#061
Yoo Seong-woo realized that Section 2 was wider than he had thought. He had to walk for quite a while with Popo before reaching the outskirts of Section 2.
Popo’s body, which had been thoroughly cleaned just a few days ago, was now covered in dirt. Yoo Seong-woo tried to wipe Popo clean with the edge of his clothes but realized his own clothes were in no better condition and laughed weakly.
“We’re both a mess.”
He had considered sending Popo away. He had told it to leave, to go somewhere comfortable, but Popo had followed him all the way here.
“…Why do you keep following me?”
Although somewhat outdated, medical assistance robots like Popo were useful in many places. Popo could find a better guardian than Yoo Seong-woo.
Popo moved its head from side to side like a person tilting their head in confusion, then beeped.
– Popo is strong! Mr. Yoo is the best!
“…Does that mean you want to protect me?”
– Popo is strong!
Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t help but laugh.
“Okay, then let’s move together.”
When he spoke with a smile, Popo spun around excitedly.
Yoo Seong-woo continued moving with Popo. His priority was to leave Section 2.
His plan was to go to Section 7, the eastern edge, and look for a way to smuggle himself out. Once he left the Republic of Korea, even Yeon Tae-soo wouldn’t be able to find him.
Perhaps Southeast Asia? Maybe… could his body be fixed there?
He didn’t have much hope. His body had never been completed in the first place.
When his creator made Yoo Seong-woo, he used incomplete microchips for the brain and heart. Since they were creating an android without knowing if it would succeed, they cut corners on effort and cost.
It was like being made with rusty parts. He didn’t know how much longer he could last.
With nothing he could do now, he just swallowed a sigh and quickened his pace.
Upon reaching the outskirts, he pulled his recently acquired bucket hat down low and walked. Popo was tucked away in his bag.
In reality, there wasn’t a clear boundary marking the outskirts. In the distant past, there were tollgates to manage passing vehicles, but nowadays there were only CCTVs at busy passages.
And Yoo Seong-woo had no intention of passing through those areas. He quietly slipped into the wooded hills between sections. With his shabby appearance, large backpack, and bucket hat, he would look like a typical hiker.
Recalling the map he had stored in his database, Yoo Seong-woo continued walking. Once he crossed the hills, he would be out of Section 2. That meant escaping from Yeon Tae-soo’s sight as well.
The thought of getting away from him made Yoo Seong-woo walk faster. But that didn’t last long. As he was climbing through the untouched undergrowth, he suddenly stopped.
There was something ahead.
‘…What is it?’
If this were an old wilderness, there might have been animals, but these days even stray dogs were rare. That left only one possibility: either a person or something similar but not human. Like himself.
He moved slowly, holding his breath. Hiding behind a tree, he cautiously peeked toward where he sensed the presence.
As a precaution, he had switched Popo to power-saving mode. He couldn’t risk it making noise in response to something.
Feeling Popo’s heavy weight in the backpack, Yoo Seong-woo planned to throw Popo and run if necessary. Popo might be angry, but it could catch up quickly…
As he took a step forward while holding his breath, there was a beeping sound and a small light came on in front. Yoo Seong-woo quickly pulled back and hid.
“Ah, shit. It’s annoying enough to be on patrol. Why keep searching? Who would even come here?”
Then came a man’s voice. As soon as he heard the gruff male voice, Yoo Seong-woo turned around and started going back down the path he had come up. His footsteps were cautious, wary of making noise on the soil. Fortunately, autumn had just begun, so there weren’t many fallen leaves yet.
“Hello? Are you listening? Yeah, that’s what I’m saying! What can I do but follow orders? Eden is huge, after all. They’re the owners.”
The man’s voice grew more distant. Fortunately, the man was also walking in the opposite direction from Yoo Seong-woo, making the distance between them increase faster. Plus, people’s hearing is less sharp when they’re on the phone.
But he couldn’t relax yet. If the man ended the call or shone his light in this direction, he would surely be discovered.
