# Chapter 96
A tsunami of emotions swept through my entire body. I, I… Words that couldn’t be completed piled up in my throat. I wanted to say something to Sano, but there was nothing I could actually say. My round eyes crumpled mercilessly. I rubbed both eyes with my fists. I wanted to see Sano. At the same time, I didn’t want to see him.
The research journal ended around there. After turning to the last page, Jeongyeon discovered a paper underneath.
‘What’s this?’
Unlike the thick, abundant journal, this was just a single sheet.
Jeongyeon examined the paper closely. It was a report written in the same format as the journal, but with a completely different subject. The concisely written document was simple enough for Jeongyeon to understand.
「Emergency closure of research facility due to tracking by external forces.
Researchers to back up research data and evacuate early.
Director Lee Taejin, the final person responsible for the experiment, to close the facility after being the last to leave.
All experimental subjects and accessories used in the experiment prohibited from removal, to be disposed of.
Research facility building to be annihilated using internal explosion system.
Standby until further assembly.」
“…What about Sano?”
Jeongyeon muttered after scanning the document several times. His faint voice seemed about to go out at any moment.
Sano wasn’t a researcher. He was definitely not the final person responsible for the experiment. Among all these instructions, the only word that could possibly refer to Sano was…
「prohibited from removal, to be disposed of.」
His black eyes trembled helplessly. Words like “disposal” were only used when getting rid of trash. Jeongyeon belatedly realized that his hand pointing at the paper was trembling slightly.
So that’s why they were trying to send Jeongyeon away with his parents. That’s why all the researcher brothers and sisters had disappeared. His uncle was planning to completely destroy the building after being the last to escape from the research facility.
Abandoning Sano. Leaving Sano here.
Sano alone…
Jeongyeon stood there blankly for a long time, like a puppet with its strings cut. Only after the night had long passed and dawn arrived did he come to his senses. This was no time to be standing around.
Sano only came to the large room briefly when playing with Jeongyeon, and lived in a separate room otherwise. He had said the door was always locked, making it impossible for him to leave on his own. Without manifesting his superpower, he had no way to escape not just the building, but even his room.
‘Is he alright now?’
He needed to check on Sano’s well-being first. Jeongyeon rushed out of the room as if rolling.
Since Jeongyeon himself had never visited Sano’s living quarters, he didn’t know the exact location. However, Jeongyeon had seen where Sano lived from outside the research facility just once.
That place with the long horizontal window attached at the bottom.
Although Jeongyeon could wander through most of the research facility, he hadn’t been able to find Sano’s room even when he had searched before. If so, it must be in a place Jeongyeon couldn’t access.
The area his uncle had strictly forbidden him from entering.
Instinctively, he felt that Sano’s room would be there.
The research facility was vast. It took a lot of time to traverse such a place quietly without being noticed. If his uncle had gone to sleep after talking with his father, a little running might be fine, but it would be troublesome if he happened to still be around and encountered Jeongyeon. So Jeongyeon deliberately slowed his pace and moved carefully.
If Jeongyeon had been a bit more proficient with his ability, he would have created a vehicle to move around with his power, but he was only fourteen. The vision of a child overwhelmed by the fear that his friend might soon die was narrow, and his thoughts were limited. Just accepting the situation was overwhelming.
All the doors in the research facility were the same pristine white as the walls, with only doorknobs attached and no windows to peek inside. So Jeongyeon had to open each door in the corridor one by one.
At that moment, it was extremely fortunate that only his parents, his uncle, Sano, and Jeongyeon were in the research facility. Because if he had unluckily opened a researcher’s room and been discovered, it would have been quite a troublesome situation.
After opening doors and finding nothing more than ten times, Jeongyeon began to grow increasingly anxious. The day Jeongyeon was supposed to leave with his parents was tomorrow. No, since midnight had passed, it was today. He needed to find Sano quickly and do something. Anxiety completely spread across his pale face.
Struggling to gather his expression that looked like he might cry at any moment, Jeongyeon opened the next door. It was a small living space with a desk, bookshelf, small dining table, and bed.
He had seen this kind of layout countless times. Is it another researcher brother or sister’s room? While Jeongyeon slumped his shoulders but stretched his neck to look around, he stopped moving.
The bed, partially hidden from the door by the wall, was slightly bulging.
“…Sano?”
The voice he barely managed to utter was terribly hoarse and cracked. One step, two steps, his careful footsteps soon turned into a sprint. Rushing to the bed in one breath, Jeongyeon yanked the blanket.
