(Breakdown pt.1)

When In-woo regained consciousness, he was in a recovery capsule just like Radel. He struggled, finding it strange that he could breathe comfortably despite being completely submerged in liquid, so the nearby android removed him from the capsule.

The android moved Kim In-woo, who still couldn’t stand properly, to a small room. Though he had many questions, the android wouldn’t answer, saying it wasn’t within their permitted scope, and In-woo was only able to get up from his bed after suffering through another day.

In-woo immediately set out to find Raseti. He had things to ask them, and he needed to request to be let off here.

The spaceship was enormous, making it hard to believe it was flying above Seoul undetected. The city landscape passed by slowly through the scattered windows. Something this huge flying through the sky without leaving any trace… In-woo rubbed his goosebump-covered arms, newly struck by the eeriness of alien technology.

Somewhere out there, there must be other aliens who abduct humans while flying around like this. There might be others living disguised as humans somewhere. Like that man…

“…”

Just when he tried not to think about it, he was back at square one. In-woo tightly clenched his trembling hands.

It couldn’t be helped. For 5 years, Lee Sun-ho had been Kim In-woo’s entire life. Each passing day, he had loved him more. When he received the ring from Lee Sun-ho, he had even considered throwing everything away and going abroad to really get married – that’s how much he had been In-woo’s everything.

He had stabbed the man he loved so much with his own hands. When he heard the man hadn’t died, Kim In-woo had felt genuine relief. And he was disappointed in himself for feeling that relief.

He’s just a stranger. Just a con man.

He wanted to think of it that way. But the past 5 years had been too sweet. So sweet he wondered if his brain had rotted.

No, maybe it really had rotted. The other party was Radel. A psychic power user unprecedented even in space, who could manipulate hundreds of thousands of minds at once to make them commit suicide. Making an ordinary earthling like Kim In-woo fall in love would be easy. Now he couldn’t trust a single thing anymore.

So don’t hold onto any lingering feelings.

In-woo wandered around the spaceship, trying hard to get his emotions under control. He occasionally encountered androids, but couldn’t ask about Raseti’s whereabouts as they showed no interest in him and just passed by quickly while staring straight ahead. In-woo slowly walked around, opening doors and checking inside one by one.

How many doors had he opened? He’d definitely opened more than thirty. When he opened the door in the furthest corner, he saw Raseti inside the wide-open doorway. They were sprawled on the floor, having thrown their large body down.

“Raseti?”

Did they collapse? Startled, he approached, and Raseti looked at him with narrowed eyes. In-woo, who had unconsciously felt relief, let out a breath.

“Kim In-woo-ssi.”

“What are you doing? I thought you’d collapsed.”

“Ah…”

Raseti, who usually moved briskly befitting their soldier profession, continued to roll lazily on the floor while sighing.

“I think I’m getting depressed.”

“What are you saying…”

Kim In-woo, taking Raseti’s words as simple lamenting, sat down casually on a nearby chair. Whether it was an alien chair or not, it was a bit high. Unable to reach the floor with his dangling legs, In-woo changed to a cross-legged position on the chair and glared at Raseti.

“I came to hear what’s going on with the situation. Why is that Ezel or whatever giving me trouble?”

“Hmm, right… Ezel, I’m going to kill them…”

In-woo flinched at the killing intent flowing from Raseti. Despite the bright surroundings, the intensity of Raseti’s eyes flashing golden was fierce. Raseti rolled their eyes to look at In-woo.

“Did you come because you had questions?”

“…Yeah.”

“Right. At this point, you deserve to know…”

After letting out a deep sigh, Raseti subdued their fierce aura and slowly got up to sit in the chair opposite. While pondering with their hand on their forehead, Raseti slowly began to speak.

“Ezel-nim is… practically Radel-nim’s adoptive parent. Though they themselves say they’re friends.”

“Adoptive parent?”

“They’re not related by blood or legally. Besides, they’re trash who never really did anything parental… The friend title just came from maintaining an ambiguous relationship to avoid responsibility.”

Why would someone like that meddle in others’ relationships? What a joke. Should have stabbed Ezel first. Raseti seemed to share similar feelings, their expression souring every time they mentioned Ezel’s name.

“Despite that, Ezel-nim wants to control Radel-nim. It makes sense though. After all, any power Ezel-nim has could be destroyed by Radel-nim in an instant.”

Raseti heaved a deep sigh. Unlike their usual confident, almost shameless demeanor, the current Raseti was restless and somehow cowed despite their expressionless face.

“Actually, my mistake was huge in this incident.”

“What mistake?”

“Radel-nim checks the thoughts flowing into Earth using the surveillance system installed on Earth. With Radel-nim’s abilities supporting it, the surveillance becomes perfect, so we can immediately tell if someone enters Earth. Thanks to that, human abductions have stopped since 5 years ago. The Alliance thinks it’s my doing, but it was Radel-nim’s work.”

It was an unexpected revelation. Radel preventing human abductions? Why would he do such a thing…

In-woo forcefully stopped his thoughts from wandering. He didn’t know why Radel blocked aliens approaching Earth, and he didn’t want to know. There was no reason to know.

What he needed right now was to drive away Ezel. He had to eliminate the risk factors to prevent his life from being threatened.

“Then how did Ezel enter Earth so easily?”

“Radel-nim wasn’t on Earth for a few days. With just the surveillance system, Ezel-nim’s money and abilities could break through.”

“Those business trips… were to space? Don’t tell me, every time?”

Raseti nodded.

So when he thought communication was difficult, he’d been flying to space? This was ridiculous. Everything he’d given to In-woo, saying he bought it from his business trips, was all lies. Well, since his very existence was a lie, how could there be any truth?

“So, because he went to space, a hole opened in this surveillance system?”

“Yes. Actually… because I was deceived by Ezel-nim and urgently called for Radel-nim, that’s how things turned out. We rushed back too, but we were one step too late. I’m sorry.”

In-woo glared fiercely at Raseti before changing his mind.

“No, what do you have to be sorry for? Thanks to you, I won’t be deceived anymore and can come to my senses.”

If it weren’t for Raseti’s mistake, Kim In-woo would have lived his whole life deceived by Radel, thinking of him as Lee Sun-ho. Until Radel got bored of this worthless game.

“But because of me, you’ve become targeted by Ezel-nim.”

“That… that is infuriating.”

Swallowing his curses, In-woo pulled at his hair. The truly annoying part was that although he wanted to ignore both Radel who had deceived him for years and Raseti, he needed their protection to stop Ezel. The very people he didn’t want to associate with anymore were his only lifeline. The thought made him sick to his stomach.

“Don’t be too angry.”

“How can I not be angry?”

“Because when Radel-nim recovers, I’ll probably die. That will be the end of my part.”

“…What?”