Chapter 6
“Di, Director!”
Seo Young-woo, who had been sitting stunned, stood up belatedly, but Director Gwak picked up his tablet and left the meeting room leisurely.
At the meeting that had ended without even a chance to object, no one opened their mouth, only sending pitiful gazes here and there.
Blinking his eyes in bewilderment, Seo Young-woo sat down with a thud in the soft leather chair and let out a hollow breath, huh.
***
The Special Power Management Bureau manages all awakened. All teams are classified by rank and ability, and the team that stands at the very front differs each time depending on the gate or the variant. Among them, AXIS (Assault eXtraction Intelligence Strike) was the central axis of all operations, and a team made up of the highest power.
If an awakened, they applied to the Field, which fought on site, and if a non-awakened, to the Back Office, which handled administrative work at the Bureau. Team AXIS was so popular that the number of applicants hit a new high every year. Competition was that fierce, and even if selected, only after training with team members for a long time were they given the qualification to go out into the field.
So no matter how excellent Baek Jin was, if he immediately belonged to AXIS, fierce backlash was bound to arise.
“It is too dangerous. It also goes against fairness, and he will catch reporters’ eyes.”
“I know. It makes no sense.
What am I really supposed to do. Seo Young-woo leaned his head back, stared blankly at the ceiling, and spoke. He had ended up in charge of Baek Jin out of the blue, but a week had passed while he dealt with backlogged work, and after dealing with the work, he had holed up in his office at a loss.
Next to him, Manager Han Eun-jin, who had been recording the team members’ tactics while watching the last battle video, asked indifferently.
“What year was the Director born?”
“Why that?”
“I was wondering if he is already at the age for senility.”
At Eun-jin’s calm-voiced curse, Young-woo raised both hands and covered his face. But he did not seem inclined to block even the sound of laughter, and a low laugh slipped out.
“Do not do this here, hurry and go.”
“Eun-jin, do not be so cold. Your superior is asking for advice.”
“Well, you know it all. I know everything, that you are pretending not to know because you do not want to take him on.” At the remark that hit the mark, Seo Young-woo let out a deep sigh. Then, sitting in his chair, he pushed off the floor and moved toward the desk, and tapped and tapped the long hair of Eun-jin, who was staring intently at the monitor.
“He is too young. What frontline combat does a twenty-two-year-old do.”
“Then from what age is it okay?”
“Well……. About twenty-five?”
After thinking, Young-woo spoke in a slow tone. Her silky hair was already winding around his fingers. Eun-jin, still fixing her gaze, leaned her body forward to escape the playing hand and asked.
“Is it because of A-jin? Then this time, educate him properly. Definitely.”
“…”
“I went and saw him a few days ago, and he seemed to have gotten a lot better.” At Eun-jin’s words, Young-woo rose from his chair and stretched. It was not a topic of conversation he wanted to bring out. There was no need to bring out something he had been living trying hard to forget, either.
“He keeps asking when the team leader is coming.”
“I will have to go when I have time.”
“Do not make the kid wait and go. He really has gotten better.” Her indifferent voice gradually mixed with nagging. Pressing down the bitterness that rose, Seo Young-woo, with his usual smiling face, said he would be going now and moved his steps.
Even though he had eaten nothing, the pit of his stomach felt completely blocked, as if he had indigestion, and it was stifling.
***
The university hospital on a Monday morning was full of people. Seo Young-woo drew a number ticket early and waited for his turn. Only after about thirty minutes passed did a ding- sound ring, and he rose from his seat.
“I came to pay the hospital bill by proxy for patient Kang A-jin in room 1402.”
“Please wait a moment.”
The staff member, whose face was full of fatigue, typed quickly on the keyboard. Soon the hospital bill details appeared on the tablet in front of him. The Special Power Management Bureau did support hospital bills, but considering the treatment being received now, it was a woefully insufficient amount.
“The government support and the awakened subsidy have been automatically deducted. How would you like to pay the remaining 12,300,330 won?”
“By card, please.”
“Installments?”
“In full, please.”
Seo Young-woo handed over his card and waited for the payment. Whenever he came to the hospital his mood always sank. Since becoming team leader he had paid the hospital bills of injured team members, but he always felt bad that money was the only thing he could do for them.
“Payment is complete.”
“Thank you.”
Seo Young-woo, who received his card and stood up, tilted his head to the side to try to shake off his sinking mood. He had been busy solving backlogged office work for a while, so it was about time to return to the field.
