Never Date A Man In Pink

Eun Ha was terrified to see Chang Mi's body shivering and not being able to wake him up from the nightmare the student had been stuck in for hours.

Shin was nowhere to be seen and Mr. Ahn confessed that his master had left for something important. Although the butler did not say more than that, Eun Ha could guess what it meant. Shin had been preparing for weeks and hunting down several locations trying to find the Devourer, following Chang Mi's lead. He had prepared himself and used Eun Ha's help to instill magical objects.

And if he was out of reach, it could only mean that he had found the Devourer.

And Chang Mi found him, apparently.

The Devourer had taken over his son's body with some sort of brutal spell, but the purpose was unclear.

But when Chang Mi, covered in a cold sweat, started to m.o.a.n and try to communicate, Eun Ha understood that he was somehow seeing far-off and frightening events. He asked for help but Eun Ha was unable to wake him or get him out of his stupor.

Then, Chang Mi said something. A place.

KWB.

Eun Ha knew it was important. But when Chang Mi started to convulse, she despaired.

At that moment, Ye Rim arrived with Kang Dae. Chang Mi's hyung opened his eyes wide when he saw his brother rolling his eyes and trying to speak,

"What's going on? Persimmon !!! PERSIMMON !!! " paying no attention to any of them there, the greengrocer strode into the room and grabbed his younger brother in his arms, desperate,

"PERSIMMON!"

The cry was a request and an order, all at the same time.

Chang Mi opened his eyes, and clung to his brother as if he feared to fall.

Eun Ha and Ye Rim were distressed, but it relieved them to hear Chang Mi cough and choke for air. But immediately both identified that the spell was over. Chang Mi was there with them, completely. Mr. Ahn immediately reached the water for the student, but Chang Mi refused. Kang Dae said, a little relieved to see his brother conscious, but still impressed by the state in which he found him. 

"Let's go to the hospital," he was still holding his younger brother in his arms,

"NO! We don't have time!" said Chang Mi weakly. "The master is in danger."

"Master? Your teacher?!" Kang Dae didn't quite understand what was going on, but he looked around, anguished, asking for answers.

"Let me go, and help Professor Shin!" said Chang Mi, looking first at his brother and then at Eun Ha. "If you don't go there now, he will die!"

Eun Ha felt an even greater tightness in her c.h.e.s.t.

"Are you well enough to tell us where?"

Chang Mi nodded.

ººº

When they entered the KWB, the rescue group formed by Ye Rim, Eun Ha, Kang Dae, a weakened Chang Mi, and Mr. Ahn the sweet and sickening smell of death invaded their nostrils. Chang Mi warned them about the dead man at the broadcast room, and also that they shouldn't go there.

Also according to Chang Mi, it was not long ago that the Devourer had left the place. Ye Rim felt a kind of panic that made her a little numb. Everything they were doing was scary and their biggest fear was that they didn't arrive in time to save Shin Hye Seong.

Kang Dae, who asked for very little explanation all the way there, just followed his younger brother's instructions and went up the stairs two at a time, followed by Eun Ha. Ye Rim looked around, the radio servers still blinking in the dim light, and exchanged a look with Chang Mi,

"Was the Devourer using this place to spread his damn music and infect people? Hunter Shin said he could dominate people's minds with Deep Dive music."

"Apparently, yes. I don't know how it worked, but he certainly did it to feed his wraiths, and he may have done a lot more," the half-fairy flinched. Chang Mi was pale and weak, but he had insisted that he was well enough to take them there. Which was essential, actually.

"Don't worry about the practicality of it," interrupted Mr. Ahn, taking his cell phone out of his pocket with a serious expression. It was the first time, Ye Rim noticed, his eyes didn't smile. "The master has an ally at the police who can take care of the crime scene. I already called him, actually. Go up, I'll wait for that person here."

Mr. Ahn's efficiency and self-control made a lasting impression on Ye Rim, but then she remembered that he probably worked for the Hunter for so many years that these things no longer impressed him. Ye Rim nodded, stunned, and went up before Chang Mi.

