# Chapter 68
Not immediately breaking and burning his arm was a show of patience on his part. But thinking back now, perhaps he should have just done whatever came to mind. Found the guy and thrown him in jail before things escalated further.
At this point, Taesung couldn’t tell if he wanted to hurt Lee Hwan or keep him close. Strangely, he felt angry often, and then helpless.
Back then… yes. He thought he could handle it. That’s why he didn’t chase the desperately fleeing Awakened person to the end. Because that day’s incident was just a brief happening.
Rather, Jade had the more serious expression, saying that if someone who could break through all the security measures was that level of Awakened person, there would surely be problems. Taesung, despite being the one who confronted him first, was surprisingly calm about this uncertain factor.
‘…Have my instincts dulled?’
The problem occurred not long after. When Taesung went downstairs after hearing about a package delivery, he again encountered that familiar face. Unlike before, this person perfectly defended against his attack and even engaged in pointless conversation.
During the fight, he felt nothing but irritation. But the moment the other hesitated and blood poured from his nose, Taesung suddenly felt deep anxiety and intense fear, as if something was gnawing at his insides. His instinct grabbed him by the throat, warning that something terrible would happen in a way he couldn’t foresee.
The day he lost track of him, Taesung couldn’t sleep. His mind filled with burning hostility, as if issuing a warning about something. Fortunately, as time passed, the negative feelings gradually subsided, but then unfamiliar emotions surged instead.
He suddenly became curious about this thunderbolt of a stalker who had caused this situation.
Name unknown, residence unknown. The only thing he remembered was his appearance. Recalling how he extinguished the flames on the first day, Taesung thought he might have ice-based abilities, but during their next meeting, he somehow managed to dodge all of his punches.
Was he an Awakened person with skill stones? But he couldn’t find him in the Awakened person database. Since he’d never seen such abilities before, there was a high possibility he was unregistered.
Fortunately, Jade spent a few days in and out of the information room and thoroughly searched through all the CCTV footage in the area to track his movements. When Taesung finally confronted him after following him to the last alley trackable by CCTV, the strange satisfaction he felt was indescribable.
But when Taesung actually made eye contact with him, his mouth froze shut. The brown hair soaked in blood scraped at his nerves, and the staggering body made him feel uneasy again.
‘Wait, ugh… whirl… whirlwind… explosion!’
It wasn’t a completely fruitless outing. The unexpected part was hearing about skills from those lips—something Taesung hadn’t even told Jade about. Taesung felt his blood run cold. Come to think of it, he said the same thing the day he broke into the house. That Taesung had given him the password.
By this point, he couldn’t simply dismiss the claim that this person knew him well as a mental illness. Unless he was a born actor, he didn’t seem to be lying at all, but who was to blame for this?
Perhaps truly ominously and unfortunately, was something happening without his knowledge?
‘I’d rather be going crazy myself.’
After losing track of him through various complications and returning to the site of the battle, Taesung could see the remains of a scorched gun. The ammunition must have exploded right in front of him, yet there wasn’t a single scratch on his body. Come to think of it, there was a gleam in the other’s eyes just before Taesung threw a punch.
When he realized that the man had saved him, Taesung became furious without even being able to guess the reason. There was an emotional upheaval that wouldn’t go away no matter how hard he clenched his teeth. It felt like his insides were being churned up. Yes, just like now.
♪♬♩♪-.
Just then, the sound of a ringtone broke him from his thoughts. ‘Jade’. After confirming the caller and touching the screen, a familiar voice echoed through the car.
“Still awake?”
It was barely 11 o’clock. It wasn’t as if he actually thought Taesung would be sleeping.
“What is it?”
“Kang Dongha has started searching around.”
Taesung clicked his tongue softly and turned the car around. Hearing that name again made him feel uncomfortable from the inside out.
“…That’s faster than I expected.”
“Yeah. It’s only been half a day. Seems they’re not just casual acquaintances.”
That crazy bastard had gone out of character and provoked him last time because he’d lost his mind. It was ridiculous when he realized it was because of that unregistered Awakened person. So he had no idea what Dongha might do this time.
A cornered rat will bite a cat, and it seemed that mask was some kind of last bastion for him. How close could they have become in less than half a year?
If they were that close, throwing him to Taesung when he’d lost his mind… was that some kind of punishment for betrayal? It was laughable.
“After talking to him a bit, he doesn’t seem like that kind of person, but still, get that guy ready. So he doesn’t talk nonsense when he gets back.”
“I’ll contact you separately. I’m out right now.”
“Him?”
“Me.”
“From your house?”
“…”
“…Right. That’s possible.”
That’s possible, indeed. He probably swallowed a couple of curses just now. Taesung parked the car nearby and held his forehead. Though he knew it was foolish, he didn’t feel like going back.
