Chapter 116
We arrived at a large apartment complex. After passing through several security points and ringing the doorbell, the front door eventually opened. Jung Seok-hoon appeared with his usual handsome smiling face.
“Welcome. Please come in.”
Stepping inside, I saw the living room filled with plants of various sizes. Thanks to this, I could easily guess the homeowner’s hobby.
As I sat on the sofa, Jung Seok-hoon brought out some snacks. No sooner had he sat across from us than Song Ji-hyeok spoke up.
“We could have met outside, why did you call us to your home?”
“It’s nice to visit my home after so long, you idiot.”
Jung Seok-hoon then turned to me with a bright smile and said:
“Please have some bread, Su-hyeon. I bought it from a famous bakery.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Feeling it would be impolite to just sit there, I took a piece of bread with a fork. As I had noticed before, Jung Seok-hoon had an excellent ability to lead conversations, looking like someone who would listen well to others, like a counselor. Combined with his calm voice, I felt comfortable despite not being particularly close to him.
Around the time I had drunk half of my aromatic coffee, Jung Seok-hoon finally got to the point. When the smile disappeared from his face, his impression changed dramatically from a kind counselor to a serious researcher.
“What I’m about to tell you should stay between just the three of us.”
“Why so serious?”
Despite his words, Song Ji-hyeok also gave him a serious look. I, being somewhat awkward with them, remained silent.
“In my line of work, I get information through various channels, and I just obtained an incredible secret.”
Jung Seok-hoon pushed up his glasses and continued in an almost whisper, his voice significantly lowered.
“FARI… that is, the Federal Awakened Research Institute, has been conducting top-secret experiments on dual awakened individuals.”
My heart began racing the moment I heard “dual awakened.” Additionally, the conversation I had just had with Gijun hyung unconsciously overlapped in my mind.
Surprisingly, or perhaps as I had inadvertently guessed, similar information flowed from Jung Seok-hoon’s lips.
“As a result, most dual awakened who participated in the experiment reawakened as S-rank.”
As soon as he finished speaking, an intense reaction erupted from Song Ji-hyeok.
“Is that really true?!”
“Shh, be quiet.”
Jung Seok-hoon was startled and tried to restrain him. He added that this was information he had obtained personally, so even the Korean Awakened Association didn’t know yet, and that he had invited us to his home to prevent any leaks.
Song Ji-hyeok leaned back against the sofa after having abruptly risen. But he still seemed ready to grab Jung Seok-hoon by the collar, maintaining his excited demeanor.
“Tell me more details. Is it true?”
“Consider it almost certain since I got the information by contacting a Federal Research Institute employee. When I looked into it, I found records of dual awakened from various nationalities transferring to American guilds. Another suspicious point is that academic journals dealing with dual awakened berserking symptoms or guiding side effects have mysteriously disappeared. As if someone deliberately deleted them.”
This also felt familiar. I remembered Oh Hye-yeon, the doctor, saying something similar to the Deputy Guild Master when my guiding side effects became prominent.
‘…She said only the records with pending judgments on guiding side effects had disappeared.’
A natural connection formed between the two facts. My guess was that only the pending judgment cases of dual awakened guiding side effects had been erased. Or perhaps the pending judgment itself was a phenomenon that only occurred with dual awakened…
“Senior.”
At that moment, Song Ji-hyeok suddenly turned to me and grabbed my hand.
“You received a scout offer just a few days ago, right? And that person who came to meet you, that hyung or whatever, is also a Federal Research Institute employee.”
Technically, he was a researcher, not an employee, but that wasn’t important right now. Since it would be a lie that would be immediately discovered if I denied it, I reluctantly agreed.
“…Yes.”
“Ha, shit. So that was the reason he suddenly appeared. To take you away.”
Song Ji-hyeok’s grip on my hand tightened even more.
“Absolutely not.”
His gaze repeatedly turned toward me. Whether because he was still young or simply honest, I could see anger and desperation mixing on his face, which didn’t hide emotions well.
“Remember what I said? I absolutely won’t allow you to leave me behind. Absolutely not.”
Then Song Ji-hyeok turned to Jung Seok-hoon and asked, as if interrogating him.
