Chapter 97 - Cosmetics Made from Blood
13 min read ·
* * *
The man stood facing the floor-to-ceiling window and stretched both arms high above his head.
One leg extended straight forward and swayed at the same time.
When he heard the door open, he asked without even turning around.
“...What is it?”
“Well...”
“Speak.”
A well-dressed middle-aged man approached with his head lowered and dropped his voice.
“That place... was destroyed.”
“The new site for my collection? That one?”
“...Yes.”
“I have more than one.”
“The one in the mountains. Um...”
“Well, fine. How did that place get destroyed? I can always build another one, but did you keep everyone quiet properly?”
The words sounded casual, but the middle-aged man was already terrified.
“...We did. We even blocked the entrance until construction was finished.”
“And it was still discovered?”
The man shifted his raised arms to the left and stretched his side.
“Y-yes.”
“Hmm...”
He seemed to think for a moment, his movements slowing slightly. While he waited, the middle-aged man grew so anxious that cold sweat began running down his skin.
“...Ah!”
The man relaxed his arms and slapped his own thigh.
“I know who it was.”
“If you tell me, I’ll pursue them immediately.”
“You won’t be able to. I don’t know where they are either.”
The man held out a hand, and the middle-aged subordinate offered the towel he had brought.
Burying his face in it, the man continued speaking.
“I didn’t know who it was at the time, but I kept thinking about it. How did they erase my power? How did they break through it? It was fascinating. No one had ever done that before.”
The hand gripping the towel tightened and began to tremble slightly.
“It was that child!”
The corners of his mouth rose with obvious excitement.
“That child...?”
“The masterpiece I created. The child who belongs in my arms. To think they were alive...”
His voice turned blissful, as though both hands might rise toward the heavens at any moment.
“REX-3333.”
“...Excuse me?”
“What a shame. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve asked their original name. Still, isn’t it kind of cool? Rex was the name of a dog I used to adore.”
The middle-aged man said nothing. Countless eyes appeared in the empty air as his breathing grew louder.
Sweat gathered at the tip of his chin.
‘Why?’
Unable to say anything, he simply stood there.
“...That child was wearing black.”
The man searched his memory before speaking again.
“Why black? It makes me think of those Eagle bastards. But there’s no way that child became a Black Eagle. Ah, what should I do?”
“I-I’ll find them!”
“No. Leave them alone. They must have felt suffocated after being trapped there for so long. I’m generous enough to allow them that much freedom. Let them breathe before I put the leash back on. I’m kind, after all.”
His grin widened until his teeth showed.
At the same time, strange patterns filled the countless floating eyes.
One of those eyes suddenly lit up.
WHOOSH!
Something tore through the air and pierced the middle-aged man’s heart.
“That towel smells.”
The man tossed it away and shook the bell beside him.
JINGLE.
“Clean it up.”
After that brief order, he resumed stretching.
‘Ah, I want to see that child again. I should have treated them a little more gently back then.’
A laugh slipped from his lips. He had thought the child was lost, but that was not true.
His laughter grew steadily louder until it filled the room.
* * *
Hyeon-yul stepped off the bus and looked toward the building.
Juhyeon had been walking toward the building like a corpse, but when she spotted him, she crooked a finger and called him over with dull eyes.
Hyeon-yul looked around. Somehow, there was no one left behind him.
Everyone had already passed him and was walking ahead. Who actually enjoyed going to work?
‘They’re diligent.’
Hyeon-yul walked over to Juhyeon without hesitation.
“Good morning, Team Leader Ye Juhyeon.”
“Come to think of it, I’m not your team leader, but you always recognize me immediately.”
“Because of your phone.”
In reality, Hyeon-yul could see through the magic and recognize her true face, but he pretended otherwise and pointed to her phone.
Juhyeon looked down at the device, then lowered it slightly. She had put it away for a moment because she was tired today.
‘Sharp. It’s almost like he can see through the magic.’
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied him.
“What happened?”
Hyeon-yul asked. He had passed plenty of information to Juhyeon before.
“You hear the useful stuff from Haeryeon unni. This is about the former Black Eagles.”
“Yes.”
Hyeon-yul nodded. In addition to the drug matter, he had also brought them information about former Black Eagles causing trouble.
“Does it bother you?”
“It does, a little.”
Very little. Hyeon-yul kept that part to himself.
“Are you just easygoing, or are you dense?”
Juhyeon went back to fiddling with her phone.
“We blocked everything we could. Remember that article that went up before? We checked why it happened, and it turned out the former Black Eagles planted it. We’re tracking them now. We already have plenty of information on them, so it shouldn’t take long.”
After finishing, Juhyeon pointed behind her.
“There’ll be extra security before you enter the building and again once you’re inside.”
“Is that so?”
“They installed it because of you. Show at least a little enthusiasm.”
