# Chapter 203
“…Why?”
“Well…”
Semi, who was fiddling with her water cup, lowered her eyes. Her fingers were visible through the transparent plastic.
“I just got sick of everything.”
Being with Seeun was good. Her only blood relation in the world was more precious than anything.
Being with Taejin was fun. Knowing Semi was interested in research, Taejin taught her various things. Thanks to that, she became interested in a new field. She also discovered that she had quite a talent for it.
She thought it was a somewhat enjoyable daily life. Though it might not have been honorable, she thought it was fine if it was enjoyable.
“While waiting for Lee Seeun to receive treatment, I asked my father.”
One doubt that had surged up at times but she never dared to ask.
‘Did you intentionally send Seeun to Je Sano?’
‘Oh, Semi.’
‘Tell me the truth.’
‘…’
It wasn’t hard to figure out that Taejin’s silence meant yes.
“That bastard knew Seeun would die if she faced him.”
He could have comforted Semi with a lie. If he had said that wasn’t the case, that he didn’t know things would turn out that way, Semi would have tried to believe him. Taejin had given Seeun superpowers and given Semi research knowledge. He might even have been someone worth calling a benefactor.
But Taejin ultimately didn’t answer.
The reason was simple. The clever Semi quickly realized. If he said he didn’t know, it would amount to admitting that his plan was flawed. Because his pride was hurt by the mere utterance that there was something he hadn’t considered.
Even in such a state, that man couldn’t say he had been incompetent, not even as a lie to exculpate himself.
Everything was an illusion.
Lee Taejin was a bastard, and Lee Seeun, …and herself. They were all villains. All they had done was hurt people. That wasn’t enjoyable. It wasn’t fun either.
None of it was okay.
Suddenly, she was overcome by a terrible fatigue. The brightly smiling face of Mirae and the injured face of Seeun flashed alternately behind her eyelids.
‘Because of you, my sister has been sleeping for weeks.’
A woman’s voice she had heard once suddenly burrowed deep into her heart. Words she didn’t even realize she remembered.
‘It’s a bad thing. I hope you reflect on it.’
What have I done?
Semi’s wishes were always similar. Living happily with her one precious troublemaker. She didn’t care what happened to anything else. That’s why she followed whatever Seeun wanted to do. She thought she could find small bits of happiness there somehow.
But this way was definitely not good.
“I’m tired of running away.”
Teleportation was too useful for escaping. There were almost no physical means to prevent it. It was a kind of cheat key. As long as they could relocate, they could start anew. They could completely ignore everything left behind.
Thanks to that ability, Semi could escape forever with Seeun.
“What’s the meaning of living like that?”
Forever.
No matter how much they did it, there was no end. The outcome of running away was just getting caught. Semi only realized this after her twin nearly died.
“…Did Lee Seeun agree to that too?”
At Iyeon’s question, Semi laughed softly.
“She’s a really funny kid.”
Seeun, upon hearing Semi’s words, asked with wide eyes.
‘You want to turn ourselves in?’
‘Yes.’
‘Alright, let’s do it.’
Her cheerful response came without any hesitation.
‘Since I’ve been doing what I wanted until now, I’ll give you a chance too.’
Then she added with a wink.
‘That bastard Taejin needs to be taught a lesson too.’
And so the two of them ended up with just three years of probation and community service, despite being charged with theft, assault, and property damage committed as minors, as well as producing and distributing superpower bracelets, escaping during transport, and participating in illegal superpower experiments on children. The mitigating factors were that they had nothing to do with creating the gi-ryeok refining jewels, which were the core of the superpower bracelets, that it was Lee Taejin who actually gave the escape orders, that the illegal superpower experiment ended unsuccessfully and they actually protected the child victim, and that they regretted their actions and confessed everything without reservation, greatly aiding in the investigation.
“Well… It’s fortunate that both of you turned yourselves in and are showing remorse. And it seems you’re diligently performing your community service…”
Superpower users’ community service punishment usually involves cooperating with their abilities under the supervision of the Superpower Management Office. That must be why Semi was moving with the specialized superpower investigation team. At Iyeon’s words, Semi shrugged lightly, saying she still had over a hundred hours left.
“Thanks to that, we don’t have to worry about the Taejin situation. Now I understand why Jonghee-ssi answered so confidently.”
The testimony of Semi and Seeun, who had moved with Taejin for years, would be much more advantageous in the trial. Iyeon’s testimony wouldn’t be necessary. After all, they would know much more about Taejin than Iyeon did. That’s good. Iyeon muttered as he sipped his water. The newly ordered plate was already empty.
But Semi frowned as if puzzled.
“What are you talking about? It’s most dangerous now. Taejin might get released.”
“What?”
His round eyes wrinkled in confusion. Released? At this point, there was too much evidence scattered around for Taejin to be released. Even with the power of the Jin family backing him, it was the same. Even if Choi Heewon’s grandfather came, not just his descendant, he couldn’t get him released. The Superpower Management Office wasn’t so lenient as to readily release a major criminal.
Semi’s face was somewhat strange when she realized that Iyeon had no grasp of the situation. It seemed both unexpected and perhaps expected at the same time.
“You haven’t heard the news? Je Sano would know.”
“…What news?”
His heart pounded loudly. Was his boyfriend’s name, which had suddenly popped up, such a bad omen? While Iyeon was reciting jokes to himself to try to maintain composure, Semi continued.
“You know Cho Jeonryeok was postponed, right?”
“Ah, yes. I received the official notice.”
“It’s because of the terrain configuration function.”
The next moment, an unexpected truth poured in.
“Taejin is making a deal with the Superpower Management Office regarding the terrain configuration function. He’s offering to fix the broken one in exchange for his release.”
Too much information was poured into his brain at once. Taejin is making a deal, no, the terrain configuration function is broken? Release him if he fixes it? What does this mean? Iyeon muttered with a dumbfounded face.
“It’s broken?”
“No, to be precise, rather than broken… Taejin had already made arrangements.”
Semi’s voice faltered a bit as if she wasn’t sure if it was okay to say this, but fortunately, she didn’t stop.
“You remember the superpower bracelet Taejin wore? The one with large gems dangling all over it? It was made with your gi-ryeok.”
Of course he remembered. Unlike Semi’s bracelets, which were made with gem-sized jewels, Taejin’s bracelet had fist-sized gems crudely attached, making it look more like an arm guard than a bracelet.
“Think about it. He hadn’t met you for 10 years, so where would he get all that gi-ryeok from?”
…Huh?
“He scraped together what he had distributed throughout the city’s terrain configuration function to catch you. If he had caught you, he probably planned to extract your gi-ryeok again and put it back.”
But Iyeon wasn’t caught by Taejin, and he destroyed all the gems on the bracelet.
“So now, I bet every combat zone is restricted from using the terrain configuration function. Haven’t you used a combat zone recently? That’s why Cho Jeonryeok is being postponed too. Because they can’t use the terrain configuration function. I heard there’s been a commotion every time people go to the Superpower Management Office.”
Iyeon’s face turned pale. Several scenes flashed through his mind. Hyeseong’s words that there seemed to be a problem with Cho Jeonryeok, the official notice that Cho Jeonryeok applications were being delayed, Heesu looking for the person in charge of the combat zone…
There had been hints multiple times. Iyeon had just dismissed them without much thought.
“But Taejin alone can’t remake that…”
The gi-ryeok used in the terrain configuration function is Iyeon’s. The past gi-ryeok that Taejin extracted was directly eliminated by Iyeon. Taejin absolutely cannot restore it on his own.
“We know that.”
“But how…”
“But the people at the Superpower Management Office don’t know that, right?”
