Chapter 14 - Don't Get Cocky (2)

* * *

* * *

'Is it because this is the first day? This is pretty relaxed.'

As Hyeonyul stepped outside during the break, he couldn't quite shake his sense of wonder. They were actually teaching him things like this. It felt as though he had come to school.

On his way to get some water from a nearby dispenser, he suddenly stopped short. The people passing by briefly slowed as though they, too, were about to stop. When he whipped his head around, he even saw someone running as if fleeing.

'What are they doing?'

Hyeonyul went over to the dispenser. Even the person about to drink some water hurried away. Paying them no mind, he began drinking a cup of water, then paused and smiled quietly.

'... Oh, has word already gotten around?'

Apparently, word had spread that Haeryeon had paid the White Sparrows' Supervisor a visit. Otherwise, they wouldn't be reacting so obviously. He liked it.

'Now that this has blown up, the guilty bastards will get together and whisper about what to do, won't they?'

Now there would finally be something worth listening to. Until then, all he would have heard was people bad-mouthing him, so he hadn't bothered paying close attention.

Hyeonyul went back inside for training. There were three new recruits, including him. He could see the others fighting the urge to speak. With the subject of all those Team Three rumors right there, how curious must they be? But whether they were unusually patient or had something else in mind, they said nothing to him and wouldn't meet his eyes.

He sat down and covered his ears, pretending to prop up his chin until the break ended. His ears melted into darkness and roamed through the building's walls.

There was just one thing he needed to hear.

"... Hey, what do we do?"

That frightened voice was exactly what he was looking for.

'Found you.'

"What if they find out it was us?"

The voice continued, almost pleading, and Hyeonyul listened quietly.

"Don't say things that'll jinx us. Not us. You. You alone."

"W-what are you talking about? You told me to do this! You said we should leave out that bastard's information..."

"You're the one who blabbed about a former villain joining the Black Eagles. As your colleague, I was worried about you, so all I did was suggest a way to handle it. You're the one who actually did it."

'That's the way of talking I hate most. Twisting your words so cleverly that you make someone else look like an idiot.'

Hyeonyul paused in his listening to touch his temple.

"When you put it that way..."

"Besides, you didn't do it, did you?"

"... What?"

"You didn't do it. Have you forgotten?"

The corners of Hyeonyul's eyes lifted at those words. They seemed intent on covering the whole thing up.

"R-right. I didn't do it. It wasn't me!"

"So remember that. Neither you nor I did anything."

"All right. All right. We didn't do it."

"And you—even if you were desperate, that was out of line. I must have treated you too well, if you've forgotten that you and I aren't on the same level."

Hyeonyul almost laughed at that insistence on who stood above whom. Now it was time to see who they were. He took his hand away from his ears and covered his eyes, pretending to scratch his eyebrow. Their faces came into view.

One was a Black Eagle. The other was a White Sparrow. Quite a fine pairing, he thought. Now he knew exactly whom he needed to deal with.

'You first.'

Hyeonyul lowered his hand and smiled quietly.

* * *

He stepped outside as soon as class ended. He heard footsteps following him, but ignored them and shook everyone off.

There was only one subject anyone would bring up with him right now: the truth behind the rumors going around. Either that, or they would ask why Team Three's leader had visited the Manager Supervisor.

'People love gossip about others, no matter where you go.'

Every time he changed jobs, all kinds of bizarre rumors followed him around, and he had found it tiresome. This place was no different.

Hyeonyul entered Team Three's room and looked around.

'No one's here.'

Haeryeon had told him he didn't need to go into the field while he was taking classroom training. She'd told him to enjoy it, but he couldn't relax. Was it really all right to take it easy? Although he had ultimately ended every job with his own hands, he'd still done all sorts of things at those companies to avoid getting fired.

Hyeonyul knocked, then opened the door to Haeryeon's office.

"You're back?"

Haeryeon greeted him, and he bowed his head slightly.

"The theory was boring, wasn't it?"

She grinned. After running wild in the field, moving on to theory usually felt dull.

"No. I enjoyed it. I got to find out what it feels like to be a student."

Haeryeon blinked rapidly. She pressed her lips together, then forced their corners upward. Hyeonyul had never been able to attend school.

"That's good, then. You'll probably have even more interesting theory waiting for you tomorrow."

"Is that so?"

Hyeonyul replied calmly.

After a brief silence, he addressed her.

"Team Leader."

"Yes?"

"There's something I need to tell you."

"... Oh."

Haeryeon stopped as she remembered. She had forgotten because she'd been so angry about the Supervisor earlier. Interlacing her fingers, she slowly exhaled.