“Why because of me?”
“You gave us useful information. If former Black Eagles are moving, it’s obvious they’ll come here eventually. Anyway, I’m warning you so you don’t get surprised.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
Only then did Hyeon-yul nod as though he understood. They knew how to reach this place and knew the internal layout. It would have been stranger if they never came.
Activating the defenses this quickly was a reasonable response.
“You really are okay, right?”
Juhyeon narrowed her eyes. Why did his voice and body both look so drained every time she saw him?
She almost wanted to prescribe him a tonic herself.
“I’m fine. I’m simply going to work.”
There was no official medical term for it, but people sometimes called it work sickness. After taking a day off, his whole body felt much heavier when he had to return.
“That’s an illness everyone has. Anyway, I’ll tell you once things become clearer. Good luck.”
“Team Leader Ye Juhyeon.”
“What?”
“I just thought of something. May I ask one question?”
“Go ahead.”
Juhyeon glanced at him. So many incidents seemed to happen around this rookie that the hypothesis that he caused disasters no longer sounded completely ridiculous.
“Did you see the material about turning Black Eagles into test subjects?”
“I did. You were the one who found it.”
Juhyeon shook her head. It was horrifying.
They had gone so far as to consider Black Eagles potential experimental subjects.
“But why ask now? Didn’t Haeryeon tell you? It hasn’t been implemented yet, and there’s little chance it can be.”
Black Eagles were managed too closely. If one disappeared, the organization would notice almost immediately, so Juhyeon described the probability as low.
“What if the intended subjects aren’t active Black Eagles, but former Black Eagles?”
Juhyeon froze at Hyeon-yul’s question. Her expression hardened quickly.
“Villains aren’t stupid. They target what’s possible rather than what’s impossible. Wouldn’t that be possible?”
Villains always ran the numbers before charging forward. If the odds looked good, they would rush in without looking back.
“What if the reason the former Black Eagles were gathered into a group is exactly what I’m suggesting?”
Yesterday, Hyeon-yul had seen another place being built for experiments on Black Eagles. If he had not seen it, he might never have considered this possibility.
After what he had seen, however, he could no longer dismiss the possibility.
“...Then all hell breaks loose.”
Juhyeon tightened her grip on the phone she had lowered.
“They’d start by spreading false information.”
She pressed a hand to her forehead in irritation, then squeezed her eyes shut and turned around.
“...You’ve made sure I can’t go home on time again.”
“Did I make a mistake?”
Hyeon-yul asked in a surprisingly heavy voice. He had only mentioned a possibility. He had not expected it to delay her quitting time.
“No. You asked the right question. It’s plausible enough that we need to review it.”
Juhyeon looked at Hyeon-yul. She still was not smiling, but her eyes had softened considerably.
‘Is this why diversity matters?’
Juhyeon quietly turned the idea over in her mind.
The rookie still had plenty of villain habits left in him. His viewpoint was still close to a villain’s too.
But precisely because of that viewpoint, he noticed things the rest of them missed.
That difference in perspective deserved to be recognized.
“You did well.”
After saying it, Juhyeon walked away quickly.
Hyeon-yul watched her back from where he stood.
‘Is Team Leader Ye Juhyeon going to ask me to join Team 7 soon too?’
Why would he fail to recognize the praise strategy?
Hyeon-yul glanced behind himself. It was Nayun.
He immediately turned his head forward again.
‘She usually doesn’t come this early.’
Most of the team preferred arriving at the last possible moment, while Hyeon-yul deliberately came earlier because it felt more comfortable.
If it had been Shinwoo or Jihwan, he might have pretended not to notice. With Nayun, that was impossible.
So he simply stopped there and waited for her to catch up.
For some reason, his shadow looked unusually long.
“Were you waiting for me?”
Nayun approached with a bright smile.
Hyeon-yul merely nodded. He had, in fact, been waiting.
“I’m happy. I need to write this in my diary. Oh, did you rest well? Yesterday, do you know what mission we had?”
The light was already fading from Hyeon-yul’s eyes. How many topics had she changed in only a few seconds?
“We went to a kindergarten. You know, a place for teaching special children. You went there too, right? Anyway, the children were adorable. There’s this cute girl named Lee Serin...”
“Is she doing well?”
“...Huh?”
Nayun startled because Hyeon-yul was not usually the one to show interest first.
“Is that child doing well?”
Nayun blinked twice, then smiled brightly.
“She’s doing well. Apparently she had trouble controlling her strength, but now she can manage it a little better.”
“Is that so?”
“She’s waiting for you. I promised her you’d come with me.”
Nayun held out her pinky and wiggled it.
“Yes. I promised.”
Hyeon-yul lowered his gaze briefly to his own hand.
Serin had wrapped her tiny pinky around his and smiled.
—It’s a promise, mister!
‘My hands are dirty...’
