By Zephyria The atmosphere in the living room was heavy.
“Ugh! This is so annoying!”
Breaking the silence, Jo Eun-ha, an Exorcist belonging to the main office, suddenly slammed a cushion. It was a fist strike full of annoyance. The other children sitting next to her nodded in agreement.
That’s because they had been suffering from Kim Young-ho’s harassment for a week already.
His nonsense was beyond imagination.
Whether he didn’t sleep or not, he was constantly shouting “Ki Jae-eon-! Ki Jae-eon-!” 24 hours a day, which was the basics. Whenever the children went outside, he would stick to them like a leech and beg them for an interview. Eventually, one of the children, unable to endure it, demanded that he leave on the condition that they would give him an interview… but when the interview started, it was all about ‘Ki Jae-eon’s private life,’ so they quickly cut him off and came back in.
He even asked a client who came to request a job one day, “Do you know that Ki Jae-eon is inside?” and acted obnoxiously. Thanks to that, the client who heard the news insisted on entrusting the request specifically to Ki Jae-eon, so they had a hard time appeasing them, saying that there was no such person and why would Ki Jae-eon be in Seoul.
He was truly the worst of the worst.
Even when the other Teachers went out and asked him not to do this, it was no use. He was a person who couldn’t be reasoned with.
“We need Ju-won oppa.”
Jo Eun-ha said with her arms crossed.
“I agree. If Ju-won hyung was here, he would have taken care of it cleanly.”
“Ju-won hyung’s self-help is crazy.”
“He just beats them up without asking.”
“I miss him. Kim Ju-won…”
The children sighed. That’s right. A troublemaker of that level was too high for the gentle Teachers of the main office to handle. They just needed Kim Ju-won, the epitome of ‘an eye for an eye.’
And the one who was most conscious of this among them was definitely Ki Jae-eon.
No one had said anything, but the fact that it was happening because of him remained unchanged.
In the end, he had to make a decision.
Okay, an interview.
He didn’t have the confidence to solve it with his fists like Kim Ju-won, so that was the only way left.
He really hated being captured on camera, but if he promised not to cause any more trouble by doing so, there was nothing he couldn’t do.
Ki Jae-eon suddenly recalled Kim Ju-won, who had left a request before leaving the main office.
‘If anything happens, you protect the kids.’
Perhaps because it was the request of his first friend in this life, he wanted to grant it even if it was a trivial matter.
“Haa…”
His eyes, shadowed with anxiety, trembled.
Ki Jae-eon looked for [Teacher Kim Yeong] in his contacts for the first time since coming to the main office.
“I, I, in… interview… I, I’ll, do, it.”
*
[Q. What made you come to the main office?]
“…I, I came because of the Exchange Meeting.”
[Q. What do you think of Exorcist Kim Ju-won? Do you feel like he’s a rival?]
“…I, I don’t feel that way at all.”
[Q. As a Genius, do you feel frustrated when you see those without talent?]
“…”
“Haa.”
Clack.
Kim Young-ho slammed the pen he had been spinning around.
‘This is bullshit.’
He was happy that the main office allowed Ki Jae-eon’s interview…
‘But there’s nothing to get out of it?’
Kim Young-ho looked at Ki Jae-eon, who was sitting in front of him, with a listless gaze.
A hunched posture, a shrunken expression, and trembling lips as if he was anxious.
Especially that stuttering speech.
‘What is this bastard?’
This wasn’t the idiot he was expecting. It was Ki Jae-eon, who could make even a flying bird fall.
‘Is that guy really Ki Jae-eon? Is he an imposter or something?’
He was quite disappointed.
‘He’s so different from before.’
Kim Young-ho scratched his temple and recalled Ki Jae-eon from a few years ago. In fact, he had only seen him fleetingly from a distance, but he couldn’t forget him.
At that time, Ki Jae-eon was, really…
He was holding a long Rosary in his right hand and overwhelming the audience with a cold gaze.
