# Chapter 92
## Third Piece: B3F
I woke up to the familiar vibration on my wrist after quite some time. I slipped only my left arm out from under the blanket to see the familiar gate watch trembling gently.
It was what I’d received when leaving Jade’s house just the day before. A paper bag containing freshly laundered clothes and the watch. Although I had hung the clothes up again after getting completely soaked in the rain, they looked impossibly clean considering they had been drenched in blood.
The smartwatch remained exactly the same as before. The contact “A” saved in the address book was the first to appear, greeting me.
For some reason, I had fallen asleep wearing it. I had even fastened it one notch tighter than usual, leaving a pressed mark on my wrist. Despite being a product made sturdy enough to withstand intense combat without being torn off, I was afraid it might come loose.
With a click, I loosened that extra notch, and cool air flowed between my wrist and the band. Only then did Lee Hwan stretch and get out of bed, trudging unsteadily to the bathroom.
The face reflected in the mirror looked unusually drained. Probably because of my hair that had grown unattractively long. Lee Hwan made a resolution to cut his hair this weekend, but then belatedly remembered that weekends had their own schedule.
On Saturday, he needed to sneak into the laboratory. Though researchers seemed to work in shifts even on weekends, their numbers were far fewer than on weekdays.
At night, there would be even fewer researchers, and the corridors would likely become empty spaces without a trace of human presence. Lee Hwan planned to use that opportunity to explore the underground floors.
So he wouldn’t be able to cut his hair this week either. He decided to live with his long hair for one more week.
Lee Hwan neatly arranged his lengthened hair, pushing it back and fixing it with hair gel. He planned to go to the research facility like this. It would be troublesome if strands of hair flew around and left evidence.
‘They must still be conducting research on humans. After all, the goal is to create something that can be applied to people. However, it seems the subjects have increased somewhat.’
According to Jade, monster test subjects were also kept down there. Some monsters could legally be pulled out from beyond the gate for research with proper permits, so there was no need to conduct experiments in secret.
Yet the fact that they were hidden deep underground meant the research itself was either extremely dangerous or contained information that shouldn’t be revealed.
To the extent that they blocked even the ground floor researchers and lower-ranked underground researchers from digging around freely.
He wasn’t sure if monsters had emotions or intelligence. Lee Hwan didn’t feel much sympathy for them. Before the regression, he had witnessed countless colleagues lost and terrible deaths in places where monsters surged forward like waves.
But when he recalled that this was research related to humans, the mere thought made him instantly uncomfortable. Was it because Jade, and consequently Taesung, was involved? Even more than before.
Friday morning. Lee Hwan was, as usual, sipping a tumbler full of instant coffee while idly tapping at his phone.
He planned to borrow Kang Dongha’s ID card without permission and return it quietly, which meant he needed to get him thoroughly drunk first. For that, he had to suggest a drinking session, but he had no idea how to do it without making the guy suspicious.
“It’s been six months since we first met, so shall we drink at the place where we first met?”
‘Oh no, ugh…’
Lee Hwan felt chills run down his nape. Rather than sending a message that seemed like he was celebrating some anniversary, it seemed better to just kill Kang Dongha and steal his ID card.
“Let’s have a drink together?”
Though they had passed the point of betraying and turning their backs on each other, they weren’t close enough to share drinks without reason.
They had met at bars before. But usually, such occasions were disguised as drinking sessions to exchange various information.
If he contacted him out of the blue saying he had something to discuss, the guy would surely start calculating what might have happened and become suspicious. But it felt awkward to call him out without a reason.
Buy him drinks for using his card? That’s forced. I want to drink? So what?
‘Ah… aaaah…’
Just as Lee Hwan was groaning painfully inside and gulping down the remaining coffee…
Buzz, his phone vibrated with a message containing a photo.
Jade sitting in a cafe with a stiff expression, and himself with a bloodied face covering his nose.
[Looks like you got quite a beating.]
Lee Hwan’s expression hardened at the photo sent by “Mulju.” This was clearly the situation at the cafe a few days ago.
[Someone took it by chance. I’m telling you in advance so you won’t get suspicious.]
The absurd excuse made him even more suspicious. Could this bastard have placed someone to monitor him?
