Without Yeojin realizing it, Haeju’s soul, which had remained that of a young child, may have returned to a mental state befitting his actual age.
- I’ll get stronger and more powerful to protect you, Doctor. I’ll protect you so bad people can’t hit you and hurt you like they did back then. I’ll become a cool adult. I’ll get strong for you!
Not knowing how to respond, Yeojin couldn’t say anything. After confessing in a deep, manly voice, Haeju laughed like a child, “Hee hee hee.”
At the emergency National Security and Peace Maintenance Department meeting, the moderator had said that Haeju was the first case to possess two abilities simultaneously. Everyone had lamented that an absurd monster had been born.
That kid with absurdly tremendous power says he’ll get stronger for me. That he’ll become powerful to protect me.
Having lived his whole life taking care of someone, it was extremely unfamiliar for Yeojin to hear someone say they’d protect him. It was absurd, but it also made his heart flutter. Ridiculously, his heart raced at the sound of someone saying they’d become strong to protect him.
- Doooctor. Can I kiss you again when I see you?
“That’s not allowed.”
Fluttering was one thing, but he had to draw the line. It was funny that he believed that thing—licking his entire face until it was covered in saliva—was a kiss.
“No kissing, and d-don’t… t-touch there either. No, that’s not allowed.”
He was about to say the explicit word without thinking, but softened it as much as possible. Having his inner thighs touched felt stranger than having his face licked.
- Then what about hugging?
“That’s allowed.”
- Okay.
The kid’s voice immediately became dejected. If he’d seen the kid’s crestfallen expression in person, his heart would have softened, but fortunately it was over the phone.
“By the way, how much battery do you have left?”
- 15%.
It wasn’t just Haeju whose battery was running out. Yeojin’s phone battery had 9% remaining.
“Hang up!”
Yeojin quickly hung up and connected to the internet to search for Earth.
Nothing related to ‘Earth’ came up. Naturally. It was an illegal organization under government surveillance. He tried searching with all related words combined—Earth, Rebels, Transcendent gathering, Transcendent equality—but couldn’t get any useful information.
Then he suddenly remembered Park Wiyeol’s name, which he’d heard at the meeting. When he typed Park Wiyeol into the search bar, a few results came up. A secret cafe on a portal homepage was found, but it was a system where you could only view posts after becoming a full member following registration.
Even while changing his member nickname to ‘Seo Haeju’ and registering, the phone battery indicator kept blinking. When a field for entering a phone number appeared, Yeojin entered the number from which Haeju had just called.
The moment he pressed the registration request button and sent the completed form, Yeojin’s phone died. The cafe administrator who saw the application would call Haeju’s number. Yeojin ran into a nearby convenience store, bought a disposable portable battery, connected the cable, and turned on the power.
He immediately called Haeju, but Haeju’s phone was turned off. In that short time, the kid’s phone battery must have run out too and the power died.
Had the cafe administrator called before Haeju’s phone died? Please, they had to find Haeju first.
There was nothing Yeojin could do in this situation. He figured he should go home and search for more information related to ‘Earth.’
He immediately caught a taxi home and flopped down on the bed.
“I’m dying.”
A groan escaped involuntarily. He was terribly exhausted. Even during the hellish training period that constantly tested human limits, he didn’t think he’d ever been this deadly tired. Well, it had been quite a while since his discharge, so his physical condition wasn’t what it used to be.
And now he was getting older too. Was he 31 this year? There was a 12-year age gap with Haeju.
And I’m 12 years older than you.
He recalled what he’d said during the call with Haeju. The kid had said, ‘What does it matter?’
Haeju really didn’t care whether Yeojin was a man or a senior a full zodiac cycle older. Now that he thought about it, it was so absurd that he laughed.
“I don’t get it. What exactly is so great about me?”
Calling a man in his thirties, a former Special Forces member, pretty. It was ridiculous, really. Even if you’re blinded by love, you’re really blinded. The more he thought about it, the funnier it was, and while chuckling, Yeojin soon fell fast asleep.
***
Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
A vibration sounded from his bedside. What? A phone vibration? The moment he realized, Yeojin’s eyes snapped open. He quickly grabbed the phone ringing at his bedside and brought it to his ear.
“Hello.”
There was no response from the other end of the phone. He was about to immediately ask, ‘Is this Haeju?’ but quickly shut his mouth. Something seemed off. To wake himself up, Yeojin sat up while holding the phone to his ear.
“Who is this?”
