15
Wooseok stood in front of Minjae’s room holding packaged sushi in one hand. Minjae wasn’t the type to take care of his meals, and if left alone, he would go for extended periods without eating. That’s why Wooseok either prepared meals for him or ate with him almost daily.
Wooseok entered the passcode without ringing the bell or knocking. 54321. It was a carelessly chosen number, like a countdown. Wooseok felt exasperated every time he punched it in.
“Minjae.”
Wooseok called out as he opened the door and entered. There was no answer. The room was dark with blackout curtains drawn.
Wooseok set the sushi down on the small table and walked toward the cocoon-like shape on the bed.
“Minjae.”
Wooseok pulled down the blanket and shook the slumbering Minjae. Ah… Minjae’s face scrunched up in annoyance.
Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wooseok repeated the same words as he vigorously shook Minjae.
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
At Minjae’s words, Wooseok got up and yanked open the blackout curtains.
Sunlight poured into the room. In the brightened space, Minjae curled up even more and squirmed.
“I said wake up.”
As Wooseok insisted, Minjae slowly raised his upper body and rubbed his eyes. Wooseok frowned when he saw the wound on Minjae’s palm.
“Hey, what’s that?”
“What?”
“On your hand.”
“Oh, I’m low on guiding.”
Minjae showed Wooseok the yellow warning light on his wrist. Wooseok quickly approached Minjae, grasping his hand with one hand while placing the other on the nape of his neck, and administered guiding.
“What about the pills?”
Wooseok asked.
“Ran out.”
“So you just went to sleep?”
“It’s only yellow.”
Wooseok looked down at Minjae’s hand with concern.
It had been quite a while since he’d seen wounds on Minjae’s body. More precisely, wounds left untreated. Wooseok recalled Minjae’s hand, red and swollen from a burn.
Wooseok had come to the Center when he was 8 years old. He had been near a terrorist attack site and was rescued by an esper.
That esper reported to the government that Wooseok seemed to be a guide, and Wooseok was transferred directly to the Hero Center.
Just when I should be starting elementary school. Having to be in a place like this. Wooseok disliked everything about it.
He caused various incidents, thinking they might let him go if he misbehaved, but the Center wouldn’t release him. It took Wooseok quite a long time to fully realize that he could never escape the Center.
Wooseok always showed unstable results in his rank tests. Then one day when his results showed S-class, and the same result appeared in the next test, everyone began to look at him differently.
Wooseok felt like someone was pinching his arm. It gave him goosebumps.
Wooseok constantly played hooky. It meant he didn’t attend training. After getting the S-class rank, no one said anything about it anymore. It was ridiculous.
Wooseok also frequently stole things from the kitchen because he wanted to feel the small victory and exhilaration of taking something from the place that imprisoned him.
The day he first met Minjae was also a day when he was trying to steal something from the kitchen. Suddenly, with a loud noise, a hot pot exploded and engulfed Wooseok.
As Wooseok screamed in pain, someone grabbed his shoulder. Despite the strong, firm grip, it was a small hand. The pain quickly subsided. Even his reddened skin returned to normal.
Wooseok stared blankly at the child whose hands had turned bright red from treating the hot oil that had spilled on him and healing him. The child had healed Wooseok but not his own hands.
Then the child’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. A red warning light appeared on his wrist.
Wooseok cried as he held the child. Center staff came running at the sound of Wooseok’s cries. Wooseok! Minjae!
That’s when Wooseok learned that the name of the child who had saved him was Minjae. And that’s how they became friends.
Since childhood, Wooseok often waited for Minjae on his bed. When he visited Minjae’s room, Minjae was rarely there, but he would return if Wooseok waited.
Some days they played rock-paper-scissors—they didn’t know many games—and other days, Wooseok would quietly watch Minjae sleep. Back then, just having someone his age nearby made things bearable.
Minjae had many injection marks on his arms. Remembering their first meeting, Wooseok thought Minjae must be a very sick child.
So whenever Wooseok met Minjae, he always held his hand. He wanted to provide guiding, at least. Yet the warning light on Minjae’s wrist fluctuated inconsistently. There was no particular reason for it.
Some days, Minjae would cry and writhe. At those times, his body would tremble. His arms or legs would twist unnaturally. Minjae disliked adults more than Wooseok did, so he couldn’t call anyone for help.
Wooseok would just hold Minjae and endure the vibrations with him.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
Minjae asked. Huh? Wooseok, momentarily dazed, met Minjae’s eyes.
Chuckling, Minjae administered healing to his own hand. With a faint light, the wound on Minjae’s hand disappeared.
“Better now?”
As if noticing that Wooseok had been staring endlessly at the wound, Minjae smiled.
“Eat the sushi.”
“Ah, you have no sense. Today is hamburger day.”
Wooseok glared at Minjae. What are you, a preschooler, you little shit! Minjae made a mischievous face, winked, then roughly opened the sushi package and tore open the chopsticks.
Wooseok rested his chin on his hand and watched as Minjae began to eat.
