39
“Now, smile! Smile~!”
Jihwan was currently at a photoshoot for flight demonstration promotional pictures. He awkwardly pulled up the corners of his mouth as much as possible. The photographer lowered his camera and shook his head.
“Mr. Park Jihwan? You look too scary.”
Jihwan wanted to cry. It was the day before yesterday that he had left Minjae sunbae on the street. He knew he shouldn’t have, but at that moment, he couldn’t bear it.
He and Minjae were grown adults who could walk and, if necessary, had the strength to take down the men there, but the children being abused inside couldn’t do that.
They could have taken the children and escaped. Of course, time might have been tight, but there was still a possibility.
But sunbae considered the possibility of escape more than the possibility of saving the children. Isn’t that not what a hero should do?
“Jihwan, I’ll have you put your hand on Minjae’s shoulder.”
“Ah….”
Jihwan sighed softly. Minjae hadn’t said a word to him since they met this morning.
Yesterday, Jihwan had shut himself in his room. Since the night before yesterday, he had been prepared to be called out at any time to be beaten or thrashed.
But Minjae didn’t come looking for him. He didn’t even know if Minjae had returned to the Center.
Jihwan kept sinking between wanting to go out and find Minjae and not wanting to.
Where exactly was that place? Why did Minjae sunbae go there? Wasn’t he going to save the children? Jihwan could also tell that the “contamination” the cult members referred to was esper manifestation.
Minjae showed no particular reaction to the cult man’s claim that they could reverse it, but somehow, Jihwan felt very unfamiliar with Minjae at that moment.
If he wasn’t going to save the children… then could he possibly have been interested in “purifying” the “contamination”? Or if not that… Jihwan tried hard to think but couldn’t come up with an answer.
He felt frustrated and angry. It also felt like he was a child throwing a tantrum that no one was paying attention to.
If Taehyun hadn’t frantically knocked on Jihwan’s door this morning, he wouldn’t have come here. In truth, he really didn’t want to come.
“Minjae sunbaenim wants to see you.”
That’s what Taehyun had said to Jihwan, who was refusing to go. Because of those words, Jihwan had come to the photoshoot. He felt like he needed to be scolded to clear his mind.
But Minjae didn’t react much except for a glance at Jihwan, who was late to the photoshoot.
Jihwan stared at Minjae, who was sitting in the chair next to him. Since Jihwan was standing, he could look down at the top of Minjae’s head. Unlike the day before yesterday, his hair was back to black.
Jihwan wished that everything that had happened with the yellow-haired Minjae was just a dream.
“Jihwan, you’re too shy. We’re going to use up all the time we’ve rented for the shoot.”
The photographer urged. Jihwan gently placed his hand on Minjae’s shoulder.
“Oh my, both of you are so handsome!”
The photographer kept showering them with compliments, perhaps trying to encourage Jihwan, whose expression was frozen. Haha. Minjae laughed cheerfully.
Jihwan looked at Minjae’s profile. His mouth was drawing a pretty arc. How can he laugh like that? Jihwan felt his insides twist.
The photo shoot continued for quite a while after that. They had to keep reshooting because Jihwan couldn’t manage his expressions. Since Minjae didn’t criticize him, Jihwan didn’t apologize either.
“Expand the cheekbone area more.”
“You want it reduced?”
“No? Expand it. And press down on the forehead a bit.”
“The forehead…?”
Jihwan was lingering nearby, listening to the conversation between Minjae and the photographer. But Minjae’s requests were strange.
Instead of typical requests like making the eyes bigger or sharpening the jaw, he kept asking for modifications that would make his face flatter.
“Why… why? This will make your handsome face look strange?”
The photographer was puzzled.
“I like this sort of thing. I like getting compliments that I look better in person.”
Minjae smiled. It was infuriating to hear.
Jihwan recalled that Minjae often wore hats and covered his face. When Jihwan first met Minjae, his face was subtly different from what he’d seen on screen, which led him to make a mistake.
So this is how it’s done? Jihwan felt indignant.
SSS-class hero Woo Minjae is a hero respected by everyone. But why does he need to cover his face? Jihwan wondered. Whatever the reason, there had to be something worth hiding.
With complicated feelings, Jihwan sat in a chair in the corner of the studio. After finishing his face edits, Minjae looked around the studio and approached Jihwan. The photographer and staff were busy packing their things to leave.
“What are you doing?”
Minjae asked. His tone was the same as usual.
“…Just sitting here.”
At Jihwan’s answer, Minjae nodded and let out a small sigh.
“You worked hard today.”
Minjae said. Worked hard? Are we just going to let this go? Jihwan felt a pain in his stomach.
Don’t you have something to tell me? This is too shameless. As he thought this, his mouth moved on its own.
“You must have a lot to feel guilty about. It takes that long to edit your face.”
It was quite a sarcastic tone. Jihwan regretted his words as soon as he spoke them, but he couldn’t take them back.
“What’s your problem?”
Minjae’s tone turned cold.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“What should I say? I don’t have anything.”
How can you have nothing to say? Jihwan gritted his teeth.
“Aren’t you sorry to those kids?”
At Jihwan’s question, Minjae glared at him for a moment.
