By Zephyria 
Kim Ha-yoon stared blankly at the corpse on the autopsy table. It was a monster from the gold mine, its outer shell resembling a crayfish. Like the infected, its heart was more than twice the normal size, and its skull had grown abnormally. Inside a transparent sealed container, some of its organs were severed and stored.
“Estimated to be a woman in her thirties. You can see here, there’s a trace of a steel pin in her shoulder. Looks like she was injured and had surgery when she was human. This method is really old.”
Kwon So-young, who was explaining, brought over a file and opened it. It was a collection of scraped data, and it looked old at a glance. She stopped about halfway through and pointed at something. It was an old newspaper article with a picture of a man in a gown.
-Lobster. The mystery of telomeres we didn’t know.
Below, the article read: All animals have a genome, and at the end of the genome, there is a structure called a telomere. As cells divide over time, telomeres wear down and shorten, leading to aging, but lobsters have an activated enzyme called telomerase that prevents telomere loss.
The man in the photo was conducting research on life extension based on this, and said that if successful, human lifespan could be extended beyond imagination, even leading to eternal life. Kim Ha-yoon had also learned about this in school, but it was a problem that had not been solved to this day.
Seeing his indifferent expression, Kwon So-young pointed to the middle of the article. The words “Hansol Research Institute” caught Kim Ha-yoon’s attention.
The place where the virus first started.
It was the place that Kim Ha-yoon’s great-grandfather had run, and later it was changed to HS Research Institute. It was quite some time later that it was renamed NK Research Institute, which his mother ran.
Most people know that the origin of this damn virus is an epidemic, but that was not the case. The virus in the research institute leaked during the transfer process, and several researchers were infected, which started to spread like wildfire.
He heard that the reason why Hansol Research Institute’s name was not mentioned in the media at the time was due to its powerful influence. Facing the uncomfortable truths in writing made his mouth taste bitter. He checked all the remaining data, but there was nothing particularly helpful.
“Is this all the records?”
“As you know, everything burned down during the fire in District D. Could your mother have any personal data she kept separately?”
Kim Ha-yoon shook his head. His mother’s personal study only contained books and diaries. From the beginning, his mother was the kind of person who thought of the research institute as her home. How else would she have filled her diary with stories about research?
Then, he noticed the tentacles attached below the monster’s eyes. According to Kwon So-young, the monster’s eye function had completely deteriorated, and these seemed to be replacing them.
“Any chance of reproduction?”
Kwon So-young rolled her eyes once, and Kim Ha-yoon frowned. None, right? When he checked one more time, she smiled with a regretful expression.
“It seems to be capable of self-reproduction through genetic manipulation.”
Kim Ha-yoon frowned. In other words, it could have offspring without mating. He couldn’t rule out the possibility that this was a baby. Thinking coldly, since it hadn’t been witnessed even once, there was a high possibility that their numbers were insignificant or their range of activity was not wide.
But what if there were dozens or hundreds of these things? Feeling overwhelmed, he cursed and left the autopsy room. After disinfecting and taking off his gown, Kwon So-young brought medical tools to dress the wound on his left hand and re-wrapped the bandage.
“How’s the pain?”
“Bearable.”
He refused the painkillers she offered. Moderate pain helped to shake off distracting thoughts. After finishing with the bandage, Kwon So-young paused for a moment.
“How is Ire? Is he still full of hostility?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s still fortunate that he’s alive. I hadn’t seen him for over a year, so I thought he might be dead.”
Kim Ha-yoon didn’t respond to Kwon So-young’s words. In the past, the research institute had conducted experiments on artificial insemination of some infected to induce pregnancy. However, all the experiment subject born died before they could live for more than a year. He was too young to witness it directly, but he had heard that some of them were in such miserable conditions that he couldn’t bear to look at them.
But only Ire had survived for more than twenty years. Kwon So-young had made several speculations about the reason. It could be because his mother, Yona, had special abilities different from other experiment subject, or it could be due to environmental factors.