As he was carefully retracing his steps, the man’s call suddenly ended. A sudden silence filled the air, and despite the distance between them, Yoo Seong-woo held his breath in tension.
Just as he started moving his feet again, there was a sharp crack beneath him. It seemed a twig had broken.
Thinking it wouldn’t have been heard, that the distance was sufficient, he took another step forward when the man’s voice came again.
“Hey, what’s that?”
Yoo Seong-woo quickly hid behind a tree while noting the direction of the voice.
The moment he hid behind the thick tree trunk, the beam of light narrowly brushed past his side. If he hadn’t hidden, it would have illuminated him completely.
“Must be my imagination… Damn, it’s creepy out here.”
The man muttered and finally turned away. Yoo Seong-woo waited a long time before moving silently in the darkness again.
Judging from the man’s conversation, there was only one conclusion: Yeon Tae-soo had sent people even to the outskirts of this section. To find him.
Why was he so obsessed with him? They hadn’t known each other that long. What kind of relationship did they have?
Yeon Tae-soo could no longer be a sanctuary for him. And more than anything…
‘I don’t have the courage to lie to you anymore.’
When looking into those deep blue artificial eyes that contained him, he felt he might confess everything. He would apologize for deceiving him, admit that he was the very existence that Yeon Tae-soo hated so much, and prostrate himself begging for forgiveness.
Yoo Seong-woo’s pace quickened. He saw stars in the sky above but didn’t look up.
***
Most of Eden’s security personnel had been deployed for the search, leaving few to actually guard the building. As a result, Eden was currently not receiving VIP guests. Without proper security, they couldn’t host important visitors.
Considering that most of Eden’s revenue came from VIPs, this was an enormous loss, but Yeon Tae-soo didn’t seem to care about it at all. More accurately, he had no energy to care.
Since Mr. Yoo left, he had been acting like he wasn’t in his right mind. He seemed interested in nothing but finding Mr. Yoo’s whereabouts.
The reason he hadn’t killed or fired Kim Ji-heon wasn’t because he had forgiven him. It was simply because he needed his help to find Mr. Yoo.
So Kim Ji-heon sat in front of his boss with his face still swollen, busily typing on his laptop. On the translucent screen floated a list of companies that sponsored the arts, which he had investigated.
“These are the companies that sponsored Yoo-hyun. As you asked me to look into, I’ve narrowed it down to five companies that have shady backgrounds and deep connections with the police.”
With a gesture of his hand, several names on the list disappeared.
“I suspect one of these places sent Yoo-hyun, or rather, Mr. Yoo. This is just my conjecture.”
Kim Ji-heon emphasized the word “conjecture.” In truth, he wanted to say it was a certainty, but at this point, speaking the truth to Yeon Tae-soo wasn’t necessarily the best choice.
“If we filter for those connected to the Ministry of Defense, that would be our culprit.”
So Kim Ji-heon thought that Mr. Yoo was an informant sent by the Ministry of Defense. The question was why they would send the disappeared musician, Yoo-hyun, of all people.
“It’s a bit strange, though. Even though you say you don’t know, Yoo-hyun was an extremely famous singer. I don’t understand why they would send such a famous person.”
If they wanted to plant an informant, wouldn’t it make more sense to send someone with no history?
Despite revealing such significant information, there was no change in Yeon Tae-soo’s expression, so Kim Ji-heon swallowed a sigh and pulled up information about the musician Yoo-hyun.
“Yoo-hyun. Age unknown. Famous for being a mysterious musician with no known private life…”
Kim Ji-heon cleared his throat as he caught his boss’s sharp gaze. With a gesture toward the screen, the translucent text disappeared, and only a large photo of Yoo-hyun remained.
“Have you seen his face without the mask?”
Yeon Tae-soo didn’t answer. He just stared intensely at the photo on the screen.
The man called Yoo-hyun looked very similar to Yoo Seong-woo. Or rather, anyone would think they were the same person. Especially someone who had seen his face without the mask.
But Yeon Tae-soo could be certain. Even though not much time had passed since they met, all his senses were screaming.
“This is not Mr. Yoo.”
