 

Yoongi used the last of his strength to squeeze the knife. Suddenly, Ryujin appeared behind the man and used all of her strength to whack him in the back of the head with a lead pipe. The strike staggered the man. Yoongi slumped to the ground, his hands still on the knife lodged inside him. 

The man shook off the daze then Ryujin. Ryujin went to swing again, but the man sent her flying again with a flick of his wrist. The man turned back to Yoongi, who was motionless on the ground. 

“Worthless imbeciles.” The man said. He bent over to grab the knife. However, the knife was no longer in Yoongi. Before the man could react, Yoongi stabbed him in the Achilles heel. The man cried out in pain and began to crumble to the floor. 

Yoongi opened his mouth. Yoongi could feel something move from inside the man, as if the knife had became a part of the firestarter. The man’s cries suddenly ceased and his spirit was vacuumed into Yoongi’s mouth. 

Yoongi closed his mouth. It didn’t take long for him to start coughing violently. White mist began to escape from his mouth. 

The mist began to form several spirits. One of them being Woozi, another being the man. The other spirits vanished almost immediately. 

Ryujin walked up to Woozi, who looked at her with a smile. 

“Woozi?!” Woozi smiled and nodded. Ryujin looked to Yoongi, who was struggling to rise to his feet. She went to him and helped him up, putting his arm over her to stabilize him. 

The man suddenly lunged for his body. However, he was frozen mid-lunge. Woozi hovered over to the frozen man and flipped him off. 

“What-What do we do now?” Yoongi said weakly. 

“Burn the body.” A familiar voice said. 

Ryujin and Yoongi turned to see Wooyoung hovering in front of them. 

“You need to hurry. If your friend doesn’t get to his body soon, he’ll be a spirit forever.”

”Ryujin,” Yoongi wiggled out of her hold to slump to the ground beside the man’s body. “Go with Woozi to his body. I’ll burn this er.” 

Ryujin nodded and led Woozi away. Wooyoung hovered beside Yoongi and watched as the man was set aflame.

The two watched the man’s body burn till only ash remained. Yoongi gripped his stab wound, “this doesn’t change the fact you did what you did.” 

“I know.”

”Get out of here.” 

Wooyoung vanished. 

Ryujin paced back and forth outside a morgue. Suddenly, there were screams coming from inside. Woozi walked out, completely . Ryujin looked at him. 

“You couldn’t have forced them to get me to wear clothes before I entered my body?” 

Ryujin rolled her eyes at the statement before bringing him in for a hug. Woozi hugged her back. 

“Really though, find clothes.”

Ryujin chuckled before leaving Woozi at the morgue to get clothes. Woozi peeked back in at where he entered his body, the morgue workers frozen with a shocked expression on their faces. He thought of something to say, then walked back in to enact his idea.