Chapter 46 - Here Goes One (3)

* * *

Asan burst out laughing at his answer.

COUGH, COUGH.

She coughed violently, her whole body shaking.

What kind of bullshit reason was that?

Just that.

Shin Daeho had died over something so trivial.

'And now I, too...'

Asan bit her lip and compressed her wound with her power. She could not heal it, but she could buy herself time.

"... Do you know what Shin Daeho did?"

"No."

"He stayed neutral."

"I don't understand what you mean."

Hyeonyul tilted his head slightly.

"There are... many factions among us. The wounds the Empire gave us... are different. We have the same goal, but we can't get along with one another. Shin Daeho reduced the fighting between us and weeded out the impostors. You've killed a lot of us, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Right. You must have done it. You must have weeded out the impostors."

"Is that so?"

Hyeonyul felt no interest. What did any of that matter?

"We just... want revenge on the Empire. ... Whatever it takes."

"Are you trying to make me let my guard down so you can attack?"

Asan's speech grew longer, and Hyeonyul's eyes narrowed.

"You split my belly open... and thought I wouldn't die?"

Asan was incredulous. If he had merely stabbed her, she might have considered fleeing. But how could she survive having her belly gutted with the express purpose of killing her?

She was simply going to die.

That beast would tear her throat out.

"No. I attacked to kill you. I only asked because I don't understand why you're giving me information."

"You killed Shin Daeho, and you're a Black Eagle. You deserve to hear it."

Asan laughed. She simply found the situation funny. She had known she would die someday, but to think that day was today.

"... What a waste."

Asan looked at Hyeonyul.

"I could have put you to good use. Cast you aside just right, and made you a blade aimed at the Empire..."

Would it have been better if they had met a little sooner?

'Shin Daeho must have known he was a test subject, too.'

She wanted to know how he had used Hyeonyul, but strength was draining from her body. She could feel herself dying.

Hyeonyul slowly approached and looked down at her.

"What's your name?"

"Seo Hyeonyul."

"... Hyeonyul."

Asan smiled, and Hyeonyul regarded her with displeasure.

"The Empire made us. ... It used us and threw us away."

"You're no different."

"Yes. ... We're no different. To you, we're just the same."

Asan chuckled. Remorse? She had no intention of indulging in that crap. She had done it, so she was merely acknowledging it.

"... Kill the Poison King. Screw over the bastard behind him. He's dangerous."

"You know about him?"

"If I didn't, would I have staged that incident to look like the Poison King's doing?"

Just as he had thought. Hyeonyul recalled the incident with poison spreading around the building. Asan had indeed been behind it.

"What's the password to the experimental facility?"

"My name."

Asan struggled to hold on to her fading consciousness.

"... Choi Asan."

Asan started to close her eyes, then stopped and staggered to her feet. When Hyeonyul extended his dagger, she spoke, clutching her belly.

"I don't intend... to put up an ugly struggle. I won't beg for my life, either."

She had resolved to do so from the moment she turned her blade on the Empire. Even if someone killed her, she would not disgrace herself by begging.

But one thing alone shimmered before her eyes. Asan took a step forward.

"What are you doing?"

"... Going to see my child. You can cut off my head afterward."

Hyeonyul did not answer. Asan walked on, and he followed.

Even when she stumbled and fell as she walked, Hyeonyul did not help her. He merely followed like a reaper coming to snuff out her final breath.

Amid all the destruction and upheaval, one place alone remained untouched. A grave stood before a large tree.

Asan smiled brightly at the sight. She had wanted to return here before she died. She always had.

'My baby, Mommy... is here.'

She gazed at the grave, which felt so far away. Life had not gone as she wished, but she wanted at least to choose her own death.

"Do you know something?"

Hyeonyul spoke. At the weight of his voice, Asan slowly turned her head.

"You people are always so utterly disgusting."

He seized her with darkness.

"... What are you doing? I told you to kill me after I see my child. I said I'd let you kill me."

Asan spoke in bewilderment. She had lost. She had not struggled and begged him to spare her. She had said she would submit to death without resistance. What more could she do?

"A greater cause, a justification—I don't understand any of that crap. Even if you weren't the one who made me, haven't you turned someone else's life into despair?"

The greatest despair came at the most hopeful moment. That moment was now.

"You, too, turned people into monsters and dragged everything into the abyss. Why are you smiling now?"

The moment Asan looked at Hyeonyul, her eyes widened. An ancient anger stirred within him. It seemed that anger would burn everything down.

"You want to die happy in the end? Who gave you permission?"

"... You!"

