"This was really interesting."
Jino gripped the car's frame and gave it a gentle pull.
With a loud boom, the massive SUV was lifted and set upright by the teenager, its four wheels returning to the concrete road. The inevitable jostling made Pete and Chloe, who had hit their heads, cry out in pain.
"Ow, that hurts!"
Chloe clutched her swollen forehead and mouth. Fighting back the urge to vomit, she pushed open the door and got out, looking at Jino with wide eyes and a face full of apology. "I'm sorry, Jino. I ruined your party."
"Ah, no need to apologize. We're friends, aren't we?" Jino smiled. Helping Chloe had only taken a little effort; what mattered was that experimental specimen.
"Just... friends?" Chloe's expression dimmed. Looking at the utterly calm boy, she felt an indescribable sense of loss.
After witnessing Jino's "divine power" tonight, Chloe had erected a high wall in her heart. Perhaps she and Jino had never belonged to the same world from the very beginning. Maybe, as time passed, that divide would only grow wider until it separated them completely.
Perhaps only the equally mysterious Clark could stay by his side until the end?
Jino paid no attention to Chloe's emotions. At that moment, Little Black Pete crawled out of the SUV as well, his legs trembling.
Even his thick black lips, which he had always been proud of, had turned pale and bluish. Tonight's adventure had clearly not been a pleasant experience for Pete.
"Oh God, tonight was a nightmare."
Pete swallowed, sneaking a reverent glance at Jino before looking at the monster still struggling in the woods. He finally asked what he had wanted to ask all along. "Jino, what do we do now?"
"What do we do?"
Jino snorted and picked up