Chapter 150 – GOY 150
#150
“Yeon-soo!”
Someone caught me then.
“Park Geon-woo…”
“Yeon-soo, are you okay?”
Park Geon-woo had said he was going to the Inspection Division. He likely had many connections at the Center, and above all, since this matter concerned him, he might know something about what was happening.
“Hyung, they said Seung-hyeok is under suspicion of attempted murder…”
“Yes. He orchestrated my car accident.”
It was that incident, after all.
“No. Seung-hyeok would never do that…”
“Yeon-soo, calm down. Let’s get out of here first.”
“But Seung-hyeok…”
He had been arrested. Even though he had more than enough ability to handle the Esper from the Inspection Division, he had let himself be taken because he was worried about me—knowing that I didn’t want to see Joo Seung-hyuk fight.
“Yeon-soo, this is the Hyeonmu Pavilion. It’s a secure facility, so outsiders cannot stay for long.”
Despite Joo Seung-hyuk’s sudden arrest, Park Geon-woo was remarkably calm. Though it was said the two were not close—in fact, closer to enemies—he didn’t even seem surprised that someone who had come with him was suddenly arrested.
“Hyung, did you happen to know that Seung-hyeok would be arrested today?”
“Let’s just leave first.”
“You knew.”
“Yeon-soo, let’s go.”
He evaded the answer.
“Hyung!”
Just then, someone opened the door to the waiting room. It was the Hyeonmu Pavilion employee who had guided us. She looked at me with a very troubled expression. It was time for the outsider to leave, but since I looked to be in bad shape, she seemed unable to speak, merely gauging the situation.
“Yeon-soo.”
Park Geon-woo continued to urge me to leave.
“Yes…”
Regardless, now that the employee had arrived, I had to leave. However, before I could even take a step, my legs gave out again and I collapsed.
“Yeon-soo, get on my back.”
Park Geon-woo offered his back. But I refused.
“I’m okay.”
I didn’t want to be carried by anyone other than Joo Seung-hyuk. I pushed off the ground and forced myself up. I tried to walk somehow, but my body wouldn’t listen.
As I staggered again, Park Geon-woo supported my body. I hated that too, but I had no choice.
Park Geon-woo and I took a car to the Inspection Division building.
“Come this way.”
“Yes.”
He guided me to an empty meeting room. He seemed quite familiar with the layout of the Inspection Division.
“Sit here. I’ll get you a drink. Is there anything you want?”
“I’m fine.”
“You should still drink something.”
“I don’t feel like it…”
Until a moment ago, I had been thinking that I was hungry. I had been happily pondering what to eat with Joo Seung-hyuk, or whether I should cook for him myself.
But from the moment he was dragged away by the Inspection Division people, my appetite vanished. I didn’t want to eat anything. I didn’t even want to drink.
“Hyung, more importantly, Seung-hyeok…!”
“Wait a moment.”
He stepped out and returned with a coffee and a cup of tea. Park Geon-woo drank the coffee himself and handed the tea to me.
But whether it was coffee or tea, I had no intention of drinking.
“Hyung, something is wrong. There’s no way Seung-hyeok orchestrated your car accident!”
I finally managed to spit out the words that had been blocked.
“Calm down first and drink.”
“I’m fine. And you know, Hyung. unauthorized copySeung-hyeok’s personality is [Read on Read BL Novels][unauthorized copy]a bit blunt and slightly rough, but…”
“Yeon-soo, ‘a bit’ or ‘slightly’ isn’t the word for it.”
“Ah, that’s true… Anyway, if he had decided to harm you, he would have handled it himself. He is absolutely not the type of person to orchestrate something like a car accident!”
Joo Seung-hyuk did not orchestrate Park Geon-woo’s car accident. When the topic of Park Geon-woo’s accident had come up, he had reacted indifferently. He had said that he would never use such a stupid method.
He was right. If Joo Seung-hyuk had truly intended to kill Park Geon-woo, he wouldn’t have used such a clumsy method.
Furthermore, if he had actually orchestrated a car accident, he would have continued to target Park Geon-woo even after it failed. He would have achieved his goal one way or another.
If Joo Seung-hyuk had made up his mind, Park Geon-woo wouldn’t be alive. And he certainly wouldn’t have left such a clumsy trail to be caught.
However, I couldn’t go as far as saying that. While I was worrying about how to persuade Park Geon-woo, he spoke.
“You’re right. If Joo Seung-hyuk wanted to kill me, he wouldn’t have used this method. He could have attacked while pretending it was a mistake during a Gate Raid; there are countless ways. Why would he use such a tedious method?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“But, on the contrary, he might have aimed for that exact [stolen content]point. Since no one would think Joo [unauthorized copy]Seung-hyuk would use such a means, it Read on Read BL Novelswould actually catch them off guard.”
