Chapter 101 - A Terrible Day

* * *

Hyeon-yul sat on a chair near the scene and stared blankly up at the sky.

White Sparrows moved back and forth, voices carried through the area, and lights had been switched on everywhere as though to drive away the darkness. It should have been noisy, yet strangely enough, even all of that felt quiet.

‘I wonder if I can go home now.’

Hyeon-yul shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and blinked.

His part was over. He had done everything he could as a member of the advance team, and the remaining villains were now the responsibility of the follow-up team that would arrive next.

Since there was little chance of any extra work being added, Hyeon-yul let out a long yawn. Perhaps because of the emergency medicine he had been given when his body collapsed earlier, sleepiness was weighing on him even more heavily.

The medicine had been made to do exactly that, so he was forcing his eyes to stay open as he turned his head and saw Shinwoo ambling over. When Shinwoo tried to casually sit beside him, Hyeon-yul shifted over to make room. Shinwoo chuckled.

“How is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s the first one.”

Shinwoo left a lot unsaid. There were too many eyes and ears around them.

Hyeon-yul finally understood what he meant. This had been the first organization connected to him that they had wiped out.

“Are you asking how I feel?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Because you can’t believe it?”

“No. I simply don’t feel anything.”

At Hyeon-yul’s answer, Shinwoo hesitated slightly and fidgeted with his hair for no reason.

“Then can I tell you how I feel?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“I’m happy, but at the same time, thinking about how far we still have to go leaves a bitter taste. I also want to dig deeper, a lot deeper, and I want things to get easier for you.”

“That is a complicated set of emotions.”

“You probably felt even more than I did.”

“Did I?”

“I’m sure you did.”

Shinwoo thought so as he looked at Hyeon-yul, who had quietly closed his eyes beneath the moonlight earlier.

There had been a deep sadness behind that calm exterior. It might have been nothing more than Shinwoo’s own interpretation, but that was how it had seemed at the time.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Hyeon-yul asked the question out of nowhere.

What did he mean by that?

Shinwoo thought about it for a moment, then laughed as if the question were ridiculous.

“No. Not at all.”

“Is that so?”

“Your dagger has no reason to point at me, or at any of us, does it?”

Seeing the certainty in Shinwoo’s eyes, Hyeon-yul blinked for a moment before looking ahead again.

“There is no reason for it to.”

“Then why would I be afraid?”

“Because by your standards, I am abnormal.”

“You rescued the hostages, got rid of the bombs, and prevented casualties. I don’t see what’s abnormal about that.”

“I killed people,” Hyeon-yul answered calmly.

Even if it had been permitted within the boundaries of the law, killing was still killing. People harbored strong aversion toward murder. He knew that from the countless books he had read and from the way others looked at him.

He was abnormal, and he had no intention of denying it, but Shinwoo saw things differently.

“What happened today was thanks to you.”

“I saw a lot. I learned things I didn’t know, and I feel like I can see farther now. Maybe you could say I learned more about the ways we’re different. Anyway, I’m really happy.”

Shinwoo looked as though he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs right then and there.

“I merely did the part I was capable of doing.”

“Then keep doing exactly that. If I think something’s wrong, I’ll stop you. Ah, I should’ve asked this first. If I try to stop you, will you listen to me?”

“Yes. You are my senior.”

The word “senior” sounded much better than Shinwoo had expected, and he burst out laughing.

“But Hyeon-yul, you’re more stubborn than I thought.”

“Am I?”

“What would I have to do to stop you if you really dug your heels in?”

“Must you necessarily stop me?”

“It could happen someday. Give me a hint, at least. …Ah, would bringing up Dr. Jeongmin work?”

“I occasionally ignore the doctor as well.”

“…Wow.”

Shinwoo could not hide his surprise that Hyeon-yul had said that himself. It felt like watching a model student suddenly start going delinquent.

“If you want to stop me, then grab me and subdue me.”

“No, I’m saying we should use words. Words.”

“I don’t know. Perhaps saying something shocking would work?”

“…This is difficult.”

“I have never tried stopping before, so I do not know.”

“That makes sense.”

Shinwoo gave a deflated laugh as he wondered how someone was supposed to stop.

Even Shinwoo felt as though everything would collapse the instant he stopped moving. Hyeon-yul must have felt that even more strongly.

“Miss Choo Nayun is coming this way.”

“…What? Why?”

“I do not know. Did you do something wrong?”

“Hey!”

At the thunderous shout, Shinwoo’s shoulders flinched.

“…She doesn’t have her gun, right?”

“She does have it with her.”

