#168
The massive ice chunk was pulled out smoothly in Hyun Dowoon’s hand. A loud scream burst out as it was removed, but Hyun Dowoon relentlessly removed the ice and looked down at the face writhing in pain.
“Shin Haejun the esper. It seems you acted too aggressively. Was there really a need for this?”
Hyun Dowoon’s face was cold as he saw someone with the same face as his rolling on the floor.
“When else would I get to see such a different side of the Center Director? Don’t you agree? Above all, I thought I needed to threaten a bit for him to listen. Shouldn’t we do our best to bring Jaeha?”
Shin Haejun said with a shrug, as if the sight of Hyun Dowoon softly groaning while hugging his leg on the floor was nothing.
At the mention of Jaeha’s name, Hyun Dowoon’s face softened slightly. Rounding his sharp tone again, Hyun Dowoon asked the most important thing.
“So, did the threat have the desired effect?”
“Unfortunately, both you and I in this world have quite good mental fortitude. He ran away.”
Shin Haejun’s face was very cold as he said this. He seemed quite upset about not being able to meet Jaeha right away as he wanted. There was also frustration at not being able to properly control this situation.
“Let’s heal him and lock him up for now. It’s unpleasant to leave him like this with the same face.”
Hyun Dowoon extended his hand and healed the leg. In an instant, the ruptured muscles reattached and flesh filled in. The pain disappeared, and the Hyun Dowoon who had been rolling on the floor looked at the face identical to his own with a dazed expression. Seeing the doppelganger with sapphire-embedded eyes made his body tremble involuntarily.
The fully healed body, though still mentally a patient, disappeared with a single gesture from Hyun Dowoon. Judging by the thudding sound from somewhere in the room, it seemed he had teleported him there.
“Now, is this better?”
Hyun Dowoon asked, turning his head to look at Kim Sehyun. He didn’t heal this world’s Hyun Dowoon because he was particularly pretty or felt kinship with him. It was solely because there was information they needed to hear from Kim Sehyun, and he healed him to extract it more smoothly.
Seeing this clearly, Kim Sehyun nodded while trembling. He was still scared, but he couldn’t bring himself to say so.
“Shall we sit and talk?”
Hyun Dowoon said, sitting on one side of the sofa as if it were his own home. Shin Haejun followed, sitting on the sofa as well. However, Kim Sehyun, unsure if he should sit opposite them, knelt politely on the floor instead. He tried his best not to look at the pool of blood flowing nearby.
Seeing Kim Sehyun kneeling on the living room floor, Shin Haejun’s eyes softened slightly. Fortunately, it seemed to be the correct answer.
“So, please explain about this novel you mentioned.”
At Hyun Dowoon’s words, Kim Sehyun gulped and opened the novel app.
Then he explained the contents of the novel in detail. About the story of a protagonist who falls into a world with espers and guides.
After listening to Kim Sehyun’s explanation, Shin Haejun muttered.
“It must have been written by Jaeha.”
Looking at the detailed episodes, they were clearly things written by Jaeha. He didn’t know why they were called novels and written down here, but they were definitely things only Jaeha could write.
After explaining everything, Kim Sehyun looked up at Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun with expectant eyes. He thought it was finally time to be released.
“It seems we’ve heard everything we needed to hear.”
“But… why were you with Kim Sehyun of all people?”
Shin Haejun asked Hyun Dowoon with a displeased face. To this, Hyun Dowoon replied indifferently.
“It seems I landed somewhere related to Jaeha, and Kim Sehyun just happened to discover me.”
“Hmm.”
“It was quite interesting hearing about this world’s Jaeha all night.”
Kim Sehyun, who was casually referred to, felt a bit irritated inside, but given who he was dealing with, he couldn’t bring himself to rebel and just lowered his eyes.
In doing so, he missed the look in Shin Haejun’s eyes reacting to the keyword “this world’s Jaeha”. Shin Haejun looked at the top of Kim Sehyun’s head with eyes like he was seeing fresh prey.
“…Not bad.”
Shin Haejun rubbed his chin with his thumb, glaring at Kim Sehyun before grinning.
“I suppose it would be better for you to handle him yourself rather than me stepping in, Center Director?”
“You mean you want me to deal with that side directly to bring Jaeha?”
“It would be unpleasant to see me beating up someone with the same face, wouldn’t it?”
“How… barbaric.”
Hyun Dowoon clicked his tongue and asked Shin Haejun.
“Then what do you plan to do in the meantime, Shin Haejun?”
“I want to hear a bit too, about Jaeha. Very leisurely.”
Shin Haejun raised the corner of his mouth, looking at the trembling Kim Sehyun.
“Um, co-couldn’t you let me go now…?”
