3 Allies?

Byung arrived at work, 17 minutes late and with his manager's temperament, he had all but expected a scolding. Luckily, it was the manager's wife overseeing the shop today.

Mrs. Han is a fair-skinned woman with blue eyes and straight blonde hair that parts above her forehead. Her hair has shoulder-length bangs that frame her face and the rest reaches her upper-back. She is a slender woman of the curvaceous frame, noticeably short, she measures 5"3 in height and has rather large breasts. She is believed to be in her mid-thirties but one could easily mistake her for a lady in her 20s due to her youthful appearance.

"I am sorry, Mrs. Han!" The foul-mouthed Byung had suddenly become well behaved but the lady simply flashed a smile that made the young man blush as these words escaped her thin lips doused in red lipstick.

"It is alright, but do not let this repeat itself. I cannot keep looking the other way. Besides, no lady likes a tardy man." She said, in a motherly tone, which embarrassed Byung as he nervously scratched his head.

"T-thank you, Mrs. Han!" Byung responded, in a high-pitched tone, while bowing his head as a sign of gratitude but the lady quickly brushed it off as nothing as she left the store.

"Man, that was way too f*cking close!" Byung thought with a sigh of relief.

A few minutes, hours passed by quickly and there was no customer, this was a typical day at work.

"This is so f*cking boring. I wonder what Cho and Kwan are doing..."

Just then, an elderly man, much less attractive than him, walked in. Byung did not even believe such a thing was possible.

"YYYEEESSSS!" He screamed upon sighting him, startling the customer but looking at Byung, he inched closer with a broad smile on his wrinkled face and said, "You look exactly like me!" eyes lit up, like a man that has just found new meaning in life. It was policy to be polite to customers but no way was Byung going to let this sudden burst of self-esteem go to waste. Somehow, something was calming seeing an elderly man this excited, it was almost as if he was looking at himself in a weird way. "Man, what the hell…" He thought to himself, responding with a smile. "OH MY GOD! DADDY, IS THAT YOU?" Byung said, acting far too dramatic.

This man was definitely in his late 70s, he was bald with sunken green eyes, saggy cheeks, and was lanky to an extent. He wore a New Jersey white football T-shirt along with a baggy trouser, he had a cane to support his abnormally small body, totaling a height of 4'7. He wore black palm slippers, the specific combination of clothing was definitely for the younger generation, this was a cringe-worthy sight. One thought flashed through his mind "Who the f*ck dressed this man?" but this wouldn't stop him from appreciating the view before him.

The man laughed hysterically, almost to the point of falling but maintained balance thanks to his cane and Byung was satisfied with this sight, he could actually picture himself like this in years to come and couldn't help but grin. Pulling away, he went to go get the goods in which brought him into the store in the first place, and just then, three troublesome looking individuals waltzed in. It was easy to put them into the hoodlum category based on their suspicious behavior. Byung was not so worried, he has dealt with much worse in this store, especially in the later hours.

The older man was still looking around for things he wanted as the kids had dispersed sparsely within the store. It was obvious these were strategic positions and Byung wanted to watch just how this played out and feigned ignorance but a silent click was heard, only audible to him.

"GO!" shouted one of the boys as they all made for the door, hands full of goods not worth much but Byung had long pressed the emergency button that auto-locks the door from within and these boys crashed into it as it repelled them, crashing into the floor, one breaking his nose and the others sprawled uncomfortable on top one another. Looking over the counter to threaten Byung but he was nowhere to be seen.

SFX: Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

He had hit each of them in the back of the head with a baseball bat, this was more than enough to knock them out cold and the police arrived shortly after but it was weird, Byung never saw the older man leave nor was any item missing from the store, the CCTV has been out of service for a few weeks now with Mr. Han promising to fix it every passing day but yet, it remained broken, maybe this incident would prompt him to take action.