‘Hopefully.’
The sight of him chanting a spellcasting without any unnecessary movements was even chilling.
People reached out to him and wept. As if they were asking for salvation.
At that time, he was like a religion, itself. No, at that moment, he was definitely a god.
A person with an attraction that was perhaps bizarre.
‘…But.’
What is this broken appearance?
‘Maybe this is his true self.’
Hmm… no, that couldn’t be. Kim Young-ho shook his head.
The evaluation of Ki Jae-eon was always high.
‘Then?’
Kim Young-ho crossed his arms and scanned Ki Jae-eon to death. Every time his gaze reached him, his complexion turned pale and he shrank his neck. At that moment, the reporter’s instincts kicked in. Ah, you have something, don’t you?
Come to think of it, it was strange that Ki Jae-eon was in Seoul in the first place.
‘Exchange Meeting? That’s bullshit. There must be a reason why this bastard isn’t active.’
Kim Young-ho secretly wrote down a title for an article.
[Ki Jae-eon, the Secret of His Seclusion.]
‘Hmm? Hmm… the impact is weak.’
Kim Young-ho pondered and then said, “Ah,” and revised the title.
[The Fallen Genius…]
A fall that everyone would be curious about.
Ah- if he did well, he could get a scoop.
“Shall we take a break? You seem very nervous.”
“…Ah, yes.”
Ki Jae-eon glanced at the camera and carefully got up. Then, Kim Young-ho’s gaze followed him stickily. It was blatant, as if he was trying to dig something up. Ki Jae-eon felt an instinctive aversion and quickly avoided his gaze. After all, this kind of thing wasn’t for him.
In the first place, he hated cameras themselves.
After it appeared… whenever there was a breaking news alert, there was a barrage of questions from reporters. Every time his eyes flashed, he had to become a sinner.
‘We heard that the number of deaths has increased, do you know anything about it!’
‘Please say a word about the current incident!’
The reporters recited the number of people he had failed to protect in front of Ki Jae-eon in real time, and each time, Ki Jae-eon had to lower himself by saying, “I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.” Of course, all the arrows of criticism were his responsibility.
The voices of angry citizens asking what he was doing.
The sight of dying colleagues.
An endless battle.
But a battle that someone had to end.
‘If I knew I would come back… I should have just died.’
What did I endure for?
‘I have to fight again anyway.’
Thinking about it made his stomach churn. It was like being hit squarely in the solar plexus.
Ki Jae-eon’s face turned pale as he experienced stomach pain for the first time in a while.
“J-just a moment, ugh-!”
Ki Jae-eon, who was about to ask for understanding, rushed to the sink with a sudden urge to vomit. He couldn’t help it, even though he knew he shouldn’t. With trembling hands, he turned on the water with a creak. Cough- puke! His broad back heaved incessantly. Spit, heave, hack… Ki Jae-eon staggered. His skin was flushed red in places, showing how painful it was.
“Haa… ha, ah, heu.”
The veins on the back of his hand holding the sink bulged out. Eventually, his body, unable to withstand it, swayed greatly and he collapsed. His breathing was rapid, and saliva dripped from the gap in his parted lips.
“Haa, ha… heut.”
Ki Jae-eon convulsed as if he was hyperventilating and clutched his chest tightly.
It was at that moment. A shadow fell over his body, which was bent over in pain.
“Wow…”
The black lens captured a man who had collapsed miserably.
“I caught something good.”
It was Kim Young-ho. He was smiling with a noticeably excited face.
“Do you have some kind of incurable disease? Am I the first one to film this!”
He seemed very excited.
“What on earth happened? Huh?”
That wasn’t concern. It was the ugly desire of a human disguised as concern.
“I’m sorry, haa… heut, I’m sorry. I, I’m sorry… please… forgive, forgive me.”
Watching Ki Jae-eon twitching his limbs, Kim Young-ho thought.
‘Ah, this is the best.’