MTLNOVEL 74.
74.
Jian couldn’t finish his sentence, stunned by the unexpected words. Did that mean he was inside a corpse? It made no sense.
Then Jian remembered that the very fact he was living inside a novel after dying in reality was already an absurd situation.
“Have you ever had nightmares? Splitting headaches, or occasional hallucinations?”
“…No, I haven’t.”
There was a time when memories of this body flooded in like a tide at the beginning of the possession, but that was all. He hadn’t experienced any symptoms like what Yoonjae described.
“That’s good. If those memories had surfaced, you too would have struggled to live normally.”
Jian swallowed hard, frustrated by Yoonjae’s cryptic words, as if playing twenty questions. If he was going to tell, he should just say it all clearly. The information being thrown piece by piece felt like a trap, as if luring prey.
“Stop beating around the bush and tell me clearly. What’s the reason for all this talk? No one else will believe what you’re saying, Director.”
“I know. But Lee Jian will believe it. Because everything I’m saying is true.”
Yoonjae pulled out a wallet from his pocket. He took out a small photo from the wallet and handed it to Jian.
“What is this?”
“Take a look.”
Jian, still wary, took the photo. It was crumpled as if forcibly flattened, and the edges were worn, showing signs of age.
In the black and white photo were Yoonjae, looking about 10 years old, and a young child. Jian bit his lip when he saw the child’s face.
The face in the photo, identical to his own childhood self, was looking back at him. If that was all, he might have thought this body knew Yoonjae when they were young.
Both children were bald. Moreover, the white clothes they wore were baggy like dresses. Seeing the scars covering their thin arms and legs exposed beneath the clothes, he instinctively knew.
These children, like Sehun, might have been subjected to experiments.
The hand holding the photo trembled. Jian’s heart ached with the premonition that the secret Yoonjae was trying to reveal might be even more horrific than he imagined.
“Test subject X012. That was your name.”
The number Yoonjae mentioned was embroidered on the left chest of the child’s clothes. His gaze shifted to the child standing next to it.
“Test subject X001. That was my name.”
Jian raised his trembling gaze. Hyunwoo had clearly said he had uncovered evidence of illegal experiments while investigating the Director’s background.
At the research facility in Gangwon-do, countless children had been sacrificed, and Sehun was the only survivor.
Experiments. Children.
All these words were related to Sehun. He never dreamed they would be connected to himself as well.
Yoonjae took the photo from Jian’s hand and put it back in the secret compartment of his wallet. His deeply sunken gaze fell on the closed door.
“Han Sehun. The only survivor of that place.”
When Sehun’s name was mentioned, Jian had to clench his fist. This confirmed it. Yoonjae was also somehow connected to that research facility. Hyunwoo’s suspicions were true.
“Are you also related to that research facility, Director?”
If so, Jian had no intention of letting the man before him go. Unable to even trace Heather the researcher now, the only connection would be Shin Yoonjae standing in front of him.
“The mark with the Chinese character for ‘righteousness’ engraved on a tiger’s forehead. You’ve seen it, right?”
Yoonjae still didn’t give a straightforward answer to Jian’s question. Instead, he threw out a new topic.
The mark that came to mind every now and then was mentioned by Yoonjae. It was a symbol that couldn’t be traced anywhere. Even the Dark Net’s information network couldn’t find it.
“I bet even the Dark Net Guild Master couldn’t figure out the identity of that mark. Right?”
Though Jian tried not to show his agitation, Yoonjae smiled as if he already knew everything.
“Jeongho Association. That’s the name of the group you and the Dark Net Guild Master were chasing.”
Jian frowned at the unfamiliar name. How did Yoonjae know this name that even Hyunwoo couldn’t uncover?
“I think that’s all I can tell you for now. It seems your brother is losing patience too.”
“You haven’t told me everything yet.”
Jian blocked Yoonjae’s path as he tried to stand up. Although he had given hints to the investigation that had felt like groping through thick fog, the information Yoonjae provided was all one-dimensional. They were just meager puzzle pieces, not enough to infer the complete picture.
He hadn’t properly explained what the experiments were about, where the photo was taken, or how it related to this body.