After receiving treatment, Kim Ha-yoon headed upstairs. Matteo, or rather, Lee Seon-jae, was there. To get to his room, he had to pass by his mother’s room, which was not a pleasant thing to do. While he was considering moving the room soon, he arrived at the door before he knew it.
After knocking, he opened the door and Lee Seon-jae, who was sitting in a chair, turned around. Radiating gentleness, he had a relatively young-looking face even though he was in his mid-thirties. As always, the Bible was placed in front of him today.
“Did Michael leave?”
Kim Ha-yoon didn’t answer Lee Seon-jae’s question and only stared at the man. He closed the Bible and then bowed politely.
“Thank you for granting my request…”
Lee Seon-jae had never lost his memory in the first place. When he heard the news that Ire was coming, he asked Kim Ha-yoon to lie that he had lost his memory. Instead of hugging him and crying his eyes out, the man even pretended to erase his adopted son from his memory.
Thanks to that, Ire returned to District D without any lingering feelings for this place. The man no longer allowed Kim Ha-yoon to use him as bait to hold Ire back. There was some guilt underlying it.
“Lee Seon-jae. You may want him to never come back here, but unfortunately, that wish will not come true.”
Lee Seon-jae’s eyes wavered.
“Isn’t one of me enough? That child is not a lab rat.”
There was no misery or resentment on his face as he compared himself to a lab rat. The first thing he asked Kim Ha-yoon after regaining consciousness was Ire’s whereabouts. Upon hearing that he had escaped, Lee Seon-jae forgot his own situation and shed tears, saying he was relieved.
How could he be so heartbroken even though he didn’t give birth to him? Kim Ha-yoon’s cold gaze fell on Lee Seon-jae’s scarred hand and then dropped. What was Ire thinking when he got the same tattoo as his adoptive father?
The more he thought about it, the more inexplicable anger surged.
“I decide whether to use him as a lab rat or raise him as a pet. It’s not your place to presumptuously interfere.”
His tone was harsh. The two men’s gazes tangled tightly in the air. It was Lee Seon-jae who averted his gaze first. Lee Seon-jae hid his expression and shifted his gaze to the window. Beyond his shoulder, the sun was setting, painting the sky red.
* * *
“Wow, awesome!”
Gilsu pulled the dagger from its sheath and held it up to the light. The gleaming blade was flawless, and a blue, unknown gem was embedded in the handle. “Is this real?” Curious, Jang-cheon, who claimed to be knowledgeable about gems, stepped forward.
As everyone watched with expectant eyes, he gave his opinion that it was a quite valuable gem. Then, he brought the gem next to Ire’s face.
“This looks similar to the boss’s eyes.”
“Yeah, it does.” As everyone agreed, Gilsu looked puzzled as he looked at the letters engraved on the sword.
“What does it say here?”
“My name.”
“Wow – cool. A sword with your name engraved on it. Isn’t this something that very close friends give each other?”
As Gilsu made a fuss, Baek Seol, Gangsan, and Jang-cheon exchanged glances. They signaled each other to ask, but no one stepped forward to speak. In the meantime, Baek Seol was pushed forward by Gilsu.
“Hey… did Kim Ha-yoon give you that sword?”
Ire answered with a calm face.
“Yeah.”
Baek Seol was overjoyed.
“You really are close friends!”
Unlike Baek Seol, the other three had darkened expressions.
“I only spared him because he’s someone who can be helpful. Don’t get any strange ideas.”
“We trust you, boss. But that human’s actions are too suspicious. He even pointed a gun at me yesterday. You should have seen how fierce his eyes were. He glared like this.”
As Gilsu imitated with bulging eyes, Gangsan giggled and laughed, saying it didn’t look like him at all. Then, Gilsu fiddled with the sword, his eyes sparkling.
“Can you give me this sword?”
“……”
When there was no answer, he went even further.
“I, I understand… If it’s precious, of course you wouldn’t want to.”
After a brief moment of consideration, Ire nodded. “Go ahead.” Gilsu was thrilled and strapped the sword to his side. He vowed to subtly provoke Kim Ha-yoon with it when he met him later. Enjoying the imagination alone, Baek Seol next to him noticed and shook his head.