By Zephyria “Jin Mu-hae bought it for me!”
Joo-oh shouted, his voice surprisingly loud.
“Should I buy you one too?”
The murderous glint in his eyes subsided slightly at the unexpected friendly response, but…
“Yeah. But Jin Mu-hae’s is better.”
“How do you know mine isn’t better without even tasting it?”
It seemed he hadn’t meant it kindly. The half-shaved man’s group snickered at the crude joke.
Joo-oh didn’t understand the meaning and stared blankly at them, only realizing he was being mocked when his eyebrows furrowed tightly.
“He’s, uh, with me. I don’t know who you are, but I’ll call the constabulary if you keep this up!”
The client, belatedly returning, hurriedly ran to Joo-oh and stood between him and the man.
The half-shaved man paused, stepping back with a displeased expression at the mention of the constabulary.
“What’s this, you dried-up twig? Is this your sugar daddy? Doesn’t look like your type.”
“He’s just someone I know. My other companions will be back soon, so let’s just leave it at this…”
“Did you dredge him out of a latrine? How much per hour?”
A latrine was a vulgar term for the slums. And most red-light districts were located in the slums.
The client’s face flushed red at the rude retort. Regardless, the half-shaved man shoved him aside and thrust his head in Joo-oh’s face.
Nom. The man swallowed another piece of steak Joo-oh had cut.
Joo-oh unknowingly made a growling sound and crumpled the knife he was holding.
His once-clear mind seemed to be obscured by a swirling, thick red fog.
As a crimson impulse began to rise in his chest, sharp fangs emerged between his red lips.
“Meat…”
Joo-oh’s pupils widened.
He wanted to tear off the head attached to that neck and crunch it to pieces.
The bones would be soft, easily crushed into mush with just a few taps.
Although not as plentiful or intense as a Beast or Aberrant, wouldn’t sweet blood gush from the tender flesh?
‘Jin Mu-hae.’
However, his mind, consumed by the rising instinct, cleared slightly as he thought of Mu-hae.
If he touched that meat here, Jin Mu-hae would be in trouble. And Joo-oh himself wouldn’t be able to follow Jin Mu-hae and taste the main story.
Nor would he be able to twist the ending he would face.
For once, Joo-oh’s usually simple thoughts branched out in various directions. Suppressing the raging impulse was almost a first, except for when he was first possessed.
As his deliberation dragged on, Joo-oh appeared to be simply sitting there blankly, his lips twitching.
Thinking he was scared, the meat, no, the half-shaved man, laughed lewdly.
As the client urgently contacted the constabulary, the man reached out to stop him.
The struggle between the withered man and the vibrant young man leaned in a one-sided direction.
Eventually, just as Joo-oh’s vision turned red and he breathed roughly…
“Kkeuaaak!”
Suddenly, a loud crash sounded, and one of the half-shaved man’s arms was bent backward.
A huge figure appeared behind the struggling man.
Hair cut short for easy fighting. Sharp eyes and a cool, stoic face.
“Who are you?”
“Jin Mu-hae…”
Joo-oh called him with a tearful expression.
His breath was ragged with anger and anguish.
Jin Mu-hae left the back alley of the bar and headed towards the residential area.
Even if someone had been watching him, they would have assumed he was just out drinking and lost interest by now. Still, Mu-hae identified the locations of the CCTVs as much as possible and estimated the distance to his destination.
“Taxi.”
It would take too long to run on foot. He needed to be quick, since he had left Joo-oh behind.
He had given him something to eat to keep him occupied, but he felt uneasy, like leaving a child by the water.
He also felt strange thinking about Joo-oh clinging to his arm.
—Payment completed.
That was why he hurried even more. He told himself it was to avoid unnecessary suspicion, as it was difficult for him to wander around for long with his identity.
Finally, when he reached the fifth floor of a densely packed residential building, Mu-hae unknowingly gasped.
It was unlike him, who was usually unfazed by most things.
Bleep.
“Is Shin Dae-soo there?”
—Who is it? Did you order something?
—No, I don’t think so.
“I have a package for Shin Dae-soo that requires direct receipt.”
Judging by the voices he heard through the intercom, the ‘accomplice’ he was meeting seemed to have started a family.
The building he lived in didn’t seem to be in bad condition either. Unlike some, he had lived a smooth life in many ways.
The door swung open, and an ordinary-looking middle-aged man leaned halfway out.
“Where are you from?”
“From where the sun sets.”
As soon as he recited the phrase he had learned from Teacher Jung, the middle-aged man’s pleasant face turned ashen.
Shin Dae-soo stepped completely out of the doorway and quietly closed the door behind him with a click.
