Chapter 4
Well, it wasn’t that I couldn’t understand the feelings of those who quit. Rather, I understood it one hundred percent. It wasn’t easy work, spending all day peering into other people’s heads.
Moreover, those ‘others’ were generally not favorably disposed toward me. I had to endure their rejection while extracting information I wasn’t particularly interested in, consuming guiding and mental energy. Especially those who had rolled around in war zones—their heads were a complete mess, mixed up with war trauma and hysteria.
If there was one most fucking annoying thing about psychic-type Espers, it was that the longer you looked into someone else’s mind, the more synchronized you became with them.
To prevent this, most places periodically rotated interrogators, but not me. I’d sometimes overdo it and get headaches or body aches, but I’d never experienced the pathological symptoms others talked about—like being tormented by nightmares, sleep paralysis, hallucinations, or auditory hallucinations.
In that sense, I was called a freak at the center, and the center director loved me dearly.
“Ah, I want to quit…”
But regardless of my tremendous aptitude for this work, not wanting to do something meant not wanting to do it.
I looked at Kang Juha.
For the past few days, I’d been practically commuting to the special treatment room, so now the special treatment room had become as comfortable as my office. My secretary Juyeong, who was monitoring from outside, said he was startled every time I approached Kang Juha, but I’d reached the point where I could take a nap next to him.
Actually, I had to show a somewhat relaxed demeanor for Kang Juha to let his guard down too, so taking a nap next to him wasn’t such an unreasonable choice.
Oh? This really isn’t bad.
Looking at it broadly, couldn’t that also be considered a type of rapport building?
“Should I just sleep here tonight?”
At my words, Kang Juha made a low growling sound. It was a negative sound, but since it wasn’t panting, I decided to think positively about it.
“Now you should start eating meals too. You can’t live just getting nutrients through injections forever.”
Grrrowl.
“Well, the center food isn’t particularly delicious.”
Grr.
“That’s why I order delivery every day. It’s not normally allowed. When I was negotiating my salary last year, I said they could freeze it if they wanted, just let me get delivery food.”
I was saying all sorts of things since he couldn’t understand anyway.
“The center director gave permission but told me not to tell people… saying everyone would ask for the same thing. It probably won’t happen, but if you remember what I just said, please keep it a secret.”
Actually, there was no need to ask—I could just erase the memory. Besides, in his current state, I’d be grateful if Kang Juha remembered anything.
I met eyes with Kang Juha, who was on edge toward me without knowing why, and lightly touched his brain in passing. Kang Juha frowned and seemed pained, and I immediately stopped using my ability. A brief headache flashed through my head as well.
Still, his condition had definitely improved compared to a week ago. Back then, even a slight touch felt like his brain would melt and drip like liquid, but now it was more like pudding. It was still very fragile for me to force my way in, but there was no problem with giving light stimulation.
And when stimulated, Kang Juha made human breathing sounds instead of animal breathing sounds, albeit very briefly. His chest rose and fell heavily as he panted.
“This won’t do. I’m really going to sleep here tonight. At this rate, my patience will run out first. I’m not exactly a patient person.”
In the end, after making a unilateral announcement, I opened the door and went out to request a pillow and blanket from my secretary. Soon he appeared with not only what I’d requested but also a mattress topper.
“There’s no need to be this elaborate.”
“It’s better than being uncomfortable. The security team said they’d help with monitoring, so raise your hand if you need help even in the early morning.”
“Yeah. And raise the temperature a bit. He’s not even rampaging anymore, so it’s too cold.”
“Yes. Haah… honestly, I’d like to talk you out of this… but you wouldn’t listen to me anyway, right?”
“Right.”
“I thought so. Sleep well. What should I do about the lights?”
“Is the CCTV an infrared camera?”
“Of course.”
“Then turn off the lights. I can’t sleep when it’s bright.”
“Yes. I’ll turn off the lights.”
With Juyeong’s words, darkness descended on the special treatment room. As the unpleasantly bluish light disappeared, my eyes felt comfortable.
“Sleep well. Have good dreams. If you’re well-behaved tomorrow morning, I’ll give you a chocolate.”
I muttered while pulling the blanket up to my neck.
Kang Juha didn’t even make breathing sounds. He seemed quite flustered by my unusual behavior. I could tell because he was pressed against the very edge of the iron cage, on guard.
For ordinary people, this would be darkness where they couldn’t see an inch ahead, but since both Kang Juha and I were S-class Espers, we could clearly see each other’s eyes.
Recently, I’d lengthened the restraints on Kang Juha’s limbs. Seeing him tied to the operating table all day made me feel restless. As a side effect, Kang Juha ended up sleeping curled up on the floor, but he seemed comfortable with that.
