Yeo Dowoon, who had finally managed to deflect most of the mental influence’s pressure, asked recklessly. His heart wasn’t inclined to cautiously read the room. His tone had become noticeably rougher too.
“Just like how you bent the 1st generation Espers to your will, are you going to try bending the 4th generation too?”
Kwon Hyeokun, who had his back against the window, asked back in a low voice.
“Are you asking me to bend you to my will?”
“…….”
“To my eyes, it looks like you’re desperate to be bent to my will.”
It was a threat like an intimidation, but Yeo Dowoon didn’t yield and answered.
“If the Director orders it, I’ll comply at any time.”
“…….”
“Should I bark for you?”
“…….”
“If you want to interrogate me, go ahead. I’ll take it.”
If it meant flattening his insufferable arrogance, he could remain indifferent even to the surging pain. Well, since it was only phantom pain anyway, he wouldn’t actually take any real damage.
But Kwon Hyeokun just smiled gently while looking at him like a newborn puppy. As the rigid and strict old man put on a shameless act of playing the affectionate superior, only disgust welled up.
“If interrogation were necessary, I wouldn’t have shown you any leniency, Inseok.”
At Kwon Hyeokun’s affected manner of speaking, Yeo Dowoon went “Ptui,” and spat out bloody saliva. Because he’d clenched his mouth shut trying to suppress his foul mood, acrid bloody liquid had been gradually spreading inside.
Whether Kwon Hyeokun kept inducing phantom pain or not, Yeo Dowoon replied nonchalantly.
“I love how your methods never change 365 days a year, Director. You’re magnificent.”
“You really are…”
“Keurk!”
As Kwon Hyeokun clicked his tongue for the second time, Yeo Dowoon was completely exposed to the sensation of his internal organs twisting. This time he could only writhe without being able to maintain his breathing properly.
It was as if his liver was squirming its way to where his heart should be, and his heart was squirming to where his liver should be.
However, since he couldn’t counterattack unless he intended to turn the base into an enemy, Yeo Dowoon thought as he slowly crumbled.
“You’re lasting longer than when you were young.”
Should I just close my eyes and stab him with ice? He’s a bastard who won’t be any help even if he stays alive—wouldn’t it be good for the world to save some oxygen too?
Just as Yeo Dowoon’s eyes flashed suddenly and an intense impulse accompanied it.
“Keuruk…!”
Thud! As the staggering Yeo Dowoon collapsed once again, Kwon Hyeokun nodded his head as if satisfied. Yeo Dowoon glared at Kwon Hyeokun with fierce, blazing eyes.
It was strange. The moment he felt the intent to attack, all the strength in his body drained away and he had no choice but to be completely exposed to the mental influence. His mind gradually became hazy and his voice sank deeply.
“What did you… do to me…”
Toward the Esper who still hadn’t learned the art of getting along, Kwon Hyeokun murmured as if coaxing a child.
“Don’t make yourself shorten your own lifespan.”
His warning was extremely secretive. Perhaps because it felt so concealed, it only felt more unsettling.
Even in the midst of this, Yeo Dowoon couldn’t move a single finger. When Kwon Hyeokun lifted his head with the toe of his shoe, all he could do was weakly shake his face off.
Kwon Hyeokun stepped firmly on his straight nape as if finding it amusing. Cough, cough! Cough! At the sporadically bursting coughs, he added as if feeling sorry.
“If Jeonghoo didn’t cherish you.”
“Ugh, keuruk…”
“I would have no reason to cherish you either. Right?”
“…….”
“If Jeonghoo wasn’t soft on you…”
“…….”
“I would have no reason not to tame you.”
The last thing Yeo Dowoon witnessed before losing consciousness was Kwon Hyeokun carrying him to the sofa with arms that were sturdy beyond his years.
After laying him down, he looked down at him for a long while, then clicked his tongue and roughly rubbed his own face.
“This ability is too good for you.”
Even until the moment before passing out, Yeo Dowoon rejected Kwon Hyeokun’s mental influence and provoked his temper. Thanks to that, Kwon Hyeokun was able to reflect on the past as if savoring nostalgic times.
Among the Espers who had deflected his mental influence to this degree, regrettably, none who were still clinging to their lifeline existed.
“Judge wisely. You must live long and prosper.”
They were all just ghosts now. Kwon Hyeokun touched Yeo Dowoon’s bridge of his nose before leaving the office.
***
Yeo Dowoon found the touch of another person’s hand messily stroking his hair annoying and bothersome. It was so cumbersome that he let out a low groan of “Uuh.”
As if an anaconda was coiled around his ribcage, he couldn’t even breathe lightly.
“Stop that and get up. My neck’s getting sore from waiting.”
What pulled Yeo Dowoon out of such agonizing sleep was someone’s husky voice. Yeo Dowoon, who had been lying on the sofa embraced against Kwon Jeonghoo’s chest, woke up and blinked his eyes as if dumbfounded.
“…Hyung?”
