He felt like the only way he’d cool off was to storm over to Han Yeo-ul’s house and punch that guy in the face.
“These bastards are insane. Don’t tell me they blew their whole damn lottery prize on gambling? And now they’re threatening a kid on top of that?”
Veins bulged in Ho-eun’s neck. He couldn’t just sit still—he grabbed his coat.
“I’m seriously thinking I need to go to Han Yeo-ul’s place and—”
Bzzzzzz
Do In-ho’s phone, left on the sofa, buzzed.
It was well past midnight. The caller was Team Lead Nam Woon-soo.
“……”
From the in-ear monitor, Han Yeo-ul’s parents were still spewing vile garbage. Seeing that, Ho-eun dropped the coat he’d just picked up and motioned for In-ho to take the call.
“This is Do In-ho.”
Less than a minute into the call, In-ho simply said okay and hung up. Ho-eun, who hadn’t heard what was said, loitered in front of him, curiosity all over his face.
“What was that about at this hour?”
“A summons. Looks like we need to go to the meeting room.”
“We’re getting called in now?!”
Do In-ho picked up Ho-eun’s dropped coat and handed it to him.
“They said to come as fast as possible.”
“Any idea why?”
“No… not really…”
In-ho’s expression briefly twisted, then settled.
“This is the first time Team Lead Nam Woon-soo has ever called me directly.”
That alone showed how urgent it was. Hearing that, Ho-eun scowled just as In-ho had earlier. The in-ear chatter was still noisy and irritating, but an emergency summons in the middle of the night?
No time for socks—he rushed to the door and shoved on his sneakers, crushing the heels down.
***
The two ran toward the meeting room.
Nam Woon-soo and Bae Yeon-woo clearly hadn’t gone home yet. If they had, they wouldn’t have summoned them so suddenly with no prep time.
The light leaking through the closed door confirmed it.
“This is our chance, I’m telling you!”
Bae Yeon-woo’s voice boomed through the door, tension radiating from the room. They hurriedly knocked and entered, just as Yeon-woo slammed his phone down like he was about to throw it.
“Useless piece of shit!”
“Um…”
“What, you’re here alre—wait, hold up. Is that seriously what you two sleep in?”
Matching top-and-bottom pajamas in the same pattern, only the color differed. It was painfully obvious—they looked like a couple in matching sleepwear.
Since the meeting room was within walking distance, the two had rushed over without thinking much about what they were wearing.
Bae Yeon-woo felt his anger deflate instantly, replaced by a laugh he couldn’t hold back.
“We were in such a hurry we didn’t have time to change.”
Ho-eun awkwardly fiddled with the buttons on his coat and closed the front like that would somehow hide the couple-look pajamas.
“Right. In a rush, sure.”
Yeon-woo stopped laughing and glared down at his phone.
“Anyway, Kwon Ho-eun. Why didn’t you say anything about what you wrote in your report?”
“Which part are you referring to?”
“Yeah, I guess your memory could be slipping with how busy things are.”
Yeon-woo pulled out a collapsible baton from his back pocket, a menacing smile on his face.
“Sometimes a little shock therapy works wonders. Don’t you think?”
With a sleep-deprived look in his eyes, Yeon-woo really did seem unhinged. Ho-eun hurriedly grabbed his arm before he could lift the baton.
“Oh! Are you talking about the Han Yeo-ul incident?”
“Oh? You remember now? That’s a shame. Would’ve been fun if you didn’t.”
“No, no! I remember it very clearly!”
Yeon-woo calmly slid the baton back into place and sat down, crossing his legs. Across from him, Ho-eun bowed his head like a guilty defendant.
“I’m sorry. You looked so busy, I figured I’d tell you later.”
“Go on.”
“While observing Han Yeo-ul, I started suspecting she was being abused. So I met her in person to check her condition… I couldn’t find any evidence at the time, but I was able to record proof through wiretapping.”
Ho-eun took out his in-ear monitor.
“I’ll connect it to the laptop so you can hear the recording.”
But Yeon-woo waved him off, like that wouldn’t be necessary, and tossed over a disorganized stack of documents.
“Is this your so-called evidence? That her parents are gambling?”
The documents listed the personal details of individuals caught frequenting illegal gambling dens. Highlighted in fluorescent pen were Han Yeo-ul’s parents’ names.
“We just found out ourselves. That Yeo-ul’s parents are tied to the Dragons.”
“!!”
Yeon-woo didn’t care that they were in a meeting room—he lit a cigarette on the spot.
“They should be showing up soon.”
The acrid smoke clouded their vision. Ho-eun waved his palm in front of him, trying to clear it.
Is this really why they called me in? Because I didn’t mention Han Yeo-ul’s situation?
As Ho-eun pondered, a knock came from the door.
“Delivery’s here.”
Do In-ho opened the door to find a man in a cap holding a parcel. He wore a vest—not with a normal courier company logo, but the Esper Corporation’s insignia.
In-ho set the package down in front of Yeon-woo.
“Assistant Manager, what’s this?”
“Disposable Ability Tools I ordered.”