"Will you be willing to follow us to the station for a statement?" The female officer asked, but Byung raised a brow as he flashed a 'What The f*ck' expression at her and pointed to the shop.

"Oh! My apologies, how silly of me. Here's my card, since your CCTV isn't working, we will need a verbal statement directly from you." She persisted.

"Why can't you take it now?" Byung asked, maintaining his raised brow.

"We have to attend to...." She stopped short of spewing the beans, why was she about to tell a civilian such details without being pressured? This was unusual as she cut the conversation short and left the premises with her partner, with another patrol car carting the 3 hoodlums away.

"What's with the f*cking drama in my life…" He muttered with a sigh accompanying it.

"I know right, still can't believe he chose you." A voice said behind him, this was definitely the voice of the older man he had conversed with, but he had left, this couldn't be right. "Wait! what did he mean by chose you?" This was Byung's thought bubble and he didn't even know where to begin.

"Hahaha! What are you talking about, geezer?" He laughed nervously, trying to play it off as he turned around. He was shocked at the sight he saw; the old man was not-so-old anymore, far from it.

He was suddenly the same age bracket as Byung and much better looking than him as well. Heck, the average male looked like a superstar beside Byung and this was no different.

The sunken-eyed bald man had suddenly had full long black curly hair, the wrinkles were gone, and he had grown to a 5'9 man. The clothing now suddenly made sense to him, it looked quite good in fact.

Byung was, however, speechless with the mysterious man laughing but stopped shortly but burst out laughing when he re-analyzed Byung's facial structure.

"Master Jin sure is cruel, the description he gave did not do you justice. One would think you were the most heinous being that lived but you are not so bad looking. I am sure the 'others' would love to meet you." The man said in a friendly voice.

"WHO THE F*CK ARE YOU!?" Byung screamed, raising his baseball bat, winding up a swing.

"H-Hey, calm the hell down! Whose first instinct is attacking a random stranger!? I am Jinwoo, didn't Master Jin tell you I was coming?" Jinwoo asked, trying to calm Byung down but then again, he knew his Master played far too much for an old man and that explained Byung's obliviousness.

Calmly, he explained who Master Jin was and it fit the description of the man at the side of the road last night.

"That homeless bum is your master? Don't fuck with m-!" His mind flashed back to the message he got from 'Bo*tyeater69' on Istagram, about a surprise. Could this be it? Jinwoo sighed as he raised his upper back length hair to show Byung the tattoo at the nape of his neck, it was exactly like his.

"I was afraid this would happen, let's go inside. I have a lot to explain." Jinwoo was clearly irritated by his Master's failure to bring him to date but his immature side had its perk.

A few minutes had passed and both parties were settled in the shop with Jinwoo starting the explanation but not before clearing his throat.

"Listen closely, I will take it you aren't even aware of what you are so I will start from the very beginning. We are what people call 'Abnormalities', unlike the war-torn past, we are pretty much inactive in the modern-day. With most finding ways to incorporate their abilities in society without being found out, this includes healing the sick and perform what some will call a miracle from a higher power, it is believed this is where the term religion originated from. There are three forms to an abnormality, this is the unwakened, you will be able to perceive things or beings not visible to others. This tattoo and my illusion, for example. Then we have the awakened, people who have awakened to a peculiar ability have immeasurable power at their disposal, we do not even come close. Abilities vary upon awakening and if you cannot handle the strain, you eventually fail the transition and die on the spot." Pausing, to judge Byung's reaction but he looked way more understanding than expected and before he could continue, a question was thrown his way.

"So, tell me one thing…... HOW THE F*CK DID YOU FIND ME!? THIS MUST BE SOME SORT OF PRANK! AH! YES! A PRANK! THAT'S WHAT THIS IS!" Byung shouted in disbelief and Jinwoo just about had it but 2 figures seemed to have gained entry into the store as Jinwoo's eyes dilated as he quickly shoved Byung to the side and said to the figures that approached.

"What are you two doing here!?"