Chapter 6
I half-resignedly placed the chocolate in his hand, and Kang Juha pondered for a moment before perfectly peeling off the wrapper and putting the chocolate in his mouth.
And that day, before leaving the special treatment room, I lightly touched Kang Juha’s unconscious mind. I didn’t know the exact details, but he would probably have a dream today that would help his consciousness return.
* * *
‘—Team Leader-nim, what on earth did you do! Code Red is up right now! You need to come to the special treatment room immediately!’
Maybe not.
Around 3 AM, receiving a call from my secretary Juyeong, I hurriedly woke up and strutted through the center wearing only an outer garment over my pajamas.
I only realized I had run wearing mismatched shoes after arriving in front of the special treatment room.
“Huff, hah… What, what’s happening?”
“He’s having seizure symptoms. Since his eyes aren’t opening, it seems like he’s unconscious… Looking at the symptoms alone, it’s no different from a rampage, but there’s no energy being discharged.”
“What a surprise. Director Shin-nim came too?”
Director Shin was also standing behind me in pajamas, having apparently come from sleeping. It was the first time we faced each other in such disheveled states, so it was a bit awkward.
“Whether he’s showing reflex reactions to stimuli from causing too many rampages recently, or if there’s a brain problem, we’ll need to investigate more to know.”
“It’s probably a brain problem.”
“…Does Information Team Leader Seong have something in mind?”
“I deliberately gave him some stimulation.”
Even though it might have seemed like I touched him carelessly, I had consistently observed Kang Juha’s physical and mental state, and it was a judgment I made while giving various stimuli to his brain and observing the corresponding reactions. I calculated and touched him only as much as he could endure, so while the current Kang Juha would be quite painful, the effect would definitely be there.
“I controlled it to the extent that his mental state wouldn’t collapse, but I didn’t predict he would show such a strong reaction—whether Esper Kang Juha’s original mental strength was considerable.”
“You mean you touched his unconscious…”
I gazed intently at Kang Juha, who was struggling with all his might inside the monitor. This reaction was definitely different from other Espers.
“Existing Espers show patterns of cowering in fear or trembling, but look here. Doesn’t it look like he’s resisting?”
At my words, Park Juyeong and Director Shin simultaneously stuck to the monitor.
“Beyond suffering in his unconscious, he’s rejecting it. My ability.”
“…Is that possible in that state? That in his current state, he has the will left to resist an S-class psychic-type Esper’s ability…”
“Wouldn’t he need to be at least that level to earn the title of Korea’s greatest Esper?”
This case was definitely beyond expectations.
“…Team Leader-nim’s eyes look possessed. It’s scary.”
Juyeong whispered to Director Shin in fear, and Director Shin grabbed my sleeve and said,
“…We definitely promised you wouldn’t kill him, right?”
“Hey, why would I kill him? He’s too precious.”
When Kang Juha’s body, which had been writhing in pain for a while, went limp, I immediately called the medical wing. Before long, doctors arrived with armed guards. I had knocked Kang Juha unconscious in preparation for any unexpected situations.
The doctors thoroughly checked Kang Juha’s physical condition and concluded there was nothing problematic except for dehydration and Guiding deficiency.
It seemed like external injury treatment was no longer needed. The healing ability unique to Espers that had completely recovered over the past few days had actually fixed his body dramatically. Well, it would have been ridiculous for an S-class Esper to be going in and out of hospitals for injuries.
The doctors had nothing left to do, but in contrast, my work doubled.
First, since I failed to get him removed from the special treatment room due to the Center Director’s insistence, I started by changing the treatment room environment. After washing Kang Juha’s body clean and changing him into new clothes, I removed the metal bed and iron bars. Instead, I brought in a soft mattress bed and laid a rug on the floor.
Of course, restraints had to be attached to his body for safety. Still, I released the chains that had bound his limbs. Director Shin opposed, saying wouldn’t we need minimal safety measures, but we compromised on connecting Kang Juha’s left wrist to the bedpost.
There was the matter of my safety, but it seemed like they were more wary of Kang Juha hurting himself by not being able to control himself.
