"Did you find what you were looking for?"
"..."
"J."
There wasn't a trace of surprise on his delicate face, as if he knew he would et J here. A hint of mischief flickered in his narrow, violet eyes. Lee Sa-young muttered as he put on black gloves. The black fingertips disappeared into the gloves.
"I purposely left so of it."
The neatly placed files, the monitor room with the lights on as if to guide him, the survivor's voice that ca when he finished reading the files. Everything was prepared for one person.
The owner of the gift...
"Did you read it?"
Cha Eui-jae.
So, the files on the desk, and the corpses were deliberately displayed. Cha Eui-jae thought cynically. He could have handled it cleanly like this. Cha Eui-jae stared at the spot where the man had fallen. Only a few bloodstains remained on the empty floor. Cha Eui-jae responded in a strangely altered voice.
"Yeah. I read it. Records from this facility?"
"Well, just a tiny part of the records."
"..."
"I filtered it out. I didn't leave too much, since I'm afraid it might not reach ."
"Seo Min-gi must have told you. That I would co here."
Lee Sa-young just smiled instead of answering. Seo Min-gi and Romantic Opener. They help Cha Eui-jae, but fundantally, they are Lee Sa-young's people. Considering the space door delivery he experienced at Incheon Port, it wasn't surprising. Cha Eui-jae answered himself in place of the silent Lee Sa-young.
"That must be it, seeing as you weren't surprised by my sudden visit. And you had the materials prepared."
"Oh, I was surprised. I didn't expect J's first activity after returning after eight years..."
Lee Sa-young looked around and shrugged.
"I didn't expect it would be raiding the Protheus research facility."
"..."
"Though I didn't ask you to..."
Lee Sa-young approached soundlessly with a few steps. His black hand reached out and gently removed the black cap Cha Eui-jae was wearing. Cha Eui-jae did not resist. Lee Sa-young whispered as he tidied up Cha Eui-jae's slightly tousled hair.
"I rember when we made the contract, I only ntioned that I was chasing a group luring people with drugs."
"..."
"And then, you suddenly ntioned the na Protheus..."
Lee Sa-young lightly flicked the brim of the cap with his finger. His long eyelashes blinked slowly. The corners of his mouth remained lifted.
"Where did you hear it... and why did you co here?"
Although the tone seed interrogative, the atmosphere was different. The Lee Sa-young that Cha Eui-jae knew would be completely annoyed by now, pushing down on his opponent until he felt better. But now, the Lee Sa-young in front of him...
"You're good at coming up with new secrets each ti."
"..."
"Liar."
In his two eyes...
"Shall we have a Q&A after a long ti? Asking each other questions, answering, and trying to guess what's hidden."
A gaze pretending to be indifferent, with sothing unknown stirring violently beneath the calm surface.
Cha Eui-jae instinctively realized that this would never let him go. If he made a wrong move, he would be caught in the raging current.
Catching a rampaging monster or dealing with an annoyed Lee Sa-young would have been easier. At least, there was a clear strategy for those. But the calm Lee Sa-young needed a new strategy. Facing the violet gaze made his insides itch.
Cha Eui-jae clenched his fist, pressing his nails into his palm inside his pocket. It was fortunate that his mask hid his expression.
"I have no questions."
"Well, actually, you don't have a choice."
The voice responded with a hint of laughter. Lee Sa-young tilted his head slightly. His curly hair swayed gently.
"I have a lot of questions for you... about you."
"..."
"Then... shall I start first?"
A large hand wrapped in leather grabbed Cha Eui-jae's nape. A soft voice spoke.
"You know, don't you? That I am a product of Protheus experints."
It was an unexpected question. Cha Eui-jae instinctively tensed his fingers. Lee Sa-young muttered, tilting his head.
"Who told you is obvious... very few people know that fact. They're all dead."
"..."
"The ones still alive are Ham Seok-jeong, Jung Bin, Nam Woo-jin, and Bae Won-woo. Since you avoided Jung Bin and Ham Seok-jeong, it couldn't be them. Bae Won-woo isn't sharp enough to know that you're J. That leaves..."
The thumb gently rubbed behind the ear.
"Nam Woo-jin. That bastard."
Lee Sa-young was keen and had excellent information-gathering skills. In fact, there was no reason to hide anything anymore. He had revealed the secrets he tried to keep hidden. Cha Eui-jae admitted honestly.