The upstairs destruction was shocking. There were shards of glass from what may have been a glass door to the terrace. Ye Rim also saw the broadcast antenna tipped outside. Eun Ha and Kand Dae were crouched around the Hunter's fallen body, and Ye Rim felt her feet freeze in place.

"Is-Is he alive?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes, he is. Let's remove him carefully," said Kang Dae. The serious and thoughtful voice of the ever cheerful greengrocer surprised Ye Rim, it was as if he were someone else. 'We found out a lot about people in times of difficulty ... And look at me ... I'm in a panic!' she put her hand on her c.h.e.s.t, and felt under the shirt the silver thorn that the Hunter gave her.

The words of the fairy came to her mind, suddenly,

'If I don't succeed, you must kill him with that ...'

Looking around and seeing the stains of blood and violence, the athletic, experienced and efficient Hunter Shin almost dead, her unnie in tears, Ye Rim had serious doubts about her ability to do such a thing.

It seemed absurd and impossible that she could last more than two minutes alive, let alone put that thorn in the Devourer's heart.

She was helping to remove the unconscious Hunter from the building, and went to the elevator to keep it open, when she saw that someone was going up, through the luminous panel. Her blood ran cold.

What if it was the Devourer coming back?

Grabbing the thorn quickly, she held it in her hand, trembling, as she constantly looked back to see if Eun Ha and the Yoo brothers carrying Shin were coming.

DING! The elevator door slid and Ye Rim faced the person in front of her.

She immediately blinked in disbelief,

"OPPA!"

Detective Ji Jae Wook also looked up from his cell phone, surprised,

"Ye Rim!"

It was both a shock and a relief to see a well-known and trusted figure in front of her instead of a mad and murderous magical being. Before Ye Rim could ask the most obvious question, he asked, looking around and behind her, as he left the elevator. But his hand went discreetly to his coat, pending his response,

"Ye Rim, what are you doing here?"

"C-calm down. I came with Eun Ha. She… We called you, I think," she explained. 'So Jae Wook is Hunter Shin's contact? Does he know about magic and supernatural beings? How long has he known all this?' his questions weren't answered immediately because Eun Ha emerged leading the men bringing Shin. Her unnie was as surprised as her, but Mr. Ahn soon calmed everyone,

"Detective Ji is a friend of the Master and tries to help when he can. As I said on the phone, Detective Ji, a murder took place and Master Shin had a confrontation with the murderer. However, Master Shin was unable to stop him from running away."

Jae Wook looked at Shin's condition and frowned, commenting

"Ouch, it's just as bad as the other time," but he looked hopeful, and added,

"Eun Ha, he'll recover, hang on. You better take him now."

Eun Ha, Chang Mi, and Kang Dae occupied the elevator with an unconscious Shin. And Ye Rim and Mr. Ahn stayed behind.

She still wondered about the odds of this meeting. It was so strange to meet Jae Wook and find out about their connections to the supernatural world in this way.

The singer felt her mouth dry, unwilling to stay in that horrible environment, but full of questions for Jae Wook. He was perceptive enough to notice her unease and said,

"Ye Rim, I want to talk to you, but I need to check this out first. It is really important."

She couldn't fathom what he could have to say that was so important, since he owed her no explanations about knowing about the supernatural world. Even though she was curious about it, she was really itching to ask about Ji Hyeon and the progress of the investigations regarding Lee Dae Won.

But while she and Mr. Ahn tried to stay out of the way while Detective Ji looked at everything, took some pictures, and then pulled out the phone to call someone in a low voice, Ye Rim thought the Devourer was on the loose and probably hurt, hunting down fairies to feed. As he fed on the body in the studio, an empty, putrid corpse that was once someone special. A fairy who cared for people and relieved many wounded hearts on his radio show.

She couldn't let the Devourer turn on Eun Ha, Chang Mi, or the injured Hunter.

Detective Ji was faster than she expected, and was soon calling them to go. He took them in silence to Hunter Shin's mansion, and as soon as he parked, Mr. Ahn excused himself and jumped out to see his master. But Jae Wook asked,

"Please, let's stay a bit. We'd better talk right here."

Ye Rim obeyed, ready to know what could be so important that the OPPA needed to speak that night, amid those scary circ.u.mstances.