The Director let out a long sigh at my request.
—You’re seriously planning to access it.
“Of course. Didn’t we agree on this?”
—I understand… But it won’t be possible right away.
“Why not?”
—Guide Yeon Yu-jin needs to enter the Bureau building in person. The information stored in the database includes the personal data of every ability user registered in Korea—it’s both a critical national asset and highly sensitive personal information. It’s managed in a highly secure facility.
“So, to view it directly, I’d have to go deep into the Bureau’s core facility inside the Center, huh?”
—Exactly. This is one area where we can’t make any exceptions.
“Hm…”
Even after twenty years, important documents still had to be handled with extreme caution. I’d thought they might just hand it over on a portable memory card or something, but that was clearly wishful thinking.
This is probably as far as the Director’s willing to bend…
If I pushed any harder, I’d just end up pissing her off and losing the access I barely managed to get.
So I pretended to back off.
“Well, I guess there’s no helping it.”
—We’ll schedule a time for your official visit to the Center, and then we can grant you access to the database.
Phew. I could hear the Director exhaling in relief through the phone.
So she never intended to let me view the database in the first place, huh.
I had expected it, but I didn’t think she’d make her delight this obvious.
Guess her stance was, “Yeon Yu-jin is a civilian, and I don’t want him meddling in official affairs.”
The Director even added a little joke about my comeback article, asking if I wouldn’t be too busy.
—I heard the news! You’ve got a lot on your plate with the comeback, don’t you? One of the staff I work with is a huge idol fan—they told me all sorts of things. Sounds like Guide Yeon Yu-jin should focus entirely on preparing for his return.
There it is.
Shin Yoon-hee was using my schedule as an excuse to quietly retract the access rights she’d reluctantly granted earlier.
Oh, hell no.
Taking back what was already given only makes it worse.
Besides, after last night’s mess with Je-ha and X, my nerves were already on edge.
I was burning with the drive to track X down no matter what it took—and then the Director just went and threw fuel on that fire.
“Haha. Even if I’m busy, I can always make time.”
—…Excuse me?
“Wouldn’t it be more productive to use the clearance I finally got to help catch the real culprit, instead of letting it go to waste? Sure, I’m busy with comeback stuff… but if I explain the situation, our CEO and the other members will understand. They’re all really big-hearted.”
My blood pressure was spiking thanks to the Director, and I ended up tacking on some completely unnecessary nonsense—stuff that wasn’t even true.
—Still…
“They’ll understand. Especially now that I’ve grown closer with the other members lately. Taking a short detour to the Bureau is no big deal.”
As if. The CEO and the Secreti members were still grinding me into the dirt with relentless practice.
While I tried desperately to memorize every song and dance move from Secreti’s past albums so I could function as a member of the team, the others were pouring all their energy into our upcoming mini-album.
Shin Tae-boem, in particular, had locked himself in the studio the company provided after the CEO gave him a chance to produce the title track. Every time Ho-yeon and I stopped by to bring him food, he looked less like a person and more like a panda—sunken eyes ringed with dark circles, barely alive as he took his lunchbox.
But he was proud of his work, and the company ultimately gave the track a green light. Now they were focusing on recording and choreography practice for the finalized songs.
And me? I was obviously the biggest problem for everyone involved.
They’d barely managed to make me look the part, and I was still the one dragging down the process when it came to learning new songs and choreography.
The CEO had warned me she’d hammer the entire concept of the mini-album into my head through sheer repetition.
“Until the comeback is flawless, you’re living in that damn practice room.”
She was worried I might flake and run off again, which is why the others were keeping a close eye on me too.
But my temper flared, and before I could stop myself, my mouth ran off on its own.
Shin Yoon-hee seemed flustered by my bluff.
—A-Ah… So you’re saying you’re heading to the Bureau right now?
“Yes.”
—……
Silence fell on the other end of the line.
Finally, the Director responded in a tone of resignation.
—Understood. I’ll let the database staff know in advance.
Perfect.
***
Yeah. Up to that point, things were fine.
The real problem was convincing the CEO and the four Secreti members. As soon as I ended the call and opened my door, I ran into Ra Ho-yeon.
“Hey, uh… Ho-yeon. I need to head out for a bit—”
He scanned my outfit in a split second and cut me off cold.
“Nope.”
“What? Why not?!”
“You’re going out to use the info access you wrangled from them in exchange for not making the intruder incident public, aren’t you?”
This is why I hate sharp bastards.
Just like when I tried to sneak out to find the vault holding my life inheritance, this guy made sure I couldn’t slide by with a flimsy excuse. So I just brazened it out.
“Yeah. I’m going to the Bureau to look for a lead on the guy who mocked us and ran last time.”
“No.”
“Stop just saying no and listen, okay? I never said I’d skip practice or disappear for the whole day. I’m just gonna check the database real quick and come right back to dive into practice again. Have I even tried to slack off lately? No, right?”
I tried my best to charm him with what little persuasive skill I had, but Ho-yeon remained unmoved.
“Still no.”
“God, why?! What the hell is your problem?!”
I wasn’t some prisoner locked in a cell.
I shouted, overwhelmed with injustice and frustration, and Ho-yeon let out a little laugh.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you throw a fit like that.”
That’s ‘cause it’s urgent, you jerk!
I didn’t have time to argue with Ho-yeon—I needed to chase down the lead on X.
Je-ha despised X. There was no way he’d give up on catching him. X confirmed it himself by turning Jin Eutteum’s corpse into a trap.
Whether one of them got caught or died, the fight would only end when someone went down.
Now that X was actively on the move, time was literally life for Je-ha and me.
I have to go… now.
“There’s no time to waste. Just let me step out for a moment.”
“Did you talk to the CEO?”
“…I did. She said if I got all your approvals, I could go.”
Damn it. That woman clearly passed the buck, knowing the members would shut me down.
Ho-yeon firmly drew the line.
“Absolutely not. Especially now, with all this chaos in the news.”
“What? What news?”
Before he could answer, Cha Si-yoon poked his head out from the couch and spoke up.
“Oh, Yu-jin-hyung, you haven’t seen it yet? It’s been all over the news since morning.”
He turned on the TV and showed me the screen.
The footage showed a burned-out mountain, a destroyed factory, and people recovering two corpses.
Ah.
I knew instantly—that was the site of Je-ha’s fight with X.
The news anchor explained that dental records confirmed one of the burned bodies was Jin Eutteum, previously reported missing, and the other was his cousin, Jin Yi-rang.
—The police and the Bureau suspect this was a targeted crime against ability users from the start. Given the artificial nature of the fires at both the mountain and the factory, authorities believe the suspect may also be an ability user.
Ho-yeon pointed at the TV and said,
“See? That’s why it’s dangerous right now, Yeon Yu-jin. Sure, this time the victims were Espers—but there’s nothing saying a Guide couldn’t be next.”
Cha Si-yoon chimed in as well, a little hesitantly.
“Ho-yeon-hyung’s right. And remember the incident at the testing station? With all this going on, I think it’d be better if you stayed in for now…”
I knew why they were worried.
“You’re scared I’ll get attacked and won’t be able to defend myself ‘cause I’m a Guide, right?”
“…If I’m being honest, yeah.”
“Then that’s easy.”
“…Huh?”
“You guys can just come with me. If you’re that worried, tag along as my bodyguards.”
Both Ho-yeon and Si-yoon’s jaws dropped at the same time.
Ho-yeon shook his head like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“How many times do I have to say this? Now is not the time to leave.”
“If you won’t let me out, I’ll just smash the window and go.”