Yeon-woo used a box cutter to slice the tape. Inside were syringes and IV pouches, each glowing with an odd bluish hue. As Yeon-woo lifted one, the courier, still in the room, began explaining.
“These are the transformation tools you requested. Since it was a rush order, we’re only delivering one out of the three for now. Load the contents into the syringe and inject it—it’ll change your appearance for about an hour.”
“How many uses per pack?”
“Four times.”
The courier drew a circle in the air, and a shimmering paper appeared.
“Please sign here.”
Yeon-woo picked up a pen from the floor and signed. The letters floated up from the paper and scattered into the air as if dissolving. Consonants and vowels separated and rose before disappearing entirely.
“Thank you for using our service.”
As the courier left, Yeon-woo picked up a syringe.
“So, who wants to go first?”
The sharp glint of the needle sent a shiver down Ho-eun’s spine. He couldn’t stop worrying about what would happen after the injection.
“Is it even legal to give injections without a medical license?”
“It’s fine. It’s an Ability Tool, not actual medicine.”
“Uh… maybe we should go over what’s happening first…”
Seeing Ho-eun hesitate, Nam Woon-soo stepped in and gently took the syringe from Yeon-woo’s hand.
“Oh, right. Guess I forgot to explain. We’re going out into the field.”
“The field?”
“Park Ki-hyun finally left the Dragon hideout. That’s why we called you in at this hour.”
Nam Woon-soo hadn’t put down his tablet all night. Between everything else, he’d been keeping tabs on Park Ki-hyun’s escape from the hideout.
“I called HR too, but that idiot never listens.”
Yeon-woo ground his teeth.
“Is it okay for us to go after Park Ki-hyun without HR?”
“The situation’s worse than expected. If we don’t move first, the police might get involved.”
“The police?”
Made sense. With crimes this serious, it’d be strange if the cops stayed uninvolved.
Between gang ties and anti-government links, it was no wonder Yeon-woo had a headache over it all.
“So yeah. We have to grab him while we can.”
Yeon-woo tore open the pouch and held out his hand. Nam Woon-soo drew up the liquid into the syringe.
“Park Ki-hyun went home. No telling when he’ll leave again, so we need to move now.”
Yeon-woo jabbed the needle into his arm. Once the injection was done, he replaced the needle with a new one.
“Infiltration mission, huh.”
Understanding dawning, Ho-eun nodded. Yeon-woo went around administering the shots.
As the Ability Tool activated, Ho-eun felt his skin cells expand and contract, pulsing unnaturally. His skin puffed up and then smoothed back down repeatedly.
“No way we’ll be recognized like this.”
Yeon-woo’s appearance changed first—his pink hair turned jet black, and his facial features morphed into something completely unrecognizable. He now wore a bland, forgettable face—the type you’d pass by on the street without a second glance. Looking in the mirror, Yeon-woo smirked.
“This face belongs to some guy on a drug buyer list. Not bad quality, considering I just ordered it today.”
He passed the mirror to Ho-eun, who stared at his reflection. Droopy eyes, small nose, thin lips—it all made him look incredibly petty.
“This… is me?”
Ho-eun touched his new face in shock.
“We do turn back to normal, right?”
“Hey, don’t insult the poor guy’s face. You’ll be fine—shouldn’t take long.”
Ho-eun glanced at In-ho, curious how he looked now. Compared to their real faces, his new one was pretty decent-looking for a civilian. A wave of unfairness washed over Ho-eun.
“No telling when Park Ki-hyun’ll head back to the hideout. Let’s go.”
Yeon-woo’s voice, completely different in tone, led the charge out of the room.
Nam Woon-soo, with his tablet in hand, looked strangely androgynous.
Seeing all four of them transformed, Ho-eun was reminded of just what kind of place he worked at.
“I’ll drive.”
Gripping the wheel, Yeon-woo floored the accelerator. The car surged forward like a spring uncoiling.
“We’ve got to wrap this up before sunrise.”
Sparse streetlamps faintly lit the road.
“Any special reason why?”
“Plenty. First—this group’s tied to civilian criminal organizations. If those criminals and the anti-government group are teaming up, it’s only a matter of time before the public finds out.”
“And when they do…”
“All the effort we put into changing how Espers and Guides are seen? Gone. We’ll be labeled as a useless, incompetent mess.”
The car veered off the main road and into a maze of residential alleyways.
“Second—if all we do is confirm Park Ki-hyun’s an Esper suspect, it just hands the win to HR. We need to catch both him and the anti-government agents.”
“I thought we were working together on this?”
“HR only needs to take over the second he Awakens. You really think they’ll wait around for us to finish the anti-government op?”
That hit home—Ho-eun now fully grasped how serious the situation was.
“Third—we have to ruin the anti-government’s plan. I don’t know why they’re snatching up Esper suspects, but we can’t let it slide.”
At that, Ho-eun couldn’t help but think of Han Yeo-ul. Her parents were involved in all this too. If they weren’t stopped, she’d keep hearing that kind of cruel garbage from them.
“Three reasons. That should be enough, right? For why we’re going in alone.”
As Yeon-woo finished, Nam Woon-soo opened his mouth like he had something else to add.
