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Minjae pulled the hand that was tightly gripping his own. A middle-aged woman was yanked out of the protest crowd like a radish being pulled from a field. Minjae slightly bent her hand and then showed it to the crowd so they could see it clearly.
“You’ll need to come with me for a moment.”
His voice was emotionless. The woman flinched slightly and nodded her head.
Minjae headed toward the tent with the woman. Then he sent his juniors, who had been taking a break, back to the scene.
“Don’t let anyone in here until I give the signal.”
After giving this warning, Minjae invited the woman to sit on a chair inside the tent. Having actually followed him, the woman seemed scared and hesitantly sat down.
Minjae examined her attire. The woman was wearing a slightly stretched-out T-shirt with a skirt that came down to her ankles. Though neat, there was something that contrasted with the appearance of other believers who showed up in impressive outfits at places where they displayed their faith.
“What brings you here, ma’am?”
Minjae asked politely. He considered offering her water, but that might seem strange in its own way.
“Please save my child.”
Her voice was hoarse. Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes again.
The woman suddenly bent forward and extended both hands toward Minjae. Minjae quickly stepped back at that moment.
The woman seemed to have no particular intention, just holding out her hands. She appeared to want to grab Minjae’s hands like before. Her hands trembled.
Minjae hesitated for a moment, then slowly bent down to meet the woman’s eyes. Hastily taking her hand now could be interpreted as agreeing to all her wishes.
“So you have a child.”
“At first, the child was struggling, and they said if we went there, everything would get better… So I went. A parent from the neighboring school took their child there and said they got better.”
A recruiter. That parent’s child probably wasn’t an esper. Even if they truly believed it themselves, it wasn’t a manifestation but probably just a mild fever.
“When I took my child there a few times, they seemed to be getting better. But then suddenly it got serious. Then those people said they needed a more powerful program and took my child away, and they wouldn’t even let me see them properly! My child was getting thinner every time I saw them… crying in pain…”
“……”
“I had no choice but to remain a believer to see my child’s face. They would occasionally show me my child if I pretended to believe more fervently. My child kept suffering… and those bastards said they were getting better…”
The woman paused for a moment and struck her chest with her fist. Ma’am, Minjae called out to her in a low voice.
“Please help me. Your organization originally exists to save people, right?”
My child might die. If that happens, I can’t go on living. When Minjae showed no particular reaction, the woman continued. She kept repeating similar statements.
Minjae hesitated. He couldn’t readily accept such a promise. There was too little information. In cases like this, if they failed to save the child, the repercussions Minjae would have to bear would be too great.
Moreover, even if they did rescue the child, the situation wouldn’t unfold as this woman wanted. After all, she had sought out The Crow because she didn’t want to lose her child to the state.
And he couldn’t tell right now how much this woman had been brainwashed by The Crow. All of this could be an act to trap him.
“Ma’am.”
Minjae called out to the woman. She stopped talking.
“I’ve been continuously investigating to save children who are suffering like your child. But it’s been quite difficult to extract information from the religious group called The Crow.”
“Yes…”
“How active have you been as a devout believer in The Crow?”
Minjae laid down his cards. It was a question that both tested whether her words about her child were genuine and proposed a deal. The woman’s pupils trembled, as if she understood the meaning.
***
“Department Head! You need to come out and see this!”
Hearing the urgent voice calling him from outside the tent, Minjae had to go out. Leaving the woman with instructions to wait, the woman grabbed Minjae’s arm again as he moved.
“I can tell you everything I know. I’ll really do anything!”
Though the key information didn’t immediately come out, it didn’t seem like she had other motives.
Minjae left with an acknowledgment and headed to the scene where the protesters were causing a disturbance. The atmosphere seemed to have become more violent because one of their members had been taken away. A regular police officer shot Minjae a resentful look. Minjae ignored it.
“What did they do to our believer?”
“This is oppression!!!”
When Minjae’s face came into view, the crowd became more agitated. Ptui. Someone spat. A sticky liquid fell at Minjae’s feet. Fuck. Minjae swallowed his curse.
“Due to causing injury to an esper, the person is being investigated by the police and will be sent home afterward. If you all continue to act aggressively like this, you may also be subjected to investigation.”
“These fucking bastards! Arrest me too! Come on, try and arrest me!”
As Minjae finished speaking, a man stepped forward with his hands joined as if handcuffed, thrusting them forward as he walked. The man clenched his fists and waved his arms threateningly.
“Ugh!”
One of the regular police officers was hit in the cheekbone by the fist and flinched. The officer standing right next to him widened his eyes at his colleague’s groan and stepped forward with his arm up as a guard.
“Please stop!”
“What, you bastard? How can you do this to another person when you’re human too! You rotten piece of shit!”