Kim Sehyun gathered his courage and asked desperately. At this, Shin Haejun’s eyes became a bit fiercer again.
“I guess not…”
Realizing he couldn’t be released, Kim Sehyun lowered his head deeply and made a tearful face. Not knowing that being alive without any harm was already incredibly lucky.
In the end, Kim Sehyun had to squeeze his tired, foggy brain to explain about Jaeha to Shin Haejun. It wasn’t from personal acquaintance, just at the level of “I heard he was like this” or “They say he did that”, but he had to keep talking somehow. Because if he stopped speaking, Shin Haejun would glare at him sharply.
When he seemed about to slow down from sleepiness, Shin Haejun would shoot a sharp killing intent to wake him up. Being forcibly kept awake and made to keep talking was truly miserable.
As he was talking for a while, suddenly Shin Haejun raised his hand to stop him. Then he picked up his phone and read it with a serious face.
“Wait a moment. If you try to run away…”
“I won’t, I won’t run away! I’ll stay right here quietly!”
Shin Haejun said as he got up from the sofa. The look in his eyes saying he would kill him if he ran away was so vivid that Kim Sehyun frantically waved his hands. Just until a moment ago, he had thoughts of trying to escape for about 10 seconds, but soon realized it was futile and quietly gave up. He couldn’t handle an opponent who knew his home and could teleport.
Shin Haejun glanced at Kim Sehyun’s shrunken expression, then walked to the room Hyun Dowoon had entered, knocked, and opened the door.
“What is it?”
Hyun Dowoon, who had been pressuring and persuading this world’s Hyun Dowoon who looked exactly like him, turned to look at Shin Haejun. Beside him floated a monster famous for its hideous appearance.
“And you called me barbaric…”
Shin Haejun sneered briefly, entered the room, and held out the phone to him. It belonged to the Hyun Dowoon collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.
Shin Haejun
[Photo]
The message was very concise. It was a photo attached with someone’s handwriting.
And Hyun Dowoon’s face hardened as he saw that photo.
[Dowoon. And Haejun. Don’t bully Dowoon hyung. I’m disappointed that you’re bullying someone who’s done nothing wrong.]
It was clearly a message from Jaeha. The fact that Jaeha had made contact first, but didn’t come to meet directly, and that the letter’s content was telling them not to touch this world’s Hyun Dowoon – all of it irritated Hyun Dowoon.
“Dowoon hyung?”
Hyun Dowoon muttered softly.
“Hyung?”
It was a title he had never heard before. Even though it was a face identical to himself, to Hyun Dowoon, that Hyun Dowoon was recognized only as a different entity from himself.
Looking closely, not only were the eyes and hair color different, but physical conditions like height were quite different too. Of course, this was because the settings changed during the remake, and environmental factors had completely changed as well. Because of this, he could only be seen as something like his previous incarnation at best.
So naturally, intense jealousy arose. The word “disappointed” also stung his heart.
One rival in Shin Haejun was enough. It’s not like Shin Haejun was staying put because he liked it. He was tolerating it only because Jaeha couldn’t let go of Shin Haejun. In this situation, he couldn’t stand by and watch this Hyun Dowoon get involved too.
“That’s not the important thing. Isn’t the problem that Jaeha has his memories but doesn’t want to show up on his own?”
Shin Haejun said with a serious face.
“I suppose… it’s because he left on his own at the end.”
Hyun Dowoon muttered dejectedly. Fear suddenly rose that Jaeha, who had experienced death, might try to abandon the two of them and remain in this world.
Not knowing that Jaeha had become cautious after losing his last memory, they misunderstood that he was naturally still angry and thinking of cutting ties.
“Where’s Jaeha? Where did you hide Jaeha hyung!”
Thinking this couldn’t go on, Shin Haejun’s face became serious. He grabbed the collar of Hyun Dowoon sprawled on the floor and shook him, pressuring him frantically. He could only think that he needed to meet him somehow, apologize, persuade him, and keep him by his side.
“Anyway… I don’t know. Shin Haejun would know.”
Hyun Dowoon, his face haggard from fatigue and stress, said softly. Then he looked directly at Shin Haejun’s angry face.
“Mr. Hyun Dowoon.”
Hyun Dowoon, his blue eyes gleaming, called out to the Hyun Dowoon whose collar was grabbed by Shin Haejun.
“You don’t know why we’re looking for Jaeha in the first place, do you? I apologize for Shin Haejun suddenly causing bodily harm, but we’re not doing this to harm Jaeha in any way.”
“…You think I’ll believe that?”
“Your thought processes and ours are similar. Could you do anything bad to Jaeha?”
At those words, Hyun Dowoon’s eyes wavered for the first time. The gazes of brown-eyed Hyun Dowoon and blue-eyed Hyun Dowoon clashed with each other.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
