Chapter 55 - A Change in Perspective (3)

* * *

* * *

"...?"

As the door burst open, Hyeonyul raised his hand, then lowered it.

"Doctor. Have you still not gone home?"

He had only meant to give his body a quick check and leave. He wasn't a certified specialist, but he could still check his condition by hooking himself up to the machines in various places.

"I was waiting for you!"

Jeongmin suddenly shouted.

"I'll be finishing late today. Didn't you tell me that getting plenty of sleep is necessary to stay healthy?"

"With all hell breaking loose, you think that matters? Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Yes. As you can see, there's nothing wrong."

Hyeonyul nodded.

People had died from the poison, their bereaved families grieved, and some people hurled abuse at the Black Eagles. That was all. There was nothing particularly unusual about it. It was simply another replay of the scenes he'd seen in videos.

"I came for a checkup, as usual. The Team Leader was also pressing me, so I merely came sooner."

Hyeonyul smiled.

["Hyeonyul, right now! Go see Doctor Lee Jeongmin right now!"]

Nothing was wrong with him, yet Haeryeon's voice had been trembling. Why?

Jeongmin led the pondering Hyeonyul inside. He didn't just close the door; he locked it.

"Since you're here, I suppose the poison is gone. Did you do it, Hyeonyul?"

"Yes. I did."

"You swallowed... all that poison?"

The back of Jeongmin's neck tightened.

"Yes. It's no different from breathing air."

"You're driving me insane, seriously!"

Jeongmin took Hyeonyul straight to the bed and made him lie down.

He knew poison didn't affect Hyeonyul. But nothing in the information he had covered enough poison to engulf a city. What if, by some chance, it had any effect on Hyeonyul? Merely considering that possibility made his whole body feel as though it were trembling.

"Doctor. I'm fine. Truly, it doesn't affect me in the slightest."

Seeing Jeongmin's expression, Hyeonyul offered what comfort he could. This was Jeongmin, of all people, and he didn't want to see him looking sad.

"We'll see about that once the test results..."

Jeongmin was thinking he should start with a blood test, but as he looked at Hyeonyul lying quietly there, emotion suddenly welled up inside him. His eyes narrowed.

"... What on earth were you thinking?"

Doing something for others simply didn't exist for Hyeonyul. All Jeongmin had done since Hyeonyul was young was endlessly drill into him the things he must not do. In any situation, Hyeonyul kept within reasonable bounds. He always had, and Jeongmin had thought this time would be no different.

Hyeonyul turned his head to look at Jeongmin.

"I wanted to prove my usefulness. It wasn't difficult for me, either. Isn't this the most effective way?"

Jeongmin had expected an answer like that, but the more he heard, the tighter his chest felt. How could someone classify himself as useful or useless? Hyeonyul had no sense of an 'I.'

Jeongmin had once wondered whether things might change if Hyeonyul recovered the memories the drugs had wiped away. But even now, fourteen years later, Hyeonyul still couldn't remember his past. That was medically consistent, but things that defied medical explanation happened all the time, didn't they? Why couldn't something like that happen to Hyeonyul?

"Doctor. Please don't be hurt by what I said."

Hyeonyul felt at a loss as Jeongmin's expression grew increasingly strained. At this rate, he looked as though he might cry. What would be the best way to phrase it? This was difficult.

"... Well, I thought this might make people look at me more kindly, even if it wouldn't solve everything. And it was an assignment. I couldn't ignore an assignment, could I?"

As Hyeonyul rambled on more than usual, Jeongmin realized this was the greatest comfort he could offer. Finding him endearing even at a time like this must mean Jeongmin really was hopelessly biased.

"Just say you're sorry for making me worry. That's all you need to do."

"Yes. I'm sorry for worrying you."

At Hyeonyul's words, Jeongmin exhaled and drew his blood.

"Hyeonyul."

"Yes."

"Still, you did well."

"...?"

Hyeonyul studied Jeongmin's expression. He praised him every time they met, but today was different. Hadn't he just been angry?

"You were angry. Why are you praising me?"

"Because you did well. I'm terribly upset that you've come here like this, but anyone can see that saving people was a good thing, right? You saved those people, Hyeonyul."

"I did...?"

"Yes. You saved many lives."

Hyeonyul fidgeted with his fingers at the unfamiliar emotion and realization. After the incident ended, his teammates had forcibly hung him from an eagle and brought him back. When he'd gone to report to Haeryeon, she had forcibly sent him to Jeongmin in turn. No one had spelled it out like this, so he hadn't known.

"... Doctor. Am I allowed to save people?"

Hyeonyul sat up and looked at his hands. They were covered in scars to an ugly degree. He had stained these hands with so much blood.

