“It’s Doctor.”
He choked up again. Hot emotion rose up to his throat and sloshed around. Haeju smiled brightly like a child and murmured languidly.
“Doctor, I like you.”
He felt like he was really going to cry. It seemed like tears would come pouring down if anyone even lightly tapped him. Not wanting to cry embarrassingly, Yeojin furrowed his brow and spoke in a stern voice.
“What do you mean ‘I like you,’ for crying out loud. How did you get into the room?”
“The door was open.”
“Kids who lie are bad kids.”
“It’s true. I just grabbed and turned the doorknob and it opened with a click.”
Wasn’t that ‘click’ sound the sound of the door breaking? Considering the stamina of someone who had run while carrying Yeojin, it wouldn’t be strange at all if he broke the doorknob with his bare hands.
“You couldn’t wait and snuck in.”
“I was worried about you, Doctor. What if you got attacked while alone?”
“You talk a good game.”
“How can I trust those people? They might be similar to the people who attacked me. It’s also strange that they tried to forcibly separate us.”
Half of it seemed to make sense and half was nonsense. It wasn’t that they separated us with some ulterior motive, but rather because you were looking at me like a starving wolf cub, so they made us use separate rooms to prevent any inappropriate incidents, wasn’t it?
He only thought this to himself and just stared quietly at Haeju. If he brought up such talk and provoked him, the kid’s eyes might flip and he might do something strange. Haeju fidgeted and came closer, wrapping his arms around the waist of Yeojin, who was only sitting up with his upper body.
“Doctor, you have a slim waist.”
“It’s because your arms are long. Let go.”
He’d never heard anyone say he had a slim waist in his life. When he squirmed telling him to let go, the guy said “Just a moment” and tightened his arms around his waist.
“I’ll just hold you. Please understand. I really worried a lot about you, Doctor. And I was also a bit scared. Being alone, all sorts of strange thoughts came to me…”
The guy said that while making weak sounds. When he does this, his heart softens again. He had no choice but to let him just hold him. The guy’s arms wrapped around his waist were thick and long. His arms were long, his legs were long, everything about this guy was long and big, but only his face looked like a child’s.
He had tried to hold back in case he unnecessarily ignited the kid’s instincts, but the face staring up at him was so cute that his hand reached out. The tips of Haeju’s disheveled hair touched his fingertips. It was healthy, elastic hair, but when he touched it, it was soft. After fiddling with the ends of his hair, unable to resist, he stroked the guy’s head.
Haeju smiled contentedly like a big cat and enjoyed Yeojin’s touch.
“Were you very scared alone?”
“Yes.”
He could have acted tough and said no, but the guy honestly said yes.
“You worked hard.”
“You too, Doctor. Because of me…”
“Don’t think like that. Even if that hadn’t happened, you all would have been transferred to Iryeongdo because of what the Rebels did, and I would have been dragged away after arguing with the soldiers asking why. It’s not because of you, it’s my personality that’s the problem.”
“What’s wrong with your personality, Doctor? I like your personality.”
Now he even likes his personality. Yeojin let out a small laugh.
“Do you like everything about me? Don’t you have any dislikes?”
“No. I like everything.”
“Why do you like me?”
“I don’t know. Do you need a reason to like someone? I just like you. From the moment I first saw you, Doctor, I just came to like you. Like fate.”
He spouts romantic nonsense with a soft face. With the hand that had been stroking the guy’s hair, he lightly pinched and shook his white earlobe. There’s no way this would hurt, but the guy made a fuss saying “Ow ow ow.” He snorted at how cute it was and Yeojin released the hand that had been pinching.
“Let’s say my inclination is the problem.”
Then with a short sigh, he muttered something like talking to himself.
“Why is your inclination a problem, Doctor? There’s absolutely no problem with your personality or inclination. At the Center, you were the only one who treated me and the other Transcendents so kindly. The other staff treated us like we were infectious disease viruses, trying not to even talk to us and avoiding us.”
“That’s the problem. I’m a regular person but I side with the Transcendents. That’s what makes me Rebel-inclined.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Right. It is ridiculous. But that’s how it was. I just argued that we and Transcendents are all the same humans, but the higher-ups labeled me as a dangerous guy. Just like when I confronted the soldier to save you. What doctor would just stand by and watch their patient being dragged away by force? But somehow I became a Rebel.”
As he spoke, a sigh came out naturally. No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t make sense and it was frustratingly maddening.