“Watch your words. Hey, and what’s so easy for you? At that time…”
Easy? Since joining the Center, nothing had been easy for Jihwan.
“It’s not easy. The one who has it easy must be you, sunbaenim. You didn’t even hesitate to leave those kids behind…”
Jihwan’s face turned to the left. There was a smacking sound.
Jihwan blinked. His left cheek started to sting and burn. Minjae was shaking his hand in the air.
Only then did Jihwan realize that he had been hit by Minjae.
“Insolent bastard.”
Minjae cursed and turned to leave the studio. Jihwan violently kicked the studio wall. His cheek was stinging and smarting.
***
Wooseok was standing in the Guide Department lobby, checking the list of drugs being delivered.
Comparing the drug inventory was relatively easy—Wooseok handled the orders anyway—so usually a rookie guide was assigned to the task. Today was one of those rare days when Wooseok checked whether the rookie guide was doing the job well.
“How is it? Is it manageable?”
Wooseok asked while looking at the list.
“Yes! Everyone is so kind, so I’m adapting quickly.”
It was a typical polite greeting from a rookie. Wooseok nodded with a smile.
“If anything happens, tell me right away. Got it?”
The rookie guide smiled. Wooseok examined the drug list and the items delivered today. However, he felt like consumption had been faster than the number of incoming items for some time now.
“Who was the senior on night duty this week?”
Wooseok asked. One person raised their hand.
“Were there a lot of emergencies this week at night? Or did someone take a lot of medicine?”
“Not particularly…”
“Bring me the night visitor log for the Guiding Department.”
Recently, there hadn’t been many terrorist incidents with serious casualties. As a result, there weren’t many chaotic situations in the Guiding Department—except when Woo Minjae was carried in on Park Jihwan’s back.
There weren’t any major incidents, so… Wooseok took the log. There was a significant difference between the amount of drugs recorded as outgoing in the log and the number of drugs remaining. Wooseok put his hand on the lobby wall.
Should I beat them all? Wooseok first thought about gathering all the employees in the Guiding Department and beating them. Should I raise hell until the culprit comes forward? These bastards are getting away with it. Wooseok massaged his stiff neck.
Guiding drugs are substances that produce effects very similar to guiding. Not only do they stabilize guiding measurements, but they also provide neural relaxation or pleasure. In short, they are addictive substances, so inventory management within the Guiding Department was important.
Wooseok began examining all the records from the past few months. And he realized that drugs had been steadily leaking out for quite a long period.
The rookie guide’s face began to turn pale at Wooseok’s increasingly serious expression and continued review. The guides around Wooseok were just rolling their eyes.
Wooseok thought. Who could it be? Who is consistently doing such a bold thing? And what is it for?
It could be for addiction or for selling on the external black market. The latter was more serious than the former.
Recently, only one person had gone on a long business trip from the Center. Wooseok tapped his fingers on the lobby desk.
“Tell Guide Lee Seoyeon to come to my office.”
***
Wooseok was leaning back on the sofa with his eyes closed. After a while, there was a knock, and the door opened.
“You called for me?”
It was Seoyeon. Wooseok invited Seoyeon to sit across from him.
“Green tea? Coffee?”
Wooseok asked.
“A glass of water is enough for me.”
Seoyeon replied.
Wooseok brought her water and sat back down. Then he rubbed his face with his hands.
“What’s the matter?”
Seoyeon asked. His mind was too complicated. Should he point it out or try to persuade her? Or he could lightly test the waters.
“The ledger has gaps. Seoyeon, did you perhaps take any items without recording them when you left on your business trip in a hurry?”
The question contained all three approaches he was considering.
“Huh? No. Usually, there are backup supplies in the provinces, so unless I received a request, I didn’t take anything.”
“Ah… I see, thanks. Ha….”
Wooseok rubbed his face with his hands again.
“Drugs can be dangerous.”
Seoyeon said in a worried voice.
“I can’t figure out who it might be.”
When Wooseok said this, Seoyeon seemed to think about something for a moment before speaking.
“I think it would be faster to find out why they were taken rather than who took them. We can’t investigate all espers blindly.”
“Huh? Yeah, yeah.”
Seoyeon took out her phone from her pocket and called someone.
“Hey, it’s me. How have you been? I have a favor to ask. Could you find out if any guiding drugs have been sold on the black market in that area?”
Seoyeon made three such calls.
“I have friends I met during business trips who sometimes investigate black markets.”
Seoyeon said. Wooseok momentarily wondered who these friends were, but it was good news regardless.
“Let me help with the investigation.”
After making the calls, Seoyeon asked Wooseok.
Seoyeon would have known from the moment Wooseok called her that she was under some suspicion. To avoid that, Seoyeon had essentially extended her hand to Wooseok first. Perhaps Seoyeon genuinely wanted to help Wooseok.
Wooseok weighed several possibilities. But if Seoyeon was the one who had been diverting the guiding drugs, acting like this now would be foolish. If the investigation succeeded, she would be caught, and if it didn’t succeed, she would only invite more suspicion.
Having reached that conclusion, Wooseok nodded.
“Thanks, Seoyeon. I’ll need your help.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
