There was no way in hell I was going to waste a privilege like this.
Especially not when run-ins with X were only bound to get more frequent from here on out.
“I should contact the Bureau staff first thing tomorrow.”
The contact number I’d received back then was still sitting quietly in my phone, untouched.
All I needed was time—time to step away from the grueling practice schedule and meet with a Bureau employee to access the database.
Without thinking, I turned to Je-ha and asked,
“Hey, Je-ha.”
“Yeah?”
“Among the people you’re working with… is there anyone who can mimic other people’s appearance?”
Je-ha was silent for a long moment before shaking his head. He must’ve been going over his team’s abilities one by one.
“Sorry. No one like that.”
“Damn…”
“X could, though.”
Of course. Just great.
I really had to get to the Bureau before X showed up looking like me and duped the agents first.
***
Once we finished talking, Je-ha picked me up and carried me back to the dorm.
Since I’d left through the window, I didn’t have to go through the front door. That was a plus.
It’d look suspicious if I went back inside through the entrance when I supposedly never left in the first place—especially to those baby Espers.
I didn’t want to break the peace I’d finally achieved with the other members. That’d only make it harder for me to move around.
The moment I was dropped back onto my bed, I gave Je-ha a warning.
“This time, I’ll let it slide since it was an emergency—but don’t do this again.”
“Do what?”
Je-ha blinked at me, feigning innocence. I sighed.
“What do you think? Don’t show up at the dorm unannounced like that.”
“I did contact you. I texted to ask if something had happened.”
“That’s not the same as saying you’re coming. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It’s not ridiculous.”
“It is.”
“Can’t you let it go just once?”
“Nope.”
The Je-ha I used to know was mature, dependable, gentle—basically a spiritual anchor. But this Je-ha… wasn’t the same. Now he pulled stuff like this, acting like a needy kid and saying things that stirred up strange emotions.
Has too much time passed?
Or maybe he was just under so much stress that he needed someone—me—to lean on.
Either way, it made me feel oddly melancholic.
I’d finished guiding him. It was time for him to leave. But Je-ha kept clinging to me, and I had to pry him off.
“Stick to the rules, Hyun Je-ha. You know how careful we need to be.”
“I know, but… I don’t want to say goodbye so soon. I don’t know when you’ll call me again.”
Clinging to the window like some pitiful leech, Je-ha wore a gloomy expression. But I wasn’t fooled by that face.
“Don’t fake-cry. You were the same guy who calmly ate grilled sewer rat with me, remember?”
I’d been secretly impressed back then by how hardcore he was.
Je-ha used to be the most mentally unshakable person I knew. So watching him act like some weak, sickly child was… just plain weird. And yet, he was totally shameless about it.
“That was a long time ago. And I had no choice back then. We had to eat something to survive, and the damn government had temporarily cut off all supplies.”
“Still, you were the one telling me it tasted good and pushing me to eat it faster. Only someone with ice in their veins would do that, and you know it.”
“…I had to. Besides, now I’m someone who needs to be more delicate.”
“Really? That doesn’t line up with the you I met in this body—the one who carefully packed nails and rope to torture me if needed. You already have enough delicacy in you to be lethal.”
After bombarding him with brutal facts, I finally managed to shove the sluggish, wormlike Je-ha out the window. Then I locked the damn thing, sealing it tight.
Je-ha looked crestfallen.
“When will I see you again…”
“I told you, I’ll contact you once I can access the Bureau’s database.”
“Even if it’s not that—if anything dangerous happens, you have to contact me. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah. You know how many times you’ve said that now? I’ve got it burned into my brain, so for the love of god, just go. Go!”
“…Fine.”
Only after wringing a firm promise out of me did Je-ha finally head back to his hideout.
Even as he flew away with Telekinesis, he kept glancing back every few seconds. I could guess why—he was probably worried X might come for me the moment he was out of sight.
Ugh.
What the hell was I supposed to do with this anxious puppy of a man?
I wanted to take him straight to a specialized healer’s hospital for ability users. Of course, that was just wishful thinking for now—completely impossible.
Honestly, I only said that thing about X following him to shake him up a bit…
Unless X was insane enough to gamble on something that reckless, it wasn’t likely.
X feared Je-ha. That much was true. If he turned Je-ha into an enemy, he’d be shredded to pieces—I wouldn’t stand a chance either.
If X had fled in a panic, doubling back to follow Je-ha would mean willingly walking into danger.
No way he’d do that himself. If anything, he might’ve brainwashed someone using a stolen mental-type ability and set them to spy on Je-ha from a distance.
But him personally showing up? Highly unlikely.
He didn’t even extract abilities from my corpse himself—he had researchers do it for him. That says it all.
The bastard clearly liked staying clean, snatching the goods while keeping his hands spotless.
Whoever raised him must’ve had the world’s filthiest version of high standards.
I kept swearing at X under my breath, watching until Je-ha was completely out of sight, reduced to a speck.
Je-ha clearly wants to be the one to take him out, but…
Like I said—X is mine. Even if it’s revenge, I’m the one who’s going to end him. That’s a rule I set the moment I woke up as Yeon Yu-jin.
Potato let out a heavy sigh, as if reading my tangled thoughts.
[You’ll have to show it through actions, not words.]
“I know. I’ll figure something out. I’ll carve out time if I have to. Worst case, I’ll just ask the Bureau agent to bring the database to me.”
[Like the Bureau, sticklers for info control, would ever do that.]
“I know. I said worst case.”
As we bickered, Potato’s sprout suddenly twitched violently, then shot upright.
[……!]
Potato bolted for the window in a panic.
He stood there, scanning the surroundings with nervous eyes—like prey sensing a predator nearby.
“What? What’s wrong?”
Startled by his reaction, I rushed to the window too, checking all around—but I didn’t see anything suspicious.
“Did Je-ha come back?”
Potato shook his head with a grim look.
[No. I didn’t feel Je-ha’s energy or wavelength at all. That good little Esper of yours already flew far off, just like you told him.]
“Then what—?”
[I think… I sensed a suspicious energy pattern.]
“Who? Who was it?”
[Who do you think? Obviously, it’s that bastard X—the one you and Je-ha are chasing like rabid dogs!]
The second Potato raised his voice, I felt my face muscles go stiff.
“Are you sure? It was him?”
[How could I be wrong? That repulsive flow of energy, like a tangled mess of every color of yarn all knotted together—I could never forget that.]
Before Potato could even finish, I yanked the curtain shut, snatched him up, and dove under the blanket on my bed, wrapping us both tightly.
I tried to move naturally to avoid looking panicked, but sweat was already sliding down my back.
We were in a residential area. Even if X was crazy, he wouldn’t cause a scene in a place like this. There were too many people. He couldn’t track me easily here.
Potato tilted his sprout at me, surprised by my reaction.
[I thought a hothead like you would throw the window open and go hunting for him.]
I want to! But right now, laying low is the best strategy.
I hadn’t even seen the Bureau’s database yet. Jumping the gun now would only blow things up in my face.
Please, just let this pass quietly. Please let Potato be wrong.
Potato opened his mouth to argue again but stopped when he saw my expression.
Minutes passed like centuries in the dark.
Finally, Potato whispered,
[…He’s getting closer to this area.]
Was he looking for me?
Had he already seen Je-ha and me together?
Should I call Je-ha right now? Or maybe wake up the baby Espers and beg them to fight?
My head was spinning with a thousand possibilities, until Potato added,
[…Wait. He’s moving on. He’s getting farther away. The energy flow’s fading.]
“Whew…”
So it was just a coincidence? He’d just passed by?
First thing in the morning—I have to call that Bureau agent…
