Yeojin quickly wrapped his arms around Haeju’s neck. It was embarrassing, but there was no choice if he didn’t want to fall.
“Doctor, this feels really good. You’re cute like a baby.”
He was already dying of embarrassment, but the guy irritatingly ran his mouth.
“Just shut up and run.”
“Hold on tight.”
Haeju ran faster. He ran down the stairs in one breath as fast as a beast. It was tremendous speed. He understood why he warned twice to hold on tight. Wind whooshed past. Is it because he’s a Transcendent? How can a person run this fast? And while holding an adult man in his arms?
In an instant, they came down to the first floor and exited the lobby.
When they went outside the building, he saw Im Junwoo and Han Daesik surveying the surroundings. When they spotted Haeju and Yeojin, they also turned around and ran to the car.
Haeju ran without stopping. Passing through the Center’s main gate entrance, he raised his head and whistled. Then the crows that had been sitting in rows at the main gate monitoring the surroundings all flew up at once.
“You can control the birds now?”
He exclaimed in wonder.
“I still need to practice more.”
“You’re really the best.”
When he praised him, Haeju grinned again. Haeju ran to Im Junwoo’s car in an instant. As soon as the two got into the back seat, Im Junwoo started the car. A crow tapped the car window with its beak. When he opened the window, Kkamang flew in and settled on Yeojin’s lap.
“Thank you for protecting Doctor.”
When Haeju greeted Kkamang, the guy answered with a caw. Now the remaining problem was the soldiers. Military vehicles could be seen coming up the Center’s approach road. Im Junwoo said to Haeju with a sigh.
“Haeju, can you just burst the vehicle tires?”
“I can’t control my power yet. If I use my ability, I might blow up all the vehicles.”
“Hyung, I’ll do it.”
Han Daesik, sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly interjected. Soon the tires of the military vehicles coming up the approach road all burst at once and stopped with screeching sounds. Not missing that opportunity, Im Junwoo stepped on the accelerator.
He could see SP Special Task Unit bastards swarming out of a fully tinted black van. Since they were also Transcendents using abilities, escape didn’t seem easy. But for some reason, they didn’t attack Yeojin’s group.
Even the SP members were clearly confused among themselves. Something seemed to have gone wrong.
“Why are they acting like that?”
“They must be like that because they can’t use their abilities.”
Saying that, Im Junwoo showed something like a small remote control.
“We received this developed in America and modified it ourselves, and it’s working well.”
It was a story he’d vaguely heard when captured by Wi Seokwoo’s gang. There was a rumor that they were developing a controller to control Transcendents’ abilities. How would they have obtained something not even on the market yet? They didn’t receive it, they must have secretly siphoned it off. Im Junwoo’s side clearly had very capable talents.
Realizing they couldn’t use their abilities, the SP members and regular soldiers all aimed their guns at once.
“Daesik, just make the guns useless. You know, right? You can’t hurt anyone.”
“Yessir.”
With Han Daesik’s ability, even the soldiers’ guns went bad. They seemed to be pulling the triggers but only clicking sounds came out without firing. While they were confused and murmuring, Im Junwoo quickly accelerated and skillfully maneuvered out.
Since they couldn’t even use firearms, the soldiers blocked the running car with their bodies, but when it charged forward without stopping like a runaway locomotive, they dodged on their own.
Yeojin’s group’s vehicle safely escaped from the Center’s approach road and entered the main road. National Security and Peace Maintenance Department vehicles that belatedly followed the lead group chased them, but this time too Han Daesik burst their tires and stopped them.
He looked at Han Daesik anew. He had looked frivolous so he’d underestimated him, but he was pretty good.
“That’s impressive. Can you adjust your ability to fit the situation?”
“I practiced. I really practiced till my blood burst.”
Im Junwoo emphasized the expression “till my blood burst.”
“Our abilities are like unprocessed raw stones, so refining and processing them is more difficult.”
“It’s really fucking difficult. There are times when abilities suddenly explode according to emotions, so you have to constantly work at it. It’s really hard.”
At Im Junwoo’s words, Han Daesik also interjected with his complaints.
“Haeju’s power is so tremendous that it can’t even be compared to ours, so the refining process won’t be easy either.”
Whatever they were saying, Haeju just stared intently at Yeojin and kept fiddling with his hands. He fiddled with the back of his hand, wrist, and arm, and sneakily tapped his thigh too. It seemed like he couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see anything, and only Yeojin was visible.