"No matter how urgent it was, you shouldn't steal other people's things."

'Should I have taken it by force?'

Hyeonyul merely thought it, without answering. This was different from the villains' way of doing things.

"And when something like this happens, you should tell me first, not Team Leader Ye Juhyeon."

"I will from now on. I wasn't thinking clearly."

Hyeonyul immediately bowed his head.

Haeryeon drew in a breath at his swift apology. Whether he meant it or not, she didn't like seeing him like this.

"No. It's understandable that you weren't thinking clearly. What a thing to happen right after you joined. This won't happen again. Even if it does, I'll handle it, so leave it to me."

After finishing, Haeryeon checked the time.

"In about five minutes, I think? The people who didn't send you the alert will be coming here. If there's anything you want to say, say it."

"Have they been fired, by any chance?"

"Yes."

For the briefest moment, a smile appeared on Hyeonyul's lips, then vanished.

"Hyeonyul, I may be worrying over nothing, but you haven't met with the Poison King, have you?"

"No. I haven't contacted him since then, either."

That was true. In fact, he'd considered contacting him, then decided against it. He was no longer in any hurry. He already had a job, and it was going well.

"Again, I may be worrying over nothing, but if the Poison King approached you again with a very good offer, would you go?"

Haeryeon decided to sound him out.

"How good would the offer be?"

"What...?"

"... W-w-wait a minute!"

Sinu, who had just opened the door and come inside, shouted urgently.

Without even pausing to catch a breath, Sinu rushed straight over to Hyeonyul. There was a burnt smell—had the mission involved fire?

"Hyeonyul! That offer isn't even worth hearing out!"

Sinu spoke firmly.

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with listening, is there? I was told one should always listen carefully to what people say."

"... In that book?"

Haeryeon asked hesitantly. She remembered its title being something like 101 Ways to Something or Other.

"Yes. Besides, I've always been a good listener."

Hyeonyul looked pleased with himself. He simply listened well. Whether he complied with a request or answered a question was entirely up to him.

At Hyeonyul's rather proud expression, Sinu was briefly at a loss for words. Toying with the slightly long hair at the back of their head, Sinu drew a short breath.

'This is just... I'm going to lose my mind.'

Without someone saying something, he might really be won over completely. Normally, people had to be taught these things from childhood. Why else were humans called social animals? Hyeonyul had grown up differently. What a way to discover the gaps in his upbringing.

"You probably don't like me interfering, but this is the Poison King. The fact that he wants you at all seems incredibly suspicious to me, you know?"

"It's because I killed Shin Daeho. That's all that matters over there. The more you kill, the more they like you."

Hyeonyul's simple, clear answer left Sinu speechless again. There was so much Sinu wanted to say.

Though they'd only spent a short time together, Sinu had observed that Hyeonyul had a weakness for employee benefits. For instance, the kitchenette in this room was stocked with premium ice cream and all kinds of snacks, and he'd initially asked whether he had to pay for them. He had cheered quietly on hearing there was a company cafeteria, then looked bewildered when told he didn't have to pay. He was like someone who'd never enjoyed employee benefits before. Of course Sinu was worried.

'You can't leave.'

Sinu felt desperate. A recruit like this was far too precious.

"I understand why you're both acting this way. I'm not leaving. Even if I did go, I'd only be pretending to join him."

Hyeonyul told them this to reassure them. Why would he walk into such an obvious trap?

"Honestly..."

"You can't even pretend. That alone would be dangerous."

When Haeryeon cut Sinu off and spoke firmly, Hyeonyul gently pressed his lips together.

While wondering how to persuade her, he remembered something he'd wanted to know.

"Oh, there's something else I'd like to ask you, Team Leader. May I?"

"Go ahead."

Haeryeon looked at him seriously.

"What rules do you have to break to get fired from the Black Eagles?"

It was a rather odd question, but a perfectly plausible one from Hyeonyul. Haeryeon gave it serious thought before answering.

"You can't harm or kill civilians. Other than that, well, killing another Black Eagle... or killing a manager? Apart from those, failing too many missions, perhaps? We've had people run away, but no one has been fired yet."

"Thank you for telling me."

Hyeonyul smiled faintly.

'In short, it's fine to kill someone as long as I don't get caught, right?'

Frankly, that was an area he was quite confident in. He'd always done it that way.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Were you expecting someone?" Sinu asked.

"The former managers are coming to apologize to Hyeonyul."

"Apologize for what?"

"They didn't tell him where his classroom training was."

Haeryeon gave Sinu a meaningful look. Honestly, the timing was good. Sinu couldn't stand injustice.

"... Oh. So that's why there was a bit of a commotion?"