“No. Seung-hyeok wouldn’t do that.”
“Yeon-soo, do you trust Joo Seung-hyuk?”
“Yes.”
The answer came out before I even had time to think. At that, Park Geon-woo’s gaze sank coldly.
“Even if Joo Seung-hyuk manipulated the matching rate with you?”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Instead of answering, he showed me a photo.
In a place that looked like it had been ruins for a long time, filled with the debris of broken buildings, long weeds and bright red flowers were blooming in profusion. And beyond that, a luxurious mansion appeared, incongruous with the desolate landscape.
The moment I saw it, I knew.
This was a photo of Abite Island, where Read on Read BL NovelsJoo Seung-hyuk had spent his [visit our site]childhood and where we had stayed together throughout the vacation.
After the Gate Break, the island had become filled with Jeokrunhwa, and Joo Seung-hyuk had kept this fact strictly hidden. But how did Park Geon-woo obtain this photo…?
“This is an island owned by Joo Seung-hyuk. The flowers blooming here are Jeokrunhwa.”
Park Geon-woo explained, pointing to the photo.
He knew exactly that this was Joo Seung-hyuk’s island and the identity of the flowers.
“Yes.”
“You aren’t even surprised that Jeokrunhwa bloomed on the surface. Did you know?”
“I heard it from Seung-hyeok.”
“That bastard Joo Seung-hyuk is shameless.”
His tone was cynical, unlike the always upright image Park Geon-woo projected.
“What does that mean?”
“Yeon-soo, then do you know about this too?”
Instead of an answer, he showed me another photo. The photo showed a gray building that was somewhat desolate but lacked any particular distinguishing features.
“What is this?”
“I guess you don’t know this. Well, even for Joo Seung-hyuk, he couldn’t have told you about this.”
“What on earth is this?”
“It’s Seong Han’s Jeokrunhwa research lab.”
“…Jeokrunhwa research?”
“Yes. They started developing a new drug using the Special Red Rune Flower that blooms on the surface. Despite Seong Han Pharmaceuticals having its own labs, it seems Joo Seung-hyuk created a secret laboratory. I heard he carried out all sorts of unethical experiments there for the sake of drug development. In particular, he put a lot of effort into research to increase the matching rate, and it seems the results finally came out this year. You know what this means, right?”
“…Are you saying Joo Seung-hyuk gave me a drug to increase my matching rate?”
Among the Guides, I was the only one whose matching rate with [stolen content]Joo Seung-hyuk had risen dramatically this year.
Hearing my answer, Park Geon-woo nodded in affirmation.
“Correct. In fact, from the moment I heard that the matching rate between you and Joo Seung-hyuk suddenly rose, I suspected he might have used Jeokrunhwa. They say the situation in Africa is severe, but the area around the Akar Gate was truly no different from a battlefield.”
He suddenly brought up the Akar Gate Raid.
“Even if the matching rate wasn’t high, we had to perform Guiding to survive. Among them, there were Espers and Guides who ate the Jeokrunhwa blooming in the gates just to raise their matching rate even slightly. Eating Jeokrunhwa temporarily increased the matching rate. Because the side effects were so immense, it was a last resort that risked one’s life, but at the time, it was truly desperate. So, after conquering Akar, when I heard that your matching rate with Joo Seung-hyuk had risen, Jeokrunhwa came to mind. That’s why I hurried back to the country.”
This was why Park Geon-woo had returned home early, unlike in the original story.
“And then I found out that Joo Seung-hyuk possessed Special Red Rune Flowers. At that point, my suspicion turned into certainty.”
“Then, the thing you tried to tell me last semester…?”
“I was trying to tell you that Joo Seung-hyuk might have manipulated the matching rate.”
“But you can’t conclude that the matching rate was manipulated based on that alone…”
When Park Geon-woo had come to the classroom saying he had something stolen contentto tell me, Joo Seung-hyuk had used his mana to roughly shut him up. That scene was still vivid [Read on Read BL Novels]before my eyes, yet my mouth spoke different words.
“That’s not all. Even while dating you, Joo Seung-hyuk pushed for an arranged marriage with the only daughter of the Chairman of Lexington Pharmaceuticals.”
“…….”
“You aren’t surprised. Did you know about this too?”
“Yes.”
“And you still kept dating that bastard?”
“Yes.”
“Lexington is the world’s number one company in the field of Jeokrunhwa research. He betrayed you for the sake of developing a new drug!”
Park Geon-woo raised his voice in frustration. However, my thoughts about Joo Seung-hyuk did not change.
“I heard the arranged marriage was something that proceeded regardless of Seung-hyeok’s will.”
“Do you believe those words?”
“Yes. I believe him. And in the end, it didn’t even happen.”
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