“At one time, I protected the country as a soldier and worked quite diligently as a government official. I was the only doctor who applied to Seoul Center. Originally there should be at least two more doctors in charge, but I handled the entire Center alone. I gave up and poured in all my time, my daily life…”
What came back was the Rebel stigma. I should have received a commendation for the work I did, but instead they branded me as a Rebel.
“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but this incident made me think it even more strongly. Whose government is it for? Who does this country exist for? The citizens who work hard and pay their taxes? But even if you pay your taxes faithfully and devote yourself to the country, if your inclination is even slightly different from theirs, they’ll cut you out in one stroke. Like me. Are only obedient people who unconditionally follow the rules they made good citizens?”
Haeju just quietly listened to Yeojin’s words. He wondered if he didn’t understand because the words were difficult, but the guy opened his mouth.
“At least I think it’s not a government for us. It says we’re citizens of this country on our ID cards, but we’re not in reality.”
This time it was Yeojin who stared intently at Haeju. Intelligence overflowed in the guy’s clear eyes. It wasn’t the expression that was just as innocent as a young child. His face, drained of laughter, suddenly looked mature and even gave off an unfamiliar sense of dissonance.
“The moment you awaken as a Transcendent, you’re no longer a citizen protected by the country. You become an existence worse than a criminal. In a democratic society, for the government to suppress citizens by force, forcibly implant chips that are only inserted into pets, and lock them up in chicken coop-like quarantine centers to control them is absurd. Even prisoners in jail aren’t treated that way.”
Words flowed smoothly from the guy’s mouth. He was quite eloquent.
“Really?”
As if telling him to continue speaking, Yeojin threw in a casual interjection and stared at Haeju.
“We’re clearly citizens of this country, but we can no longer receive the benefits of a free democratic world. But the fact that we’re treated this way also means that people living their daily lives under the country’s protection will fall into the same situation as us the moment they become Transcendents.”
“Right. Do you think the people who come to the Center knew they would become Transcendents? That’s why everyone is so flustered.”
“Most people will live without knowing. Although the number of people awakening as Transcendents increases periodically every year, the proportion of regular citizens is still overwhelmingly large. We seem numerous because we’re together, but proportionally we’re really a minority. Most people will only encounter Transcendents through TV or the internet. Videos of the moment of Transcendent awakening, of Transcendents’ abilities causing massive damage to their surroundings—that stuff overflows on the internet, but you can’t see it in reality. The awakening of a Transcendent is a really, really rare scene that can be seen very, very rarely.”
Come to think of it, Yeojin was the same. When he lived with his younger brother, Transcendents were creatures from a distant country. He had never seen one even once in his surroundings. He had only seen on the internet or news the scenes where Transcendents’ tremendous abilities destroyed and crushed surrounding vehicles.
Even after joining Seoul Center, he only dealt with quarantined people who had ability control chips implanted and couldn’t use their powers; he had never seen them use their abilities. The first time he witnessed the scene of a Transcendent using their ability was during Haeju’s car accident.
If even Yeojin, who lived in direct contact with Transcendents, was like that, how much more so for regular citizens?
“But the media expands and reports one rare incident extremely loudly. When one incident of a Transcendent awakening on a main street and damaging surrounding vehicles occurs, they inflate the damage several times over and make a fuss as if a tremendous disaster had occurred, instilling fear in the citizens.”
“Right. They expand and report it as if Transcendents will destroy the country at any moment. They play that video for days on end.”
Before he knew it, Yeojin was also deeply engrossed in Haeju’s story, sincerely empathizing and chiming in.
“It’s partly because reporters keep milking one scoop, but it’s also because the higher-ups order them to do so. They keep injecting fear. Transcendents are disasters. They’re bad things. They’ll sicken the country and cause harm to neighbors.”
When he heard it that way, it was true. When the moment of Transcendent awakening was captured or a video was shared, they would tediously talk about it for days on end on the news or internet media outlets. They would even organize things like emergency reports, exclusive video footage, or special programs.
“Why do they do that?”
“Because that’s how their inhumane control acts are justified.”
Yeojin narrowed his brow. He felt like he understood but didn’t.
“They appeal that ‘you are safe because we are so effectively controlling and restraining these dangerous beings.'”
“Ah.”
Only then did he understand. It was as if a beam of light quickly penetrated his head.
“And they use that politically too?”
“Yes.”