They were hands covered in the blood of countless people.
Having his finger held and making a promise had both been confusing experiences.
“I seeee.”
Nayun’s smile stretched wider as she looked at him.
Something in her expression changed, making Hyeon-yul feel vaguely uncomfortable for reasons he could not identify.
He started walking, and Nayun matched his pace while grinning to herself.
It felt like she was teasing him.
“...Ah!”
At the sound of her remembering something, Hyeon-yul felt an inexplicable sense of danger.
‘What now?’
“Hyeon-yul, how far back can you remember?”
“I remember the experiments, meeting Doctor Jeongmin, and everything continuously after that.”
“Do you know about how old you were then?”
“I believe I was around ten or eleven. That’s only my estimate, so I may have been younger or older.”
The ends of Nayun’s eyebrows lowered for a moment.
“Is your current name your real name?”
“No.”
“Do you remember your original name?”
“I don’t.”
“The search range is wider than I thought. I understand why you couldn’t find anything. You don’t even know whether you had a family.”
“That’s right. That’s the first problem.”
Nayun thought for a while, then asked carefully.
“Did you ever register your DNA?”
“It’s useless. It was altered.”
“DNA can... be altered?”
“Have you ever actually seen an experiment being performed?”
“Hmm. Only afterward. That’s probably true for most of us.”
If so, Hyeon-yul could not explain it simply.
After thinking about an appropriate comparison, he found one.
“You know what a chimera is. I’m like that.”
“What?”
“My fingers may be mine, or they may not. The same is true for my face.”
“Uh...?”
“Either way, I’ll keep trying.”
Hyeon-yul walked ahead, while Nayun remained frozen in place.
She had thought very little could shock her anymore, but this did.
‘Those scars... came from that?’
* * *
“...Noona? Are you okay?”
Jihwan whispered toward Nayun. He did not know what she had discussed with Hyeon-yul, but her expression looked terrible.
“I’m fine.”
“Did you... fight with hyung?”
“Why would we fight?”
Hyeon-yul had pretended not to hear, but this question was impossible to ignore.
“...You heard that?”
“Yes.”
Hyeon-yul nodded and looked at Nayun.
Had it really been that shocking?
Back when he was still a test subject, people who learned what he was had often asked with fascination how many different people had been mixed into him.
‘I shouldn’t say that part.’
If even Nayun reacted this strongly, then it was probably a bad thing to mention.
“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”
Hyeon-yul apologized to Nayun. If someone looked upset, he was supposed to apologize.
“No. Don’t apologize for this. Never apologize for this.”
Nayun waved both hands frantically to stop him. How could he possibly apologize for that?
Shinwoo looked back and forth between them, then tapped the desk.
“Team Leader will be here soon.”
“She’s here.”
Hyeon-yul finished the thought for him.
The outer door opened, and Haeryeon entered.
“Sorry. An emergency meeting came up suddenly. Did you wait long?”
“You could’ve taken longer. It’s only been about ten minutes.”
Shinwoo checked the time and sounded almost disappointed.
“I couldn’t. We’ve been assigned as the advance team.”
“...What?”
Jihwan recoiled as soon as he heard the words “advance team,” and his chest tightened.
“Remember the drug production facility you all voluntarily raided on your day off not long ago?”
Everyone nodded at Haeryeon’s question, recalling the facility they had raided.
“There have been plenty of drug-related incidents besides that one. You remember those too, right?”
There had been the cult case, the support operation involving villains injecting civilians and fleeing, and several others.
“Only two days ago, we also had the operation to rescue the White Sparrows. You all remember that?”
Haeryeon watched Hyeon-yul while speaking. The president there had been someone who knew Hyeon-yul’s past.
Contrary to her concern, Hyeon-yul’s expression barely changed.
“After reviewing testimony and evidence from the White Sparrows who infiltrated that place, we confirmed all of those incidents connect back to a company called Linda.”
“...Ha.”
Nayun let out a long breath. Even thinking about it again made her angry.
The owner of a cosmetics company she liked had been a villain.
“It took a long route to uncover, but the owner of that drug production facility was Linda’s president. Of course, even this company might not be the true core.”
For now, they were treating it as the main body. Still, caution was necessary.
“The president is dead, so they know we’ll come. The meeting concluded that we need to confirm whether Linda is truly their core organization or another shell. We’re the advance team for that job.”
The moment the mission was explained, everyone except Hyeon-yul sighed at the same time.
Hyeon-yul merely looked around at them.
“Did that decision just come out?”
Shinwoo asked as though he could not believe it, and Haeryeon nodded.
“That’s right.”
“...This is really happening.”
Nayun grabbed her hair. Of all times, the mission had landed at exactly this hour.
“Dawn is perfect for sneaking in and taking a look, isn’t it?”
Haeryeon smiled as though the timing pleased her.