Condensation

This was… awkward.

Heejin was just staring blankly at the two of them after listening to Wonwoo’s request. And it probably had been a hot minute since the technician had said anything.

But then the blonde cleared her throat.

“Okay…” Heejin’s voice trailed, her eyes darting at the both of them in a way where she seemed weirded out by everything. She pointed at Jimin. “You asking for it makes sense—” then she pointed at Wonwoo, “—you, not really.”

Wonwoo sighed heavily and placed his hand on his forehead. “Heejin, please.”

“What? I know Jimin wants the band so she can see her girlfriend,” Heejin said and for some reason the term made Jimin flustered. Just the mere thought of Minjeong as hers did wonders to her heart. “I have no idea why you would want the bracelet,” the blonde added and leaned back in her swivel chair, placing her feet on top of her desk.

Jimin noticed Wonwoo’s jaw clenching and the temperature in the room was dropping a couple of degrees lower.

Maybe she should intervene. Because Heejin looked like she had no plans to take back what she said and play it off as a joke. Jimin sighed and looked at the technician. “Heej, just give him the bracelet as well.”

Heejin’s lips turned into a thin line, thinking deeply until she finally nodded. “Okay, fine.” She placed her feet back on the floor and stood up.

She walked over to a clean looking cabinet, pressed a few buttons on the keypad that was plastered on one of the doors and then leaned in to get her iris scanned by a sensor that came out. Once the beeping noises stopped, the doors to the cabinet opened.

The sight made Jimin raise her brows, there were a lot of bracelets inside the cabinet. Did that mean this device was needed more than what she expected? How many did they make in a day?

Heejin grabbed two regular looking ones and then presented it to them. But before the two heroes could reach for it, Heejin swiftly slapped it on their wrists and the band immediately adjusted itself and the small light started blinking red.

This looked different to the first one she had those years ago. The technology of the device definitely changed.

Before the two heroes could say anything, Heejin suddenly shoved herself into Jimin's personal space—because she had no sense of it—and started fiddling with the bracelet. But Jimin allowed her to since she knew that the technician had to do something with it.

Jimin observed her, using a different device to calibrate something with the hardware of the band. Heejin quickly did the same to Wonwoo, but he immediately pulled himself away from Heejin, though she had a firm grip on him, and he couldn’t escape her.

Once there was a loud beep coming from her device, the blinking stopped, the color of the light faded, making Jimin believe it wasn’t working anymore.

But after a few seconds, Jimin suddenly felt the heat inside her body slowly dissipate, going down to the normal body temperature. She looked at her hand and tried to flick it, but nothing came out.

She turned to look at Wonwoo, whose white hair suddenly turned completely back to black, and the color of his skin became fair again, not like the pale white that they were used to seeing. The sight made her eyes wide. She hadn’t seen him like this before. He looked normal. Too normal.

They both looked at each other and even Wonwoo was surprised himself. He removed his glove and then flicked his hand as well, nothing happening.

This was strange for both of them because the room was actually… room temperature. Not too hot, like what Jimin was used to and it was neither too cold, the usual temperature whenever she was with Wonwoo.

Heejin then clapped her hands with a proud smile. “All set! You’re regular humans again,” she announced. Then pointed at their wrists. “The bracelets are now designed to only be removed by me and this device. The signal coming from each device can be transmitted anywhere in Seoul so if an emergency happens, I just need to press this button and its superhero mode for you guys,” she explained to them. Before she turned around, she glanced at Wonwoo and huffed. “Stop scrunching your brows like that, old man. The place will be fine. Mina unnie is your second in command for a reason.”

Wonwoo probably was taken aback by the observation and kept his hands inside his pockets, looking away. “I’m not old,” he stated flatly, for some reason he addressed that first.

“Yeah, sure,” Heejin said dismissively and then smirked at her leader. “You gotta remember that Mina unnie can stop anyone with her mind and her eyeballs,” she added as she playfully gestured to her own eyes. “Plus, she’s the one who designed these bracelets. So, you really don’t have to worry.”

Wonwoo sighed, looking like he didn’t want to argue anymore. “Okay.”

Jimin couldn’t help but smile, she patted the technician on the shoulders before they took their leave. “Thanks, Heejin.”

“You two better come back pregnant or your partners are pregnant,” she said as she pointed at Jimin, then she pointed at Wonwoo. “That includes you, boss.”

Wonwoo stopped walking, squinted at her and tried to say something to counter her sentence but he couldn’t. In the end he simply slapped his hand over his head. “That’s not even anatomically possible.”

“Hey, if there’s a will, there’s a way,” she said with a shrug. “Anyway, you guys enjoy. At least you two are actually doing something with your feelings unlike someone I know,” she shouted the rest in a certain direction in her lab and all three of them were looking at Chaeyoung who was busy at a table nearby.

They didn’t even notice she was there.

“Eat a bag of dicks, Heejin!” Chaeyoung shouted back.

“Ha! I’m not into that,” Heejin chuckled and immediately made a straight face, pushing Wonwoo and Jimin towards the exit. “Okay now, please get out.”

She kept pushing up until they were finally out, and she slammed both doors shut.

“Hey,” Jimin called to Wonwoo before he walked away. The man turned to her and raised a brow. Jimin gave a small smile and rubbed her arm. “Thank you, for… you know, helping me get a day off.”

Wonwoo gave a tight-lipped smile. “It’s no big,” he said softly, and his expression changed. “We both need it.” He then looked up at her, as if she knew exactly how he felt. “To make up for lost time.”

For some reason, the words held more meaning to it when it came out of Wonwoo’s mouth. But Jimin had no idea what had happened between him and Mingyu. It probably was as devastating as her own story. Then again, she wouldn’t know.

It was always a different case for each superhero. Jimin knew that not everyone in the League had a lovely childhood and experienced life perfectly before getting in here.

As they reached the exit, feeling a bit weird that she was in the outside world as a regular human being again, Jimin looked around and realized that she had no idea how to get to Minjeong’s house without using her powers.

Of course, she remembered how to commute because she had done it a lot back when she was still a student. But headquarters were in a completely different part of the city. She didn’t know her way around anymore.

Wonwoo probably felt her concern and he cleared his throat. “There’s a bus stop that could bring us to the neighborhood. If you don’t mind the extra ten minutes of walking, that is.”

Right. Wonwoo was smart enough to know his way around the city.

Jimin nodded her head. “Alright, lead the way.”

And this was another odd thing that she had to experience. Doing something completely mundane with Wonwoo.

Sure, she had spent several hours, days, weeks, months and years, training with him; but they were always for work. For superhero duties. They always had to do something that would risk their lives for other people.

But this was different.

They were currently civilians, commuting through the city of Seoul to pick up their respective partners so they could go on a date.

It was Jimin’s first date ever. She had no idea if this was Wonwoo’s as well.

From what Minjeong told her, Mingyu and Wonwoo had a lot of history. But Jimin still didn’t know to what extent. Maybe they did have dates before Wonwoo left for the League. Maybe they did less. But she highly doubted it was the latter, based from their interactions from the time they met again.

The way they looked at each other when they reunited felt different. Plus, Wonwoo’s powers faltered when he was face to face with the surgeon. So, it had to mean something.

But then again, it wasn’t Jimin’s business. Wonwoo could always talk about it with her if he wanted to.

Which she knew would probably never happen, since the man was secretive and elusive.