“You said not to damage his brain as much as possible.”
“That’s true, but…”
“If everything’s organized, please everyone leave. If he wakes up and sees other people surrounding him, he might attack.”
I spoke confidently and drove everyone else out, but actually, I couldn’t be 100% certain either. I just judged that it would be easier to handle when alone if an unexpected situation arose.
Does the feeling change this much just because one iron bar disappeared?
“He looks quite human when he’s sleeping quietly.”
Ah, he was originally human.
Only now did I realize that what I was facing was Kang Juha. I had thought his features were quite distinct before, but now that his pale face was revealed without a single bloodstain or speck of dust, he was a sculpture-like handsome man.
Tracing through hazy memories, I had encountered him at a center executive event a few years ago. It was just for an instant, though.
* * *
Kang Juha was wearing an Esper uniform. Among the bulky Espers, he stood alone like a model, aloof and particularly eye-catching.
“That person looks like some celebrity.”
“He’s actually almost celebrity-level at the center. That’s Esper Kang Juha.”
“Ah, that person is that Kang Juha?”
“Yes. That Kang Juha.”
I was having a trivial conversation with my secretary Juyeong.
Since it was a place for official pleasantries, tables were arranged by department or team, and his seat and mine were quite far apart. Originally, the National Security Bureau was like an outcast within the center, so our table itself was lonely in a corner. In contrast, the team Kang Juha belonged to… was definitely the center’s main, so it was at the very front in the center.
“But why is the Center Director shamelessly butting in over there?”
I asked while sipping water from an unnecessarily fancy glass cup, and Juyeong shrugged.
“The Center Director-nim really likes Esper Kang Juha.”
“Hmm…”
The Center Director sitting right next to Kang Juha was smiling brightly while greeting other Espers at the same table. Kang Juha looked at the white tablecloth like someone completely uninterested in that conversation, then raised his head.
And we immediately made eye contact. He had probably been feeling my gaze continuously. Seeing how he immediately glared at me without any hesitation. His slightly furrowed brow openly revealed his uncomfortable mood.
But since it was awkward to withdraw my gaze now that we had already made eye contact, I made my gaze hazy and moved only my mouth to ask Juyeong,
“Does Esper Kang Juha know about our team too?”
“…How could he not know? He’s a center person?”
“That’s true? Then is he making that face at me because he’s in a bad mood from me continuously staring at him?”
“Huh…? No, he looks really annoyed, so why do you keep staring! Turn your head quickly!”
“Then it would look like I got caught doing something suspicious. I was just looking.”
“Isn’t that the suspicious thing…?”
Is that so? Hmm, this is serious.
My image at the center wasn’t good to begin with, so if I got negatively involved with Kang Juha, who was called the center’s celebrity, it was obvious who would lose out.
“If I show him that I’m currently wearing an ability restraint device on my wrist, would the situation improve a bit? And telepathically send him the fact that our work regulations strictly prohibit looking into S-class combat-type Espers’ minds?”
“Wow, that’s really more suspicious. So suspicious that it would be okay to call security right now.”
“Right? Then I should just do nothing.”
I smiled with the most harmless expression possible, and Kang Juha looked at me like that, frowned even more, then turned his head away abruptly.
What attitude…
When my gaze toward Kang Juha lost its way, it deviated from its path and made eye contact with the Center Director next to him. The Center Director’s brow twitched slightly. Soon he started walking toward my table with a good-natured smile.
“Ah, I made eye contact with the Center Director.”
“You should have desperately pretended not to notice!”
Without responding to Juyeong’s resentful words, I kept my mouth tightly shut. The Center Director, who quickly arrived nearby, smiled and greeted me.
“Information Team Leader Seong, we meet again like this.”
“Yes. Have you been well?”
“I’m always well. What about Director Shin?”
“She had business so she’s a bit late. She said she’d come before the meal…”
“Ah, I see. Information Team Leader Seong, anything special happening lately?”
“No. If there were, I couldn’t have come here.”
The Center Director cheekily sat in the seat next to me. Juyeong simultaneously got up from her seat and left, muttering the ridiculous words, “Where’s the bathroom…”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