He needed to at least hear the reason why Yoonjae was so certain about Jian’s possession of this body. This was something he couldn’t discuss even with Hyunwoo.
Jian looked back and forth between the activated skill window and Yoonjae. He was prepared to use his skill if necessary to get answers from Yoonjae.
Shin Yoonjae wasn’t someone easy to meet. Unless he sought Jian out first, this might be the last chance to talk to him alone.
“You can’t leave until you tell me everything.”
Yoonjae smiled slightly at the determined words. He gazed at Jian affectionately, as if searching for someone else in him, then lowered his eyes.
“That child always wanted to die. Unlike me.”
A bitter voice wrapped around Jian’s ears. With a click, Yoonjae touched the cube, and the barrier surrounding them disappeared.
“Many things will happen from now on. Be careful. Don’t trust anyone easily. That’s what I wanted to tell you alone.”
Yoonjae said as he adjusted his clothes. At the same time, the conference room door burst open. Despite the wary gaze on him, Yoonjae walked past Sehun with a grin.
Jian tried to follow him immediately, but Sehun grabbed his arm. His startled eyes followed Yoonjae’s retreating back.
“Sehun, just a moment.”
Even as Jian tried to remove Sehun’s hand from his arm, he was overpowered. Jian looked up at Sehun, whose hand was tense to the point of showing veins.
His face was cold, devoid of expression. In the moment Jian hesitated at the ominous atmosphere, Yoonjae disappeared into the elevator.
“Did you have more to say? It doesn’t seem like it with that person.”
At the subtly interrogating tone, Jian let out a small sigh. He had heard a lot, but was left with an unsettling feeling. He wanted to chase after Yoonjae and talk more until he felt satisfied, but Sehun seemed determined not to let him go.
“My arm hurts.”
When Jian said this because he couldn’t move his arm, Sehun’s cold expression quickly changed to one of concern.
Sehun abruptly pulled up Jian’s outer clothing. His eyebrows drooped down at the sight of the reddened skin.
“…Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s okay. It’s just a bit sore.”
It wasn’t bad enough to bruise and would subside soon. Jian grabbed Sehun’s wrist and pulled him towards the conference room.
After closing the door, Jian stood face to face with Sehun. Unable to meet Jian’s eyes, Sehun hung his head low, looking exactly like when he was young and feeling guilty about something.
“Were you that worried? We were just talking for a moment.”
It wasn’t even for a long time. Probably not even 20 minutes. Yoonjae had said his piece and left quickly, leaving Jian with a snowball of questions.
“…I don’t like that person.”
The face slowly meeting his eyes looked just like a child who had his candy taken away. It was similar to the expression he showed when Jian unintentionally favored Hyunsu more at times.
“Hyung.”
“Yes?”
A warm touch reached his fingertips. Sehun’s palm, carefully interlocking fingers, was clammy with cold sweat.
“Can I ask what he said?”
Although much was omitted, Jian could immediately understand what Sehun was asking. He probably wanted to know the meaning behind Yoonjae’s cryptic words.
If it were about anything else, Jian would have told him right away. As he had told Yoonjae, Jian had rarely kept secrets from Sehun in his life. Except for the fact that he was a possessor, and that he had possessed a character in a novel he was reading in his original world, and that Sehun and Hyunsu were the protagonists of that novel.
“…I’m sorry.”
Unable to say anything else, he apologized instead. His heart ached at the sight of Sehun’s shaking eyes, clearly shocked, but there was nothing he could do.
As Jian was struggling with how to comfort the hurt child, his watch vibrated.
Seeing ‘Hyunwoo hyung’ pop up on the screen, Jian let go of Sehun’s hand and answered the call.
“Yes, hyung.”
―…Jian.
Jian tensed at Hyunwoo’s dejected voice. Had something gone wrong? Was Hyunsu really sick instead of awakening as a hunter? In that short moment, all sorts of negative thoughts flooded his mind.
―Our Hyunsu…
“What happened? Didn’t you go to the hospital?”
Hearing the verge of tears in Hyunwoo’s voice, Jian also fell into panic. The only thing that could shake the usually unflappable Hyunwoo like this was something related to Hyunsu.