People began to get more excited. Ha. This is really fucking annoying. Minjae gritted his teeth as he pulled the excited police officer back for a moment and joined the guard.
“Urgh!! I’m dying!! Oh my god… these son of bitches are killing people!”
Suddenly, the man who had been throwing punches just moments ago collapsed on the ground. His ankle was slightly twisted. It seemed he had sprained his foot after being pushed by the crowd. Almost a fracture. Minjae thought.
As the pain hit a beat later, the man who had been shouting loudly couldn’t say anything more and just screamed in agony.
Sighing, Minjae gestured to several nearby espers. The espers rushed over, lifted the man, and moved him slightly inside the safety line.
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Of course it hurts, you son of a bitch!”
Minjae glanced around. As expected, several cameras were visible. They’re going to tear into this again. Minjae wanted to handle this as quietly as possible. He crouched down in front of the man.
“Sir, I’m going to treat you now. This is just first aid, so you must visit the hospital later. Understand?”
“Don’t! What are you trying to do to me?!”
The man’s face turned pale. The gazes of people standing nearby focused on Minjae and the man.
“First, I’ll move your foot back into place. The bone needs to be properly aligned.”
Minjae grabbed the man’s calf and foot and moved the twisted foot back into place. The man screamed like a madman. Minjae quickly began to infuse Hill.
Curses and shouts rained down on the back of Minjae’s head as he bowed it. So many sounds blended together that they sometimes sounded like one person’s voice and sometimes like an unintelligible language.
Thwack.
Suddenly, there was the sound of something breaking. On top of Minjae’s head was a broken eggshell. Minjae quietly stared at the mucous sliding down his cheekbone onto the cement floor.
Starting with that, eggs kept flying. They seemed to have deliberately chosen rotten ones, as a disgusting smell rose up. Some even threw small stones.
Minjae raised his head to look at the man.
“Are you still in pain?”
Minjae’s voice as he asked was calm. Meeting Minjae’s eyes, the man flinched and averted his gaze.
“I-I’m fine.”
“Good.”
Minjae stood up.
“Take this person outside the line. To where the paramedics are.”
Minjae instructed another esper. With a pale face, the esper who had been watching Minjae’s reaction nodded quickly and began to help the man up.
Minjae turned and started heading toward the tent. At that moment, something pressed against the back of Minjae’s knees, causing his body to be thrown back. Minjae was lifted up.
Reflexively about to strike the solar plexus with his elbow, Minjae’s eyes met Jihwan’s, who was gritting his teeth with reddened eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“Just a moment, sunbae. Just a moment.”
Jihwan lifted Minjae like a princess and started running toward the tent. The substances on Minjae’s body also stained Jihwan’s clothes. The sounds that had been pouring down from directly above were receding behind them.
Jihwan’s breath settled down on Minjae’s wet hair. Goosebumps rose, and Minjae shuddered slightly.
“Put me down.”
“Just a moment…”
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
“Why… why…”
He couldn’t enter the tent looking like this. Jihwan frowned as if displeased with Minjae’s reaction, then headed to the front of the tent with quick steps. He carefully set Minjae down and rummaged through the first aid kit placed in front of the tent for spare gauze.
“Uh…”
Jihwan seemed to hesitate for a moment about where to start cleaning, then began wiping Minjae’s head with the gauze. It was a careful touch.
Minjae watched what Jihwan was doing without saying anything.
Tears dropped from Jihwan’s eyes. His chin trembled too. I’m sorry. Jihwan apologized in a low voice. Minjae quietly stared at the rotten egg on Jihwan’s nape.
“I told you to return to your post, so why did you come here?”
“……”
“Journalists come here too. What if this blows up again?”
Instead of asking why he was crying, Minjae reprimanded him. Jihwan didn’t answer. He seemed focused on wiping off the substances stuck to Minjae.
Minjae felt a strange feeling somehow. He should have brushed it off as usual, but because of Jihwan, what had just happened to him felt rather miserable.
“Hey, in the end, a hero’s job is to do their best to rescue even people like that when they’re in danger, which is what you’ve been singing about. If you make that face over something like this, you can’t be a hero.”
Minjae blurted out whatever words came to mind to avoid being overwhelmed by the emotions flooding in.
“Then what about you, sunbae?”
“…What?”
Jihwan asked as he vigorously rubbed Minjae’s shoulder with his sleeve. His voice was rough. He seemed angry.
Minjae looked at Jihwan’s face. Jihwan, who had been glaring at Minjae’s shoulder, let out a small sigh.
“Who protects you, sunbae?”
Minjae had never heard such a stupid question before. He wanted to ask if Jihwan was joking, but Jihwan’s expression was too serious.
“Let me do it.”
It was nonsensical. But Minjae couldn’t respond curtly like before. Jihwan’s eyes were fixed steadily on Minjae without wavering at all.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