His consciousness was hazy as if he’d been given drugs for a wavelength examination.
“Still sleepy?”
What made Yeo Dowoon pay attention first was the sound of rough wrapping paper rustling in a large hand. Kwon Jeonghoo’s office had all sorts of snacks.
Candy, chocolate, jelly, biscuits, bubble gum… Though he stocked them by type, he himself never touched them.
“Look this way and say ‘ah.'”
“…….”
“Before I feed you with my mouth, hurry up.”
Yeo Dowoon, who had been reacting sluggishly, obediently accepted the candy.
The round, rough surface touched his tongue and melted away smoothly. The tangy orange flavor immediately stained his mucous membranes. When he pushed the candy to one side of his mouth because it was too sweet, his cheek bulged out to match its size.
Excessive sweetness sometimes feels like bitterness. Yeo Dowoon snapped as if complaining.
“Do I really have to eat all of this?”
“Yep.”
Kwon Jeonghoo, who answered curtly, personally closed his slightly parted lips. The round candy crunched and crunched apart with that gesture. The sound of his molars suffering wonderfully echoed.
When the finely crushed candies got rolled by his tongue and disappeared, Yeo Dowoon staggered and sat up. His eyelids, heavily laden with drowsiness, were puffed up like dumplings.
Kwon Jeonghoo asked with a snicker. Even when Yeo Dowoon pushed him away hard, he just laughed it off.
“Dude. Really tired?”
“…Yes. Because I just got tortured.”
“What torture.”
“You fed me tasteless candy. If that’s not torture, what is it?”
Since he’d been mixed up in such warm body heat, he didn’t feel cold even though he suddenly separated alone. Yeo Dowoon, who grumbled in a tightly closed voice, said he needed to rinse his mouth and looked for cold water.
“Do you have water? Cold water?”
Kwon Jeonghoo leisurely stopped him.
“Hold on. The water purifier broke.”
“Don’t you have any bottled water either?”
“If there was, I would’ve brought it to you as soon as you woke up.”
It was truly a bolt from the blue. The sweet taste remained thickly, making it agonizing every time he swallowed, and if he dragged this on any longer, his tongue would be paralyzed and then some.
“Move aside. I’ll go get some water myself.”
“What are you going to put it in?”
“A paper cup, or just a cup…, something like that. Don’t tell me you don’t even have paper cups?”
As Yeo Dowoon’s eyes wrinkled sharply, Kwon Jeonghoo shrugged his broad shoulders and leisurely murmured.
“They ran out about two weeks ago, I think.”
“What exactly do you have?”
“Well. Snacks to feed you?”
“…….”
“I have lots of snacks to put in your mouth.”
At his playful yet affectionate answer, Yeo Dowoon felt his brain stop for a moment. Soon he continued speaking incoherently.
“I don’t really like snacks. When I eat sweet things, my stomach gets upset and I feel gross. You know that, Captain.”
“Yeah. I know. You frown whether it’s candy or chocolate.”
“If you really know that, from now on buy water instead of snacks.”
“Ah, that’s going to be a bit difficult.”
It was an ambiguous refusal. When Yeo Dowoon stared at him blankly, Kwon Jeonghoo put his palm on the back of his neck and whispered.
“I like the expression you make when I put candy in your mouth. Your cheeks are cute too.”
“You’re trying to pull that dog act again…!”
Yeo Dowoon, who was shaking him off and quickly getting down from the sofa, was suddenly caught by a large grip and ended up in a contest of strength.
“Captain!”
“Why are you being so distant.”
Kwon Jeonghoo tried to pull Yeo Dowoon tightly against him, and Yeo Dowoon stiffened his entire body like a grill trying to escape from him. As the tense battle continued, Kwon Jeonghoo couldn’t stand it anymore and grumbled.
“Dude, I’m not thinking of kissing you, so just stay still.”
Then Yeo Dowoon kicked up at the coated floor and retorted.
“Who would I believe words from a three-inch tongue for! Captain, you come out.”
Unlike Kwon Hyeokun who belonged to the cognitive system among psychic types, he could subdue someone like Kwon Jeonghoo without much effort on his part.
Though the result might be unpredictable with just pure muscle strength, the physical abilities of nature types and psychic types were clearly different, weren’t they. If he was specialized in combat, Kwon Jeonghoo was specialized in defense.
“Espers don’t count as civilians.”
Personnel professionally raised for defense and such—he could beat them with his eyes closed. As Yeo Dowoon declared war, a fierce wind like a snowstorm fluttered his black hair.
“I won’t go easy on you just because you’re the Captain.”
Before nature types activated their abilities, sometimes physical changes that imitated their nature would appear.
For example, in the case of Gu Seohyun from the suppression unit, befitting an Esper who handled electric currents on a wide scale, there were times when she carried sparkling sparks. Her tightly tied hair sometimes performed the function of an electric whip itself, so if you stood next to her and got slapped in the cheek, you’d get at least second-degree burns.