“I can’t dodge that thing. It seriously hurts!”

“Is it that bad?”

When Hyeon-yul showed interest, Shinwoo grimaced.

“You’ll freak out if you ever get hit by it. Hyeon-yul, don’t even get curious.”

“My gun exists for moments like this. Who said I’d shoot our Hyeon-yul? Feeling guilty, Baek Shinwoo? Then maybe you shouldn’t have been slacking off.”

Nayun strode over and stopped in front of Shinwoo.

She had been running around in every direction, busy enough to lose her mind, and here he was resting.

Under Nayun’s stare, Shinwoo lowered his head and muttered.

“…I wasn’t slacking off. I was passing by and saw Hyeon-yul. He looked really lonely.”

“Jihwan is voluntarily helping with restoration right now.”

“I’ll help too…”

“Hyeon-yul, you stay here. You need to rest.”

Nayun looked at Hyeon-yul with a gentleness completely different from the look she had given Shinwoo.

‘Is it really all right for me to do that?’

Hyeon-yul glanced between Nayun and Shinwoo.

“…Ah!”

At Nayun’s sudden exclamation, as though she had remembered something, Hyeon-yul instantly tensed as Nayun looked at him.

“Hyeon-yul.”

“…Yes.”

“I was darting around inside that building and saw a symbol that caught my eye. Would you take a look and see if it’s one you recognize?”

“A symbol?”

Hyeon-yul was immediately interested, even though he had not seen any symbols himself. Still, because it was Nayun who had noticed it, he trusted her judgment.

“Yeah. I remember you saying before that you can identify some groups by certain symbols or logos. It might just be me worrying over nothing, but wouldn’t it be better to check?”

“I will take a look.”

“Then follow me, Hyeon-yul. Baek Shinwoo, you go help Jihwan.”

“I was carrying and loading equipment with everyone until just a little while ago…”

“Baek Shinwoo.”

“…Fine. Fine.”

Shinwoo rose from his seat very slowly. Anyone could tell he did not want to get up.

He had only just escaped from work, only to get caught like this. Disappointment was written all over his face.

“Why are we not returning immediately today?”

Hyeon-yul had no choice but to ask because this mission differed from everything he had experienced so far.

“Normally we’d leave things to the managers and return to the Nest, but the area turned out to be bigger than expected, so we’re helping only until the other managers arrive.”

After Nayun explained, Hyeon-yul nodded and pointed at himself.

“Then why did you tell me to sit still?”

Nayun had been the one to tell him to sit there. If they were this busy, she could have given him something to do as well.

‘Is it because of my body? Was she that worried about it?’

Before Hyeon-yul could sink deeper into thought, Nayun answered.

“Normally, it would be right to teach you too. That’s how I learned, and Shinwoo and Jihwan learned the same way. But today… I just couldn’t do that.”

Cleaning up after an operation was also the White Sparrows’ specialty, and among the Black Eagles, the mages usually helped heavily with that side of things too.

Today, instead of leaving everything to the White Sparrows, Nayun had helped bring out the hostages, calm them down, check their condition, and identify each one.

Hyeon-yul guessed that Shinwoo had been assigned to supplies for the restoration work. As for Jihwan, it was obvious that he had been dragged off to restoration work as well.

Everyone had been scattered, and it seemed they had worried they would not be able to keep an eye on Hyeon-yul, so they had told him to sit here for the time being.

“…Did you have to wait long? You didn’t get upset because you were sitting here alone, right?”

Nayun asked out of concern. Shinwoo, who had already started walking away, immediately turned around.

“That’s why I sat beside Hyeon-yul, I told you.”

“…So that’s what happened.”

When Nayun’s expression darkened, Hyeon-yul answered firmly.

“No.”

Shinwoo glanced at Nayun’s face after hearing that, then suddenly looked alarmed and bolted. Nayun drew her handgun in an instant and fired without hesitation.

Thwack!

The shot struck the back of Shinwoo’s head dead center. His balance collapsed so badly that he staggered forward.

“Do you want to die, seriously?”

“I’m going to die from making one joke, seriously!”

Shinwoo shouted as he ran away.

Hyeon-yul watched until Nayun put the gun away.

She was faster than he had expected.

“Let’s go, Hyeon-yul.”

Only then did Nayun look satisfied as she started walking.

Hyeon-yul followed behind her while thinking over several things. He had assumed that because she was at a disadvantage at long range, closing the distance would make things easier, but apparently not. If he allowed even one shot through, it could easily become a fatal wound.

‘This is difficult.’

* * *

The place Nayun led him to was Linda’s building.

