By Zephyria 
“What’s the escaped test subject?”
Unable to contain his curiosity during the meal, Ire asked, and Kim Ha-yoon, who was spreading butter on his bread, only raised his eyes. He bit off the edge of the bread and moved his jaw slowly before replying in an indifferent tone.
“It escaped during the process of being transferred to the lab. It’s called an escape, but the expression ‘lost’ is more accurate. We’ll retrieve it, so you don’t have to worry.”
‘You don’t have to worry’ meant the same as ‘don’t bother.’ It was obvious that he wouldn’t answer even if he asked more, so Ire picked up the bread in front of him. The freshly baked bread smelled good and was moderately crispy, making it delicious enough to eat without butter or jam.
After quickly finishing two pieces of bread, he didn’t touch anything else and took an apple, putting it in the front pocket of his hoodie. Kim Ha-yoon’s gaze followed him.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m done eating. I’m going to District B before it gets too late.”
Ire paused for a moment.
“So, about that…”
He hesitated, looking around, before asking if he could borrow a car. He saw Kim Ha-yoon laughing with an absurd expression, but currently, there was no one else he could ask for help.
“A robber, aren’t you? A Pass and my car too?”
Ire checked that there were no employees around before speaking carefully.
“We did it yesterday…”
“What? Sex?”
“……”
“It was just once. I couldn’t even properly cum because you were whining about being sick.”
Just looking at his face, he was a refined Young Master, but Ire didn’t know why he was like that whenever he opened his mouth. However, what Kim Ha-yoon said was true, so he didn’t argue further. He said it was okay, he would just find a place to rent a car and go, but Kim Ha-yoon took something out of his pocket and held it out. As if he had prepared it in advance.
“The car’s location is reported to me in real-time.”
He was telling him not to do anything foolish because he was watching. Ire went to him, took the keys, and bowed his head. “Thank you.” Then, as he was about to turn around, he grabbed his wrist and pulled him. His body was pulled in, and before he knew it, he was right in front of him.
Looking down from above, he could see his sculpted nose. Kim Ha-yoon slightly raised his head and stared at him. His unkempt hair naturally fell down, covering his forehead, making him look younger than usual.
“What’s wrong…?”
Suddenly, he hugged his waist and rubbed his cheek against his lower abdomen. He looked like a noble cat fawning over its owner. Although he had never actually seen one. His body flinched every time his cheek pressed against his stomach.
“You, do you still resent me?”
The gaze that looked up at him seemed somewhat pitiful. He hated him for suddenly coming here, but no matter what the result, Matteo had received treatment, and it was also true that his siblings were growing up in a good environment.
“It would be a lie if I said I didn’t at all. But I’m more grateful…”
“Is that so? I hope you continue to be grateful.”
“I understand, so let go. My back hurts.”
He smiled mischievously, then his hand moved down from his waist and fondled his butt. He laughed, saying he was sorry for fucking him so brutally yesterday, but he seemed to have every intention of teasing him. Ire shook him off and stepped back, and Kim Ha-yoon picked up his coffee cup and smiled leisurely.
“See you at the base.”
After saying goodbye, he turned around, and an employee followed him out to see him off. Did this person hear everything? He fled the place in embarrassment. As he got on the elevator, his cheeks belatedly became hot, and he kept rubbing his face.
He went down to the basement and looked for the place where he said he parked his car. Then he realized that Kim Ha-yoon owned more cars than he thought. One, two, three, four, five, six… Eventually, he gave up counting with his eyes and pressed the button, and the car at the very end lit up.
He was worried that it would be a flashy car, but fortunately, it was a black Jeep. Looking at the wheels, he felt relieved that it seemed like he could go anywhere. He got into the driver’s seat, inserted the Pass, and started the engine.
In response to the voice message asking for the destination, he set it to District B and drove out of the parking lot. His plan was to meet Gangsan first and then look for Matteo. If Matteo had left the district, he might be waiting for him there. No, he prayed and prayed in his heart that he would.
“This is annoying. Who would have known he’d be discovered like this.”
Kwon So-young looked even more tired, having not slept for days and having gone through a commotion due to an incident that occurred in the early morning. She rubbed the dark circles under her eyes and looked at Kim Ha-yoon next to her. His gaze was solely focused on the inside of the glass.
“Isn’t it strange? Why is he so docile?”
She pressed a button next to the glass and called the Infected inside.
“Lee Seon-jae. Can you hear me?”
