“This son of a bitch really did hypnotize me?”
Nam Ihyeon couldn’t contain his anger and kicked Jeong Sanghyeop. In his own way, he’d be controlling his strength while hitting, but he was still S-class.
“Stop it!”
“Whose side are you taking right now?”
“We caught him anyway. We have to ask about his crimes through proper procedures. Can you just beat him up indiscriminately?”
“It’s infuriating!”
Nam Ihyeon kicked at empty air in annoyance and turned away. I helped up Jeong Sanghyeop, who was coughing and spitting blood, and had him lean against the nightstand.
“Esper Jeong Sanghyeop, are you okay?”
“Fuck, how did you know?”
“Guide Han Miyeon gave me a hint.”
“So it was that bitch after all. Ptui.”
“……”
“I should have quickly strangled her.”
Jeong Sanghyeop said terrifying things as if they were nothing. I just quietly listened to that talk, then continued with my questions.
“Who ordered you to do this?”
“Who? Are you looking for someone behind it? There’s nothing like that. I did it voluntarily. Because the Association killed my noona first!”
Jeong Sanghyeop shouted. Blood poured from his mouth. I looked at him quietly, then continued speaking.
“Esper Jeong Sanghyeop, do you properly know the truth?”
“Truth? Are you going to try to trick me with that composite gate nonsense too? Saying S-class did their best? Even so, those S-class bastards only arrived after noona died. My brother-in-law couldn’t even find the body!”
Brother-in-law? That was the first time I heard that information. Was the esper eaten by Markos Jeong Suhee’s husband? Then it was the same as Jeong Sanghyeop losing two family members at once.
“It’s all over. It’s all over. I haven’t properly killed even one person yet…… Maybe it was impossible from the start. It didn’t make sense. Me, a D-class, getting revenge. Laugh all you want. Because it’s ridiculous.”
“No one’s laughing.”
“Try being a little more excited. Noisily, pretend to be righteous. You S-class guys are good at that!”
“That bastard thinks he can say whatever he wants!”
Nam Ihyeon flared up at Jeong Sanghyeop’s provocation. I pushed him away with my body and stopped him.
“Esper Nam Ihyeon! Wait! Just wait!”
Nam Ihyeon huffed as if his mood wouldn’t improve unless he beat Jeong Sanghyeop right now so he couldn’t speak.
“Why are you stopping me?”
“We have to tell him the truth.”
“What truth!”
Nam Ihyeon shouted as if frustrated and turned away. I approached Jeong Sanghyeop, who was leaning against the nightstand with his expression twisted in electric pain.
“It’s dangerous, so don’t get close.”
Nam Ihyeon said in a drained voice. I said I understood and approached Jeong Sanghyeop closely. Jeong Sanghyeop stayed still without even moving his head. Like someone who had given up on everything.
“There’s a fact Esper Jeong Sanghyeop doesn’t know.”
“Are you telling me to listen to the Association’s fabricated persuasion again? Fine. What kind of drama will you write this time? It would be good to talk quickly.”
“Wait, right now purple blood is coming from your mouth……”
“Purple blood?”
At the words purple blood, Nam Ihyeon ran over and pried open Jeong Sanghyeop’s mouth. Jeong Sanghyeop was giggling and laughing.
“You hid poison in your molar? You crazy bastard.”
“Kheuhk, even if I failed, I can’t let things go your way. Cough, cough.”
Jeong Sanghyeop retched up blood. Nam Ihyeon immediately opened the hospital room door and shouted, “Help! There’s a poison ingestion patient here!” I was shocked and grabbed Jeong Sanghyeop. His body seemed to be rapidly stiffening.
Thinking that a person was dying before my eyes, tears flowed. I couldn’t even think of wiping the dripping tears and held onto Jeong Sanghyeop.
“Esper Jeong Sanghyeop, pull yourself together and listen. That, Esper Jeong Suhee. Esper Jeong Suhee fought doing her best until the end.”
“She would have…… Because noona is that kind of person. Cough.”
“No! That’s not it! She fought even though she could have lived!”
“What?”
Jeong Sanghyeop tried to look in my direction. I pulled his eye patch to help him and quickly continued speaking.
“Look if I’m lying. Look at this expression to see if it’s telling a lie.”
“……”
“She fought to keep Markos from going outside! Even knowing she might lose, without hiding like the other A-classes, she died doing her best against Markos!”
Jeong Sanghyeop’s eyes scrunched up. An expression as if he couldn’t understand, as if he was in pain because he absolutely couldn’t understand.
“Why, why make that choice……”
“Because there were people outside the gate. It was a residential area, right? Esper Jeong Sanghyeop went there too, so you should remember.”
“……”
“Esper Nam Ihyeon told me directly. She held out for 17 minutes. The two of them fought with all their might to the death before S-class arrived there. If it hadn’t been for that, Markos would have gone outside the gate.”
Jeong Sanghyeop’s face was turning pale blue from the poison. Tears flowed from his eyes. I couldn’t tell what emotion he felt.
“You……”
“What?”
