A Hero Always Appears at the Scene 59

Minjae led Jihwan, who seemed to have a lot to say, out of the Center Director’s office. He had worried Jihwan might resist leaving, but Jihwan followed him out obediently.

“Are you really going to do the special lecture?”

When they were about to turn down the corridor and leave, Jihwan stopped walking. Then he grabbed Minjae and asked. Given how the Center Director had approached them, there was no option to decline the special lecture.

Jihwan’s breathing was rough. He seemed quite angry. It was somewhat of an unexpected reaction.

Until recently, Jihwan hadn’t seemed like someone who would express anger toward the Center Director. Although it was clear he wasn’t the Director’s pawn, he was notably clueless and completely ignorant about the Center’s politics.

Minjae had thought Jihwan would eagerly accept the idea of a special lecture for children, but it was a new experience for Minjae to have to lead him out before he opened his heated mouth. It was somewhat amusing.

“…Why are you smiling?”

Jihwan, on the other hand, was serious. His expression clearly showed he had no idea what Minjae found funny.

Jihwan frowned as he looked at Minjae and then raised his hand to touch Minjae’s forehead. Slightly taken aback by Jihwan treating him like he’d gone crazy, Minjae removed Jihwan’s hand.

“I told you to keep your mouth shut, so why did you open it?”

“Um… but I really thought that was going too far…”

Jihwan, who seemed about to say something in his defense, glanced at Minjae’s expression and closed his mouth.

“…Is he always like that? When you go into the Director’s office?”

Jihwan asked.

Is he always such an asshole? That was an obvious question, but somehow Minjae felt that if he answered yes, Jihwan might burst into the Center Director’s office.

Minjae shrugged. Then he flicked his finger against Jihwan’s wrinkled forehead.

“Since we have to do it anyway, we might as well make it truly helpful for the kids.”

Ah. A sound that could have been either a groan or an exclamation escaped from Jihwan’s mouth.

Minjae had no intention of moving according to the Center Director’s wishes.

Jihwan stared at Minjae for a moment, then nodded slightly. It was as if he had read Minjae’s thoughts.

“By the way, have you become more perceptive since graduating?”

“…What?”

Jihwan blinked blankly. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he opened his mouth.

“Are you saying I have no tact…”

“Oh, you really have improved.”

Minjae teased him further. When he ruffled Jihwan’s hair as if to praise him, Jihwan’s face crumpled.

Minjae gave him a mischievous smile. Suddenly, Jihwan lowered his head.

What, is he angry? Minjae wondered, but then Jihwan gently pushed Minjae’s hand with his head.

“…I might be getting a bit better.”

He still seems far from perceptive in these situations. What was meant to be teasing had accidentally become praise.

Jihwan’s mouth corners were lifted high, as if he was truly happy to be praised. He looked like one of those internet photos of a dog grinning widely.

What am I going to do with this idiot. Minjae ruffled Jihwan’s hair wildly. Jihwan quietly accepted the gesture. Minjae gave him a messy bird’s nest hairstyle that matched his expression, then withdrew his hand.

***

“Did someone… pull your hair out?”

Taehyun, who had been waiting for Jihwan in the cafeteria, was horrified at the sight of his hair. His hair was strangely lifted as if someone had yanked it. As Jihwan walked over from a distance without even looking in a mirror, Taehyun wondered if he should just run away.

Hair? Jihwan mumbled questioningly at Taehyun’s words, then suddenly grinned. Is that funny? Taehyun reached out to fix his hair. Jihwan quickly leaned his upper body backward.

Taehyun gave an incredulous expression with his hand awkwardly suspended in the air.

“What’s with you?”

“I’ll do it myself.”

Jihwan roughly combed his hair with his fingers. It looked a bit better than before. But the strange, grinning face remained the same.

What’s going on? It had been quite a while since they’d met, with Jihwan constantly sticking to Team Leader Minjae these days.

The Jihwan he was seeing after so long seemed somehow different. For one, he kept spacing out during conversations, staring into the void. He also asked questions he normally wouldn’t have.

“Hyung, do you know anything about the Center Director?”

“…The Center Director?”

What has he heard? Taehyun thought it was necessary to find out what kind of influence the Esper Team Leader had on Jihwan.

“In the news I watched, the Center Director seemed like someone who cared about espers… but seeing how he treated sunbae, it made me so angry…”

“…What did he say?”

This was important information. Taehyun focused.

“…Blaming sunbae for The Crow situation and pressuring him! How does that make any sense?”

“And what did Woo Minjae say?”

“I was about to say something, but sunbae scolded me.”

Does that mean Woo Minjae can’t stand up to the Center Director? Is he submissive? Or has something been held over him? Taehyun tried to gauge what might be between the Center Director and Team Leader Woo.

“If it weren’t for sunbae, they wouldn’t have rescued so many. It was also sunbae who discovered the prophecy at The Crow’s headquarters.”

“Prophecy?”

“Yeah. The way he immediately recognized it from a flyer and gave instructions was really cool.”

Taehyun found this suspicious. Without prior information, it wouldn’t have been so easy to recognize something just from a flyer. This raised the possibility that Team Leader Woo might be connected to someone in The Crow.

