“Eek!”
I woke from my dream with a start. Because Will Taylor had shot me. Did he see me? Or did he shoot mercilessly while thinking I was a phantom? Will Taylor showed no change in expression. He just naturally pulled out a gun as if taking out a cigarette pack and shot at me. The whole process didn’t even take a few seconds.
I fumbled at my upper body for no reason. There were no new external injuries. Even though I knew it was clearly a dream, it felt overwhelmingly realistic.
“Wow, he really has no mercy. He just shoots without even thinking to identify who I am?”
The gun barrel was pointing precisely at me. I shook my head at the chilling feeling. It was already very late at night. Finding it difficult to fall back asleep, I tossed and turned before standing by the window. Originally it had been a hospital room with a large window, but saying the impulsive actions I took during the Pamundong incident might be related to mental stress, they moved me to a safer and more comfortable room. Even so, the window was small and had bars closely installed.
Whether the moon was very small today or I had the wrong direction, no moonlight poured in. It was just a dark night. I thought it was very different from the abandoned hospital where I always felt like I was beside the moon. A place where moonlight existed so bright it seemed not to exist in this world. I pondered carefully whether such a place existed in Korea. Nothing came to mind easily.
“How can there not be a single star? Is environmental pollution that serious?”
After looking at the pitch-black sky through the bars, I returned to my spot. I searched for the VENT chairman. Just as I had seen in my dream, he was a white-haired man.
Chairman Kim Seonhyeop. His eldest son was Kim Sewon, his second son was Kim Haewon. Unlike concerns that he would produce a string of half-siblings with different mothers like Kim Seonhyeop’s father, Kim Seonhyeop had exactly two children after marriage. One eldest son to receive the management system, one second son who manifested as an esper to serve the nation. As if it had been predetermined. The brothers’ mother was French, who had been active as an S-class esper but retired upon marriage. It’s said she rarely shows her face except at official events.
“A man who’s been in the munitions business for generations and a French S-class esper woman. They somehow suit each other, yet don’t.”
I searched for more photos and materials of Kim Seonhyeop. Kim Seonhyeop’s mother was also Western, and perhaps because he received much influence from maternal genes, it was difficult to find Asian features in his face.
I stopped at a familiar background. It was a mansion with an endlessly verdant meadow visible. The place Will Taylor had visited was his private residence in Germany.
He had two gray greyhounds standing like decorations by his side while holding a rifle. His handsome appearance, slender yet firm physique, the power symbolized by the gun, and the vast mansion all harmonized.
He had such a clean image without excess that he could represent the company VENT himself. A man who gave the company to his first son and made his second son the most powerful esper in the world. The face of a man who was very satisfied with the results of reproduction beyond his own survival overflowed with leisure. The man with eyes that seemed to crumble and shatter before the Alliance Leader was nowhere to be found. The sense of distance between those two faces was quite large. As if they were different people.
‘What would a man who has everything like this desire? Why did the Alliance Leader refuse it?’
The Alliance Leader called it a wish. He also called it a vain hope. However, Kim Seonhyeop seemed to think the Alliance Leader could sufficiently grant it.
When VENT starts moving in earnest, Kim Haewon becomes endangered. The Pamundong matter hasn’t even been settled yet. My head was complicated.
‘First, it’s important that we retrieve that Alliance Leader’s ring.’
Even if I couldn’t trust the humans within the Association, it seemed things would become more complicated if that ring fell into the hands of VENT, Kuhne, or MK. Though I didn’t know what power was contained in it. Would it be okay to bring up this story to Kim Haewon? How far should I tell him?
“A bit cruel.”
Kim Haewon who hears it might actually accept it more calmly. But the fact that I had to spit out such words to him made my heart feel a bit strange. Whether the relationship was good or bad, it was a family matter.
My feelings were unsettled. The girl’s voice pleading to be saved also seemed to keep circling in my heart. If I fell asleep again, would I return to the dream, or would I just sleep comfortably? With this fear whose reason was clear, I paced by the window for quite a while.
* * *
I couldn’t really remember when I had dozed off. The important thing was that I had fallen asleep and didn’t dream. Before I could even grasp that, I was led by the nurse’s hand to undergo various tests.
As soon as he received word from the Management Bureau that I would be going to Pamundong together, my attending physician jumped. He even made a half-joking, half-serious remark asking if I really wanted long-term hospitalization at this hospital.
I explained that I wanted to go home more than anyone, but it didn’t seem to sound very convincing. I went through various examinations and prepared meticulously. I thought only my grade had changed, but my physical abilities seemed to have improved too. Wounds healed faster than before. Of course, it was a minimal level compared to Nam Ihyeon or Kim Haewon.
