# Chapter 48
## Second Fragment: Underground Laboratory
Lee Hwan didn’t leave his house for several days. He didn’t call his workplace either. Nevertheless, judging by the lack of calls from colleagues and superiors, he could tell that Kang Dongha had come to his senses.
Moreover, the very next day after he returned home, a doctor visited his house to examine the wounds he had received in his fight with Taesung.
“You should get it dressed every day…”
“…If you tell me how, I’ll do it myself.”
When told that without proper treatment it would leave a scar for a while, Lee Hwan quietly looked down at his arm. The skin was burned and discolored in the shape of Taesung’s hand. It looked as if he had left his mark on him.
‘Taesung was here.’
It was a strange thought no matter how he looked at it, but that was roughly the feeling.
“That’s… fine. Even if it leaves a scar.”
As he said those words, Lee Hwan was enveloped in an odd feeling, but soon erased thoughts of Taesung as the stinging sensation touched his skin. His body was still in no condition to indulge in sentimentality.
He considered showing the wound on his side while the doctor was making a house call. Since the doctor was sent by Kang Dongha, he would certainly report to him about how badly Lee Hwan was injured. However, if not now, he’d rarely have a chance to see an Awakened specialist doctor without going to a hospital.
After deliberation, Lee Hwan finally lifted his clothes slightly to discreetly show the wound on his side.
“This… should have healed over after a week, but it’s still bleeding.”
It must be serious. But it was also ambiguous since he didn’t have a raging fever or was unable to move. He hoped it wasn’t anything serious…
Despite his nervousness about possibly dying from this, the doctor’s answer was somewhat deflating.
“It doesn’t seem to be infected… There’s no swelling or pus. It’s difficult to diagnose like this, so you should come to the hospital for tests.”
“…No, that’s fine.”
If he could have been treated here, Lee Hwan would have entrusted his body to the doctor regardless of whether Kang Dongha knew about his injury or not. The wound that was taking too long to heal and the pain that returned whenever he started to forget about it was quite annoying and concerning.
But entering his personal information and getting treatment as the masked lunatic? If that had been so easy, he would have gone to the hospital long ago. Lee Hwan shook his head and lowered his clothes to cover his side again.
“I can at least disinfect it for you.”
“I’ll do that myself too.”
“I’ll leave you some antibiotics and painkillers.”
Lee Hwan just nodded at the response, without saying anything else. His mood had sunk. He felt like he was being punished, though he wasn’t sure what he had done wrong.
Perhaps because the incident had left such a strong impression in his memory, Lee Hwan also had an unpleasant dream.
He was standing in a courtroom, his whole body inexplicably bound tightly with ropes.
“Defendant, how did you meet the victim, Mr. Kang?”
“I… picked him up at an upscale bar.”
“At a bar… And you moved shortly after?”
“Yeah, I received ‘proper’ food, clothing, and shelter, so I moved to a place closer to work.”
“And then your first day at work. But your workplace is the Naru Group? Mr. Kang’s…”
“Huh? Yes… Wait, hold on. I got that job on my own!”
“A group where Mr. Kang’s grandfather is the chairman, and his father is the president of several affiliates…”
“I don’t, I don’t use that guy’s money anymore! I borrowed it for a while because of circumstances, and I was about to start paying it back!”
Bang! The judge’s gavel made such a loud noise demanding silence that it hurt his ears. Lee Hwan hiccupped and closed his mouth.
“Your Honor, the defendant Mr. Joo met the victim Mr. Kang at a bar, maintained some kind of relationship, and then in March, was employed as a Supporter for Mr. Kang’s family. Afterward, with Mr. Kang’s help, he secured housing near Mr. Kang, and we have detected circumstances of them meeting multiple times outside of work…”
“No, honestly, I earned my keep! It’s not that kind of relationship! It’s true I picked him up at the bar, but it’s not what you’re thinking! Your Honor! This person is maliciously misrepresenting my clean, simple, and dry relationship with Kang Dongha!”
“Who is ‘this person’, defendant?”
“What? Well, of course…!”
When he turned around with veins popping on his neck, at the prosecutor’s seat sat Taesung wearing a dark navy suit.
He was staring at Lee Hwan while holding some unknown documents. Underneath his well-groomed, neat hair, his slightly furrowed brows seemed to strangely grip and shake Lee Hwan’s heart.
Flutter. As he turned a page of the document he was holding, suddenly the world went into slow motion. In that instant, Lee Hwan took in everything from his long fingers to his snow-white sleeves, gold cufflinks, and even the watch that was slightly revealed.
For a moment, it felt like a clicking sound went off in his head.
Ah. I remember. That’s the outfit Taesung wore when he was presenting something about dungeons. Those ugly cufflinks were ones that Lee Hwan had playfully picked out for him. Even though they weren’t visible, he never thought Taesung would actually wear them.
By the way, when did Kang Taesung become a prosecutor? Did he study for the bar exam while I was regressing? And why does that outfit suit him so well…?
As these nonsensical thoughts laid out before him like narration, heat rose to his face, and his heart began to pound heavily, thump, thump, and then…
Beep, beep, beeep- click!
Lee Hwan’s eyes flew open.
The alarm announced it was exactly 7 o’clock. Lee Hwan stretched out his hand to turn off the clock and quietly ruminated on the strange dream he had just had.
‘What the hell was that dream?’
It was a shabby courtroom setting like those seen in TV reenactment programs. Now that he was awake, he wondered why he hadn’t realized it in the dream. Moreover, no matter how he thought about it, Taesung, who had beaten him up several times, should have been in the defendant’s seat, but perhaps due to his many misgivings, he himself had become the criminal.