Just then, the phone he had put in his blazer jacket vibrated briefly. After taking out the phone and checking the screen, Young-woo let out a big breath.
Baek Jin Esper Interrogation and Rank Test Results
Arriving at his personal office right away, Seo Young-woo sat straight down in front of the monitor. The email, under Level 1 security, could only be checked after entering a password twice.
The sender was Kim Seong-jae, section chief of Division 4 of the Intelligence and Security Bureau. Division 4 was famous for high-intensity interrogations. The rumors were so vicious that if he had another motive, it was highly likely it would have been exposed in the interrogation process.
Maybe I will not have to be in charge of Jin. Seo Young-woo scrolled down with that small hope.
Judged to have no risk factors.
His finger stopped at the last paragraph. Then his eyes narrowed and he examined the contents again from the start.
In the first interrogation he said he wanted to return to his own country. His aversion to the Republic of Korea is great. In the second interrogation he denied the fact that he had been abandoned. Due to frequent rampages he was forcibly subdued. In the third interrogation, high-intensity torture interrogation including administration of a truth serum was carried out.
In total there were three interrogations and torture as needed, but it was concluded that he is not a spy. Judged to have no risk factors.
They had even tortured him. He did not feel very pleasant, but from the standpoint of someone who had served in the military in the special forces before awakening as a guide, he knew it could not be helped.
“There is no corner to run to.”
Muttering in a sigh-mixed voice, Seo Young-woo rose from his seat. Now it was time to go meet Baek Jin. Since it had come to this, he needed to educate him somehow. To go to the research lab, he hung his employee ID around his neck and forced his reluctant steps to move.
They said the heat would come soon, and in a few days the sunlight pouring down was hot. His eyes, squinting on their own, relaxed as he entered the research center.
The research center basement was lit not by natural light but by artificial lighting, so no matter how bright the interior was, he always felt uneasy. Entering the research lab familiarly, Young-woo greeted Jin-wook, who was looking at documents.
“Busy from the morning.”
“Do not even ask. First, check this.”
Jin-wook, who had been pounding the keyboard distractedly, handed over a chart. It was Baek Jin’s rank test sheet.
“He is B+ with a fire attribute as an esper. It was tested after he was tortured, so if his body recovers and we measure again, A-rank seems possible…… Well, from above, they will probably think this is a windfall.” Young-woo listened to the explanation with his gaze fixed on the test sheet. His stamina and muscular strength figures were excellent, no less than A-rank. He raised only his eyes, looked beyond the glass window, and placed the chart on the table.
“Aside from the test results, what is Baek Jin’s state?”
“Bad, of course.”
Just a moment, and Park Jin-wook, who had been clicking the mouse busily, only now turned his body and met Young-woo’s eyes.
“Extreme depression, refusal to eat, condition decline after wearing the ability-restriction device.” Park Jin-wook spread his hand, then, reciting Baek Jin’s state, folded his fingers one by one.
“Because of ERR syndrome, even staying still, his wavelength figures drop slightly. It is not certain, but as long as he does not use his ability, there is not much to worry about. Before, they say he was given injections more often than guiding.
Now hurry and take him. You are in charge of him, right?”
As he tried to organize what he had heard so far, even his head ached. Looking at the young mercenary Baek Jin, sitting curled up on the bed and blankly staring at the wall, his breath caught in his throat.
“First, I will start with guiding. Enduring Division 4 torture could not have been easy either.” First was checking Baek Jin’s state. Entering the research room that was no different from a psychiatric ward, as before, Seo Young-woo slowly approached the side of the bed. Baek Jin, who had his knees up and embraced and his head bowed, seemed to sense a presence and trembled his shoulders.
“Today I will not do anything. Mr. Baek Jin, you do not have to worry.” Seo Young-woo brought a single chair and took a seat beside the bed. He, in a hospital gown, was in a state where he had grown visibly thinner.
“I would like us to talk for a bit.”
“Is there anything you are curious about?”
When no answer came, Young-woo thought for a moment, then opened his mouth again.
“From our standpoint, we needed to know who Mr. Baek Jin is. Whether there were signs of terrorism, whether you are a spy. I am not asking for understanding, but an explanation is necessary.” He conveyed the things that needed to be conveyed. Things like his current body state, that his ability was being restricted by the bracelet he was wearing, and that if he tried to force the bracelet off, the security bureau would be contacted at once.
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