He stared at Mu-hae with shocked eyes, his lips moving.
“…You.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jin Mu-hae.”
“Oh my god. I heard he had a child, but when was that…”
Shin Dae-soo muttered in a daze and grabbed Mu-hae’s hand.
Then, as if waking from a dream, he startled and looked around several times.
“I’m sorry, but it’s a bit… difficult to invite you in. How about we go somewhere and talk for a bit?”
“I apologize for coming so suddenly, but I don’t intend to take up much of your time. I simply need some simple advice.”
“Advice?”
“I received access to ‘it’ from my father, but it seems incomplete, perhaps due to the age of the records. When I sought help from someone involved, they gave me Shin Dae-soo’s address.”
“What?”
Shin Dae-soo’s eyes were filled with confusion. He rolled his eyes as if trying to remember something, then suddenly froze and gasped.
“The data I was in charge of was discarded a long time ago. Officially, I was never part of that project.”
“Excuse me? Then…”
“But if what you received is the type of program I know, then I certainly have some advice to give. There’s a specific conditional expression in the Index.”
“Conditional expression… Could you tell me more about it?”
“Wait a moment.”
Shin Dae-soo looked around again and tapped his Watch.
As his fingerprints were entered in a specific rhythm, the signal displayed on the screen flickered briefly. As if there was a problem with the connection to the data agency.
He lowered his voice and whispered.
“Some documents registered in that program… are converted into a user-recognizable form only when a specific keyword or code is entered. Until then, they exist only as encrypted ghost codes. I was asked to create it that way. By him.”
“……!”
“And I have only one code. I don’t know how helpful it will be, though.”
Shin Dae-soo rolled up his left sleeve and held it out as if to show it off. In the middle of his forearm was a tattoo of a bird with its wings spread.
“Is that program registered on your Watch?”
“Yes.”
“Then there shouldn’t be any security issues. Turn on the recognition function and hold it up to this.”
Beep- Too-!
A familiar electronic sound rang out, and light poured from Jin Mu-hae’s Link Watch.
His tattoo, bathed in blue light, began to glow faintly. The picture that had only looked like a bird was actually ASCII art painted with special paint!
Logs scrolled across the Watch screen as if there was an error. Then, the screen flickered off and on, displaying the date and time as usual, as if nothing had happened.
“Check it in a safe place. I’d like to talk longer, but…”
He heard the sound of shoes dragging behind the door Shin Dae-soo was blocking. Someone from his family was coming to check on him since he had suddenly gone out and not returned.
“My family doesn’t know about any of this.”
“I understand. I appreciate you helping me even though I came without notice.”
Jin Mu-hae bowed deeply and quickly turned around. As he went straight down the stairs, he heard the door open behind him and the sound of people talking.
Mu-hae pressed his Watch tightly with his right hand and immediately ran out to the street.
He hailed another taxi and checked the time, realizing that only about 20 minutes had passed since he left the bar.
At this rate, he could return as if nothing had happened. He could pretend to drink another glass and chat, then take Joo-oh home, and today’s schedule would be over.
His heart pounded, sending a strange energy through his body. It was a tingling sensation that he didn’t know if it was excitement or anxiety.
‘…Should I praise that guy a little for his hard work?’
Since he had been dragging Joo-oh around against his will, things had strangely been going well for Mu-hae. The process hadn’t been smooth, but the results had always been good.
Besides, there was his mysterious strength. His future hit rate, whether it was foresight or premonition.
He had no memory of himself, but if he was taught well, he could easily do the work of one person. It was a harsh thing to say, but if he had to choose, it might be better that he didn’t remember anything.
An ‘Experiment’ who had no connections to reveal the secrets he had leaked…
He had already witnessed information about the project, even if it wasn’t intentional.
It was better to keep him where he could see him than to abandon him somewhere and cause problems.
He didn’t have to pay him a salary, and wasn’t he a perfect assistant for this unprofitable endeavor?
‘Still, it seems best to keep him around.’
As Mu-hae calculated Joo-oh’s existence in this way, he entered the bar with what he thought was a bright expression.
‘…?’
Unexpectedly, he was able to face Joo-oh, whose face was fully exposed, and a thug who was arguing with the client.
Joo-oh had a pale, dazed face and was looking back and forth between the client, who had been grabbed by the scruff of his neck, and the thug.
His soft-looking red lips trembled as if he was frightened.
“Who are you?”
As Mu-hae twisted the arm of the man showing off his strength and spoke in a calm voice, Joo-oh’s pale face suddenly filled with life.
“Jin Mu-hae…”
The way he called his name somehow looked terribly sad and pitiful.