STJ_18

Doyoung turned around and hurried toward the exit. Now he had a strong desire to escape from this cramped and confined space.

The air felt thick and sticky, like sitting in a sauna, making it difficult for him to breathe.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw a crowd of people so dense that there was no visible way out. Many people were standing around the surveillance table, as if an emergency meeting was being held without their knowledge.

He could feel the eyes of the people looking at him differently than before. In particular, the staff member who was giving him the explanation was sitting in front of the monitor holding a phone and looking at Doyoung in surprise.

He touched the back of his neck and wondered if he had made a mistake.

He raised his hand to the back of his head, wondering if he had made a mistake.

"Then I'll take a break..."

"Guide-nim, wait a moment. Please wait for a while.”

The confused Doyoung could only be dazed as he was shocked without understanding what was happening.

Amidst the crowd that filled the surveillance room, he saw a familiar face sitting on the waiting chair. It was Sa Iijun.

Doyoung clicked his tongue. He had forgotten to return the doll he had found, even though he had promised himself to do so when they met again.

He(DY) wanted to approach him to say hello, but he(IJ) looked a bit strange.

His face, which had healthy bronze skin, was very pale. The blood on his lips had disappeared, making him look even more pale.

The brown eyes that always stared at Doyoung like a puppy waiting for its master were trembling with fear. He even wrapped what looked like a long towel around his hand. Was he injured during the training?

When he saw Sa Iijun on the news or in videos, he always seemed too brave and strong, but when he saw him in person, he looked like a child thrown into the water.

That was the moment when Doyoung began to approach him, worried that he might be in pain somewhere or become another cruel experimental tool.

All eyes were on Doyoung's back. When he turned around, he saw Kangjun leaving the examination room.

He had a soft smile hanging at the corners of his lips, as if he had just had a satisfying night. This meaningful face made Doyoung want to come forward and explain something to himself.

Kangjun looked around slowly and stopped at Iijun for a moment. However, instead of showing joy for his little brother, Kangjun looked at Iijun as if he were invisible, his gaze fixed on the face of his target, Doyoung.

Kangjun approached Doyoung with big steps and bowed slightly. Then he called Doyoung's name in a low voice.

"Guide Joo Doyoung."

"Ah, yes?"

He still wasn't used to the nickname.

"Good work today.”

“......!”

Doyoung's face heated up.

"Well, at least the hands... We're just holding hands."

Doyoung excused himself with an awkward laugh to avoid the situation. Kangjun didn't take his eyes off Doyoung until just before he left. It was a room so full of people that he even wondered how he saw him in the crowd.

"Thanks for your hard work."

When Kangjun was about to leave after a short greeting, a staff member stopped him.

"Sorry, Lieutenant Colonel! I haven't told you the results yet."

"Looks like I don't need to hear them."

Kangjun smiled and left the waiting room.

After Kangjun left, Doyoung finally let out the relieved breath he had been holding in, as if he had just been freed from Kangjun's grip.

“Haa...”

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he would be able to hold out for a while, the people started making noise again.

As soon as the door that had just been opened was closed again, Haesu appeared from behind the door.

"What's all the commotion about?"

Haesu complained in an unhappy tone as she entered the surveillance room, followed by her personal assistant.

She had just come down after receiving a call 10 minutes earlier that Sa Kangjun's matching test results might be unusual and that he should come to check it out. Unfortunately, she did not cross paths with Kangjun because he took a different path.

"Commander, have you come?"

The employee sitting in front of the monitor suddenly stood up and bowed in greeting. From the way he bowed, one could tell whether he was a soldier or a civilian.

"Alright, let's hear why the busy person on the 68th floor was called here. How many excellent results were achieved?"

Haesu casually crossed her arms and sat down on the best seat on the sofa.

"That's the problem.”

The staff fell silent as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Doyoung's eyes involuntarily shifted to Iijun, who was sitting in the corner of the surveillance room. His lips were deathly pale, almost purple in color.

"The match rate between Lieutenant Colonel Sa Kangjun and Guide Joo Doyoung is... 96,1%."

The people roared. Even though they knew it by reading the numbers on the monitor, they were still very surprised when they heard it with their own ears.

But Doyoung didn't understand. Was 96.1% such a shocking result?

He didn't know the average match rate at the center, and for him, who had always scored 100 in school, it wasn't a remarkable number.

"Is that good?"

In response to Doyoung's question, one of the employees looked at him with an expression as if he was used to hearing strange things.

"More than 80% is rare. And if it's over 90%..."

"We recommend an imprint."

Haesu interrupted the staff and replied.

"Im...print?”

Doyoung asked back with a confused expression as if he still didn't understand, while Haesu's face was already beaming.

"96,1%... Is there such a number?"

“Guide Choi Yumin and Esper Yoon Seokjun have a match rate of 93.4%."

"So both of them..."

"Imprinted."

"Hm..."

Although Haesu tried to hide her excitement, her assistant added some very pleasant words.

"Well... It won't be long before Lieutenant Colonel Sa Kangjun returns to the field, right?"

"Yes?"

"Isn't the imprinted Esper's ability level much higher than usual?"

Doyoung learned some unknown things after listening to their conversation.

It wasn't only humans that Sa Kangjun could control. At the peak of his power, he could probably control animals and even living things.

Throughout his teenage years, Sa Kangjun traveled to battlefields without hesitation. Of the five accomplishments that earned him the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, most of them occurred on the battlefield he was assigned to.

By brainwashing and manipulating the Creature to attack his own race and lead them to destruction, he led the battle to victory without wasting a single bullet for his allies.

Doyoung heard someone, either a researcher or a staff member, speak excitedly near his ear.

"Seeing how he came to take a self-adaptation test that he has never taken before, it seems like he has a desire to return to the field. Perhaps it's because there's a Guide that Lieutenant Colonel Sa wants to imprint? If so..."

"This will be very helpful for his combat power."

Haesu also seemed very pleased. At that moment, one of the staff members broke the tense atmosphere.

"Sorry, but it's already time for the next session."

"Next session?”

The atmosphere here was so festive that they forgot that there were other people going through the test. Among the happy people, there was only one person who couldn't smile.

Doyoung took his eyes off Haesu and looked at Iijun.

At first glance, he was not normal right now. His brown hair stuck to his forehead, which was sweating profusely.

His trembling hands kept wiping his wet nose and lips, and his shoulders and chest moved excessively, as if he was having trouble breathing. In addition, his once clear eyes were now red as if sprinkled with chili powder.

He looked like he was in excruciating pain. What exactly had happened to him to make him like this?

Just then, one of the staff members called his name.

“Second Lieutenant Sa Iijun, please enter the measuring room.”

Iijun raised his head when he heard his name called. For a moment, the expression of a defendant about to be sentenced appeared on his face.

Iijun's steps as he got up from his seat and entered the measuring room seemed as heavy as the steps of a cow being taken to the slaughterhouse.

Doyoung seemed to be the only one who noticed Iijun's agitation from the moment he seemed confused about what to do until after he sat down on the measuring chair.

"Esper Sa Iijun, are you okay?"

Iijun raised his head and looked at Doyoung who was standing in front of him with a worried face. Instead of answering, he shook his head.

"My stomach... it feels strange."

Iijun made a face of pain as he placed his palm on the area near his solar plexus.

"There seems to be something like a hard stone stuck here... so tight..."

In front of Iijun's rolling eyes, the image of his childhood figure appeared like an illusion.

The six-year-old Iijun lifted one corner of his mouth and smiled at the current Iijun.

‘After all this, you still don't understand? No one will believe a word you say.’

–

TL: Muji

Previous | TOC | Next