The mere assumption made his brows furrow sharply and his blood boil. If he had forgotten what kind of fate awaited him for monitoring Lee Hwan, he might break the alliance this time and truly crush one of his legs.
But there was no way that guy had forgotten. For someone who felt a hangnail more painful than others felt a gunshot, how could he forget a moment when he nearly died?
Lee Hwan quickly denied that thought and calmly settled his rising anger.
Right. If he had really set up surveillance, he would have known that Lee Hwan had suddenly gotten a nosebleed while quietly drinking coffee. Yet the message now made it sound like he’d been punched.
Besides, Kang Dongha had his head firmly attached to his shoulders and wasn’t the type to act confidently about something that would obviously be discovered. Even if there were some vague implications, it meant there was no spy following him around.
Then how was this photo “coincidentally” taken?
It was simple. This was a photo targeting Jade, not himself.
‘I’ve had some people following me lately.’
When he said that, Lee Hwan had thought there might be one or two people monitoring him to prevent reckless behavior. But to think they were creepily following him around and taking photos to share.
Coincidentally my ass. Lee Hwan thought of that annoying mouth as he re-opened the screen of his phone that was about to turn off.
Though he sent the photo casually, he must be dying of curiosity by now. Why he met with Jade, and how he ended up getting hit and looking like that—he’d probably pay to hear about it.
This guy wasn’t much of a gentleman either, always contacting at such timing, but it worked out well. This was the perfect opportunity to lure Kang Dongha by pretending to have been beaten by Jade.
Not wanting to miss the timing, he went to the bathroom and made a call, which was promptly answered.
“Didn’t Jade say he was going for some experiment?”
—Do you think experiments run 24 hours a day?
“There’s something I heard, and I think we need to talk.”
—Today? Evening?
“Let’s drink. I’ll text you the details later.”
When he hummed and paused, playing an obvious game, Lee Hwan just hung up. When he didn’t answer the call back, a message quickly arrived.
[After work, at the same place as last time?]
[No, I’ll come to where you are, so get ready.]
Lee Hwan’s heart was already pounding at the thought of searching through the office while Kang Dongha was passed out, like he was on a treasure hunt.
* * *
The day passed without him knowing how. Though the rain had completely stopped, the afternoon was still gloomy with lingering clouds. Lee Hwan smacked the wrinkles out of his shirt and left the office in time.
Soon September would begin, and new field work schedules would be assigned. There were no new hires last quarter, but this time there should be newcomers.
They would definitely be assigned to Team 3 first. Management would be handled by senior staff, but Lee Hwan might have to take charge of one of them and provide instruction.
‘I’m really not cut out for spoon-feeding.’
Even in college, he was quickly fired from tutoring jobs and had to work various part-time positions. Perhaps because he had struggled to divide his time between studying, earning money, and building his resume. When it came to teaching, his unreasonably Spartan methods were problematic.
‘I’ll pay for your expenses, feed you, let you stay over—why can’t you even sit still for five hours a day?’
He was confident in teaching concisely. But he lacked the patience to force water down the throat of a horse that kept its mouth shut and shook its head.
At least the new employees showed more effort than students who paid for their education, but even that wasn’t enough to satisfy Lee Hwan.
Well, with his reputation at rock bottom now, they probably wouldn’t assign newcomers to him anyway. But if by chance someone was assigned, he might try to push them off to a colleague.
As the clouds dispersed, a cool breeze began to blow from dusk. Soon it would be fully autumn. Lee Hwan pushed his hair behind his ears and entered the pale Research Building D.
For some reason, Kang Dongha’s office was dark with only different lighting illuminating the sofa area. Thinking that this guy had set up all sorts of things in his workspace, Lee Hwan glanced at Kang Dongha who was already sipping alcohol.
Across from him sat a radiant pink glass. Without greeting, Lee Hwan nodded a few times, sat down opposite him, and picked up the glass.
“What’s this?”
“Some kind of flower liquor, I hear.”
As he took a small sip, a clean, strong soju taste rose behind the subtle fragrance. After taking a few more sips of the interestingly sophisticated flavor, Kang Dongha snickered from across the table.
“Why do you keep taking such small sips?”
“I was going to help you cool down before asking… but how did you end up getting hit? I can’t wait to know.”