Maybe because it was an unfamiliar sleeping place, I felt like I’d only closed my eyes for a moment before waking up quickly. I’d definitely raised the temperature, but maybe because of the iron cage next to me, it still felt somewhat cool. Even though it was a topper, compared to an expensive mattress, it was hard and my back was all stiff.
“Ugh…”
How on earth does Kang Juha sleep on the ground? Just as I was thinking that and turning over.
“…Ah, you scared me.”
I made eye contact with Kang Juha, who had come right up to me and was looking down at me. His pitch-black pupils glittered in the darkness, and I almost screamed.
I clutched my rapidly beating heart and took deep breaths. Just when had he started watching me? He was crouched down, gripping the iron cage with both hands, looking at me.
“I almost bit my tongue. What kind of person doesn’t even make breathing sounds?”
…Come to think of it, hadn’t they said Kang Juha’s main duty was assassination? Seeing how he’d approached without any presence like this, his targets probably got taken out without even knowing they were dying.
Fortunately, I didn’t sense any killing intent from the current Kang Juha. His eyes glittered like a snake’s, but it was closer to curiosity than hostility. It felt like this guy was observing something.
If he were trying to use his ability, his pupils wouldn’t look like obsidian as they did now—they would glow bright yellow.
Each Esper had some part of their body that showed when they used their ability, and most of them, like Kang Juha and me, had their pupil color change. Unlike Kang Juha who turned yellow, my pupils glowed blue.
I sat up to face him.
“Were you doing that the whole time without sleeping at all?”
Kang Juha flinched in surprise, then narrowed his eyes. He seemed to pull back slightly, then quickly came close again.
“You’re quite handsome up close. You look better in person than in your profile.”
By the way, what time is it now?
All electronic devices were prohibited in the special treatment room, so naturally I couldn’t bring my phone either. I’d also returned the Esper smartwatch I usually wore during work. So I’d hastily stolen one of my secretary Juyeong’s wristwatches…
“…It’s eight o’clock? I’m sure it was around eleven at night when I lay down… Time didn’t flow backwards, did it?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, Kang Juha tilted his head following me.
“No, wait, I thought I’d just napped for a bit, but I practically passed out.”
The inside of the special treatment room was still pitch dark with no corner where light could enter, so I was completely fooled.
If you stayed in a place like this, your sense of time would completely disappear, but how is Kang Juha enduring it?
“Do you know how many days you’ve been here?”
This time Kang Juha tilted his head to the other side.
“Let’s turn on the lights first.”
When I opened the door and went outside, I saw Juyeong coming, apparently having just arrived at work.
“Team Leader, hello. Did you sleep well?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“It looks like you just woke up.”
Perceptive guy.
“Turn on the lights in there. I can’t gauge the time…”
“Yes. I’ve turned them on. How is Kang Juha Esper’s condition? Is there any effect?”
“Yeah. He seemed well-behaved? But he was apparently just watching me all night. Play back what was recorded with infrared.”
“Yes.”
I yawned long while watching Juyeong move swiftly to download the data. Maybe because the suddenly bright environment was hard to adjust to, my eyelids kept closing heavily.
By the time the video had finished downloading, Juyeong, who was looking at the monitor, let out an exclamation.
“Wow… that’s really amazing.”
“Right? He was just watching me the whole time, wasn’t he?”
“No. You, Team Leader. How did you sleep without waking up even once?”
Ahem, hmm… People can do that when they’re tired.
“Look at Kang Juha Esper, not me.”
“There’s nothing to see. Just like you said, Team Leader, as soon as you fell asleep he came right to the front and watched you. Seeing him stay like that without moving makes me think this is why he was a combat weapon. His patience is amazing. Don’t his legs cramp up?”
“He’s an S-class Esper.”
At my indifferent words, Juyeong looked at me with a strange expression.
“What?”
“You’re also an S-class Esper, Team Leader.”
“…If you keep that up, I’ll really sue you.”
“For what? Defamation by stating facts?”
Ugh, he’s my secretary but he’s really annoying.
If he were an ordinary subordinate, I would have made him bang his head immediately, but Juyeong was the only capable person who had lasted more than five years under me. And honestly, it was kind of fun watching him constantly speak his mind and try to climb up despite being no match for me.
“Juyeong.”
“Yes.”
“I’m Seong Ihyeon. Making up nonexistent crimes to send someone to prison? That’s child’s play for me. Well, how about I make you commit a crime on your way home from work today? Something befitting the Information Security Division… leaking classified information should be enough to rot in prison for life.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Let’s do well.”
I smiled and patted Juyeong’s shoulder. He bowed his head with a frightened expression, but I knew that was also a kind of acting. I knew because truly frightened people don’t make expressions like that.
Sometimes I was actually grateful for Juyeong speaking his mind to me so openly like this. He was a hundred, a thousand times better than those who whispered gloomily behind my back.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
