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[hoodwinker]

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[hoodwinker]

people should listen to their instincts. and i'm listening to you.

[hapertas]

ok. thank you, jiho. i'll do my best.

it's about what happened to me. how i got hurt.

[hoodwinker]

i've wondered. i wasn't going to ask.

i still won't ask any questions if you don't want me to.

[hapertas]

no, that's just it. i do want you to ask. i want to tell you, if it's ok.

thank you for thinking of me until now. i appreciate it. it's not easy to talk about.

[hoodwinker]

it is ok.

tell me what happened. and if need be, tell me what you want me to do about it.

[translation: you want him to cut someone? please tell him that you want him to cut someone.]

[hapertas]

ok. thank you, jiho.

[ See, he told Neve he thought Jiho would get it and he was right. ]

all right. i don't know how much you know about this, but i didn't know what i was or where i came from growing up. my mother, my biological mother, left me on earth with my parents who raised me. but they never knew where i came from.

i only found out once everything started getting... bad. i knew it could put a target on their backs, so i decided to leave.

[hoodwinker]

did they know about you? that you were different.

sounds like they must've been pretty good people if you were willing to do that to protect them. being on your own isn't easy.

[hapertas]

i told them before i left. explained things as well as i could, not that i knew a lot. i still don't, really.

they're the best people. i miss them a lot.

after i left, i met neve. and i started working with a group that helps people with abilities stay safe. we would listen in for radio conversations between the people who were targeting us. that was my job, i mean. anyway, one day, they mentioned my family. my home, my address.

[hoodwinker]

i wish i'd known you much sooner.

you didn't go there alone, did you? tell me you didn't.

[hapertas]

i wish i had known you sooner too. and everyone here. being here is really good. knowing you is really good.

i didn't even think twice. they're my parents. they sacrificed so much for me.
they didn't even have to take me in, but they did. and i was the reason that they were in danger.

[hoodwinker]

that's true, but it's not why.

[the group that dash talks about, the one that kept people safe, jiho's not sure what kind of tactics they used exactly. but he can't help but think that he could've helped them too.]

it was a trap. they knew you would come.

[hapertas]

oh? what did you have in mind?

i got my parents out, but i didn't get away. i just didn't think. so, they took me. they only had me for a week, but.

[hoodwinker]

maybe i could've got to them before they got to you.

i think anyone probably would've done what you did. anyone who loved their family.

[hapertas]

that's really kind of you, jiho. i think about it a lot now, about trying to get to them before they hurt more people. somehow.

i should've waited and asked for help. i shouldn't have gone alone. it was stupid.

[hoodwinker]

if you had waited, maybe your parents would've been hurt. you shouldn't second-guess yourself now. you were a good son.

but you shouldn't have been hurt either. what did they do?

[hapertas]

i think about that a lot. about what could've happened to them. if i had gotten there later, they might not have been able to get away. i would feel more guilt about that than anything, i think. but if neve had been there, maybe he could've stopped them.

they wouldn't let me sleep. they said all kinds of horrible things. i found out later they do that so people with abilities will use them and then the ones who took us will have an excuse to fight back. to kill us. but i couldn't have hurt them if i wanted to, of course.

sometimes i did want to.

[hoodwinker]

[just sometimes. it's such a dash thing to say.]

did someone get a chance to hurt them? neve?

[hapertas]

no, we left. i was hurt, because of my hand and everything, so he put my well-being first. he took care of me for a long time.

he still does.

[hoodwinker]

he is a good one. you really should give up on me and focus on him.

do you wish they were dead?

[hapertas]

you know i can't just leave you behind like that, jiho. what we have is special.

if it meant they couldn't hurt anyone else again? it's hard not to wish it.

[hoodwinker]

you know he's going to do it, don't you? i don't think that's giving away a secret when you probably know him as well as he knows himself.

[hapertas]

i do. i know.

are you wondering if it makes me feel conflicted?

i got away. i got myself out. i lost something because of it, but i got out. other people didn't. other people probably went through a hundred times what i did.

someone should burn that place to the ground.

[hoodwinker]

and salt the earth when they're done.

you both know you can always count on me. but i know how he'll choose to handle it. we're surprisingly similar.

i'm just better looking.

[hapertas]

it's not that i want them to suffer, you know? i just hate that other people are hurting. it's so pointless.

i think you know him pretty well.

but he's definitely better-looking, sorry, jiho.

[hoodwinker]

can i tell you something? i've never once taken pleasure in it.

but i don't feel bad about it either. it just has to be done, and i sleep better at night when it is.

[he wonders if neve has had a good night's sleep since this happened. if either of them have.]

wow, you really know how to play with a guy's heart. if i had one, i'd be pretty hurt right now.