# Chapter 69
I noticed Ben walking toward me in the corridor. When I saw him, my footsteps automatically slowed down. I had woken up in the break room after collapsing on the 32nd floor. I couldn’t remember anything after collapsing. The gap in my memory was certainly no coincidence.
The only person capable of doing something like this would be Ben. Looking at the situation, it was clear he had tried to do something to me. But regardless of my certainty, I couldn’t just confront him without any evidence.
I wished he would speak to me first, but I hadn’t seen him much since that day. And now Ben appeared before me. However, he wasn’t acknowledging me like before.
He made eye contact with me but passed by as if I were a stranger. I was deliberating whether to stop him when it happened.
*Tap—*
As Ben’s hand brushed against mine, something was pressed into my palm. What I instinctively grabbed was a note.
“What is—”
What is this? I tried to turn around quickly to ask him, but a sudden thought flashed through my mind, causing me to freeze in place. Then I started walking rapidly in the opposite direction as if nothing had happened.
I shouldn’t approach Ben right now. Giving it to me this way meant he didn’t want anyone to know. I carefully entered the emergency stairwell where there were no people or surveillance cameras.
Only then could I take out the note I had placed in my pocket. It had been folded so many times that it was difficult to unfold.
I carefully unfolded the crumpled paper and read the sentences written on it.
“This is…”
My face became increasingly serious as I read. The contents were truly shocking.
“I’m going to die?”
What Ben had wanted to convey this way was that I would soon be killed and should escape.
He also wrote that I was under mind control that would make me commit suicide immediately if I revealed anything about human experimentation or facts harmful to Peace.
Honestly, I hadn’t failed to anticipate something like this. Kane’s actions were certainly viewed unfavorably from their perspective. But I hadn’t expected to die so soon.
Moreover, the one who informed me was Ben. I never expected him to take such a direct stand. This was clearly an act of betrayal against Peace. If this were discovered, even someone like Ben wouldn’t get away unscathed.
Why did he tell me this? I couldn’t understand Ben.
* * *
Alice, who had been reading Kane’s thoughts as they flowed in, slowly closed her eyes. The brightly glowing blue pupils disappeared, replaced by her hazy eyes.
“Is this okay?”
“Yes…”
Ben, who quickly caught Alice’s collapsing body, asked cautiously.
“Are you alright?”
This happened because she had excessively used her superpower. Given that she was already unwell, she would need to lie down for a while.
“I’m tired.”
Though there didn’t seem to be any major harm, Alice obediently lay down on the bed following Ben’s guidance.
“I didn’t expect you to help him.”
Ben said, as if surprised. The one who had asked for his help was none other than Alice. While he had been merely observing, thinking about what to do, she had continuously persuaded him.
Asking if he didn’t want to save Kane. If he would just stand by and watch.
Ben eventually accepted Alice’s words at her earnest tone. After all, he too had thought this wasn’t right. But he had merely followed her words. In the end, if Alice hadn’t acted, he would have remained still.
Ben couldn’t understand why Alice was trying so hard to save Kane, even going to these lengths.
Alice stared at him for a moment before gently revealing her true feelings.
“Because he’s precious.”
Both Kane and Kay were precious to her. Meeting them had given her hope and allowed her to continue living.
Since coming here, so much time had passed that she couldn’t even remember. During that time, Alice had gradually worn out. She had succumbed to this unchanging reality.
She was nothing more than a test subject, confined to this small room, who would eventually die. That fact no longer evoked any emotion in her. That had certainly been her life.
But then a man approached her. He was neither violent nor cruel. At times, she had felt disgusted at the thought that these people and herself were the same species, but this person was different.
He was a strange existence. One she had never encountered before. He introduced himself as Kane and taught her to speak. When she was in pain, he shared her pain. In front of him, she was respected as a human being, not a test subject.
Alice thought that for the first time, a person who didn’t belong here had appeared. That’s how strange Kane was. So strange that she herself was assimilated by it.