He’s going to bore a hole in my face. It was so burdensome and embarrassing he felt like he’d go crazy. He wondered why he was acting like this, but thinking about it, this guy was always like this. He stared at Yeojin intensely with eyes shining moistly enough to be embarrassing, and whenever he had a chance, he stroked Yeojin’s hands and arms.
Before Haeju confessed, he’d thought he was just a guy who liked skinship, but thinking of it as skinship full of intention made him incredibly conscious of it. There was nowhere to escape in the narrow car, and he tried squirming to at least pull away his grabbed hand, but it was useless. His hand was just held more tightly.
“Hey, but Seo Haeju. You said Doctor is amazingly pretty and has a great body.”
Han Daesik mischievously spoke to him.
“Our Doctor is pretty. He has a great body too.”
“Euhahaha!”
Han Daesik burst into loud laughter. Haeju looked at him as if he didn’t understand why that bastard was laughing.
“Um, Haeju.”
“Yes!”
Unable to bear it anymore, he called his name softly, and Haeju answered energetically.
“Let’s not say things like that.”
“What things?”
“That pretty stuff… It’s not, you know.”
“But Doctor is really pretty!”
Han Daesik’s laughter got louder. He cackled, finding something so funny.
“Doctor is handsome. The word ‘pretty’ also includes ‘handsome,’ so it’s not wrong, so don’t be embarrassed. I lived without hearing the word ‘pretty’ even once when I was young. Enjoy the compliment.”
Im Junwoo’s words, meant as consolation, were more embarrassing. Yeojin gave up. If he said more, it would definitely only lead to more embarrassing things.
“Ah, Doctor. Haeju. We’re going to Earth’s hideout. Is that okay?”
“Yes. I have nowhere to go anyway.”
“I don’t care where it is as long as I can be with Doctor.”
Following Yeojin’s answer, Haeju also answered. Still staring intently only at Yeojin. While fiddling with Yeojin’s hand.
“Later, set up a newlywed home with Doctor and live there, really.”
“I will.”
To Han Daesik’s words thrown out as a joke, Haeju answered seriously. It seemed like getting used to this situation would be more comfortable. But adaptation wasn’t easy. Yeojin was also embarrassed to stare at Haeju like the guy was staring at him, so he just looked straight ahead.
A refreshing blue sky spread out beyond the car window. The weather was damn good.
***
Being a secret group’s hideout, he’d expected a moldy, dark underground or a space like an abandoned bar. But the place Im Junwoo’s vehicle headed to was the country’s best affluent neighborhood. The car soon entered a quiet neighborhood full of tremendous mansions that you’d only see in movies.
“There’s a hideout in a place like this? Earth must have a lot of money?”
When Yeojin admired it, Im Junwoo answered calmly.
“Among Transcendents, there are quite a few wealthy people. Among those who are quietly active, there are people that even public authority can’t carelessly touch.”
Well, not all Transcendents would be ordinary citizens with troubled family histories. Awakening is a phenomenon that can appear to anyone. Well-known tycoons, politicians, even this country’s supreme authority could become Transcendents overnight.
The automatic door entering the parking lot opened smoothly. When the vehicle entered the parking lot, the door automatically closed again.
Getting out of the car, Yeojin exclaimed again at the sight of the parking lot interior.
The spacious parking lot was full of dizzying luxury cars. Every single one was a tremendously expensive vehicle.
“It’s like being at an imported car exhibition.”
Looking around, Yeojin witnessed another fascinating sight. He heard a rattling sound and looked to see where it came from, and the license plate of the vehicle Yeojin’s group had ridden was automatically flipping backward while a new license plate was coming forward.
“Wh-what’s this? The car license plate changed?”
“Yes. The license plates keep changing like that. Once you use a number, there’s a high risk of being monitored.”
Yeojin was full of surprises, but Im Junwoo already seemed accustomed to this system. Just the fact that they’d siphoned off and modified a controller under development that wasn’t even on the market suggested they had secured tremendous funds. The guess became established fact.
The existing Earth was an organization that had secured massive funds and a systematic organizational system. There was none of the clumsy and impulsive feeling he’d felt from Wi Seokwoo’s gang. He wondered if this was the difference between the original and the knockoff.
After leaving the parking lot that was like a car showroom and going up the stairs, the interior of the house appeared. But even though they went up to the first floor, the inside of the house didn’t appear right away. It seemed to be a structure where you had to pass through a long corridor before the living room appeared. Sunlight poured in through the corridor’s glass windows. Outside the window, a vast garden spread out, so it seemed nice to just stand still and enjoy the view.
This was his first time in such a mansion, so Yeojin’s gaping mouth wouldn’t close.
