46
Taehyun finally secured a promise to meet with his noona. This opportunity was precious to Taehyun since that esper called Eunjeong rarely left his noona’s side unless it was for something important.
“Noona, are you free tomorrow? I found out something…!”
“Yeah, let’s meet tomorrow. I’m free.”
Since he’d mentioned having information, his noona would come alone. Taehyun woke up early and spent a long time selecting his clothes. He was looking for something that didn’t appear too cute but also didn’t seem like he was trying too hard.
After careful consideration, Taehyun left wearing a navy striped shirt with loose black slacks. As soon as Seoyeon saw Taehyun, she smiled brightly and complimented him.
“You look cute in those clothes!”
“R-really?”
Taehyun quietly cursed to himself. The internet had definitely said this coordination would make him look handsome!
Contrary to Taehyun’s feelings, Seoyeon led him to a restaurant with a cheerful smile. It was a place that specialized in pork cutlets.
Somehow Taehyun felt like he was constantly being treated like a child, but realizing he wasn’t in a position to complain about such things, he just enjoyed the meal.
“How have you been these days? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Taehyun dragged out his words as if feeling neglected. Seoyeon showed him a gentle smile.
“I’ve been doing well. Eunjeong’s been having a hard time because of Minjae sunbae, that’s all.”
“That sunbae?”
“Yeah. She tends to blame herself a lot, so she probably thinks everything is her fault.”
She’s big and throws people around like nothing, what’s this about? Is she pretending to be weak? Taehyun disliked that sunbae who was always sticking to Seoyeon and subtly showing possessiveness.
But he knew if noona noticed his feelings, the way she looked at him would change. Taehyun naturally changed the subject.
“Noona, do you have time soon? Should we both take vacation days and go somewhere nearby? I got my paycheck, so it’s on me!”
“I’m not sure if I can easily take a vacation since I travel for work often. But I’ll check if my schedule allows.”
It was a polite rejection. Still, Seoyeon was kind. Taehyun nodded with a smile. After finishing their meal, they headed to a nearby café.
“Here are the photos.”
Taehyun handed the photos to Seoyeon.
“Did you happen to see what kind of door opening system they use?”
“I think it’s a dedicated card or fingerprint. But it seemed risky to get too close… I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Seoyeon zoomed in on the photos and examined them carefully.
“What’s in there?”
“I’m not sure yet…. Taehyun, did you… hear anything from that S-class?”
“Park Jihwan? About what?”
“Hmm… after Minjae sunbae got injured. Anything that seemed strange?”
“He just seemed out of his mind… Is it related to what you’re investigating now?”
“…Maybe.”
The relationship between Seoyeon and Taehyun usually consisted of Taehyun asking questions and Seoyeon avoiding them. She skillfully evaded both casual and work-related questions.
When that man who was his father requested something from Seoyeon, she would take action. In that process, Taehyun would be appropriately excluded.
Taehyun felt frustrated about not being able to help properly. Even knowing it might be his father’s orders, Taehyun occasionally felt spiteful.
“I finally get to see you after so long, and we’re just talking about work.”
“…I’m sorry. Did I hurt your feelings?”
“I guess spending time with me isn’t very important to you.”
The hurtful words escaped him. Taehyun regretted them as soon as he spoke. Seoyeon’s face stiffened in an odd way. She seemed flustered.
“You must have felt really neglected. I’m sorry.”
Seoyeon apologized with quite a respectful attitude. Taehyun was hurt by this. He thought it might have been better if she had thrown the coffee in his face and gotten angry.
“I’m the one who should be sorry, noona. I keep acting like a child.”
“No, I…”
“Noona, remember? When I tried milk for the first time and thought it was so delicious that I drank two liters at once, then ended up crying all the way to the hospital.”
Taehyun hastily changed the subject. Fortunately, there was a latte in front of him. Seoyeon stared at him blankly for a moment before breaking into a grin.
“I remember. You spent a few hours on the toilet before going to the hospital…”
“Aaargh! That’s mean!”
“At least you can drink it well now.”
Seoyeon chuckled as if remembering that time. Taehyun thought it was fortunate as he gulped down his latte. The sweet and bitter taste lingered in the back of his throat.
***
Minjae called all of Team 1 to the conference room. It had been a while since they’d had a formal team meeting. Jihwan was already following him around anyway, so there was no need to call him.
“Um… am I in trouble?”
Jihwan asked Minjae as they suddenly entered the conference room. He seemed to be recalling the previous time when he was dragged in by his collar. Minjae let out a short laugh, losing his composure slightly, which made Jihwan look nervous.
“Why. Do you want to be in trouble?”
“No.”
Jihwan shook his head quickly. Minjae sat down in the central seat of the conference room. Then he stopped Jihwan from sitting next to him.
“You sit over there.”
Minjae pointed to the corner of the conference room. Jihwan raised his eyebrows as if feeling wronged, but after seeing Minjae’s unwavering finger, he reluctantly headed to his assigned seat.
Shortly after, team members began entering the conference room. Seeing this, Jihwan seemed to grasp the situation and looked a bit more relaxed.