"Unknown drugs were pumped into my body. I bled countless times and received countless transfusions. They said creating power required unfathomable terror and despair, didn't they? What experiments do you think they performed? How many times do you think I died and came back to life?"

["What drugs did they use? What experiments did they perform? How many times did his body burst apart? How far did his mind crumble? How on earth did he endure those decades?"]

Only then did Asan realize that he was answering the questions she had asked a short while ago.

"Do you think my body burst apart only a few dozen times? Hundreds, thousands—no, more than that. But even these hands and feet that had become monstrous returned to normal when they injected the drugs. My mind? The drugs burned out all the circuits in my brain, leaving me unable to feel anything. Even so, there is one thing I still remember."

Hyeonyul slashed Asan's throat.

COUGH.

"I will kill every one of you who had any part in the experiments to create test subjects."

He looked down at Asan as she collapsed. Tears spilled from her eyes.

"That alone kept me going."

It was said that even after death, auditory cells could survive until the very last. Hyeonyul smiled, holding Asan's head.

"What you're feeling will be a fraction of the despair I felt for countless hours."

Holding the head, he walked toward the grave.

「I Will Love You Forever.

Choi Ara.」

After reading the name inscribed on the grave, Hyeonyul set Asan's head down before it.

"... Oh, and don't worry about the Poison King. I'll kill him, too."

He bowed his head slightly, then turned away, erasing his blood and footprints from the ground as he went.

* * *

'... He's bound to be worrying about how to decorate the place.'

Jeongmin leaned against his bed, looking through his laptop. Books on interior decorating lay scattered around him.

It wasn't as though he had only met Hyeonyul once or twice. How could he not know that, despite pretending otherwise, Hyeonyul wanted a home entirely his own? No matter how often Jeongmin suggested living together, the answer was always the same.

["You would be in danger, Doctor."]

'I wish... I could afford to buy him a house, too.'

He had talked big in front of Hyeonyul, but his finances were not good. Secretly buying medicine with his own money left his wallet perpetually empty.

THUD.

He heard something fall. Startled, Jeongmin rose from the bed.

'... What was that?'

His ability was insignificant. It merely diminished his presence for as long as he held his breath. Insignificant though it was, he had never been more grateful for it than tonight.

Holding his breath, he cautiously opened the door and looked outside. Someone lay collapsed in the living room. At the sight of the blood spilling out, Jeongmin felt his heart drop.

"... Hyeonyul?"

Jeongmin approached. Surely not.

When he reached out, Hyeonyul turned his head.

"... I'm sorry, Doctor. I tried to handle it on my own, but the bleeding wouldn't stop."

Seeing Hyeonyul's body trembling while his expression remained impassive, Jeongmin forced down the surge of emotion. He simply went into his room and fetched his medical supplies with practiced familiarity.

"... You're going to be the death of me, honestly."

Lamenting, he treated Hyeonyul.

Sometimes—very occasionally—this happened. He should have asked what Hyeonyul had done, but he could not bring himself to ask. He had known what Hyeonyul wanted for a long time. If he asked, he would surely try to stop him. One look at that body was enough to know he had done something dangerous.

"... Doctor."

"..."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. There's no need."

"It always amazes me that even a body like this needs blood."

Hyeonyul looked at the ceiling. He would recover to some extent by tomorrow. His body had been developed for experimentation, so it healed absurdly fast.

He was not human, yet he had to maintain a human form to survive. These ambiguously lingering aspects always unsettled him.

"That's only natural for a human being. Stop talking nonsense and close your eyes."

Hyeonyul smiled at Jeongmin's angry voice.

"Did you take your medicine?"

"... No."

"You're going to be the death of me, honestly."

As Jeongmin continued lamenting, Hyeonyul looked at him.

"Doctor. Still, I didn't become a monster, even at the end."

Everything had ended with Asan's death. He had not wanted his anger to burn beyond death itself. So he had buried her with her child and wished her peace.

He was a monster, but he did not want to be one.

"... That was the right thing to do, wasn't it?"

"It was."

Knowing nothing about it, Jeongmin answered as he always did.

"But I don't feel anything."

Relief. Serves her right.

Neither those simple feelings nor the weighty emotion of having accomplished part of his revenge came to him. There was only stillness.

"It's so difficult not to become a monster. Is it the same for other people?"

"It is. They struggle just like you. Living well is always difficult."

"Is that so?"

"That's life. And you're living well, Hyeonyul."

"I hope so."

Drowsiness washed over him as though he were being forced into sleep mode, and he closed his eyes.

'... This is hard.'

Jeongmin looked at Hyeonyul. He was the one who had told him not to become a monster. He was grateful that Hyeonyul was faithfully keeping that promise, but seeing him agonize over it broke his heart.