When the examination ended and I returned to the hospital room, my phone had been encroached upon by Nam Ihyeon. When I told him this morning that Kim Haewon said he was coming again today, he was throwing a fit.
That bastard Kim Haewon is coming again today?
What’s so special about being a pair? Does the Association only allow him? When you think about it, the Association is ridiculous ㅡㅡ
No. That bastard Kim Haewon is getting more and more disrespectful too.
I told him to take me along, and he fucking ignored me.
My face flushed slightly as I recalled the novel content I read yesterday. There’s no way he would have said such romance novel-like lines, but since I heard he prevented Nam Ihyeon from coming, that scene naturally came to mind. I smacked my lips and continued.
The test results are good. Looks like I’ll be discharged soon. Let’s meet outside after I come back from Pamundong~
ㅇㅇ. But will you be okay? Pamundong is still dangerous
Ah, well~~ What can I do when they say they need me? (showing off emoticon)
You were so downcast until recentlyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
When Nam Ihyeon said that, I felt a bit sheepish. If he found out I cried after being comforted by Kim Haewon, I was dizzy thinking about how much he’d tease me. I should never tell him for life. As I was thinking that, Nam Ihyeon’s message arrived again before I could even reply.
Still, this is better than having no confidence.
He was a guy who was busy teasing and being cheeky whenever he saw my face. His reputation was dirty, and he was arrogant as hell. But looking at him like this, he seemed like a decent guy.
He probably properly recognized me as a colleague after going through the Esper Jeong Sanghyeop incident together, right? I liked these moments when I received confirmation that the actions I had taken one by one weren’t wrong. It felt like the desire for recognition I had without knowing was surging up. It was as good as when I first became a guide.
Even if, like back then, this was a feeling that would be betrayed…
Lunch service arrived. As soon as I received two portions and put them on the table, the door opened with a knock. As if not even expecting an answer from the person inside. Kim Haewon gave me a polite bow while holding coffee from a famous coffee shop in his hand.
“Welcome. The food just arrived too. And there are things I newly learned last night. Hurry and sit down. I have a lot to tell you.”
At my urging, Kim Haewon said he’d excuse himself and sat facing me. I pushed aside the coffee Kim Haewon brought and picked up my spoon. When I started eating first, Kim Haewon also slowly began his meal.
“Is there any news from Pamundong? Like a gate opening?”
Kim Haewon, who had just put rice in his mouth, moved his eyebrows. He was stirred. He looked at me as if asking how I knew.
“It was in that novel yesterday. That thing only I can see.”
“What did it say?”
“A small helicopter visited the secret base. Suo Weiqian’s executives were there. While the executives went to find something Suo Weiqian had hidden, it created a gate and left.”
“That’s accurate. Do you also know what Suo Weiqian had hidden?”
“The Alliance Leader’s ring.”
“Alliance Leader?”
“In that novel, it said four organizations are involved in this incident. Pamundong, MK, Kuhne, and.”
I swallowed once before bringing up the words. Then Kim Haewon calmly continued as if he already knew.
“VENT.”
I nodded. Since I had already confirmed even Kim Haewon’s father’s face, it must be certain. I continued while checking Kim Haewon’s complexion.
“The Alliance Leader seems to be the person who gathered those four organizations to form an alliance. I don’t know who it is yet.”
“There can’t be many people who can wield those four organizations.”
“It’s probably because of interests, but the power structure seemed quite clear. Everyone seemed to be quite mindful of the Alliance Leader too. That person gave a ring to Suo Weiqian, which was hidden inside the secret base. Now it’s in someone else’s hands.”
“Do you know who has it?”
I nodded.
“Wang Feng.”
“…”
Kim Haewon twitched his eyebrows again as if it was unexpected. I caught on to what that meant and immediately continued.
“I also know that Heo Juan is the most likely next chairman. But Heo Juan wasn’t even at that place.”
“No. I’m not doubting or denying Guide Park Garam’s opinion.”
“…”
“Heo Juan’s whereabouts have been continuously unclear. From the time Suo Weiqian died.”
“Uh, could he have been kidnapped somewhere?”
“That might be so. His ability.”
“…”
“Is a mirror.”
Mirror. A very unique ability even among psychic-type abilities. A defensive ability that attacks by reflecting the opponent’s techniques back at them.
‘This isn’t a simple escape or kidnapping.’
I felt that instinctively. My uneasy gaze reached Kim Haewon. Kim Haewon only faced me without rashly opening his mouth.
