# Chapter 67
Ironically, the one who saved Dohyuk from that strange beating was Dr. Jeong. It was obvious that the research assistant, who had been stopped by a stranger while trying to support Dohyuk and put him in the guiding room, had hurriedly called for him.
“What are you doing here?”
The distinctive, firm tone from behind made the nape of his neck stiffen reflexively. It reminded him of a circus that had now disappeared into the past. Animals that couldn’t bring themselves to cross a fence they couldn’t cross as cubs, even after they had grown much larger.
Junwoo stepped forward from in front of Dohyuk, who had been standing stiffly and silently, and approached Dr. Jeong. His vision was completely consumed by the white-coated back.
“I had some business. I also came to pay my respects. Even though it’s a workplace I’ve already quit, it’s still like family to me—a headquarters filled with memories and romance. Isn’t that right, Dr. Jeong?”
It was a blatant tone that emphasized the ‘ly’ in ‘family.’ Dr. Jeong’s rough face twisted slightly at that free-spirited attitude, but only for a moment. He shifted his gaze. Dohyuk, who was behind Junwoo, was the target.
Dohyuk realized that what that sunken gaze wanted was for him to keep his mouth shut and disappear from this space. But before Dohyuk could properly respond to the silent instruction extended by Dr. Jeong, Junwoo spoke first.
“Why are you acting like a child? Dr. Jeong, you seem to be getting younger as you age. Your behavior hasn’t changed, though.”
He deliberately grabbed Dohyuk’s chin in front of Dr. Jeong, lifting it halfway, and then quickly checked his pulse. The fingers that had touched his neck quickly moved down and gently pressed down on Dohyuk’s wrist.
The gaze directed at Dohyuk was incomparably affectionate, unlike that reckless action. After the brief pulse check ended, he had eyes that smiled warmly as if there were a small child in front of him, and soon he reached out to stroke Dohyuk’s hair. It was a gentle touch, as if praising Dohyuk for staying still despite the man’s brief, self-indulgent actions.
He was someone Dohyuk didn’t even remember. Because he was casually touching him as if dealing with someone intimate, without even an explanation, Dohyuk could only stand rigidly frozen. In Dohyuk’s ear, a chilling voice followed that made the kindness feel like a midsummer night’s dream.
“Ah! Is it because you’re getting older but your behavior remains the same that it feels that way? What kind of drug did you give him?”
“It’s a guiding drug. I was about to send him to the guiding room.”
At Dr. Jeong’s nonchalant reply, Junwoo smiled a distorted smile.
“That drug heavily laced with alprazolam that isn’t even used except in emergencies? Even if he receives guiding, there’s a high chance of side effects.”
“Do you think an Esper’s body is the same as a normal person’s? You’re still the same. Always distracted by unnecessary things when it would be easier to just follow the norm. Now you’re running wild everywhere without knowing any better.”
As Dr. Jeong blatantly clicked his tongue, Junwoo smiled brightly.
“What nonsense. I’ve always excelled in both self-reliance and independence. If I were one to follow the norm, I would have already been cursed as a politician long ago. My specialty is wandering. I’m already old enough to have finished parent-teacher conferences, so stop nagging.”
Dr. Jeong explicitly sighed at Junwoo in response to the mockery disguised as a friendly voice.
“I’ll ask one last time. Why did you come?”
A cool gaze, punctuated with authority, stared at Junwoo as if to press him down. Unaffected by the overbearing attitude, Junwoo leisurely folded his arms and drew a beautiful smile over his lips.
“Why don’t you know? Ah, is Dr. Choi not in Dr. Jeong’s line? But that’s strange. Weren’t you and Dr. Choi quite close?”
“Dr. Choi?”
When Dr. Jeong asked dubiously, Junwoo nodded casually.
“Yes. I heard you acquired quite a good sample this time. You know? The headquarters secretly requested consultation, so I made time in my busy schedule, but all I get is harsh treatment.”
The biggest reason why Korea, advocating neoliberalism for ability users, could only restrict the freedom of S-class ability users was, ironically, due to another type of oppression. One of them was the ‘Dungeon Accessory Acquisition Reporting System.’ Dungeon cores, monster byproducts, and monster carcasses fell under the dungeon accessories that needed to be reported.
“I even diligently signed the confidentiality agreement as you wished.”
However, cases of capturing monsters alive were extremely rare, so proper documents or forms for reporting this weren’t properly established. It was a loophole in the law.
Now Junwoo was explicitly mocking the amusing fact that the Korean Ability Management Authority, which belonged to the Ability Security Department, was actually cunningly exploiting this loophole. One monster, hidden without reporting and kept undisclosed to the media.
