"I will... ask. Someone. I guess. ... I will ask my lawyer to ask, how about, and we then go hide under the ocean for a while. Does that sound good to you?"

"...yeah. It does. Thank you."

"Okay." Kiss. "Sorry."

So, uh. Apparently Kim Hye-jin wants to speak with him. He does not by any means have to. But he can. If he consents.

...yeah, he does. Is she... coming here...?

(They still haven't decided on a full sentence for him. His prison cell is comfortable. And, like, this is Korea, not America, but still, why did they have to make his prison cell comfortable.)

No. Video call.

A little tablet is set up in his cell, and after some fumbling:

Here is Kim Hye-jin. Even in video, she holds herself differently than Nightmare did when it was pretending to be her. It was always casual and languid and sort of catlike - the woman shown on the screen is stock straight, completely humorless, and looks like she is terrified and deals with this terror by killing all of the things that scare her personally. It's pretty clear that if she could incinerate him through the screen, she'd be tempted.

"... Hi," she says, lamely, staring at him like she's waiting for him to turn into a viper and rush through the screen to bite her.

.....aaaaaahhh????

Well, she's half-Korean and half-Japanese, even if he can't properly grovel he can rest his forehead on the table so that the video camera is showing the crown of his head. That's what matters, anyway. "I am so, so sorry, Kim Hye-jin-nim. I—" But he has no idea what to even say.

".... okay. Sure. Now please explain what the fuck your game is because I do not wish to have an exciting new surprise for the fourth fucking time."

"There is no game. I—has—I'm not sure what information's been made public. Do you know about the handcuffs...?"

"They are suppressing your powers very thoroughly, apparently," she says, cautiously, like she doesn't even trust that.

"And my backlash. Which—I assume Lee Tae-gun told you about but—"

Behold: the face of not even an ounce of sympathy.

He does have to look up now, since she didn't make a noise, and he winces when he sees her expression and lowers his eyes again. "So, I—regained what tiny shreds of empathy I possess and realised I have spent the last seven years being scum and I wanted to—do whatever I could. In the other direction."

"I see."

She doesn't. Well, she understands, just. She doesn't believe it. Hye-jin has never known Kang Jaeha the man with empathy. She has only known the man who has tormented her for half a year.

"That... is all. If there is—anything else you want to know, or that I can—do. I am at your service."

There's a pause, then:

"How many people know where I live. How many of my neighbors did you fuck with the heads of. Are you going to pay for some of the truly phenomenal expenses for the silo I had to have made when I realized my home was under threat from a mind esper."

"I am the only one who knows your personal address, specifically, beyond anyone you may have told, yourself. I... did not keep track of all of the neighbours of yours I used my power on, but I would be able to recognise them. And yes, I will, if it is within my power." He is really happy he kept the ability to use money for this kind of shit!!!!

"Great. I'll probably still end up selling the place, because it's pretty ruined for me now. I'll send you the bill for the silo."

Click. The video call cuts out.

That seems to be all she wanted to say to him.

...he was... expecting more yelling, honestly.

Hoping for it, really.

This wasn't cathartic at all.

He shouldn't be looking for catharsis. He doesn't deserve catharsis, and he doesn't deserve closure.

He hopes she can make Tae-gun happy.

Conversation done. Handcuffs do backlash suppression too, or something.

I might want to yell at Quasar's president for not giving us a heads up about that tbh.

I messaged him while you were talking.

He said they hadn't known for sure it would do that and he didn't want me to worry about it.

He actually said that he didn't want me to have a panic attack about it and he is right about that.

May I come over and hug you?

Yes.

Teleport!

Is he in the bathtub? She bets he's in the bathtub. She will join him in the bathtub, actually, they can have their incredibly dramatic shower of angst together.