Eunjeong sat down next to Jihwan. She didn’t forget to glare at him briefly as she passed by.
“Sunbae, are you feeling better now?”
Hoyoung greeted him cautiously. Minjae nodded, saying he was fine.
“Recently, I had to infiltrate The Crow’s location.”
When Minjae spoke, Eunjeong’s eyes widened before settling down. Here we go again with the digging. Minjae swallowed a sigh.
Minjae briefly explained that The Crow’s influence was growing, and during the infiltration, he discovered children in danger but had no way to extract them.
“I’ve confirmed reports that The Crow will hold a large-scale demonstration in a few days.”
“……”
“I’ll go as part of the protest group, and you all will go to The Crow.”
“Is this a rescue mission?”
Jihwan’s voice sounded a bit excited. Minjae nodded.
“Yes. The plan is to rescue all the children we can.”
“Yes!”
Jihwan’s answer was loud and clear. Hoyoung also nodded with a somewhat solemn face.
After the meeting, Minjae kept Eunjeong behind. He also didn’t forget to warn the hesitant Jihwan that he wouldn’t let him off easy if he didn’t leave.
“Don’t think anything foolish.”
At Minjae’s words, Eunjeong’s expression darkened further. I’m sorry. Eunjeong apologized in a small voice. Minjae felt uneasy, thinking he could guess what she was thinking.
“Why are you apologizing? If you say that one more time, I’ll get angry.”
“…Okay.”
“Do you want to sit this one out?”
“How can we send just the two youngest…”
“Right, you know well. You can’t get carried away and mess things up. You’re practically the team leader there. You know what I mean, right?”
Eunjeong nodded slightly. Minjae gently stroked her head.
“…Sunbae.”
“Yeah?”
Eunjeong called Minjae in a small voice and moved her lips as if to say something, but then bowed her head. Minjae continued to stroke the back of Eunjeong’s head until she was ready to speak.
“Is it really better for those children to come here?”
Eunjeong’s voice was tearful.
For a moment, Minjae recalled his own childhood along with Eunjeong’s and the other children at the Center. They were not things that could be called happy. Even if the children escaped death, they wouldn’t be able to live the lives they wanted.
However, Minjae couldn’t just leave those children to maintain their short remaining lives before dying.
“Let’s try to make it better.”
It was half directed at himself. Eunjeong rested her head lightly on Minjae’s shoulder. Yeah. Eunjeong answered in a small voice.
***
Since returning to his quarters, Jihwan had been constantly holding his phone. Jihwan wanted to talk with Minjae sunbae after today’s meeting. It was because sunbae had mentioned rescuing children in the team meeting he had called.
At first, Jihwan was just happy, but later he recalled the various thoughtless things he had said and couldn’t speak further at the meeting.
Should I call? I should apologize. Having made up his mind, Jihwan dialed Minjae’s number.
The dial tone continued. Minjae didn’t answer the phone. Is he doing something else? Jihwan waited a moment and called again. Again, there was only a dial tone.
Jihwan kept repeating the process of calling again whenever the voice prompt asked him to leave a message. He suddenly became anxious. Did he leave the dorm? Did something happen?
The image of Minjae collapsed and covered in wounds flashed through Jihwan’s mind.
Jihwan opened the dorm window and flew up. Then he peeked around the window of Minjae’s quarters that he had located previously. He could barely make out the interior of the room through the gap in the drawn curtains.
Pressing his nose against the window, Jihwan looked around earnestly and discovered what looked like Minjae collapsed with his face on the table.
Jihwan flung the window open. Minjae’s window wasn’t even locked. After launching himself into the room and landing, Jihwan grabbed Minjae and shook him gently.
“Sunbae, sunbae!”
“Ugh…”
Minjae responded with a mumble. Only then did Jihwan notice the bottle of alcohol on the table and realized that Minjae smelled of alcohol. So he was drinking. Jihwan quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Jihwan carefully lifted Minjae and laid him on the bed. He was about to cover him with a blanket, grabbing the edge of the comforter.
“What is… this. What is it.”
Minjae said. The pronunciation was too accurate to be sleep-talking, so Jihwan unconsciously answered in a small voice, “It’s a blanket…”
However, when it occurred to him that if Minjae had really woken up, he would have questioned why Jihwan was there in the first place, Jihwan felt a bit embarrassed.
“What is it! What are you…!”
Minjae suddenly raised his voice. Jihwan was startled and examined Minjae’s face. With his brow deeply furrowed, Minjae trembled slightly. Then he curled up into a ball as much as possible.
“Sunbae…?”
Jihwan lightly grasped Minjae’s arm. Minjae noticeably curled up even more. Surprised, Jihwan removed his hand from Minjae’s body.
Beads of sweat were forming on Minjae’s forehead, as if he was having some terrible nightmare. Jihwan carefully wiped Minjae’s face with his sleeve.
After some time, Minjae’s forehead relaxed slightly. After confirming that Minjae’s breathing had become regular, Jihwan carefully arranged the blanket and flew outside again. He didn’t forget to close the curtains and shut the window thoroughly.
I’m sorry. Jihwan whispered quietly to the closed window.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