“Over here! Here! It seems to be a deadly poison. Quickly do something!”
The moment Jeong Sanghyeop tried to say something, the medical team burst in. Jeong Sanghyeop trembled and moved his mouth.
“……don’t…… run……”
“Patient, look here. Can you see? We’ll move you right away!”
The restraint tools were released, and medical equipment immediately began coming in. My bed immediately transformed into a space for treating Jeong Sanghyeop. I was pushed away by the medical team. At that moment, Jeong Sanghyeop stretched out his arm and grabbed my wrist. His fingers were bent backward, yet it was a grip strength whose source was unknown.
“Don’t become a dog like me…… run away!”
With those final words, Jeong Sanghyeop spewed blood. It was enough to thoroughly soak the clothes of the medical staff in front. He closed his eyes like that, and the medical team no longer did anything.
Nam Ihyeon pulled the frozen me out backward. He also wiped my face with something. I only blinked my eyes. Tears kept flowing from my eyes.
“Is he dead?”
“Yeah……”
“That person is dead?”
“Yeah. He’s dead! Pull yourself together!”
Nam Ihyeon shook my shoulders. I couldn’t pull myself together. Jeong Sanghyeop died before my eyes. It was a life I thought I’d saved. The moment when I was happy that I’d changed the novel’s story felt so distant.
‘In the end, was it something that couldn’t be changed? In any way.’
As soon as I thought that, Han Miyeon came to mind. There were two people I saved at the western gate. Fates that should have died. I grabbed Nam Ihyeon and shouted.
“What about Guide Han Miyeon!”
“Why her all of a sudden?”
I pushed Nam Ihyeon away and just ran. Han Miyeon was on a different floor from me. The elevator was staying on another floor. I didn’t hesitate and started climbing the stairs. Not even knowing I was out of breath, I just ran wildly.
When I flung open the emergency exit door, heat rose and my breath became short. An A-class esper who was waiting in the corridor saw me covered in blood and continued speaking.
“What’s the matter?”
“Haa, Gu-, Guide Han Miyeon?”
“She’s probably sleeping. There were no visitors.”
At the A-class esper’s words, I nodded and caught my breath.
“Hey, Park Garam!”
From behind the stairs, I heard Nam Ihyeon calling my name.
“I’m sorry. Haa. I suddenly got so anxious…… She’s fine. No visitors either……”
“Of course she’d be fine. And even if something happened, will you get an answer by running alone like that?”
Nam Ihyeon gave my head a knock and said, “Numbskull.” Though I don’t know who’s saying that to whom. I first needed to check Han Miyeon’s condition directly, so I moved my steps.
Normally it would be impossible to visit right away, but when it was confirmed that there was a special situation on the lower floor, the door opened. Han Miyeon was sleeping just as the A-class esper predicted.
One of the two people came down from the hospital room ceiling. It was an esper Nam Ihyeon had secretly hidden.
“There were no intruders in the hospital room, right?”
“No, there weren’t. However……”
“However what?”
“She’s been sleeping continuously since we arrived.”
That was a bit strange. I couldn’t explain in detail, but I had said on the phone that there could be a special situation to clear Nam Ihyeon’s false accusation. Her voice rose and she was delighted as soon as she heard Nam Ihyeon’s name.
Since it was a hospital room, even if she didn’t dress up, it didn’t seem like she would keep sleeping.
“Something’s strange.”
“What’s strange? A patient can sleep soundly for about a day.”
Even as Nam Ihyeon said that, he moved me away from her. Then he approached first.
“Guide Han Miyeon, Han Miyeon-ssi.”
Nam Ihyeon called her name. Then Han Miyeon frowned and turned her body. It was the typical appearance of a sleeping person.
“She just seems to be sleeping?”
When Nam Ihyeon said that, I approached closely. She seemed to be sleeping well, even mumbling and talking in her sleep. It was clearly a peaceful appearance, yet I didn’t know why I was so anxious.
Nam Ihyeon’s phone rang.
“Yes, Director.”
It seemed to be Cha Hyeonseok.
“Did you check the video? The culprit is dead. It seems he was holding poison on his molar side and burst it. Terrible bastard.”
Even in that chaotic situation, it seemed the video taken in the hospital room was transmitted directly to Cha Hyeonseok. Nam Ihyeon talked with Cha Hyeonseok while approaching the window.
As if there was something I shouldn’t hear, he lowered the call volume while talking. I approached Han Miyeon a little closer.
“Guide Han Miyeon, Guide Han Miyeon. You’re sleeping, right?”
“Park Garam?”
Han Miyeon said that and opened her eyes.
“Ah, yes. It’s me. Are you awake?”
She looked at me. For a moment I froze. Her pupils were black and unfocused. Before I could step back, something sharp penetrated into my stomach.
“Park Garam!”
Nam Ihyeon shouted. Han Miyeon neither laughed nor cried. However, the same purple blood as Jeong Sanghyeop flowed down from the corner of her mouth.
In the end, both characters who should have originally died, died. A pain more vivid than being stabbed penetrated through me.