And the victim was even Kang Dongha.
“I haven’t killed him yet…”
Regardless of how his subconscious had twisted things, Lee Hwan felt slightly wronged even though he knew it was just a dream. All that remained was a hollow feeling. Only Taesung’s face, which had strongly held his gaze until the end, continued to float before his eyes.
* * *
The morning air was reasonably cool and a little humid. When he opened the window for ventilation, he could hear the chirping of sparrows outside. It was a peaceful beginning.
“I’m coming in to work.”
—Why are you telling me that?
After four days, Kang Dongha’s response to his notification was calm. Despite smashing his office and tying someone up with a net trap, their relationship had returned to being moderately annoying, moderately beneficial, and moderately dry.
After ending the call and finishing his shower, Lee Hwan gazed blankly at the mirror. His face, wet and smooth. A drop of water finally fell with a plop as it traced his jaw.
This was one of the benefits of being an Awakened. Even though he had been beaten to the point where his bones nearly collapsed, within three or four days, not only had the swelling but also all the bruises disappeared. His neck was fine. His shoulders were fine. When he rotated his arms widely and tilted his head, he felt a refreshing pop.
However, his left arm was healing with a faint scar as the doctor had warned. Whenever he looked at it, he was reminded of those black eyes that had pressed him down and stared at him. Lee Hwan felt as if Taesung’s hand was still holding onto him somehow.
This scar would naturally disappear even before half a year passed. That’s how an Awakened’s body was. Nothing left traces for very long. That’s why the scar on Taesung’s neck had been so fascinating.
‘Of all people, he’s a Naru Hunter and a Kang. Plus, he’s a strong guy, how could someone stab him in the neck like that?’
What could have happened to him in these few years? Come to think of it, Lee Hwan knew nothing about Taesung’s past except for widely known facts or the few things Taesung had told him directly.
Since his own past wasn’t particularly happy, he hadn’t felt the need to pry into the other’s life. As a result, Taesung also didn’t know everything about Lee Hwan, but…
‘Maybe I should have asked about that scar after all.’
Even if it had been a painful experience, he would have eventually told Lee Hwan everything. Then Lee Hwan would have comforted him, and they might have spent the weekend at home watching TV, eating meals, and playing video games together.
Lee Hwan, who had been staring blankly at the mirror, tried to shake off memories of the past as he left the bathroom. It was all in the past. Continuing to dwell on regrets would only upset him more.
Come to think of it, had the company processed his absence as sick leave? Since there had been no calls asking why he had been absent without notice for days, it seemed certain that Kang Dongha had said something. Wondering if there had been any separate contacts, he searched his phone, but the days without even a single message asking if he was okay seemed to plainly show his reality.
‘Well… that guy probably gave some excuse other than saying I was sick.’
Even if I’d said my pet fish died, someone would have at least asked how I was. Lee Hwan quietly clicked his tongue.
Grumbling like that, he arrived at an office with a chilly atmosphere. Lee Hwan unpacked his things and looked around a bit, but despite the cool vibe, he moved as usual to raid the office supplies.
Since he was working after a while, he’d start the morning with four coffee sticks. The coffee-colored sugar piled up like a mountain at the bottom of his tumbler with a swooshing sound. Taking a sip of the hot coffee made it feel like all the meals he had eaten at home for the past four days were flowing down.
‘Aaah, I’m getting drunk.’
Drunk on refined sugar and caffeine. Just as Lee Hwan closed his eyes slightly at the sweet taste and opened them again.
“You came in today? Are you feeling better?”
After making all this commotion, someone finally spoke to him. Short hair and a sturdy face. It was a colleague who occasionally spoke to him since he started going out in the field. His name was… Lee Junhyuk, was it?
If Lee Hwan’s memory was correct, he was someone who had died during the C-17 Gate incident. Having not seen him for a year after joining the company, his image had faded quite blurrily from memory, so he was always startled, as if meeting him for the first time, whenever they encountered each other.
“Uh… yeah, well.”
By the way, seeing this concern, it was clear that Kang Dongha had instructed a subordinate to pretend to be an acquaintance and say he was sick. Yet no one had even left a text message wishing him a quick recovery, which was honestly a bit disappointing.
At the same time, since Lee Hwan had taken off the entire week through Wednesday, it wouldn’t have worked as a normal excuse, so he was quite curious about what kind of illness Kang Dongha had claimed.
“I heard you were rushed to the emergency room due to dehydration from gastroenteritis. I was surprised you took such a long break.”
His curiosity was resolved remarkably quickly.
“Gastro… That crazy, that bas… Did that person say that?”
Lee Hwan asked, unexpectedly flaring up. Although he had euphemistically said dehydration, it essentially meant he had been rushed to the hospital after eating something bad and having explosive diarrhea. Kang Dongha’s petty malice was clearly felt in that hastily made-up illness.
Why did that bastard choose such an excuse of all things? While trying to control his breathing, thinking the guy had picked something truly vulgar like himself, Lee Hwan suddenly felt the strange sensation of everyone’s eyes fixed on him.
Glancing around, for some reason, all the office personnel were looking at him before quickly turning away.
“…Shall we step out for a bit?”
Lee Hwan nodded with a disgruntled face at his colleague’s sudden suggestion. He was already feeling uncomfortable continuing to stand there.
The atmosphere directed at him was unsettling. What on earth had happened during the few days he was absent?