***
After eating the lunch Wooseok had brought, Minjae headed to Dr. Jo’s laboratory. He had been feeling uneasy ever since meeting the girl who refused guiding.
It seemed like “The Crow” had grown larger than expected. Feels like there’s more to it. Since his ominous premonitions were rarely wrong, Minjae felt he couldn’t just let it go.
Dr. Jo left a message asking Minjae to take care of things while he was away, then humming a tune, he went into a room inside the laboratory. He had gone to sleep, so he wouldn’t come out for a while.
Minjae sat across from a man in terrible condition.
“Sir, do you feel like talking today?”
Minjae asked. The man’s lips moved slightly. But he didn’t say a word.
“Believe it or not, I want to end this too.”
“……”
The man’s eyes, which had been fixed on the floor, turned to Minjae. Blood vessels were visible in them.
“Can you hear what I’m saying?”
At Minjae’s question, the man blinked slightly. He seemed too weak even to nod. Minjae administered healing near the man’s neck, slightly reducing the congestion that filled his face.
Cough, the man coughed softly. And he grimaced, apparently in pain.
“…Hey.”
“Yes?”
“…It was real… The real… evidence…”
“Evidence? Who did you receive evidence from?”
“……”
The man pressed his lips together, seemingly unwilling to say more.
This is going to take a while. Minjae thought he should administer healing first. The terrorist had to be handed over to the general prosecution today.
Thinking there wasn’t much time and hoping to heal his wounds first and then ask a few more questions, Minjae reached out his hand.
“The crow will come again.”
Minjae listened attentively as the man began speaking again.
“The crow carries the message of God and dives into the golden… gak.”
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
The man suddenly rolled his eyes back and began foaming at the mouth. His body went limp, and his head tilted backward.
“Ah, the drug has finally taken effect.”
Minjae looked up at Dr. Jo, who was now standing beside him. Dr. Jo scribbled something in a small notebook as he stared at the collapsed man.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, the injection I gave earlier takes about 30 minutes. Just in time after you finished eating.”
“Do you think that’s what I’m asking?”
“I’m just scrambling his brain a bit. You said he needs to go to the prosecution today, right?”
“…Did you receive instructions? Or was this your independent decision?”
At Minjae’s question, Dr. Jo shrugged. Then he took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on. His attitude suggested he had no intention of answering.
At first glance, Dr. Jo appeared to be a timid, cowardly scientist, but he was the type who enjoyed conducting various experiments under the pretense of scientific curiosity about the human body. This scientist, completely devoid of morality, had gained the Center Director’s favor and trust through his research results.
It was obvious that some communication had occurred, and Dr. Jo had taken action before Minjae arrived. Once this man entered the general prosecution, he would remember nothing and only spout nonsense.
“The crow carries the message of God and dives into the golden wave.”
Dr. Jo murmured softly. Golden wave? Minjae muttered.
From the beginning, The Crow was a cult based on the legend that crows are birds that deliver the words of God. The cult leader was a psycho who claimed that only he could hear the crow’s messages as the messenger.
“I did well, right?”
Dr. Jo smiled proudly. I wish this fucking asshole would shut his mouth. Minjae looked at the man with mixed emotions.
The Crow was a religion that denied the existence of espers.
Their main message was that espers are hosts whose bodies have been taken over by seeds from an alien planet, and that all espers should be exterminated.
It was all nonsense, but because they also conducted online proselytizing, many people knew what their surface ideology was.
However, no one knew the details of what was inside. Not even about the cult leader.
The Crow group made considerable efforts to expand their hateful influence by bringing strange materials from the internet and presenting them as evidence for their claims. However, there had been no reports of them extorting money from people or engaging in group violence.
At a glance, it seemed like there was a lot of information, but in reality, nothing had been revealed. That’s why they wanted to dig for more information this time. But Dr. Jo had ruined it all.
“He kept muttering throughout the experiment to the point of irritation. I’ve already memorized it. There was nothing else worth salvaging anyway.”
“…Nothing else?”
“Huh? Other words? Well… there weren’t any. Though I might have missed something!”
“Hah… stop joking around.”
“I’m serious! You know I can’t hear well when I’m focusing on experiments.”
Dr. Jo emphasized several more times that he was telling the truth, as if feeling wronged.
Minjae closed his mouth, not wanting to say more. While he couldn’t completely trust Dr. Jo’s words, at least he had gained one hint.
“Please take care of the treatment! I don’t know what I would have done without you, Minjae.”
As he said this, Dr. Jo approached and sat down next to Minjae. Pushing up his glasses, Dr. Jo tilted his chin.
“Let me watch up close after a long time.”
Dr. Jo enjoyed observing the wounds as Minjae healed them. He claimed that seeing the healing wounds up close helped him theorize about the principles behind it.
Crazy bastard. Minjae administered healing to the unconscious man’s body while inwardly cursing. The wounds began to heal cleanly.
“It’s always fascinating to watch.”
Dr. Jo observed with interest. What an annoying bastard. Minjae continued to curse inwardly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