What is he hiding? Contrary to Taehyun’s serious thoughts, Jihwan’s angry face relaxed again. Ever since they started talking, his face would soften like that whenever Woo Minjae was mentioned.

He’s completely hooked. Poor bastard. Taehyun swallowed a sigh.

“…Did the Center Director say anything else? If he only needed to call the Team Leader, there must be some reason he called you too—”

“You went to the Center Director’s office? With Minjae sunbae?”

Just as Taehyun was about to ask a question to learn more about the Center Director’s intentions, a cold voice came from beside them.

Taehyun put down his spoon, looking at Hoyoung who had somehow sat down next to them. He was displeased at the uninvited intrusion.

“Ah… yes. We were suddenly called in.”

“What did he say?”

“He told us to go to the esper school and give a special lecture to the children.”

Jihwan told the story without including his complaints about the Director. His tact is really improving. Taehyun was inwardly relieved.

“…Huh.”

Hoyoung let out a sharp, scornful laugh. Jihwan blinked in confusion.

“Why…”

Hoyoung started to say something but stopped. However, it wasn’t hard to guess what would have followed. Hoyoung, who had been staring at his tray with his mouth shut, stood up without eating.

“Sorry. I’ll go first.”

Hoyoung cleared his tray and quickly left the cafeteria. Huh, pathetic jerk. A scornful laugh escaped from Taehyun’s mouth as well.

***

Minjae was walking along the back path of the Center. Though reluctant, he was on his way to see Dr. Jo.

Guiding drugs had leaked from within the Center and were being distributed to The Crow. If that was the case, Dr. Jo would know something. Even if not, Minjae could cajole him into finding out something interesting.

The thought of seeing that bastard’s face gave him a throbbing headache. Minjae took out his water bottle and drank some vodka. As he did so, he spotted a man running from the direction he was headed.

The man kept looking around as if being chased. Hugging a black bag, he looked exactly like a petty thief.

He’s not Center personnel. Making a quick assessment, Minjae began following the man who was moving away diagonally.

However, the man who had seemed to be in a hurry began moving at an incredibly fast pace from some point. Since his presence might be detected, Minjae couldn’t pursue too noisily.

In the end, Minjae gave up catching the man and confirmed the direction he was heading. The man was heading toward the back gate of the Center.

Minjae quickly turned around and headed to Dr. Jo’s laboratory.

“Oh, you came?”

Dr. Jo greeted Minjae nonchalantly, as if he’d been expecting him. There were no traces of anyone having been there. Minjae pulled up a chair and sat near Dr. Jo.

“Did you have a visitor?”

“Visitor? The Center Director hasn’t come here much lately. Why?”

“I saw someone coming out nearby.”

“Really? Maybe they were just lost. They can’t get in here anyway.”

Dr. Jo calmly put down his goggles and rubbed his nose. His attitude was indifferent. It became difficult to read his expression. Minjae decided to probe in a different way.

“Doctor, I found something interesting.”

“Something interesting?”

The doctor cleaned his goggles and put them back on.

“I recently infiltrated The Crow and discovered guiding drugs.”

At Minjae’s words, the doctor turned from looking at something in a glass container to face Minjae.

“Doctor, I was wondering if you’ve been short on money lately. Doesn’t the Center Director take good care of you?”

Dr. Jo had a lot of unnecessary pride. On top of that, he operated under the assumption that he was the only one in the world who could develop items related to espers and guides, and made that the reason for his existence.

So while doing crazy things in the back room, he hated being treated like an old man relegated to the sidelines. Dr. Jo’s upper lip twitched at Minjae’s provocation.

“Why would I sell that? You still don’t know me well enough, Minjae. I’m not a person who craves money.”

“Is that so? Then it’s even more interesting. How did they develop guiding drugs without proper equipment?”

Dr. Jo leaned his upper body back. His chair made a creaking sound.

“…That’s right.”

Dr. Jo muttered. He seemed to be contemplating something. At least there’s definitely something there. Minjae’s instincts told him.

“You know something, don’t you?”

“Well, I’ve been researching for a long time, so I’m not completely ignorant…”

Dr. Jo changed the subject. Then he suddenly stood up and began rummaging through a file in the display case. He seemed to have misunderstood Minjae’s words.

“What kind of combination did they try? Did they find a similar chemical reaction…?”

“…”

“Do you have the drug? Give it to me, and I’ll analyze the components.”

Fuck. Minjae chewed on the curse. Dr. Jo’s eyes were sparkling with scientific curiosity.

Is he doing this on purpose? Minjae stared at Dr. Jo. Dr. Jo clicked his tongue.

“You don’t have it. You said you found something interesting, but you didn’t actually get the drug? Why not?”

“…I’m sorry about that.”

In response to Minjae’s insincere apology, Dr. Jo nodded as if it was fine. Then he began mixing several liquids inside a glass tube.

“When I find a new drug combination, I’ll tell you first.”

Minjae knew what kind of drugs Dr. Jo enjoyed making. All of them had purposes he didn’t want to know about.

“That’s okay.”

“No. You’ll need it.”