# Chapter 55
Several dozen minutes passed, feeling like an eternity. Already five individuals who looked wealthy but unlucky had passed through the door. Lee Hwan scrutinized each person who entered after glancing at him, then leaned heavily against the wall.
It seemed most of the attendees had gathered. Taesung still hadn’t shown his face. While that brought a sense of relief, Lee Hwan inexplicably felt disappointed and let down.
He hadn’t heard when their meeting was supposed to start. If it wasn’t too late yet, perhaps Taesung would arrive if he waited a little longer.
Just as he was thinking this, faint footsteps echoed from the empty corridor beyond. Someone was approaching. The steady, measured steps were the sound of leather shoes.
No researcher in the research wing would wear uncomfortable dress shoes instead of slippers. This presence must be a late attendee.
Lee Hwan, who hadn’t been paying particular attention thinking it was just another arrival, turned his gaze absentmindedly, then felt his heart stop.
‘Kang Taesung…’
After a long time—or rather, essentially for the first time since his regression—Taesung was walking toward him in a formal suit, his expression impassive, his posture impeccable.
‘Damn it.’
Kang Dongha was right. Taesung had begun to get involved with HPA.
Lee Hwan suddenly felt sick to his stomach, forgetting he’d been waiting just moments before. Apart from his confused feelings, the scenario he’d least wanted had come to pass.
Taesung was drawing closer with his wide stride. When Lee Hwan couldn’t tear his eyes away, Taesung also slightly turned his head, meeting Lee Hwan’s gaze.
His attitude suggested he’d known Lee Hwan would be there from a distance. The sensation of that gaze slowly landing and piercing him made Lee Hwan’s heart sink—was it simply fear?
Unlike in the dream Lee Hwan had recently, Taesung wore an immaculate black suit without a single wrinkle. True to his Awakened status, he showed no signs of sweating despite wearing attire somewhat unsuitable for the weather.
That made him look even colder, less human. Gone was the face from the past that could look gentle when his eyebrows softened, and even the irritable expression he’d worn when attacking Lee Hwan was nowhere to be seen.
Still, after spotting Lee Hwan, a glint appeared in his statue-like eyes. It was the only change in his expression, leaving Lee Hwan unsure whether to be pleased or terrified.
‘…?’
Taesung instantly passed by the door. Then he walked a bit more, striding toward where Lee Hwan stood. Lee Hwan visibly panicked.
Something seemed off—sure enough, he was coming to pick a fight. Of course, this was their first encounter since Lee Hwan had fled that way. Though they were merely passing by each other, Lee Hwan knew Taesung wouldn’t just ignore him.
Lee Hwan instinctively tried to step back, then remembered he was already leaning against the wall.
‘Surely he wouldn’t attack someone here.’
After a moment of tension, Lee Hwan immediately regained his composure at the faint sounds coming from beyond the wall. People were crowded just on the other side. Any disturbance would be known to everyone immediately. Even if Taesung wanted to beat him up, he couldn’t do anything—or so Lee Hwan hoped.
Or perhaps—though it was wishful thinking—if Taesung caused a commotion, he might end up distancing himself from this strange gathering.
Thud. The deliberately loud final footstep stopped right in front of him. Lee Hwan unconsciously took a deep breath. The exhale was so forceful it made Taesung’s hair flutter slightly.
‘…It’s quiet.’
As expected, Taesung neither raised his voice nor attacked him. He merely approached until he was right in front of Lee Hwan and moved his face a little closer. Being face-to-face with that rigid expression with barely a head’s distance between them was extremely uncomfortable.
Lee Hwan swallowed audibly.
‘What is he trying to do?’
Honestly, even if he didn’t attack, Lee Hwan expected him to hurl insults. If not that, he thought Taesung might grind out resentment or curses about the experiment again. Last time, it had even escalated to physical violence.
But Taesung was just staring at him. Before Lee Hwan could even think how strange this was, the suffocating silence weighed down on his already heavy heart, layer by layer. He almost would have preferred being cursed at.
Finally, unable to endure anymore, Lee Hwan spoke first.
“This isn’t the way. You need to enter through there.”
As if Taesung wouldn’t know which door to enter… Still, Lee Hwan thought anything was better than this silence.
“That arm.”
“Pardon?”
Taesung finally spoke. Lee Hwan, who had reflexively responded, promptly closed his mouth again.
“Has it already healed?”
He glanced down at Lee Hwan’s arm. Though it was clearly covered by black clothing, it was unclear how he knew the wound had healed. Perhaps he was just guessing.