"I was a villain."

Hyeonyul blinked.

"And... many people died in the process of creating me."

This wasn't guilt or anything like it. He was simply stating a fact everyone knew. He was what people called something 'filthy.' He had joined the Black Eagles purely for his own safety. Even now, he felt neither intoxicated by heroism nor the slightest trace of altruism. Why should he save them? That question still lingered, and on some days, the inefficiency of it irritated him.

"Wouldn't they feel upset that I was the one who saved them?"

Hyeonyul looked up at Jeongmin. Ah. Jeongmin looked hurt again. He had only been curious.

"What bastard said that?"

"I haven't heard anyone say it yet."

"Anyone who says that kind of crap instead of being grateful for your help is the crazy bastard..."

"But in dramas and films, people say 'Thank you' when someone helps them, then get very upset when they find out the person belongs to a criminal organization. Wouldn't I fall into that category?"

Hyeonyul had given this considerable thought. Only then did Jeongmin let out a long breath. He had wondered why Hyeonyul would say such a thing, only to discover he'd seen it in dramas and films.

'... Thank goodness he hasn't actually experienced it.'

Jeongmin rubbed both hands down his face. If he had experienced it, Jeongmin had no intention of standing idly by, either.

["Hyeonyul doesn't tell us everything, even when he's treated unfairly. So if you hear anything, Doctor, please tell me. Make sure you do. I can really set things in motion in a way that'll thoroughly satisfy you."]

Haeryeon's request lingered in his mind. He couldn't express how grateful he was that she cared about Hyeonyul.

"You could fall into that category, Hyeonyul. But personally, I don't think it matters who the other person is. Someone who helps me is a god to me, at least in that moment. Now, gratitude aside, if they demand something else or try to exploit that, I consider that a different issue."

"... Is that so?"

"You didn't understand, did you?"

"... Some of it. But I can understand a little."

"Then that's enough. Lie down."

"Yes."

Jeongmin looked at Hyeonyul staring up at him with wide, alert eyes, then slapped his forehead.

SMACK.

"Doctor. Do you hate me?"

"Yeah."

Holding the blood he'd drawn, Jeongmin answered calmly.

"Do you really?"

"... Just today. Only today."

Afraid Hyeonyul might misunderstand, Jeongmin added that as he walked to the testing room.

* * *

"..."

The moment Hyeonyul opened the door, he encountered a gloomy atmosphere. Haeryeon, Sinu, Nayun, and even Jihwan were all clutching their heads, looking ready to bury their faces in their desks.

"What are you doing?"

At his question, everyone rose at once, as though they'd agreed to it.

"Are you all right, Hyeonyul?"

"Hyeonyul, you're really okay, right?"

"I know Doctor Jeongmin takes good care of you, but you're all right, aren't you? Nothing hurts anywhere, does it?"

"Bro! Bro, why are you back already?"

Their voices overlapped. When Hyeonyul frowned at the words that reached him as noise, everyone fell silent. Their eyes looked odd, as though they were watching his reaction warily. Surely that couldn't be.

"I'm fine."

Hyeonyul answered matter-of-factly. The tests had taken quite a while.

"Isn't anyone going home?"

"... We should. Go home, that is."

Haeryeon answered as she stared blankly at Hyeonyul. He was exactly the same as before. Slowly, her face contorted. However urgent it had been, she shouldn't have sent the recruit. But given the same situation, she would make the same choice. There was no more certain solution. That unchanging fact weighed heavily on her.

"I'm sorry for worrying you. But there truly is nothing wrong with me."

Hyeonyul applied what he'd just learned from Jeongmin. Since everyone's expressions resembled Jeongmin's, he thought it was the most appropriate response.

"Even if the same incident happened again, I would do exactly what I did today. So you needn't worry about it."

Wondering whether something was missing, he lifted the corners of his mouth. He thought that made it perfect, but the silence stretched on for quite some time.

"... Y-you, why do you live like such an idiot? I mean, I'm not calling you an idiot, but you could've said more back there. That the rumors about you are lies."

Nayun started bluntly, then hurriedly changed tack. Hyeonyul could certainly have made a point of exposing the rumors as lies right there. The way things were going and the atmosphere at the scene made it the perfect opportunity to turn everything around.

"Because I did a good thing."

Jeongmin had said so. That was enough, then. Whatever he said there, changing things would have been difficult. If what he'd just done could make him a god to someone, it could also make him evil to someone else. As long as they didn't interfere with him, he could overlook that much.

"That's right. You did very well. It'll have a bigger impact than throwing a punch, even."

Despite those words, Sinu let out a long breath. Complicated feelings washed over him. Being tormented by rumors was a terrible thing.