However, he didn’t stay long and left. Or more precisely, he disappeared. Instead, the one who appeared before her was a familiar but unfamiliar figure.
The one who came to save her. Though she knew from reading his thoughts that it was due to orders, it was still a first. The hope that she could leave. Although she didn’t get to see the outside, strangely, there was no sense of loss.
She only remembered Kay’s guilty expression as he reluctantly fled. To think that he would appear before her once more.
Alice had no choice but to follow Kay, who showed her goodwill. And being with Kay, she gradually began to escape from her pain.
The nightmares she had every night disappeared, and the screams she heard in her ears began to fade. It was as if thick walls surrounded her. She felt safe beside Kay.
Now that he was Kane, he wouldn’t have any special abilities. And yet to feel this way… Alice didn’t understand herself. But what could she do? His kind smile and caring touch naturally calmed her heart.
But if Kay dies, everything ends. She would forever lose the only people who had cared for her. If that happened, she would break. She couldn’t allow that. No matter what, she had to save him.
That’s why Alice had devised this plan to save Kay. To not let go of the light she had just found.
“Why did you help?”
But she never thought Ben would actually accept her request. She thought he would refuse but express his feelings by not reporting to his superiors. Yet, although he hesitated, he ultimately accepted her request.
As if Alice was the one who was incomprehensible, Ben gently lowered his eyes. After moving his lips for a moment, he cautiously spoke.
“…I felt like I would regret it. Just watching without doing anything, I thought I would regret it forever.”
That’s why Ben couldn’t refuse Alice’s request. Although he didn’t know what consequences this choice would bring, if he could go back in time, he would make the same choice. That’s how strongly Ben felt the premonition.
“But will Zenon really kill Kane?”
According to Alice, he planned to kill Kane. Ben had been wondering about Zenon, who generally didn’t trust people, seemingly opening his heart a little to Kane. And now to kill such a Kane? It was hard to believe. Would he really be okay with that?
To Ben’s face, tinged with faint concern for Zenon, Alice relayed what he had said.
“He said he has no choice but to regret.”
Unlike us who try not to regret, Zenon said he had no choice but to do so. His expression still hadn’t faded from her memory. The way he said it with a face that looked like he might cry at any moment. The image of Zenon standing precariously, as if about to break, remained imprinted in her mind.
* * *
A wrist so thin it could be held with one hand. Boss, who had been staring at it, placed his hand on Kay’s chest to confirm he was alive.
The faint beating of his heart seemed to subdue his anxious feelings a little. Feeling the slight pulsation, he exhaled a slow sigh.
“I’m sorry.”
Today, he could finally exact a small revenge for Kay’s death. But even that was just a struggle to alleviate some of his guilt.
Everything happened because of him. Even attaching the name “revenge” was immensely sorry to Kay.
“I guess I’m a cowardly person after all.”
Boss’s gaze, which had been on Kay’s peacefully closed eyes, quickly distanced itself as if fleeing. The hand placed over Kay’s heart curled, and veins protruded on the back of it.
“I don’t have the right to seek revenge… I know that, but I can’t stop.”
Yet the true sinner was none other than himself. He couldn’t just let those who caused Kay’s death go unpunished.
Just thinking about it enveloped him in uncontrollable anger. It was a strong anger that could destroy reason in an instant. He wanted to make them taste the most terrible despair and feel pain that no one else had experienced.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Releasing tension from his entire body, he forced a smile. The smile, created from sadness and emptiness, was like a precarious sand castle.
How absurd would it be if Kay heard this? The very person responsible for his death burning with revenge. It would only be disgusting to him. Yet Boss could only apologize, knowing this.
No matter how Kay thought of him, this was all he could do for him.
“When this is over and you wake up, when that time comes, I’ll do whatever you want.”
The shadow cast over the hospital bed began to gradually recede. Boss’s silhouette disappeared into the darkness. Without even his expression visible, only his lips were revealed.
“So please, just wake up.”
The wish that had continued since that day was once again on his lips. A simple desire that might be easy for others was desperately earnest for him.