Lee Hwan also lowered his gaze but stopped when he noticed the faint scar on Taesung’s hand, which was now almost fading away.
‘Right hand… so this bastard was injured too.’
He’d been so unhesitating about creating fire that Lee Hwan wondered if he had some special method. But he really had just burned his own hand. Though he seemed to have some resistance to fire and wasn’t badly hurt, there’s still pain when burning living flesh. Thinking about it again, he really seemed insane.
But why bring this up now? His face remained intensely cold, so he certainly hadn’t suddenly felt like apologizing for beating Lee Hwan up.
“If you go in there…”
As Lee Hwan pointed back toward the door, Taesung interrupted him again.
“What I did because of that…”
The trailing words didn’t give a pleasant impression. As Lee Hwan furrowed his brow, thinking Taesung wanted to blame him again—
“Have you met Jade separately? He was defending you.”
“…”
This was another unexpected question. Had Jade returned after being taken for the experiment? Or maybe the experiment didn’t involve being locked up, so he simply completed it and returned on his own. More importantly, why would that man suddenly defend me? Lee Hwan’s expression showed his confusion.
Jade was just someone who had treated him as an unidentified criminal, with no particular memories otherwise. At best, he appeared to be in his mid to late 30s, though considering he was an Awakened, Lee Hwan assumed he must be at least forty. The only thing Lee Hwan was beginning to notice was that Jade seemed to be subtly involved in every monster wave clue.
‘My stomach’s churning…’
What was the intention behind these words? While he couldn’t deny feeling both anxious and somewhat pleased, he didn’t know how to respond to such an abrupt question.
Trying to avoid the awkward gaze but then glancing back up, regardless of what was inside, it was still Taesung. Of course it was—he was Kang Taesung. A foolish thought.
Lee Hwan somehow felt like the Taesung from before the regression and the current Taesung were overlapping slightly. Despite it being impossible, that’s how it seemed.
“Haah…”
Feeling a kind of motion sickness he hadn’t experienced since awakening, Lee Hwan forgot who was in front of him and let out a long sigh.
He must not have suffered enough. Until just recently, he’d been cursing this guy while applying medicine to his side, but after only a few days, he was having these thoughts.
Nevertheless, Lee Hwan strangely found his resolve wavering whenever he faced Taesung directly. Like that day when he abruptly visited Taesung’s home. Like when he couldn’t firmly reject the offer to join. That’s why even now, he couldn’t simply ignore him and run away.
However, fortunately or unfortunately, these mushy sentiments didn’t last long.
“Just a moment, step back…”
Thinking it would be better if he moved away himself, Lee Hwan tried to gently push past Taesung, who moved back with ghost-like speed.
In that instant, Lee Hwan saw displeasure rising in those sharp eyes.
‘…He approached and spoke to me first?’
His mood instantly soured, and his mind cleared sharply. His insides felt acidic, and heat surged through him. Lee Hwan wanted to slap himself for almost weakening at the sight of that face just moments ago.
Bastard. If this is how you’re going to act, why come here instead of going inside, just to intimidate people? I’m already going crazy with worry about HPA.
Now that he’d confirmed Taesung had arrived, he’d seen everything he needed to see today. Unable to bear it anymore, Lee Hwan finally turned abruptly and took several big steps.
‘If you won’t go in, I’ll just send you in.’
Then, filled with anger, he yanked the door open fiercely. Just moments ago, he’d forgotten his wish for Taesung to leave, wanting instead to show everyone inside that Kang Taesung had arrived.
The faint voices from inside stopped abruptly. Lee Hwan stood hidden behind the door, invisible to those inside, glaring directly at Taesung who still remained in place.
If they lingered longer, someone would come out and discover Taesung. It would look much better if Taesung entered before that happened.
When Lee Hwan jerked his chin, Taesung stared at him quietly, then adjusted his attire. Then he smoothly turned his head and obediently disappeared inside the door in a couple of steps.
Lee Hwan slumped down in front of the door that closed with a click, wearing a dazed expression.
‘I don’t even know if this was the right thing to do…’
They weren’t in a relationship where he should avoid Taesung, even if Taesung started the fire first. This version of Taesung was completely unpredictable. If he wanted to beat him up, he should just do it thoroughly, and if he had questions, he should get straight to the point—but since last time, he kept showing behaviors that were difficult to interpret.
Even more pathetic was Lee Hwan’s own mood, which kept softening because Taesung had apparently held back a little when hitting him last time. Was this what they called Stockholm syndrome? He seemed absolutely insane by any standard.
The anxiety that had filled Lee Hwan’s mind until moments ago had now transformed into mere dejection.
