#spectral thief

[nerdyperday]

Day 3412 Marshadow

[ohyangchon]

Ship + a word: Eunsoo/Sewon + savior

Sewon is deeply uncomfortable that he would be anyone's savior. He'd been trained to take lives, a past he'd at first left behind for his family and his beloved son, but that ended when he'd witnessed his son die, and from there on out, his heart had died.

He'd been concerned about Prosecutor Young's behavior, and he knew about her desperation to prove her father's innocence. Even when following her around, he'd noted how utterly reckless she was, and his heart ached for the first time in a while, recognising how similar they were in so many aspects.

That night had been a particularly traumatising one for him, managing to let himself into the dinky apartment to see the inert, bleeding form of the woman lying motionless on the floorboards. She'd only been laughing and smiling just a few days ago at the barbeque party, washing strawberries and chatting with the others. He knew, then, that she had paid for his sins, the sin of him working for Lee Changjoon, the sin of him taking lives as a vigilante and making her a target of Hangjo.

Eunsoo however was unwilling to let the matter lie. She knew for certain that if Sewon hadn't tailed her to her place that night, she would've most assuredly been pushing daisies by now. She was no ingrate, but she struggled, trying to figure out what Sewon would really want. How would she repay the favor of someone who refused to allow himself to yearn?

This push and pull saw them both in Anyang again, navigating each other with confused mutters and quiet understanding. It'd take a while for Sewon to accept the matter, and then Eunsoo's journey of trying to pay him back would truly begin.

[ohyangchon]

Eunsoo + Simok justice

Justice to both Shimok and Eunsoo are real, real people, people who they've seen be failed by the system they worked so hard to uphold over and over.

Eunsoo sees her father, the tall shadow that not only allows her so much raw power but also looms over her at every turn. Being the scion of Young Iljae the great is an exhausting and often suffocating ordeal, and it only makes her all the more determined to clear her father's name, to scream to the world how much they'd owed her and return her everything that had gone downhill since her childhood. She lives recklessly, anxiously eager to please and with a voracious appetite to get ahead, but that she knows would inevitably spell her own doom, but with nothing to lose, all she has to the name is the ideals of justice her father had fallen victim towards.

Shimok seems a myriad of faces, both criminals and victims alike, as he quietly crusades on his own pursuit of justice. Unable to be swayed by outside circumstance, he seems to take in everything with an objective eye...apart from a very specific two individuals. 

One had been the person he idolised, the person he'd worked towards to become before being forced to witness the fall from grace from...and the other had been the person entrusted to him, an eager junior prosecutor with the blood of giants in her veins who worked so hard to be noticed and get ahead as quickly as she humanely could.

For the person he'd idolised, he'd been forced to take the knife towards him, to rid him from the prosecution and he knew, he knew that he was a monster, and it was right and good for him to proceed with this execution of his own childish idolatry.

For Eunsoo? He could never find any excuses for his behavior, for the way he'd treated someone who trusted him and looked up to him. By pushing her away, he'd catalysed her fall, and he knew that even if he'd tried to ignore it, her blood remained on his hands.

[ohyangchon]

Hi! Are you still doing the ship and word prompt thing? I hope this is ok to ask: Changjoon and Il-Jae, forgiveness.

Loathe of Young Iljae to know what he'd placed on the shoulders of one of his best proteges.

He'd remembered rushing to the hospital as quickly as he could, shortly after losing Eunsoo and hearing about Changjoon's suicide. They'd received a mail, a postcard in familiar handwriting with just an address, and there they had found their daughter, alive but barely, in a private hospital far away from Seoul.

Was it penance? Or was it guilt? The good professor remembered lashing out and striking the man with his cane during his daughter's supposed funeral, his disappointment and grief immeasurable in the face of his protege's suffering. He'd also recalled taking Changjoon's hands and begging him to keep Eunsoo safe, and the flicker of doubt that he'd glimpsed from his usually-confident protege's eyes when it happened. He wondered what had happened...but he knew, he did.

Changjoon's pride was his hubris, he'd warned during his classes whenever he'd come to him for advice. To that, Changjoon had grinned and reassured his mentor that he was never going to fall without explicit permission. Perhaps the way he'd struck him had given Changjoon the consent he asked for, to finally fall and let the fresh blood take over from the pieces he'd left behind.

From the glass of the ICU, he stared impassively at the inert, broken form, unrecognizable under the tubes that were keeping him alive. He muttered words of comfort to Changjoon's wife, who seemed far more torn up than he thought, and could no longer muster the energy to even be angry about matters.

Changjoon had been tight-lipped about his private life, but love had always come up the moment he'd made his choice to spiral down that path of becoming Hangjo's lapdog. From how it looked, it had been why he hadn't done this sooner.

He couldn't recognise the young man who'd stared up at him with glittering hopeful eyes from close to two decades ago anymore, yet he'd followed through his promise to keep his daughter safe at all costs even despite all the villainy he'd engaged in behind the scenes. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or worried that Changjoon still respected him that much.

Eunsoo would return alive and vengeful, though her voice would be irrevocably ruined by the attack and she would retain unhealthy coping mechanisms and a dark sense of humor. Changjoon? He couldn't know what would happen to him after his attempt.

