# Chapter 40
Fenil’s steps halted in front of Kay’s house. As she silently stared at the door blocking her way, instead of ringing the doorbell, she raised her hand.
Bang—Bang—
With enough force to break it down, Fenil knocked on the door with all her might. But despite the noise that sounded like it belonged at a construction site, there was no sign of anyone coming to answer.
An ordinary person would have assumed no one was home and left. But she didn’t. She had already confirmed that Boss was inside the house.
It would be foolish to leave when she knew someone was there. So Fenil tried another approach.
Her hand moved to the digital lock and she naturally entered the password. It was worth the effort to find out the password. When Fenil pressed the numbers without any difficulty, the door opened right away.
“I’m coming in.”
After this one-sided announcement, Fenil confidently stepped inside. The bleak, sunken air was incredibly gloomy. Even the sunlight was blocked by curtains, making it feel even more depressing.
Fenil sighed as she grabbed the doorknob that blocked the bedroom. The situation was more serious than she had thought. She had been anxious from the moment she heard Boss was at Kay’s house, but not to this extent.
Thinking it wouldn’t be easy, she gently opened the door. Just like the living room, the bedroom was filled with darkness, and Fenil turned on the light.
With a click, light flooded the bedroom. Then a figure sitting on the floor began to come into her view.
“Boss, how long are you going to stay like this?”
His current appearance was more suited to the dead than the living. Despite the brightened interior, the atmosphere around Boss remained gloomy.
His face, covered in shadows, looked as if he might die at any moment. His eyes, brimming with despair, continuously stared at the photograph he held in his hand. It was a faded photo about the size of a palm.
She didn’t know what the photo was, but it was clearly one related to Kay.
Fenil let out an exaggerated sigh to awaken Boss’s senses. But he merely maintained his silence. He deliberately ignored her words, which he had certainly heard.
“…Fenil, you knew everything, didn’t you?”
When Boss finally spoke, it was at a moment when the silence had become familiar. As if to prove he hadn’t spoken for a long time, his voice came out slightly cracked.
Fenil slowly nodded while Boss continued to look at the photo without looking at her.
“…About Kay dying.”
She hadn’t felt strange about it until a few years ago. Even if his ability was regeneration, it was a body that could immediately heal even fatal wounds.
In other words, it meant Kay’s regeneration had no limits. But there’s no superpower in the world without limits.
Just as Boss’s revive was limited to once, all abilities naturally have their limits.
So after harboring this doubt, Fenil began to investigate the regeneration ability. The investigation was more difficult than finding a needle in a desert.
First of all, there was absurdly little information. Even common superpowers had their details treated as top secret, so it was inevitable for a rare ability. But she finally managed to discover one document.
It was the diary of someone who had once possessed the regeneration ability. This was truly a miraculous coincidence. Who would have thought such a book existed in ‘Alice’s’ archives? It seemed to be part of the materials collected when the organization was established.
The diary also contained the limit of regeneration that Fenil had been looking for. The limit that using the ability shortened one’s lifespan.
But by the time she discovered this fact, it was already too late. At this rate, Kay would certainly die.
Therefore, Fenil devised this plan without telling the truth that would only cause confusion.
But Boss had no way of knowing Fenil’s thoughts. At her words that she had known everything, a faint vibration spread through the room. Fenil gave an awkward smile at the threatening resonance asking why she hadn’t told him.
“Then you must also know the solution.”
After a while, the chilling vibration finally stopped. Having barely contained his emotions, he began to speak in a grim tone.
It was a moment when an ordinary person would want to run away immediately, but Fenil had anticipated this situation. That’s why she could maintain her composure.
“Don’t you know that better than anyone, Boss?”
“What do you—”
Boss’s attempt to refute Fenil’s incomprehensible words faltered. Unable to hide his bewilderment, he hastily stared at her.
“No way…”
“Fortunately, it seems you remember.”
Fenil dismissed Boss’s reaction without concern. At her words that reminded him of what he had forgotten, he relaxed his stiffened body and let out an empty laugh.
He hadn’t even considered it. Why hadn’t he realized?
“You planned this from the beginning.”
A way to save Kay. Didn’t he know that best? Only then could Boss understand why Fenil had come to him.
“Why did you send him to Peace? If you were going to save him, there was no need to send him.”
The end of her plan was for him to save Kay. If so, couldn’t she have told him everything from the beginning? There was no need for Fenil to plan such a complicated affair.
