(Return pt.2)

To have grown so close that he would say he wants to go back when he could finally return home after escaping from that narrow prison. To Raseti, who knew Radel’s usual cold-blooded nature, it was truly surprising.

Raseti and other Arkean soldiers were captivated by Radel’s overwhelming charisma. But if they had met him in daily life, they would have run away without looking back. What aspect of Radel had charmed this human who spent ordinary time with him?

Though surprising and admirable, they couldn’t accommodate Kim In-woo’s stubbornness.

“My colleagues will rescue Lee Sun-ho once you’re there first. You should settle down a bit while waiting for him.”

“I won’t go alone!”

Kim In-woo suddenly shouted and ran towards the door. So that’s why he was busily looking around earlier – he must have been locating the door. But there was no way a long-distance warp spaceship’s door would open manually.

Raseti grabbed Kim In-woo’s arm and turned him around. Kim In-woo’s eyes were steeped in deep distrust, without any intention of believing the other’s words.

“Please believe me, Mr. Kim In-woo. If we make a mistake, both of you could end up captured and killed.”

“It’s better if we both die!”

“It won’t be just you dying – Lee Sun-ho would die too.”

At those words, Kim In-woo’s body flinched.

“It’s dangerous to go back once you’ve escaped. If they learn of your existence, there’s someone who would want to kill you.”

Though meant to frighten him, it wasn’t a lie. Ezel would definitely try to kill Kim In-woo.

Ezel had given Kim In-woo to Radel hoping his depression would improve, but they would have wanted him to only cherish him at the level of a cute pet. If they found out Radel liked another species enough to throw away all his foundations to come to Earth, they would definitely issue a galaxy-wide arrest warrant.

“And Lee Sun-ho wanted you to return first.”

Kim In-woo’s eyes grew round. And then gradually distorted.

“I don’t need that kind of thing…!”

Though meant to persuade, it made Kim In-woo even angrier instead. After shouting loudly, his emotions seemed to intensify as tears flowed from both eyes, thoroughly wetting his cheeks.

Though humans are generally creatures that cry easily, they don’t cry just anytime. Watching Kim In-woo fall into an extreme state of agitation, Raseti pondered briefly. And soon reached a calm conclusion.

“Even if you say that, you need to return to Earth now. I cannot accommodate your stubbornness.”

“No, I said I won’t go alone!”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kim In-woo.”

Raseti sprayed sleeping gas on Kim In-woo. Kim In-woo was in the middle of cursing when he collapsed right there.

***

Kim In-woo woke up in a huge room he had never seen before. Where is this place? Even as he was just regaining consciousness and still dazed, Kim In-woo felt his mind turning stark white.

Gripped by the fear of an unfamiliar place, Kim In-woo ran outside barefoot without thinking.

The surroundings looked vaguely familiar like Earth. But at the same time, it had a very unfamiliar atmosphere. From the corridor with smooth marble floors without a single broken or dirty spot that wouldn’t leave a scratch even walking barefoot, to the elevator whose numbers changed instantly as it went up…

Everything seemed real, but alien technology was extremely advanced. In-woo couldn’t help but doubt if this luxury apartment scenery was fake, created by someone.

In-woo stumbled outside.

If this was fake, he hoped they would show some restraint. He was sick and tired of being toyed with.

Though he had heard until his ears hurt at the training facility that “Radel is a good master,” In-woo had never once thought he was a good master.

That man who was once Kim In-woo’s master, Radel was a symbol of terror in space. Where Radel’s army passed, corpses piled into mountains, and the man would kill tens of thousands in one night and then kill hundreds of thousands more the next day without batting an eye. The man who had committed the most murders in the universe was Kim In-woo’s master. To Kim In-woo, he was someone who considered people less than countless grains of sand on a beach.

As if proving such a nature, Radel was terrifyingly expressionless. Whether quietly observing Kim In-woo, picking him up, stroking him, kissing him, forcibly undressing him, or touching him, the man maintained the same blank expression. If he had smiled, or even gotten angry, it might not have been this frightening.

Probably even when pressing down to kill Kim In-woo, Radel would have the same emotionless face. Just like when he had killed countless others until now.

He had clearly thought his life would end being killed by Radel. After toying with him so casually, now they say they’re letting him go – he couldn’t simply believe it.

When he finally made it outside on trembling legs, the cold wind struck his body fiercely. March’s winter-like cold snap that might as well be classified as winter pierced through his thin clothes to torment In-woo.

But a fear greater than the cold moved In-woo.

As In-woo looked around with his arms wrapped around himself, he made eye contact with a woman who looked about fifteen years older than him. The woman wearing a gleaming coat was holding the hand of a three or four-year-old child. The harmless appearance of the two people melted In-woo’s wariness.

In-woo staggered towards the woman. The woman, who had been wary of In-woo for a while, tightly grabbed the child’s hand and hid them behind her. Seeing that, his heart began beating rapidly.

Though he tried to ask calmly, his words tangled instantly.

“Excuse me. Wh-where is this?”

“What?”

“Now, this place… wh-where is it? No, no… are you, are you human?”

“What, what…”

“Is that child real?”

“What… there’s a crazy person in here!”

The angry woman shouted. As Kim In-woo tried to chase after the woman who ran away holding the child, he staggered again. The woman’s anger heated up In-woo’s cheeks and mind. It was a vivid reaction. As if it were real…

As he barely managed not to fall and regained his balance, a security guard approached. And forcibly restrained him.

For threatening the woman and child, Kim In-woo was dragged to the police station.

Only at the police station did he gradually realize this was really Earth. The realization didn’t entirely make him happy. The piercing gazes from all directions, his toes sticking out of the slippers the police handed over while clicking their tongues – it all started to feel very embarrassing.

He could have tried to find out more calmly. In-woo regretted it but didn’t have confidence he could act rationally in a similar situation. Even while living in that cage, he would sometimes have panic-like episodes. Each time, Lee Sun-ho would hold In-woo and pat his back.

But here, there was no Lee Sun-ho to comfort him.

The absence of the person he loved became an enormous despair pressing down on In-woo. He had liked Sun-ho, and in fact, needed him more than just liking. Without Lee Sun-ho, Kim In-woo had no confidence in living properly.

Well, even if he were here, he probably couldn’t do anything about this situation…

Surprisingly, it was Raseti who came to find In-woo as he worried about what to do now.

Raseti, who had blue hair, was disguised with soft brown hair. With their eyes that contained various colors also changed to ordinary brown, they looked like an ordinary foreigner.

Raseti introduced themselves as Kim In-woo’s lawyer. Hospital admission records from a hospital In-woo had never visited and a doctor’s note about possible drug side effects also came streaming out of Raseti’s bag. In the documents, Kim In-woo’s past was fabricated to show he had been hospitalized for treatment.

Even while seeing his past so casually forged, In-woo couldn’t say anything. Now that he was on Earth, he couldn’t act out without thinking like he did in the cage. Fortunately, Raseti handled things quickly so they could leave the police station before long.

Raseti casually smiled and guided In-woo to a car. In-woo hesitated before awkwardly getting in.

A middle-aged man he had never seen before sat in the driver’s seat. As soon as Raseti and In-woo got in the car and closed the doors, the car moved by itself without the driver touching anything. In-woo glared at the tightly closed door.

“It’s dangerous to open the door while driving. We’re not going to capture you, so please calm down.”

Raseti handed over water and a pill. Instead of taking the pill, In-woo glared at Raseti. Raseti smiled gently with a somewhat troubled expression. To In-woo’s eyes, that expression looked like the face of an owner soothing a pet dog.

“You, what are you planning to do with me?”