A quiet "rest well" towards his wife and a nod was all he could give as he left, retiring towards the hospital where Eunsoo was still recovering. He wondered, even briefly, if he should've opposed the marriage that started this all, and if Changjoon would've pushed back.

Young Iljae wouldn't necessarily call himself a sinner in matters, but it was the first time in his long life he'd started casting doubts about what he'd imparted to his students.

If only he knew. If only they knew.

[leechangjoons]

Like a Monster

“Lend me your feelings, please.” 

It was an unusual request from Eunsoo, really. She’d never particularly cared about mirroring the emotions of others, but her quiet request had been difficult to turn down and the bow she kept lowered was enough for me to nod my assent. She straightened, taking my hands and I watched quietly as the color seemed to return to her features: she’d never borrowed from me before, and I felt nothing as she did so, but the way her body seemed to flourish with radiance threw me off slightly, and I dropped my hands when she stepped back abruptly with a shudder to take this all in. 

Having to shadow the fallen Prosecutor-General on Yoonah’s behalf was not an difficult task, but it’d been a depressing one. With Yoonah deliberately withholding whatever she knew, the man had fallen into anxious drinking and was essentially a walking corpse, but Yoonah insisted it’d been for his own good that he not know the whereabouts of his wife and daughter. I’d disagreed: but when Eunsoo’d come into the picture, things grew increasingly tense as I could already feel the malice from the otherwise-emotionless woman, who’d become an assemblywoman for little reason other than Yoonah pulling some strings to tighten her reins on Changjoon. 

While I didn’t know how Eunsoo had found it in herself to bond with Changjoon, perhaps having a familiar face was helping with her antipathy but her request after the man’d suffered alcohol poisoning had surprised her. I didn’t really expect them to be that close, especially when I noticed her seemingly grasping what she now carried within herself. Did she really care? Or was she just conveniently taking on whatever crumbs Changjoon’d left behind? Truth be told, I hated politics and all the backstabbing that surrounded it. The only thing that kept me from leaving outright was Yoonah’s chaotic temperament being her own undoing, and my insurance payout for my chronically-ill body. 

Tangents aside though, I took a careful step back seeing both Eunsoo’s fists clench, and the clicking of heels indicated that Yoonah’s presence was expected. Sure enough, she’d arrived with her secretary and Eunsoo turned towards her, pivoting on her boot while she stared the President of the entire country down before taking a dangerous step towards her, her fists charging with dark wisps. 

I sat down, watching the woman share their exchange. Throughout this, I realised I’d never seen Eunsoo so heated...or with such a distinctive personality. It was like watching a window where she’d once been spirited and driven, things that she no longer was. When matters had settled in the dust, though, Yoonah’s chuckle faded into something more of her usual sternness. “Wonderful,” she scoffed to herself, “Everything I wanted and more.” She turned her gaze towards her, sightless eyes going over my head while I remained silent. 

“I know you’re there, Seonkyun,” she spoke now, reaching out towards me daintily, “Come. We have people to retrench.” 

“Retrench?” I raised a brow at her words, suddenly confused. 

Yoonah nodded, her glance sweeping across the corridor to the ward. “He’s got someone else watching his back now. I think I’ve finally done enough to repay Yeonjae,” she replied quietly, and my gaze followed to watch Eunsoo curled up in a chair next to the bed, “I know I’ve been a jerk about matters, and knowing Changjoon’s vengefulness, he’d never forgive me. At this point, I don’t mind. I don’t regret what I’ve done.” 

“Yeah, you asshole,” I scoffed, shaking my head as I pushed myself back up, “Only took you a year.” 

She waved a hand, turning on her heel. “You’re pardoned. Again,” she tutted, beginning to leave, “We have plenty to do.” 

[leechangjoons]

[thosewhowearmasks]

“ i have survived far too much to go quietly. ” (Eunsoo to Seonhwa)

Poetry StartersAttn: @manticxre

“yeah, i get that,” she says, the AI voice of her phone somber. “i dunno if i agree with what you’re doing, but i get it. i mean, you’ve gone through so much, and it’d be for nothing if you didn’t get your revenge or whatever, right?” With that, she couldn’t help but sigh. “i wish there was a better way. a way that was nicer for everyone, and i mean for you, too.” She paused thoughtfully, then added emphatically, “but if there’s anything i can do, let me know, okay? i don’t want you miserable forever.”

[thosewhowearmasks]

“Please let me in…” (Eunsoo, probably trying to get into the rookie/anchor's place)

Up Sentence StartersAttn: @manticxre

With a quick look at Doyoung to make sure it was alright, the man hopped up quickly to open the door, finding someone he only vaguely recognized. It wasn’t so much that she looked familiar as much as it was a general feeling, and a wave of annoyance that didn’t come from him confirmed his suspicions. “Oh, um, you must know him,” he stammered out, unsure what to do here, how to handle this stranger who wasn’t a stranger. “He’s not really here right now, but you could come in and wait, if you want. I don’t know how long it’ll be, but in the meantime, maybe I could try to help you with… whatever it is you need?”