'You're still getting a smack!'

Jeongmin smacked Hyeonyul's forehead. That was one thing; going off and getting into fights was another.

He was going to be the death of him, honestly.

* * *

"... Hyeonyul."

Haeryeon stared at him.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday?"

'Yesterday...?'

Hyeonyul blinked. What was she talking about? His wounds had almost healed, and he had concealed the minor ones well.

'I should have cleaned up thoroughly after killing Asan.'

It wasn't as though he had only done this once or twice. He had not been careless about cleaning up.

"Why didn't you report that Team Five mistreated you when you went to assist them?"

'Oh.'

Only then did Hyeonyul remember the one thing he had omitted.

"He said he would accept disciplinary action on his own. I thought that was enough."

"Yes, that's exactly the problem. I only learned about the incident when disciplinary action came up."

Team Five's Team Leader position was currently vacant. With no one knowing who would fill it, the team's most experienced member had brought the matter of disciplinary action to her instead.

She had been dumbfounded. She had known nothing about it.

"I don't think the rumors will go away anyway."

"No. I want to put a stop to those rumors."

Why?

Hyeonyul did not understand her reason, but answered anyway.

"From now on, I'll be sure to tell you."

"And, Hyeonyul."

"Yes."

"Did something happen yesterday?"

"Nothing happened."

"Really...?"

Haeryeon narrowed her eyes. Something about his complexion was different.

"Are your wounds all right? Do they hurt much?"

"No."

"Good. Let's stick to light work today."

Haeryeon beamed, while Hyeonyul merely blinked. Light work. He did not know what that meant.

"Could you wait a moment? We'll decide when everyone's here."

"Decide what?"

"You're still on probation. We need to choose someone to accompany you. They're probably all rushing over here right now."

Haeryeon laughed loudly, as though picturing what would happen. She had openly said she would give him easy work. Who wouldn't like that?

The door opened hurriedly.

"... I'm first, right?"

Wiping away sweat, Nayun curled her lips into a confident smile.

"First apart from Hyeonyul, yes."

Haeryeon nodded.

"Hyeonyul. On missions like this, you go with whoever arrives first."

"Is that so?"

"Of course, of course."

Nayun nodded several times.

"Come with me."

As Nayun smiled brightly, heavy footsteps approached.

"Who do you think you're fooling?"

Startled by Sinu's voice, Nayun turned to find him glaring fiercely at her.

"You... played dirty and didn't tell me about the 'Hallway Cleaning in Progress' sign, did you?"

"You should've read it yourself. Can't read? Want me to teach you?"

Nayun snorted at him. What were his eyes even for?

"This is a mission. Who assigns missions based on who came first or second?"

Nayun reacted incredulously to Sinu's words.

"If you'd arrived first, you'd be saying exactly what I am, wouldn't you?"

"Of course."

Sinu nodded. Wasn't what you said supposed to change with the circumstances?

"You're so shameless I don't know what to say. Anyway, I got here first, so I'm going with Hyeonyul."

"...?"

Hyeonyul looked back and forth between Sinu and Nayun. Were they allowed to decide however they pleased?

'The Team Leader should be the one deciding.'

He looked at Haeryeon, who seemed to be enjoying the situation.

'Is this fun?'

He simply watched.

While Nayun and Sinu bickered, Jihwan approached.

With a sigh, he instinctively realized he was too late. After glancing around, he cautiously spoke.

"... Bro, Nayun. Can't we settle it with rock-paper-scissors?"

"Let's do it!"

"You're on!"

Nayun and Sinu answered simultaneously. At the abrupt shift in mood, Hyeonyul looked at Jihwan.

'... Is Mr. Ye Jihwan the one with the most influence after the Team Leader?'

* * *

"... Hahaha!"

Sinu laughed loudly. He had won rock-paper-scissors fair and square. To think he had landed such an easy mission. With everyone looking at him in envy, he couldn't have been happier.

"You're happy to be going with me too, right?"

Sinu asked with a grin.

"I don't mind who comes."

"In situations like this, you're supposed to just say, 'I'm happy.'"

"... Oh. I'll remember that."

"I'll teach you other things, too, so look to me when you're in a bind."

Sinu pointed a thumb at himself.

"Then may I ask a question?"

"Ask me anything."

"This mission is a corporate investigation. What does that involve?"

"... Shhh. Shh."

Sinu immediately put his index finger to his lips.

After looking around, Hyeonyul realized he had spoken far too openly about the mission. They were out here as civil servants, not Black Eagles. It was not something he should say on a crowded street.

He nodded and closed his mouth.