"Of course! Bro was the star back there!"

Jihwan spoke indignantly. He couldn't have been prouder to be on the same team.

"Thank you, Hyeonyul."

Haeryeon recognized this as Hyeonyul's attempt at comfort. Thankfully, her heart felt lighter.

"After today, people will look at you differently. That much I can say for certain."

What would change if people looked at him differently? Those words didn't particularly resonate with Hyeonyul. But he simply nodded.

"Now, everyone, let's go home."

When Haeryeon finally smiled, the heavy atmosphere shifted. Going home. Wasn't that phrase enough to melt everything away?

"I'll be heading out first."

Hyeonyul waved and turned away.

Going home. Yet today, it wasn't particularly welcome. He was moving in two days. They said it was bad to have troublesome things happen before a move. Therefore, he needed to visit the Red Witch's experimental site today. He'd told Jeongmin in advance just in case, but he let out a long breath as he checked the time.

'... This is really fucking annoying.'

It was approaching one in the morning.

* * *

The experimental site Asan had created was accessed through a passage leading underground from inside a ground-floor home in a luxury apartment building. Who could have predicted that it connected to a place for experiments?

The white, tile-like wallpaper turned red along the path of Hyeonyul's dagger, and the corpses of the men who had guarded the experimental site lay in a long trail along those bloodstains. Hyeonyul was in a worse mood than usual. He even felt as though the darkness he always kept suppressed was running wild.

'... I should be asleep by now.'

After that idle thought, Hyeonyul looked ahead.

WHOOOSH.

The corpses around Hyeonyul rose into the air and rained down in enough numbers to bury him.

"I don't know who you are, but..."

The man never finished.

Appearing behind him amid fluttering darkness, Hyeonyul drove his dagger into the psychic's neck. Psychics always kept a protective barrier around their bodies, and a tingling sensation traveled along the dagger. Hyeonyul extended his other hand. Black smoke fluttered at the dagger's tip. When he swept the blade sideways, the barrier vanished as the neck was sliced open, and the man fell limply to the floor like a scrap of paper.

He saw resentment in the man's eyes. Meeting that gaze, Hyeonyul checked whether he was dead. Only once the light had gone out of his eyes did Hyeonyul move on.

He stood before the door they had guarded so fiercely. That also meant everything was on the other side. He could see countless spells. He could simply cut them away, but there were still so many left. Why do something so crude when he already knew the password?

Choi Asan. Hyeonyul entered the name. With a message confirming authentication, the door slowly opened.

People in white protective suits stood in a row as though guarding something. Judging by that sight alone, he might look like scum, but ironically, what they were hiding behind them were test subjects. A sneer escaped Hyeonyul of its own accord. Were the test subjects really that precious? He walked forward slowly.

"... Where did you come from?"

He heard their distorted voices. Their faces weren't visible. Nothing had changed from the methods he'd seen as a child. It was as though he'd returned to the past.

"Why does that matter?"

"Come any closer and we'll kill them all. Stay back."

They used the test subjects to threaten him.

"If you had the courage to do that, wouldn't you have killed them already?"

Hyeonyul didn't stop walking.

He didn't know what stage they had reached, but he knew they wouldn't give up. How much money and time had they invested, and how many lives had they used? Hyeonyul shifted his eyes inside his helmet. He could peek beyond the tight wall they formed.

Only two people lay there unconscious. One was already melting away like slime everywhere except the face. The other, a child, at least seemed all right apart from one arm having grown enormous. All right in outward appearance, that is; the child's skin had lost its natural color. Purple skin on a human being. What on earth had they been trying to create?

"Were all of you only responsible for the experiments here?"

Hyeonyul asked, and naturally, no answer came.

"How many people did you kill for those two?"

Still, he continued his questions. These were the people doing the actual work. They would have more accurate information.

"What stage are you at now? Are you planning to torment them until they die and keep giving them drugs until they die? If you're curious about the end result, why don't you consider trying it on your own bodies?"

Hyeonyul sensed that both children would die, but he didn't bother saying it aloud. It was unnecessary.

He waited for an answer, and once again, they answered nothing. Their attitude was exactly the same as in the past, as though someone had taught it to them. Even now, he couldn't see much difference between them and himself, whose mind had been ruined by drugs. Would anyone in their right mind do such things to young children in the first place?

Hyeonyul deactivated the disguise spell with his smartwatch, then took off his helmet.

"Does anyone here remember me?"

His face had changed since childhood, so they might be unsure. But he didn't think they would have forgotten it. They were the ones who had repeatedly stabbed him with sharp blades in the name of experiments, leaving deep scars all over his body.

"I was test subject REX―03333."

Hyeonyul had not forgotten the number they had used to call him.