There was no response, and it was the same even when she called him Matteo. Kim Ha-yoon took another step closer to the glass. The person trapped inside was Lee Seon-jae, who had caused a stir in District A a few days ago. In the morning, he had received a call from Lieutenant Park saying that an Infected suspected of being Matteo had been found, and Ire was also there.
After sending Ire back, he immediately drove to meet Lieutenant Park, but in the meantime, he had been captured. He had been wandering aimlessly through the bushes, neither attacking nor resisting. Knock, knock, he knocked on the glass, and he slowly raised his head. The eyes that had shone brightly were gone, replaced by cloudy pupils, and fangs had grown sharply in his mouth.
Watching this, Kwon So-young sighed deeply.
“What was the problem? You survived when you were young, but why did Lee Seon-jae become like that? Is it because he’s not pureblood but half? If that’s the case, the experiment itself is meaningless. We have to make the stopped heart beat and even cure it completely. Ah—if your mother were sane, I would grab her and ask her. What exactly went wrong.”
At the time, his mother was researching a test subject called ‘Jonah.’ Jonah was a variant with full cognitive and motor abilities, and her blood also had superior healing powers compared to other Infected, making her a special resource.
Then one day, a rare disease broke out in young Kim Ha-yoon, turning the family upside down. Skilled doctors were all mobilized, but his condition worsened day by day, and when he was on the verge of dying, his mother made a decision.
Without even asking his father for permission, she injected the serum extracted from Jonah into her young son. Contrary to concerns, the result was a great success, and on that momentum, his mother continued the experiment of creating a child in Jonah’s womb.
As a child, Kim Ha-yoon had met Jonah when she was pregnant. Every time he went to the lab, her belly grew bigger, and even in his young mind, he was somewhat curious about the child who would be born.
So one day, Kwon So-young took away a doll she cherished and gave it to Jonah as a gift. It was meant to be given to the child when it was born, but he couldn’t remember what her expression was like when she received the doll because it was so long ago.
Then, on the day they surgically removed the child from Jonah’s womb, an incident occurred. Her rampaging abilities were strong enough to slaughter everyone there, and the only one who survived by the skin of their teeth was Kim Ha-yoon’s mother. Of course, the expression ‘survived’ was awkward because she was barely alive.
At that time, Kwon So-young brought a bag. When she carefully opened it, a glass case containing the serum came out.
“The second serum we extracted last time. If we fail this time… Haa, Ha-yoon, should we just tell him the truth?”
“No.”
He was already not in his right mind. He would often sit by the river and stare blankly, and yesterday he even offered her sympathy to get a Pass. Watching Ire endure the pain and finally accept it, Kim Ha-yoon felt excitement and inexplicable anger at the same time.
Because he couldn’t see any room for him to wedge himself between the affectionate father and son.
In the midst of all this, if he saw that state, he would make a fuss. It would be fortunate if it ended at the level of making a fuss. He didn’t know the extent of his abilities, but if he resembled his mother, destroying a research institute would be nothing.
“Lee Seon-jae.”
Matteo was still silent.
After a moment of silence, Kim Ha-yoon soon called another person’s name.
“Do you have anything to say to your son, Ire?”
Lee Seon-jae, who had been staring at the floor like a lost soul, finally raised his head. He looked around in the air, as if looking in the direction of the sound or looking for someone. As if looking for Ire, his mouth felt bitter. Then, as if he had given up, he buried his head in the floor and didn’t move.
Damn it. He closed his eyes tightly, sighed softly, and turned around. He left a message saying he would come again in the afternoon and came out of the lab to get in the car, but Lieutenant Park greeted him with a troubled expression.
“The Chairman wants you to bring him straight to his house.”
“Why?”
“Today is the Young Mistress’s birthday…”
Lieutenant Park trailed off. He could only laugh. His father, Kim Ye-joon, took a new wife a few years after his wife fell into a coma. With a wife who was alive, or perhaps the expression ‘alive’ wasn’t appropriate. Anyway, with a wife who was clinging to life.
The woman his father brought was five years younger than him. He couldn’t understand the mental state of that man who brought a woman who should be called his older sister and called her his mother. The only fortunate thing was that he didn’t have any half-siblings. Of course, there was no guarantee that they would be born safely even if they were born.
Moreover, whenever his father was away, the Stepmother subtly flirted with Kim Ha-yoon. Sometimes he wondered if he should pretend to be crazy and get together with her and see the Old man fall backward.
“Go to the main house. Prepare a bouquet of flowers on the way.”
The car left the lab, and Kim Ha-yoon shifted his gaze to the window. As he watched the scenery passing by quickly, many thoughts came and went in his head. Then, as if shaking them off, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.