# Chapter 103
An hour passed like that. Jade sat quietly in the silent living room with the TV off, deeply contemplating what to do next.
What should he do? If Lee Hwan had ended up in such a state just from entering and leaving once, it would be difficult for him to return the drug.
And to be honest, Jade was also tempted by the drug that could extend his life. With it, he could hold on a little longer than the expected period.
If he could live just one more year, the number of things he could accomplish before departing would increase countless times. Even if they seemed trivial to others.
And although it was wishful thinking, if he used the drug but didn’t complete the experiment, he might live more than a decade longer. Then perhaps at the end of a life spent on battlefields since coming of age, he could enjoy his final days more leisurely.
Ding-dong.
What woke Jade from his momentary sweet daydreaming was the faint sound of the nearly broken doorbell.
Walking slowly to open the front door, he saw a familiar large figure behind the doctor who was dressed in casual clothes and carrying a big bag.
“…What’s this about?”
Just this morning, the man had said he’d bought a safe house, yet here he was standing at the door without even being invited.
“You, go away.”
Regardless of whether Jade frowned or not, Taesung strode into his house with wide steps. Completely on his own terms.
“You called that guy so quickly? Weren’t you on my side?”
“There’s no such thing. Anyone who pays is a customer.”
As the doctor passed by with a joking remark, Taesung followed him in and quickly scanned Jade with his eyes before stepping past the shoe rack. He seemed curious about what injury had prompted Jade to call a doctor separately.
But soon, as his gaze shifted to the living room, his face hardened.
‘I was hoping he wouldn’t see this…’
Jade sighed while inwardly cursing.
“I didn’t call you.”
“I know.”
“If you’re going to act as you please, then leave.”
“…”
It felt like he had used up most of his mental energy in less than half a day. Jade took a deep breath, anticipating a commotion.
However, Taesung seemed surprisingly calm and quiet, much like the day he had carried Lee Hwan in.
“…Why is he like that?”
As proof, he pointed at Lee Hwan, asking about his condition rather than why he was there.
Should he be relieved that the man didn’t seem likely to pick a fight about bringing him here? Or should he be surprised that he now asked about his physical condition first?
He could only wonder what unrememberable past—no, future—was changing him.
“I’ll tell you later. Actually… I have something important to talk about.”
Jade pressed his temple firmly with his fist, as if he had a headache. Since he typically did this when facing troublesome situations, Taesung read his behavior and quietly turned away.
Then he stood still, watching Lee Hwan for a while.
‘That look again…’
Jade could once more read anxiety in Taesung’s quietly wavering gaze. It looked so unstable that Jade had been constantly debating whether to mention the regression story, though it seemed unlikely Taesung would accept it anyway.
Had the doctor not spoken up from the side where he was examining the patient, Jade would probably have remained silent, just thinking for a long time.
“I noticed this before… this person is C-class or above, right?”
The doctor spoke up while examining Lee Hwan, who didn’t move even when touched—whether asleep or unconscious.
“Probably.”
“It’s not common for C-class or higher Awakened to get a fever. As you all know.”
Should he explain that Lee Hwan was awake just a moment ago? Jade felt a deep fatigue and simply kept his mouth shut.
Well, his condition must have been bad enough that he couldn’t go home and fell asleep here instead. No matter how much he trusted Taesung, falling asleep here, not even by his side but in Jade’s house.
“More detailed examination would be needed, but for now it looks like overexertion. He’s still malnourished. Even an Awakened can’t survive without rest and food. I don’t know what happened, but I’ll give him an IV and write prescriptions for some supplements. Make sure he takes them.”
With those final words, the doctor was now piercing the pale arm with a needle. Not showing any curiosity about who Lee Hwan was or why he was in this condition.
Well, that was why Jade used his services—a mercenary doctor with a tight lip, from the same battlefield background, who would treat anyone as long as he got paid.
He seemed to recognize Jade and Taesung as a team and began showing a more friendly attitude toward Taesung who paid extra, but he had never botched a job, so Jade would likely continue seeing this doctor until his dying day.
Jade received the bill with costs doubled with additional fees that made him gasp, and with furrowed brows, he saw the doctor out.
“Come in.”
Then, calling Taesung, who was still looking down at Lee Hwan, into the room, Jade quietly organized in his mind the story about the underground laboratory and the drug.
The underground laboratory that even Taesung hadn’t entered yet. The drug for him. The person who brought it and the potential dangers ahead.