On the way up, Hyeon-yul received many looks from White Sparrows, but he received even more greetings than stares.

How did they recognize Nayun when her face had changed?

After being bombarded with so many greetings, Hyeon-yul felt more exhausted than he had during the mission. He had lost count of how many times he had nodded in acknowledgment.

All he could think about was home. Perhaps this fatigue would disappear if he could somehow lie down on his bed.

“This way.”

After waving to another White Sparrow, Nayun pointed to a room.

It looked like one of the offices. The moment they entered, Hyeon-yul took off his helmet and looked around.

There were framed pictures on the walls, but nothing that looked like a particularly notable symbol. He had already examined Linda’s logo, so Hyeon-yul looked at Nayun.

“Could you tell me what you saw?”

“I didn’t notice it at first either. I was just wandering around the room, deliberately looking for anything that might be a symbol. You have a decent idea of which logos and symbols belong to villains, right?”

Nayun slowly walked somewhere, then stopped. She turned around to face Hyeon-yul and pointed down.

There was a pillar in front of her, and she had positioned herself so that more than half her body stuck out past its side.

“Stand here and look.”

At Nayun’s suggestion, Hyeon-yul approached with a faint sense of disbelief.

He stopped exactly where she had been standing. When he looked ahead, his gaze locked onto one place.

“You see it?”

“Yes, I do.”

What he had thought were scratches on the pillar were not scratches at all.

The image inside the frame and the marks on the pillar aligned to create a single symbol.

A snake coiled around an apple.

Hyeon-yul stared intently at the emblem.

‘So this is how they are connected.’

Even after learning the truth, Hyeon-yul remained calm.

“Have you seen that symbol before?”

“Yes,” Hyeon-yul answered.

“Do you remember Shin Daeho?”

“He’s the reason you were able to get in here.”

“That is correct.”

Hyeon-yul thought back to Shin Daeho as he answered. He had become a Black Eagle by offering up that bastard’s head.

Without that head, it probably would have been impossible.

“Among the corporate records tied to Shin Daeho that I gave the team leader, there was a company that used that symbol.”

Hyeon-yul remembered because he had organized the material and handed it to Haeryeon. He had simply assumed it was one of the many villain organizations, but he had not expected it to be this place.

“It appears Shin Daeho was doing business with an organization much larger than I thought.”

Hyeon-yul narrowed his eyes as he thought about how many times he had changed jobs, but he had stayed at Shin Daeho’s company the longest, long enough to rise to team leader.

And now things he did not know were beginning to appear.

* * *

“…I’m really glad all of you made it back safely.”

Haeryeon looked over the returning team members.

They had gone out as the advance team, so there was no way she could avoid worrying. This time, it had also been difficult to receive updates in real time, and her anxiety had made it nearly impossible to focus on her own work.

“But everyone.”

Haeryeon had been smiling brightly, but now the corners of her mouth rose much too high.

“Do you remember what I told you before the mission?”

“I remember.”

The moment Hyeon-yul answered, the other three all looked at him at once. Their eyes desperately told him not to say it, but Hyeon-yul failed to read the signal.

“Would you tell me, Mr. Hyeon-yul?”

Even Haeryeon’s eyes gently closed as she waited for his answer.

—All right. I’ll say it again. You need to determine whether the place you’re going is the real site or not. Whether you confirm it is real or decide it is fake, withdraw immediately afterward. You can report after you have pulled out. Understood?

Hyeon-yul recalled what Haeryeon had said and opened his mouth.

“You said that whether we confirmed it was real or determined it was fake, we should withdraw afterward… You also said that we could report after that.”

Halfway through speaking, Hyeon-yul faltered as he realized it had been a mission where they were supposed to withdraw.

“You did well. You really did. But this is a problem. There were only four of you. No matter how strong you are, you can still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. At the very least, you should have reported in.”

Haeryeon kept the corners of her mouth raised as she suppressed the anger surging inside her.

Even so, she could feel them trembling.

“From now on, if you disobey instructions like that, I’ll have no choice but to pull out the pay-cut card.”

She knew it was harsh, but she had to say it. If that was what it took to improve her team members’ chances of survival, then she would do it.

Just as everyone’s expressions stiffened, Haeryeon spoke the magic words.

“Anyway, all of you worked hard. Let’s go home!”

They needed time to shake off their exhaustion.

While everyone was celebrating, Haeryeon suddenly remembered something.

She glanced at Hyeon-yul with an extremely cautious look. Her palms already seemed to be sweating.

“…Our team is on weekend duty this time.”

Haeryeon’s voice grew quieter and quieter.