"Yes, that's right."
"And you heard that when you took your grandmother, right? You heard about Protheus then."
"Accurate."
Lee Sa-young gritted his teeth and then let out a small sigh. He removed his hand from Cha Eui-jae's nape. The lukewarm warmth vanished.
"Now it's your turn."
"..."
Cha Eui-jae, who had been silent, asked.
"I heard there were no successful cases of Protheus experints. That everyone died."
"Ah-ha..."
Lee Sa-young drew out his words leisurely, lifting his head with a slight smirk on his lips, as if mocking.
"Seo Min-gi said that? Well... he's not wrong. Protheus never succeeded in their experints. Not once. They all couldn't withstand the experints, their bodies collapsed, or they beca sothing worse than a monster."
"..."
"You're curious about this, right? How I, a test subject, am still alive..."
Lee Sa-young slowly placed his hand on the center of his chest.
"It's simple. I awakened."
He whispered in a languid voice.
"I didn't artificially awaken because of their experints; I was chosen by the system."
He recalled the conversation they had at the hangover soup restaurant after finishing their ssy contract, when the small black humans moved according to Lee Sa-young's finger movents.
"So, what criteria does the system use to choose the awakened?"
A languid voice asked.
"The system,"
The finger that was rubbing against the broken glass,
"Respond to a desperate wish."
It had beco a commonly accepted fact since the Day of the Rift.
"When a human has a desperate wish, the system is drawn to that energy and finds the human."
Appearing out of nowhere, the white, burnt-out eyes stared at Cha Eui-jae. Suddenly, the surroundings transford into a forest. The conversation he had with Nam Woo-jin at the Seowon Guild ca to mind bit by bit. Nam Woo-jin, fluttering his white coat as he walked ahead, whispered,
"Whether he awakened because of their experint, or the system answered Lee Sa-young's desperate prayers."
The surroundings shifted once more. In the midst of the wreckage and ruin, Cha Eui-jae was huddled in the rubble, clutching the bodies of his parents. The stench of burnt and bloody flesh was overwhelmingly strong. The cold bodies. Thud, thud, the sound of monsters rummaging through the path echoed in his ears.
At that mont, what did Cha Eui-jae think in the face of death?
'I want to live.'
He wanted to live.
'I don't want to die.'
He didn't want to die.
And then a bright white light burst out before his eyes. It was the mont he encountered the system.
Cha Eui-jae lifted his head. In the dark and narrow room, the only light ca from the half-open door. Lee Sa-young was quietly watching Cha Eui-jae. Suddenly, a question arose. What was Lee Sa-young's desperate prayer? What was so desperate that it led to his awakening?
Strangely, Cha Eui-jae felt like he knew the answer.
As if soone were teaching him. His heart raced. Emotions swirled— excitent, anticipation, or perhaps anxiety and confusion. Cha Eui-jae slowly opened his mouth.
"You..."
It felt like sothing was stuck in his throat, making it hard to speak. He wasn't sure. Even though he thought it was impossible, he still harbored a faint hope, a conflict of feelings.
A boy dying from poison, Lee Sa-young who used poison. A boy whose records were erased by Protheus or so other hand, Lee Sa-young who escaped after being a test subject of Protheus. A boy who tried to smile with narrowed eyes, Lee Sa-young who smiled with narrowed eyes.
'It can't be.'
Cha Eui-jae looked at Lee Sa-young with confused eyes. At that mont, Lee Sa-young smiled. His eyes narrowed, shining like a child's, waiting for the mont to open his prepared gift.
'This is strange.'
Cha Eui-jae swallowed countless words.
'This is too convenient...'
Miracles like this don't happen to Cha Eui-jae. He knew that. He had given up expecting miracles long ago. Yet, even though he kept telling himself it wasn't possible, he barely managed to utter a single word. His voice cracked.
"...Is it you?"
A step closer ca the black boots. Only a very narrow space remained between them. Lee Sa-young extended his hand. Cha Eui-jae, as if entranced, took that hand, just like he always did eight years ago.
The black hand gently pulled his hand to Lee Sa-young's cheek. The warmth radiating from his cheek was soft. It was starkly different from the rough texture of bandages.
Lee Sa-young slowly rubbed his cheek against the palm. The gloved hand covered the hand resting on his cheek. A low voice whispered.
"Yes, Hyung."
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