After finishing his explanation, excluding the regression story, silence lingered in the room for a while. Jade sat without adding a word to this long quietness that followed his explanation.
Only after nearly ten minutes had passed did Taesung’s voice come through. His expression remained calm.
“Use that drug.”
“Assess the situation.”
“About going into the underground lab and coming back—was the cleanup handled well?”
“…I wonder.”
Jade also questioned that. No matter how carefully he had hidden, with so many CCTVs installed, there was no way he wasn’t recorded.
Once the drug was discovered missing, someone would eventually review those recordings. Then, one by one, traces they had failed to erase would be found in the underground facility.
“I can roughly guess whose ID was used to get in and out… but if it’s discovered, Kang Dongha certainly won’t cover it up.”
Jade blurted out, thinking of that shameless character who didn’t know his place. He was the type who would even pile his own mistakes onto Lee Hwan and hand him over to the research division.
Silence fell again. Sensing something ominous in it, Jade quickly spoke up.
“Don’t do anything strange.”
When there was no answer, Jade looked into Taesung’s eyes and warned once more.
“Listen to me.”
“We just need to erase the CCTV footage. The video control room is above ground.”
Just as he feared, Taesung’s answer suggested he would jump into danger himself.
“Why should you do that?”
Taesung now seemed to have decided not to answer unfavorable questions. He didn’t even open his mouth to the pressing inquiry. Jade couldn’t help but wonder how to effectively tie up and confine an S-class Hunter.
“You also manipulated the report on that gate with gold ore, didn’t you?”
“…”
“And the gate with elemental minerals?”
At first Taesung hesitated, but soon his expression turned cold. His eyes seemed to shoot back: “So what?”
Jade barely restrained himself from grabbing the back of his neck and growled uncharacteristically. Until now, he had tried to avoid getting involved with Kang Dongha’s side as much as possible. Not because he was afraid, but because he simply wanted to avoid the mess.
But recently, he had discovered that Taesung was doing strange things, fully exposing his own methods to that guy.
“You bastard, what else have you been doing behind my back? Since when have you been like this?”
“Just focus on your recovery and mind your own business.”
He even heard his rude speech style after a long time. Despite being pressed, Taesung didn’t answer and subtly changed the subject. Despite his cold attitude, he was clearly in considerable trouble.
Since he couldn’t explain it rationally, he was being defiant. Jade finally swallowed back the regression story he had been hesitating to bring up, deep down his throat.
Although he was angry, there was no need to provoke Taesung further by telling that story now.
“I warned you. Don’t go anywhere near that place.”
“Originally, sooner or later, it was something I would have done anyway. Rather than letting things escalate due to incomplete cleanup, I should finish it myself.”
With those words, he left the room first—meaning he wouldn’t listen to any more advice or warnings. Jade realized that Taesung was even more tangled up than he had expected.
Come to think of it, he had been acting strange during the TF meeting too. Jade had been lurking around at the recent meeting, which had been held as frequently as twice a week lately. He was worried about Taesung who kept disappearing without a word. He felt he needed to know what kind of things Taesung was doing.
Each time, Taesung would scan the corridor as if looking for someone, then turn his head after making eye contact with Jade.
Although he entered the meeting room afterward without showing any change in expression, Jade, who had been with him for years, couldn’t fail to notice the strange signs.
‘I don’t know what he’s trying to do.’
When he went out to the living room, Taesung was already leaving the house. Jade had to let him go, unable to grab and shake him.
Being strictly in a position to monitor someone, it was frustrating at times like this that he could neither firmly stop nor encourage him. Jade locked the door without any farewell greeting and returned to the living room.
“Whew.”
The house was quiet again. Lee Hwan was asleep on the sofa with half the blanket fallen to the floor.
Instead, a cushion was nestled in his arms, and it seemed clear that he had dropped the blanket while trying to pick up the cushion that had fallen to the floor.
“Oh boy.”
Whatever dream he was having, with the IV needle inserted on the back of his hand and tears hanging from his eyes, he looked quite pitiful.
If he moved him to the bed, he would surely wake up. Jade put the blanket back over him, opened the refrigerator, sighed deeply, and closed it again.
If Taesung was really going to take the risk for this matter, Jade couldn’t hide it from Lee Hwan either. He needed to ask if there had been any mistakes somewhere, and if they needed to coordinate their stories, they had to decide in advance.
What should he do? His concerns deepened.