The corners of Sinu's eyes had already lifted.

"Exactly."

"What disciplinary action was taken?"

"They were fired."

"Is that all?"

"Of course not. They'll have to be questioned at the police station, too."

"I'll help as well."

At Sinu's firm declaration, Haeryeon beamed.

Hyeonyul knew they were doing something for him, but their conversation made him uncomfortable.

'Those aren't the real culprits.'

They were merely people who'd been used. He couldn't let these two waste their energy on this already.

"Neither of you needs to do that. I appreciate the thought, though."

Hyeonyul politely declined.

"But why not?"

"Our Team Leader is more than capable of handling it. You can trust her. She'll absolutely destroy them."

Haeryeon and Sinu immediately protested, disappointed.

"That's not what I meant. I only asked them here because I wanted to see what sort of people they were."

"You just want to... see what they're like?"

Haeryeon didn't understand. They had crossed the line by a long way already. Wasn't he even angry?

"I've never been fired, but I know how it feels to lose a job."

Hyeonyul rose and headed for the door. Sinu watched his retreating back in surprise.

Had this happened during a mission, it could have cost him his life. Was he going to forgive them despite how despicable and dirty their actions had been?

"That's why I wanted to meet them and talk."

Ignoring Haeryeon and Sinu's gazes behind him, Hyeonyul welcomed the two visitors.

"Hello."

The two were startled by his rather gentle greeting.

'This is the man everyone's talking about...?'

They knew his appearance was altered by the perception-obscuring magic, but expressions couldn't lie. He clearly wasn't angry. Still, they bowed their heads slightly, uncomfortable around him. Whatever anyone said, they had been fired because of this man.

They hadn't done anything wrong. He was the one at fault. Why the fuck had a villain come here in the first place? A former villain ought to know his place. It was only natural for anyone to think he was a spy.

"There seems to have been a misunderstanding."

Hyeonyul employed a way of speaking he despised, but which was also extremely effective.

"After all, you weren't the ones who did it."

As though he knew something. As though he were comforting them. With that ambiguous tone, he slowly swayed their hearts. It didn't have to happen right now. They needed to waver more slowly, and for longer.

"If you need help later, please let me know. I know you weren't the ones who did it."

Hyeonyul spoke a little more gently.

They weren't at fault. He knew very well how much that alone could help someone justify themselves.

'Look. Their eyes are already changing, aren't they?'

Hyeonyul chuckled inwardly.

* * *

Hyeonyul sat in a café, drinking coffee. Seated by the window, he gazed absently outside.

'This is nice.'

The life he'd only imagined was unfolding before him now. A life with room to breathe. If he could go on living like this, he would want for nothing.

Unfortunately, that wasn't why he was here today. He needed an alibi. The café's security cameras would vouch for him.

Today, he intended to erase one of the instigators behind this incident. He had already found out where the target lived. He would soon leave his seat for a brief trip to the restroom, and the target was too far away to reach in that time.

'But I can do it, and no one knows that.'

Hyeonyul rose and slowly made his way to the restroom. The moment he entered a stall, his body melted into darkness.

Countless spaces existed between one patch of darkness and another. Packed so densely that it was impossible to tell which way to go, those spaces resembled an immense sea. There was no telling what one might inhale upon taking a breath, which was why he had told the villain to hold his breath when transporting him before.

The scenery changed. The room was unlit, but Hyeonyul could see perfectly well.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

He heard someone entering the front door's code. When the motion-sensor light clicked on, something dark came into view.

The target entering the home was enveloped by a strange chill as soon as the door closed. Someone stood at the entrance. Who was it? The figure's face wasn't visible. Shrouded in smoke, it looked as though it had been stained completely black.

The target tried to speak. Just as their mouth was about to open, something flowed out. It was hot and thick. It streamed down. As more and more poured out, their field of vision gradually sank.

They blinked. Feet came into view.

"Why did you have to get cocky?"

Those were the last words to seep into their ears. Slowly, the light faded away, and darkness settled over them.

* * *

Hyeonyul emerged from the stall, washed his hands, and walked out. He was about to return to his seat, but went to the counter instead.

"One slice of cheesecake, please."

He bought a slice of cake to make himself a little more memorable. He remembered quite a few people regarding him with curiosity, as if cake didn't suit him, and acted accordingly.

After ordering, he sat down.

'They know what villains are like, so why did they mess with me when I used to work among them?'

Lightly propping up his chin, he looked at the sky. He had survived. In the villains' world, that alone earned recognition.

'Maybe I'll buy a lottery ticket before heading home.'

He looked forward to hearing what rumors would be circulating at work tomorrow.