“What’s the method for reawakening? Don’t tell me it’s only possible at their research institute or some bullshit like that?”
“No, it’s not. But…”
Unable to wait as Jung Seok-hoon pushed up his glasses again, Song Ji-hyeok urged him once more.
“Don’t stall, just tell me quickly. If it’s possible in Korea too, we can just do it right now. Then Senior Su-hyeon won’t need to go to America, and we won’t need to terminate our pair contract.”
Song Ji-hyeok’s expression brightened instantly, as if he had found a solution while speaking. Unlike him, Jung Seok-hoon still looked troubled. His face, without a hint of a smile, seemed not just expressionless but almost cold. Looking at Song Ji-hyeok with a ‘what should I do’ expression, he eventually spoke as if he had made up his mind.
“Theoretically, yes. But it’s not a problem that can be solved so easily.”
“Why?”
“Because… the method for reawakening is going berserk.”
Silence hung in the air after Jung Seok-hoon closed his mouth. Even though he was looking at Song Ji-hyeok and not me, I lowered my eyes as if avoiding his gaze. Despite already knowing this fact, my heart felt newly complicated.
“You call that a method?”
Song Ji-hyeok broke the silence. Although he only uttered one sentence, I could feel how absurd he found it. No, he seemed closer to denying what he had just heard.
But Jung Seok-hoon coldly brought him back to reality.
“It’s already a confirmed fact.”
After a moment of silence, Song Ji-hyeok soon sharply probed for more.
“Then what’s the probability?”
“What?”
“The probability of successful reawakening. Is it 100 percent?”
I already knew the answer to this question. Sure enough, the same words flowed from Jung Seok-hoon’s mouth.
“I heard it’s almost that.”
“Almost? So it’s not 100 percent.”
Listening to the conversation, I was considerably flustered inside. If possible, I would want to attempt reawakening secretly, but that was practically impossible, and I was planning to withhold information about the success rate. I hadn’t anticipated that Song Ji-hyeok would catch onto this first.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, the silence didn’t last long this time. Jung Seok-hoon carefully addressed me, who couldn’t say anything despite this being about me.
“According to my friend, FARI plans to officially announce this matter after conducting the final test, and I think Su-hyeon might be their last target. They’ll probably put pressure on you somehow, and as Ji-hyeok suggested, reawakening in Korea first might…”
“No, that will absolutely never happen.”
A resolute voice cut in. Though Jung Seok-hoon paused briefly at being interrupted, he quickly regained his composure. His words continued in a cold tone, as if scolding an immature brother.
“This isn’t something that will happen just because you insist. It’s only a matter of time before this information reaches the Korean Awakened Association, and as soon as it does, they’ll try every means to reawaken dual awakened first.”
“Still, absolutely not.”
“You… Haah.”
“I’ll be going now.”
As if there was nothing more to hear, Song Ji-hyeok abruptly stood up. Almost simultaneously, he grabbed my wrist and said:
“Let’s go.”
Because he was dragging me forcefully, I had no choice but to follow.
“Song Ji-hyeok, I’m not finished talking.”
Jung Seok-hoon blocked our path. I worried there might be a physical confrontation, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. Instead, an ice-cold voice flowed from Song Ji-hyeok’s mouth.
“Just reawaken her before America takes her away. Is there anything else you want to say?”
The atmosphere instantly turned chilly. To prevent emotions from worsening between the cousins, I quickly intervened.
“Calm down a bit. …I’m sorry.”
Jung Seok-hoon waved it off with a “No, it’s fine” as I apologized with a slight bow. In contrast, Song Ji-hyeok still looked genuinely angry.
“I understand what you’ve told us today. I’ll talk more with Ji-hyeok when we get home.”
“I have nothing to discuss.”
I could feel my blood pressure rising at his blunt remark. But since I didn’t want to argue here, I gritted my teeth and forced a smile toward Jung Seok-hoon.
“Then I’ll see you again. I apologize for our rudeness.”
I wanted to add “our child’s” before “rudeness,” but I couldn’t bring myself to do it and swallowed the words. With Jung Seok-hoon nodding as if he understood everything, we left his house.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