The other party was still silent. He was glad he hadn’t immediately said Haeju’s name. Yeojin quietly moved the phone from his ear to check the caller number. He belatedly realized that he’d answered the phone in his sleep without checking or looking at the phone number.
It was a phone number not saved in his contacts. It wasn’t the number Haeju had called from just before either.
- Doctor.
Just then, a young woman’s voice flowed from the phone. He quickly brought it back to his ear.
“Yes. Go ahead.”
- This is Dr. Min Yeojin’s phone, right?
“That’s right. Who is this?”
- I was right. Doctor, it’s me, Sujin.
Sujin? He traced back through his memories. Ah, Yang Sujin! Only then did he remember.
She was a kid who’d been quarantined at the Seoul Quarantine Center a year ago. She’d been a college freshman at the time, and her ability had manifested when she was on her way to her cafe part-time job and faced the crisis of a car accident. Because her ability manifested in the middle of the road, numerous building windows around the accident site were damaged, dozens of vehicles were destroyed, and the driver who almost hit Yang Sujin also suffered serious injuries.
Yang Sujin, transferred to the Center, like all Transcendents, couldn’t emerge from psychological shock for a while.
Why did this happen to me? What happened to the driver? He was badly hurt, wasn’t he? What do I do? What should I do? I didn’t do anything. I just screamed because I was so scared. I thought I was going to die like this, and I thought I don’t want to die, but… When I came to my senses, everything around me was chaos. Cars were smashed, the car that almost hit me was crushed. Everyone was looking at me, taking pictures, filming videos. I was shaking, not really grasping what had happened, crying as I stood up, and the people watching screamed and backed away. Like they were looking at a monster.
Yang Sujin cried and cried throughout the first counseling session until her eyes were swollen. Trembling with her small, frail body. Yeojin said nothing and just listened to her, quietly handing her tissues. She bowed her head with thanks and wiped away her tears.
Through her long hair, a small scar was visible on the back of her white neck. It must have been a trace of the ability suppression chip insertion.
Though she had such a frail build that she couldn’t kill even a baby ant, Yang Sujin’s ability grade was Grade 2. Among the Transcendent grades classified into 5 levels, being Grade 2 meant she was that much of a dangerous person.
What about the driver and the people who suffered damages? Thinking about them, I feel so sorry and apologetic… sob. Did those people know something like that would happen that day? It’s like a bolt from the blue. Because of me. I’m really so sorry.
Yang Sujin seemed more tormented by the fact that others suffered because of her. The only comforting words he could offer were these.
Sujin, fortunately no one was seriously hurt. The government will compensate for the damages too. The driver who was hospitalized was drunk at the time. Even if it hadn’t been that day’s incident, he would’ve eventually caused a big accident. So don’t worry about the driver.
Lessening her guilt even a little.
Yang Sujin raised her head to look at Yeojin. In a calm voice, Yeojin carefully patted her trembling shoulders.
It’s okay. It’s not your fault. You were just a bit unlucky. This is like a cold that anyone can catch. You lived normally and suddenly became an object of contempt and fear, so you must be so flustered, but when people curse and whisper, just think to yourself, Fuck, screw them all, how is this my fault? What am I supposed to do? and let it go. If you worry about every little thing, it’ll be hard on you.
Thick tears fell from her eyes in drops. Even while crying profusely, her shoulders shook with laughter.
This is the first time I’ve seen a doctor who curses like you, Doctor.
Is there a law saying doctors can’t curse? When things are hard and shitty, curse and live. That’s okay. Don’t blame yourself too much or feel guilty. Just think that you caught a somewhat special cold and from now on you’ll live a different life from others. You must have heard from your case manager that after the 3-month quarantine period, you have to choose your path, right? If possible, say you’ll become a government official. Even if you’d lived normally, you’d have to get a job after graduating college anyway. Is getting a job a bit tough? Just think of it as getting a job at a sweet workplace through special recruitment with guaranteed pension and no layoffs.
Haha. That’s really true, isn’t it?
Honestly, the discrimination will be severe and you’ll see a lot of dirty things while working, but it’s still not bad. They provide housing too. Although the housing is really another quarantine facility where they gather Transcendents together, housing prices are expensive these days, so isn’t securing a residence in Seoul great? As a national government job, it’s 5-day work weeks, holidays off, vacation days all guaranteed. Oh, not the SP Special Task Force though. That’s a special unit, so it’s on-call 24/7, 5-minute standby. Not that. Apply for an office job.
It really is a sweet job.
Right? Government jobs are the best.
Yang Sujin laughed “Hehe” while rubbing away tears with her hands.
