Fl 134

#Side Story 9

Kim Ha-yoon frowned as the car bumped violently. He should have known from the moment Ire said they were taking a shortcut. It was like driving on a road that didn’t exist. At this point, he even suspected that Ire had chosen this road to test out a new vehicle.

“Thanks to you, my butt won’t be in one piece.”

“Now do you know how I feel?”

“What do you mean? I have no idea.”

Seeing Kim Ha-yoon’s glib response, Ire wore an exasperated expression. So he deliberately chose a slightly rougher terrain and drove the car that way. When it bumped back and forth even more violently than before, Kim Ha-yoon chuckled in vain.

“Are you really going to do this?”

“This is the best way to save time. Captain has to go back before sunset, too.”

Actually, he was planning to stay another day under the guise of an excuse, but Ire’s will was firm. He said that if he kept leaving his post, people with ulterior motives would appear again, and that he should do his best while he was at least in that position.

“I raised a tiger.”

Ire laughed and increased his speed even more. Only when they reached the point of getting carsick did they arrive at their destination, which was the building where they had rescued the old man and the child. There were warning signs around it telling people not to enter.

The military had been deployed and searched, but nothing was found to support the child’s existence. The only thing they found was a small, completely broken machine. According to Kwon So-young, it was used to control living beings by implanting a chip in their heads.

She said that the dogs he had seen when he first came here probably had it in their heads. She said that the old man must have sensed his death and released them. She also told him that it was a technology that was still being used recently, but it had many side effects and was not used on people.

The two of them took their weapons and entered the building. When they went to the top floor, there were traces of the old man and the child living there everywhere.

And further inside, there was a pile of trash. Ire sighed softly at the foul smell. Just in case, he was cleaning up from the top down when Kim Ha-yoon appeared. He was returning from searching the other side.

“What’s on that side?”

“Only traces of where they slept. What about you?”

“I’m going to look at these.”

“Isn’t it just trash?”

“Just in case.”

As Kim Ha-yoon said, everything that came out was trash. Bags that had contained food, crumpled paper boxes, glass bottles whose original purpose was unknown, and cans with long-expired dates. Judging from the small bones in between, it seemed that they had caught animals to solve their meals.

After searching for several hours without finding anything worth salvaging, they were about to give up. He straightened his bent back and groaned, and Kim Ha-yoon pulled out a small metal box from the very bottom.

The surface of the box was so old that it was rusted, and metal powder was crumbling off. The box was locked, but it was so old that when he opened it with force, it made a twisting sound and opened. Ire went to Kim Ha-yoon’s side and squatted down.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

Inside was a handful of old, decayed paper. Most of the paper was gone, as if it had been burned. When he rummaged through the paper, he found some that were still intact, which had been laid out at the bottom.

There, someone’s name and what was presumed to be their date of birth were written. And next to it, there was a mark from A to D, as if indicating a grade. In addition, there were things about the levitation time and maintenance time of the object, and the side effects seen after the experiment ended.

However, what caught the two men’s eyes was something else. An X was drawn in red over each of their names, and the word “discarded” was written. The writing was presumed to be the old man’s handwriting. The dates of death were all different, and so were the places of death.

And in the cracks of the paper, they found a memo that was presumed to have been written by the old man himself. It said that everything originated from my hands, so I have to finish it.

When he saw that, he felt like he was suffocating. He had seen the calluses on the old man’s hands in the hospital room and wondered why the hands of a man who wasn’t a soldier were so rough and calloused. The numerous wounds on his body were the same.

Could it be that he had been searching for these people all his life and disposing of them? Why? Did he think it was an error he had created? But why couldn’t he kill the child? Had he grown fond of him in the meantime?

Many thoughts became a jumbled mess in his head. He tried to find more, but that was all the old man had left. He shook off the dust and stood up, and Kim Ha-yoon grabbed his shoulder and looked him straight in the eye.

“At least you’ll live a long time. You saw it earlier, right? The people were all different ages.”

He didn’t show it, but he was worried about Ire’s death.

“I’m not afraid of dying.”

Then Kim Ha-yoon touched his head.

“I’m scared. I am.”

He was about to tell him not to worry, but he stopped. Kim Ha-yoon thought of him as precious, and he knew what it was like to lose that.

He nodded silently, and he rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, saying he was a good boy. The two of them went outside and got into the car to go to their home. But even after driving for a long time, neither of them could bring themselves to say anything.

When Ire arrived home after dropping off Kim Ha-yoon, he couldn’t come to his senses because of the three who were running at him. While he was away with Kim Ha-yoon, the child had used his superpower, and other people had witnessed it, so there was a commotion.

“Captain! Do you know what the kid did with the toys? We should have recorded it on video!”

“What’s his identity? Is he some kind of Wizard?”

“You idiot. It’s a superpower. A superpower!”

Ire left his colleagues behind and went to the child. Sure enough, a rope was tied to the child’s foot and fixed to a pillar. He didn’t know if it was because they were afraid he would run away or cause an accident.

Ire sighed softly and untied the rope. The child hugged Ire with a frightened expression. Ire took the toy the child had and turned around. Everyone took a step back warily.

“Is he a superpower user? Like Captain?”

The atmosphere turned cold in an instant at Gilsu’s careless words. Gangsan closed his eyes tightly, and Jang-cheon hit him hard in the side, calling him a crazy bastard. Ire raised one eyebrow.

“You guys knew?”

Gangsan scratched his neck.

“I just guessed.”

“Yeah. But you didn’t tell us… Well, it’s not like you have to tell us.”

Then Jang-cheon crossed his arms.

“No. I want to hear it. No, show it to me with my own eyes. Blow that Gilsu guy out of here.”

“Hey, hey-“

“I’m just kidding. It’s not that important, really. I’m just worried that there might be something wrong with you if you use that power. I think that’s why Kim Ha-yoon checks on you every day.”

As expected, Jang-cheon was the smartest of the three. The other two looked like they had just realized that was the reason.

“If that’s the case, don’t worry. We’re here. We’ll protect you so you’re as safe as possible.”

Who was protecting whom? He was amused, but he felt relieved, which meant he was relying on them a lot. He had been wondering when and how to explain it. Fortunately, they didn’t seem too surprised.

It was just silly jokes about making him Levitation them or blowing up the heads of people they didn’t like.

“Hyung… sleepy…”

Then the child tugged at Ire’s sleeve. Sure enough, his eyes were full of sleepiness. He then realized that his face reflected in the child’s black eyes was smiling. Ire hugged the child and said goodbye to his colleagues, telling them to see him in the morning, and headed to his room. On the way, the child rubbed his cheek against Ire’s shoulder.

After the old man died, the child spoke less and less. He didn’t laugh, and he barely ate even when he was given food. There was a name in the old man’s memo that was presumed to be the child’s.

Ru….

He wondered if that was his name, so he called him and he reacted. He had a look on his face as if asking how he knew.

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Grandpa gave it to me…”

The child became depressed again as he talked about the old man. Ire comforted the child and laid him on the bed. He kept tossing and turning as if he couldn’t fall asleep. When he stroked his head, his eyelids slowly lowered.

He had many thoughts as he looked at the sleeping child. He didn’t know why the old man had saved the child, but there must have been a reason. Or maybe he was old and his heart had weakened. Whatever it was, Ire hoped the child would grow up well.