I Picked Up the Greatest Villain in the Story

90.

Contrary to what he had imagined, Sehun neither looked at him like he was crazy nor showed anything but curiosity.

“You must have been suffering all this time, unable to tell me.”

When did he grow up so much?

The child who had tried to comfort him from a young age, holding his hand with small, unripe fingers, had now grown enough to embrace his fearful self.

As his pounding heart began to settle, Jian traced back through his past memories as he spoke.

He told the story of his parents passing away when he was young and being abused by his aunt and uncle as plainly as possible.

While explaining how one day he had died and woken up to find himself in a world from a novel, he realized anew how much like a movie his experience had been.

Not only had he been given a new life, but he had also found family closer than those connected by blood.

Unlike his past, when he didn’t even have the luxury of conversing with others, the fact that he now had many people who cared for him around him made his heart swell with emotion.

However, he omitted the part about the novel originally being a love story between Sehun and Hyunsu. He only mentioned that it was a novel where Sehun appeared as the protagonist. He said he barely remembered the content since he had only skimmed through it, to which Sehun seemed to nod in understanding.

“I’m really glad you appeared before me, hyung.”

When he finished his long story, Sehun smiled faintly and embraced him. Jian nestled in the broad embrace, steadying his slightly rough breathing.

‘It’s a shame I can’t kill those people.’

Despite his gentle voice, Sehun’s expression was cold. The existence of the aunt and uncle bothered him.

If they were in front of him right now, he was confident he could pay them back with more than what Jian had suffered.

Though Jian clearly tried to keep his words to a minimum, remembering his slightly trembling eyes filled Sehun’s chest with tremendous anger.

This was separate from feeling good about discovering what Jian had been hiding. But there was still one more fact that Jian hadn’t told him.

“Hyung, but how do you know Director Shin Yoonjae?”

He asked while removing Jian from his embrace and fixing his disheveled hair, trying his best to maintain a nonchalant expression.

Surely that guy hadn’t also come from the same world as Jian? Was that why he kept approaching Jian?

He didn’t like that the man had remained quiet all this time, only to appear after the Tower emerged. It felt like he was pushing Jian into a dangerous situation.

“…Actually, I’m not sure. It seems like this body had some kind of relationship with him, but he didn’t explain it properly.”

Having come this far, Jian decided to tell Sehun about Shin Yoonjae as well. After revealing that he had been reincarnated into a novel, there was no reason not to tell him about his relationship with Shin Yoonjae.

“That day, what did you talk about in the conference room?”

Sehun had stood outside the door, straining to hear as much as possible, but couldn’t hear anything due to the artifact Shin Yoonjae used.

He belatedly regretted not installing the bugging device on Jian’s watch sooner.

“Well… he showed me a photo…”

“What kind of photo?”

“It seems that both Director Shin Yoonjae and I, or rather this body, were experimented on when we were young.”

Sehun’s brow furrowed at the unexpected words. He had only been a little surprised when he heard that Jian had come from another world, but now he felt unpleasant.

It explained why Shin Yoonjae looked at Jian and himself with eyes full of compassion.

“It’s certain that Shin Yoonjae is somehow connected to the Jeongho Association. Actually, when Hyunwoo hyung first came to the cafe, it was because he was investigating Director Shin Yoonjae.”

Although Sehun already knew this, he pretended to be surprised. Jian continued, fiddling with the nape of his neck.

“That research facility where you were, Sehun. I think many people were involved. You’d need both money and power to commit such acts. So I thought Shin Yoonjae must be related in some way too. Though we couldn’t find any evidence.”

Despite so many children being sacrificed, no one knew about the existence of the research facility. They could have reported it to broadcasting stations, but unable to recklessly expose it, Hyunwoo had only buried the children’s bodies in a sunny place.

“But that day, Shin Yoonjae told me. That this body and he were in the same research facility, and both were test subjects.”

The shock of seeing the photo at that time still remained. Sehun firmly grasped Jian’s slightly trembling hands when he noticed them.

“I wanted to talk more with Shin Yoonjae, but he just said what he wanted to say and left quickly. Hyunwoo hyung is still investigating, but it seems difficult to obtain information.”