“Hmm.”
Even Dr. Jeong could only clear his throat lightly.
In the somber atmosphere, Dohyuk, who had been keeping his mouth shut all along, finally couldn’t bear it anymore and asked Junwoo this time. It was because he couldn’t stand by when the word ‘sample’ came up as a topic of their conversation.
“D-doctor. Is the sample you’re talking about the specimen that resembles a cat? Please answer me. W-what kind of experiment… is in progress?”
Junwoo noticed that temporary drug side effects were manifesting in Dohyuk’s confused gaze and his slurred yet strangely stammering speech pattern. He needed to proceed with guiding quickly.
“Hyuk-ah. Why are you shaking like this? Let’s go to the guiding room first, okay?”
While repeatedly asking the question, trying to grasp the voice that was drifting away from his ears, Dohyuk once again felt that voice was familiar. Where had he heard it? It was strange that no matter how much he thought about it, all he could recall was a single ambiguous sentence, not even sure when he had heard it.
‘Are you lost?’
A cool, orderly voice that had drifted by his ear on a day when his skin seemed about to tan black from the blazing sun. Dohyuk took a deep breath, his mind captured by a fragment of an impossibly distant past. The piece of the past he had barely picked up shatters with a crash.
In the reality suddenly thrust before him, Dr. Jeong’s voice was heard.
“Since he’s without a control device, let’s put him to sleep first. After guiding, have him wear the control device. Dr. Yu, stop talking nonsense and follow me. Unless you plan to cause a commotion from your first day at headquarters.”
“Administering sedatives and tranquilizers to an Esper who has just taken guiding medication is drug abuse. Stop it immediately.”
“That’s by normal person standards, and we at the headquarters research team know Esper Choi Dohyuk’s physical condition well. Refrain from overstepping as an outsider. Wasn’t this place you left voluntarily?”
The needle punctuated Dohyuk like a period. The last thing Dohyuk remembered was his arm stinging.
***
“Explain. You’d better do it properly.”
A languid voice descended ferociously. Startled by the voice shot without warning, the research assistant supporting the drug-addled Dohyuk, almost dragging him to the guiding room, looked up in shock.
In front of the tightly closed guiding room door stood a tall man leaning his shoulder slightly against the door, who wouldn’t look out of place in a fashion magazine. In the corridor of the guiding room without windows, his face, half-hidden by shadows, lacked a sense of reality. Deep black eyes, cooled down completely, blinked slowly.
That face was quite familiar even to him, who had been stuck in the lab for more than half the day. It was because he was a person who had been exposed in various mass media outlets. S-class Guide Yu Junseo.
Despite having a gentle impression, with eye corners that drooped like a puppy’s, matching his name with its soft pronunciation, the research assistant’s palms were sweating. He answered a beat late, not even aware that his lower lip was trembling.
“E-Esper Choi Dohyuk underwent mandatory ability tests from 11:37 AM to 3 PM today. It’s an examination that all Espers must undergo periodically according to headquarters guidelines. Currently, he’s only been administered Esper-specific antidepressants and sedatives; he’s not showing any abnormal health conditions. Once guiding proceeds, he’ll wake up soon. Don’t worry.”
There was no brief reply to his lengthy explanation. The man’s gaze slowly scanned the research assistant’s face and then clung to Dohyuk. His eyes soon stopped on the research assistant’s arm, which was tightly attached to Dohyuk to support him. Simultaneously, an unkind hand detached the research assistant’s body. He effortlessly supported Dohyuk’s body, which was packed with solid muscle and considerably heavy despite his sleek physique, and then meticulously examined the person in his arms as if inspecting a cherished possession that had just returned to his hands.
Long fingers traced down the nape of the neck, slightly more tanned than other skin. The touch gently traced over the elegant line, but the gaze shot over his shoulder was still full of coldness. His eyes, sunk and rippling like deep night, looked as if they were pressing down on something, restraining it. Beyond the pupil, set in clean whites without blood vessels, something strangely bubbled.
“The control device?”
“Since there was an ability limit test that checks the condition of an Esper who has used their ability up to just before the ‘rampage warning stage,’ the control device was removed to conduct it. The headquarters is considerate in ensuring it’s worn again after guiding…”
Between the lips of the man, opened to let out a “ha” laugh, a bright red tongue appeared like a snake. Only then did the research assistant realize why that man, despite his gentle face, appeared so cold. It was because while his mouth changed to create various expressions, his eyes remained submerged. Eyes like a deep lake encountered at night without any illumination. Though it appeared to be just a quiet puddle of water without a single wave on the surface, he was only afraid of what might be inside.