This was something he had anticipated since bringing Lee Hwan. So he could have just ignored it, but Taesung couldn’t bring himself to do so. Because he knew the reason he collapsed with a burning fever was due to injuries sustained while saving him in the dungeon.
Moreover, after lifting the mask, what little hesitation remained had melted away. The moment he discovered that the stalker was the person he’d been attracted to, Taesung couldn’t resist bringing him home for some reason.
Looking back now, why didn’t he recognize such similarities?
He had already seen those squirrel-like cheeks stuffing desserts into his mouth while wearing sunglasses. Though he tried to hide under a generous cap, did he realize that half his face was revealed whenever he occasionally glanced at Taesung?
And the way he mentioned the name Kim Jeongshik. Also, when he was injured going through gates, Taesung briefly glimpsed his silhouette through a wall crack. Even in that urgent situation, he remembered thinking how round his ears were, half-covered by brown hair.
He also recalled the day he grabbed his neck. The faintly glowing pupils visible through the dangling mask’s eye holes. While it’s not a rare phenomenon for eyes to glow when using abilities, it’s not a common reaction either. So in reality, he had seen most of his features except the upper part of his face.
If Taesung’s perception hadn’t completely deteriorated, he should have recalled that stalker from early March. Yet he didn’t know at all until he directly removed the mask. As if something had blinded his eyes.
‘Come to think of it…’
There had been signs little by little. The only thing that had caused ripples in his life, whether positive or negative, that had always been stable without major disturbances, was that presence. The problem, if there was one, was that to Taesung, the feeling between the two was clearly different.
Taesung felt deep interest and attraction toward that ‘mask.’ The sense of connection and satisfaction he felt for the first time during combat. It was perfect harmony, as if someone had sent him just for Taesung.
Perhaps that’s why he felt an indescribable sense of betrayal when Jade, who had already left research years ago, re-entered experiments because of the report he submitted. Not to mention the fact that Jade had disappeared voluntarily without saying a word to him.
SLAM!
Closing the car door as if to break it, Taesung was once again consumed by uncomfortable emotions throughout his walk. Perhaps he should have never seen his face.
He liked how Lee Hwan kept checking on him from under the mask while pretending to be cold. It was amusing to see his eyes rolling around, not knowing what to do in front of Taesung’s goodwill. When the faces of the stalker and Lee Hwan overlapped, Taesung felt his heart sink coldly.
How much must he have laughed at him from under that mask while sticking close to Kang Dongha?
But before he could feel betrayed again, the pale, unconscious face caused anxiety. When he grabbed his shoulders and shook him, the powerless wrist that fell limp severed his reason. Taesung urgently left the building, carrying his collapsed body.
The fact that it was in the middle of a TF meeting only occurred to him later. By then, a couple of hours had already passed, and the doctor he had separately called was removing the monster vines stained with blood from Lee Hwan’s body.
‘Besides the injury, his nutritional intake seems very poor. However, his self-healing ability isn’t bad, and his immunity is good, so he should recover quickly if he takes good care of himself.’
Regardless of its severity, it was an injury that would have been immediately noticed if he had visited the hospital just once. Had he been suffering all this time without being able to show it anywhere? Was his employer doing nothing for him? The image of him warily swallowing food continuously at the cafe suddenly crossed Taesung’s mind.
From then on, he was endlessly angry. And confused at the same time. The feeling of uncontrollable emotions was suffocating. What made it worse was the familiar device crumpled in the corner on top of his belongings.
The gate watch with blood stains all over it was undoubtedly the item Taesung had given him. It seemed to be synced with a mobile phone as the address book was full, but what particularly stood out was a contact deliberately registered under ‘A’ to place it at the top of the list.
‘xxx-xxxx…’
His own number. Since he had left it as ‘No Name’ when he gave it, that must have been a measure Lee Hwan had taken himself.
This person—Joo Lee Hwan, once his stalker and now an unregistered Awakened person working as Kang Dongha’s closest aide—why did he keep catching Taesung’s eye?
The house he returned to after an hour was completely empty without a single sign of life. The living room was in deep darkness with all the lights turned off. Taesung stood rooted to the entrance for a long time before slowly walking in to survey the living room. As if he had completely evaporated, there was no trace of Lee Hwan.
The room where he had been was equally deserted. If not for the lone IV pole left in the corner, it would have seemed as if there had never been a person there from the beginning. The blanket and pillow were also well-arranged with crisp corners.
Noticing a difference in temperature, he checked the air conditioner and found that it had been turned off—how frugal. The sight of how he had cleaned up even while crying made Taesung laugh hollowly.
‘Fire? Why fire…?’
Recalling the face that gradually changed at his words made his fingertips tingle. Taesung was about to press the living room light switch but went back to sit on the sofa instead.
Sometimes, he found this comfortable darkness suffocating. So much so that he wished someone would pull him out of it.