He couldn’t understand what Shin Yoonjae was thinking. But one thing was certain: he was not someone to be taken lightly.

Despite suspecting Jian’s secret, he had only come after a very long time.

It was extraordinary to even think that the soul of this body hadn’t gone somewhere else but had died, and that someone’s soul from another world had entered the empty body. He might have even planted people around to watch.

At the same time, Jian felt self-reproach. He couldn’t shake the thought that it would have been better if he had acted as if Shin Yoonjae’s words were absurd when he brought it up.

Jian sighed heavily and wiped his face with his palm. He had been discovered by both Shin Yoonjae and Sehun because he couldn’t control his expressions.

Perhaps Shin Yoonjae was just fishing without being certain, but Jian had immediately confirmed it was correct.

“I’ve had people watching the Director too.”

“What? Since when?”

“Since the day you talked with him alone. I was constantly concerned.”

Jian looked dumbfounded at Sehun’s confession. Like peeling an onion that kept revealing more layers, his head felt dazed every time Sehun made another confession.

“Using… Mr. Soochul?”

“Yes.”

The image of the man who looked like a mountain bandit came to mind. After 10 years, had he become even more rugged?

“…You don’t have any memories of being experimented on, right?”

Jian snapped back to attention at the cautious voice. Sehun’s eyebrows were slightly lowered, looking forlorn.

“No. Actually, I have almost no memories of this body. I don’t remember the relationship with Shin Yoonjae either.”

“That’s a relief.”

Jian’s chest tingled at the face that smiled as if relieved. He could clearly feel Sehun’s concern that he might be harboring similar pain.

“From now on, don’t meet with that person alone. Even if he asks to talk privately, refuse immediately.”

Jian let out an awkward laugh at Sehun’s words as he fiddled with Jian’s hand. For a moment, he caught a flash of a dangerous light in Sehun’s eyes.

“I will.”

Having told everything, Jian didn’t want to do anything that would worry Sehun. Besides, there were some good points to this situation.

Jian subtly mentioned to Sehun what he had been thinking about alone. As his gentle voice continued, the corners of Sehun’s eyes curved roundly.

“Of course I can do it. Just trust me, hyung.”

Sehun smiled as if he had the whole world when Jian asked if he could control Shin Yoonjae’s mind to make him reveal the information he knew.

The large body clung to Jian affectionately. Jian had the illusion of seeing an invisible tail wagging vigorously at his backside.

It was unethical, but there was no choice. It was much better than doing nothing and then facing an impossible situation.

He still felt a bit guilty since he wasn’t sure if Shin Yoonjae was evil or good, but they would find out once Sehun used his ability.

And the opportunity came sooner than expected.

* * *

“Hello.”

“Welcome. I heard from the Darknet Guild Master that you wanted to meet with me again.”

“That’s right.”

Jian felt a vein popping on his forehead at the face that smiled as if puzzled. If their conversation had ended that way last time, wasn’t it natural to want to meet again?

“But I see your brother has come with you?”

“Yes. I thought it would be okay to talk in his presence now.”

Shin Yoonjae raised his eyebrows, looking back and forth between Jian and Sehun’s faces. Then he gave Jian a look asking if it was really okay to tell everything.

“You two really don’t have any secrets from each other, do you? I’m a bit envious.”

Sehun took Jian’s hand and sat opposite Yoonjae as the latter spoke while brushing the corner of his mouth.

“My relationship with my brother is indeed very close.”

Am I the only one who’s nervous? Jian unconsciously swallowed dryly at this thought. It felt like invisible sparks were flying between Sehun and Yoonjae.

“It seems so. I don’t have much time, so shall we get straight to the point? I barely managed to spare 30 minutes. The Darknet Guild Master is quite good at threatening with a smile. I couldn’t help but make time.”

Yoonjae smiled pleasantly as he recalled Hyunwoo. Though Hyunwoo disliked him, he held quite good feelings toward Hyunwoo.

Unlike his outwardly cold image, Hyunwoo bounced up at every provocation, just like the bouncy ball he used to play with as a child.

“So who’s going to start the conversation? The one sitting across from me?”

Yoonjae put his hand inside his jacket as he made eye contact with Sehun.