The person he had been desperately searching for was sleeping soundly with a calm face.
Though it should have been a happy moment, Jeongyeon felt like he might cry, so he shook his head vigorously and approached Sano.
“Sa-Sano. Wake up.”
While carefully gripping his shoulder and shaking him, Jeongyeon discovered bruises and nail marks through the disheveled collar that had been hidden under his clothes until now.
They were smaller than an adult’s hand.
Intense self-harm attempt. That phrase continued to echo in his head like the striking of a large gong. Jeongyeon himself had experienced bruises and been scratched by others. It hurt and stung.
What kind of pain would make that seem preferable?
“Sano. Sano. Wake up quickly…”
Jeongyeon’s voice gradually quickened. From his experience, Sano was rather sensitive. Normally, he would quickly notice and glare if Jeongyeon just touched him with a finger or approached him, but now Sano wasn’t moving at all despite being shaken so much.
Why isn’t he waking up?
Is it too, too late?
“Sanooo…”
Extreme fear overwhelmed Jeongyeon. What if he never opens his eyes? What should I do if Sano dies? His heated eyes were brimming with tears. Jeongyeon called out to his friend endlessly, sniffling.
“Don’t die… wake up…”
Several teardrops fell onto the blanket. There was no time to wipe away the round wet marks. Just as Jeongyeon was about to shake Sano again, rubbing his blurring vision—
“…So noisy…”
A very small and low voice flowed out. Jeongyeon, whose eyes had widened like a rabbit’s, froze as if turned to ice. Only the tears that hadn’t yet fallen now streamed down his cheeks.
“…Sano?”
Jeongyeon’s voice was as small as a whisper and slightly hoarse. As if that word was the trigger, Sano slowly opened his eyes.
“Lee Jeongyeon?”
Sano seemed unable to distinguish if he was dreaming even as he looked at Jeongyeon in front of him. His face, with noticeably slower reactions than usual, even seemed a bit dazed.
But at least he was alive. Jeongyeon’s heart, which had been beating so violently it felt like it might leap out of his mouth, gradually calmed down. Jeongyeon quickly wiped away his tears.
“Sano, get up quickly.”
“Why are you here…”
“Hurry. You need to get out of here.”
After confirming both the urgent look on his face and the dried tear tracks, Sano frowned and got up.
“What’s going on.”
Jeongyeon rambled on about what he had discovered. However, being in such a flustered state, his sentences lacked proper context or subject-predicate agreement, and were closer to incoherent mutterings.
Only after listening carefully and asking several times did Sano properly grasp the situation.
“That bastard is going to kill me.”
“Yes! He said he’d destroy you along with the research facility. We need to escape.”
Sano’s following question was somewhat unexpected.
“What about you?”
“Me? I’m supposed to leave with my parents tomorrow.”
So don’t worry about me, focus on yourself first… Jeongyeon’s words that were continuing in this vein were interrupted by a calm voice.
“If I disappear, you’ll be the first to be suspected.”
“That’s okay!”
“Your parents are here too, right?”
“…”
“Will they be okay?”
Jeongyeon closed his mouth. Those in the research facility were Jeongyeon, his family, and Sano. His parents, who hadn’t known what was happening to Jeongyeon, wouldn’t even know Sano existed. And his uncle certainly wouldn’t save Sano.
If Jeongyeon helped Sano escape and in the morning when his uncle came to check on Sano’s condition. If he discovered Sano was gone.
In the end, only one person would be under suspicion.
“But…”
If his uncle found out Jeongyeon had done this, he would be terribly angry. Since his uncle didn’t like him, he wouldn’t just let it go.
This was different from simply causing “trouble.” It was an act committed deliberately, knowing it would harm others.
His father might also get angry, being his uncle’s brother. His mother might also dislike Jeongyeon for ruining what adults were doing. They might regret adopting him. They might say it would have been better not to have taken in such a child.
Just the thought made him too scared, sad, and his heart became distant. Tears flowed steadily.
“Don’t cry.”
A warm hand wiped the moisture away from Jeongyeon’s cheeks. The child’s hand quickly became soaked.
“Go back to your room quickly.”
“But if you stay here, you’ll die…”
“You love your parents, don’t you?”
That voice was as taciturn and dry as usual, even cold. Sano gently removed Jeongyeon’s hands, which were tightly gripping the blanket, not knowing what to do.
“So don’t do something you’ll regret.”
Until he left that room weakly after a long time had passed and he had calmed down, Jeongyeon couldn’t make any response.