“Because Kay needed to confess to you.”
Reading his thoughts, Fenil answered simply. If things had gone according to his thinking, there certainly wouldn’t have been a reason for her to do this. But nothing in the world is easy, and this was no exception.
“If Kay hadn’t confessed, would you have saved him?”
All of this was only possible on the premise that he would save Kay. In other words, if Boss didn’t save Kay, everything would be useless.
Therefore, Fenil had no choice but to focus the plan on Boss saving Kay. For that, Kay confessing to him was absolutely necessary.
But it was obvious that Kay wouldn’t confess to him even if he knew he was terminally ill. So she had to create an opportunity for Kay to change. Peace was for that purpose.
“…”
“You wouldn’t have saved him. You wouldn’t even have realized your feelings for Kay.”
Boss couldn’t say anything to Fenil, who only spoke the truth. Certainly, after Kay’s confession, he had become more conscious of him. It’s true that he thought of Kay as special before that too, but it wasn’t enough reason to save him.
“How can you be so certain?”
Fenil didn’t have an ounce of doubt about something even he couldn’t be certain of.
Boss’s questioning gaze turned toward Fenil, who was wearing an expression of relief. With a corner of her mouth pulled up, she spoke nonchalantly.
“I told you I know. About your past.”
He thought she only knew fragments of his past. But according to her words, Fenil knew all of his past.
“…To think you found that out too.”
It wasn’t even surprising anymore. The reason Fenil could be so sure about his actions. It had to do with a certain individual.
Boss recalled the person he had buried in his memories, unable to forget. Heyon, who had been his precious person.
Until now, he thought Heyon had been right. Back then, in the grief of losing everything, he had wanted to let go of himself too.
It was Heyon who prevented that. He placed a hypnotic suggestion on Boss, who was falling apart. A hypnosis to feel neither despair nor sadness, nor joy.
That’s why Boss felt nothing when his family died. He couldn’t find a reason for the tears he shed. There was a sense of disconnect with that fact, but he thought it was for the best since unnecessary emotions were gone. The version of himself that felt nothing back then thought so.
But that hypnosis gradually began to unravel, and finally, with Kay’s death, the hypnosis was completely broken.
Afterward, he couldn’t possibly think it was a good thing. He even felt resentment toward Heyon.
Because of Heyon’s hypnosis, he hadn’t even realized he was in love with Kay.
As a result, he did something he shouldn’t have done. He saw Kay as nothing more than a toy. He drove Kay to his death without giving anything to the person he loved.
If Heyon hadn’t placed the hypnosis, perhaps at least Kay wouldn’t have died.
“I knew about the hypnosis. I saw the records from the hospital you attended.”
“…I see.”
Fenil’s words sounded muffled. Although she said Kay could be saved, the regrets of the past still hadn’t disappeared.
Boss slowly ran his hand over his face. His detached attitude made him look extremely precarious.
It had certainly been an inevitable period. Due to Kay’s death, the hypnosis that had bound him was broken.
As if Kay’s death wasn’t enough, he also had to deal with uncontrolled emotions. It would be strange not to be confused.
Fenil gave a bitter smile at the sight of Boss gradually falling apart. She tried to hide her sympathetic feelings as much as possible as she spoke.
“So how is it now? Everything has returned.”
With a voice higher than usual, the atmosphere between them lightened a little. Although she was someone who didn’t usually mind others, she had no choice but to be considerate now.
“…It’s not particularly a good feeling.”
But her consideration was dampened by his subsequent words.
Boss, who always hid his inner thoughts, honestly expressed his feelings. Fenil let out a small sigh in response. Where had that calm Boss gone?
It was understandable, given that the hypnosis had lasted for so long.
“Still, you have to save Kay.”
But saving Kay came first now. Since Boss had realized his feelings, there was no reason for failure.
Though Fenil appeared relaxed, she was just as anxious. Rather, she had been a bystander, albeit unintentionally. So her guilt was bound to be multiplied compared to others.
Until she saw Kay come back to life, this guilt wouldn’t disappear. That’s why Fenil wanted to see him revived as soon as possible.
Her reminder not to forget what needed to be done helped Boss regain his senses a little.
“…Yes, I should.”
Rather than continuing meaningless regret, it was right to ask for Kay’s forgiveness as soon as possible.
But even with that thought, Boss couldn’t decide with certainty. One thing continued to weigh on his mind that he couldn’t just ignore.
It all finally makes sense.
Thank you for the chapter ^^