Clang!

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden sound of shattering glass, Ju-eon quickly turned around. His heart pounded from focusing too intently on what was ahead. When he moved toward the source of the noise, he stopped in his tracks as a familiar smell reached his nose.

A damp, metallic scent.

‘Blood?’

It was blood. As he approached the source of the smell, the sound of labored breathing followed.

“Ho-yun?”

There stood Lee Ho-yun, someone who had joined as his junior in the same Team 1, but the only person Ju-eon had a bad relationship with.

“Ju-eon. I heard you were alive…”

Ho-yun let out a low chuckle, seemingly only now realizing the truth of something he had hoped wasn’t real. It almost sounded like he was sobbing. It felt strange.

“It’s been a while.”

“To meet the person I least wanted to see in this absolute worst situation… I must have terrible luck.”

Ho-yun tried to act nonchalant, but his hands trembled uncontrollably. Ju-eon was just as startled, and it was only then that he noticed Ho-yun’s hands were covered in blood. And in one of them, he held a shard of glass.

Naturally, Ju-eon’s gaze shifted to the floor. There, Yeo Ji-woong lay on the ground, writhing like a bug. Between his ragged breaths, Ji-woong muttered something, but his words came out slurred and indistinct.

“C-call the police… ugh…”

Thud.

Ho-yun kicked Ji-woong in the stomach as though he were an annoyance. From the situation, it was clear who was the assailant and who was the victim. Weren’t they supposed to be on the same side?

“…What on earth…”

Ju-eon could understand running into Ho-yun here. But why? If Ho-yun had claimed he had accidentally impaled himself while removing the glass shard, it would have been an easy lie to believe. But Ho-yun didn’t even bother to make an excuse.

To Ju-eon, Yeo Ji-woong had always seemed like a massive wave, sweeping up Myung-hwon, his mother, and even Yun-jae. But now, faced with him directly, Ji-woong was nothing more than a dying old man lying on a deserted floor. The vague thought that even death would be grand for someone so significant shattered. The pathetic death of someone supposedly great—it struck Ju-eon as the kind of unexpected twist that drives life forward. In the end, everyone is weak in the face of death.

“Keep going straight and turn right.”

“What?”

“Myung-hwon is there.”

Ho-yun gestured with his chin toward the direction ahead, brushing his hair back. He looked gaunt and irritable, but he behaved more amicably toward Ju-eon than before.

Flinch.

“Don’t trust me? Or do you want to stick around and see what else I’ll do?”

“…No…”

“We’re not exactly in a situation where we can stop and exchange pleasantries, are we?”

It felt strange. Ho-yun seemed determined to die here. Now that he had been caught, that resolve only grew stronger.

Ju-eon picked up on the peculiar atmosphere and hesitated. Should he stay here longer? Should he try to save him? Ju-eon had never considered stepping outside the boundaries of the law. But if he turned a blind eye just this once—if he abandoned his sense of justice for Myung-hwon’s sake…

“Ju-eon!”

The voice of Kang Yun-jae, panting heavily, called out from behind. Soon, Yun-jae arrived where Ju-eon was, gasping for breath as he alternated glances between Ho-yun and Ji-woong. Yun-jae didn’t ask many questions. He could tell it was an act of impulsive revenge, but he understood all too well the emotions driving such actions.

“C-call the police…”

Yun-jae, noticing what Ju-eon was about to say, cut him off mid-sentence. Then, appearing to make up his mind, he pushed Ju-eon by the shoulder.

“You go first.”

“What?”

“You came all this way to see Myung-hwon, didn’t you?”

“And you?”

“I’ll stay here. You go on.”

Ju-eon glanced toward Ho-yun.

“By yourself…? Let’s go together.”

“No. You go first.”

“Yun-jae…”

“Aren’t you going to see Myung-hwon?”

For once, Kang Yun-jae spoke in an unusually firm tone. Ju-eon’s hesitation didn’t last long. Now that he knew where Myung-hwon was, he had no choice but to go.

“…Be careful.”

Ju-eon whispered into Yun-jae’s ear before quickly leaving the area. Ho-yun watched Ju-eon leave for a moment before turning his gaze to Yun-jae.

“I was wondering why you got detained… I think I can guess the reason now.”

Clink.

Ho-yun threw the shard of glass he was holding onto the ground and slumped down. Leaning against a pillar, he tilted his head back and looked oddly at ease. Ji-woong, who had been writhing moments before, had stopped moving. He might not be dead yet, but it was only a matter of time.

“Are you staying here to subdue me and collect a reward or something?”

“…I’m not going to report you.”

Though he had told Ju-eon otherwise, Yun-jae had no intention of turning Ho-yun in. It was a petty, insignificant death. It was so easy that it would feel anticlimactic to those who had suffered under Ji-woong. It would have been better if he had suffered more before dying.

‘But this kind of death is probably the one Ji-woong would have hated most.’

To die alone, without anyone, at the hands of someone he deemed insignificant—a trivial, meaningless death.

Though Yun-jae had interacted with Ji-woong a few times, they had never had a proper conversation. At first, Yun-jae couldn’t view Ho-yun favorably because of his connection to Ju-eon. But as they were both in the same position, they couldn’t help but share a sense of camaraderie.

It was the most fittingly miserable death. To be killed by someone like Ho-yun, whom Ji-woong had always considered disposable and insignificant, was almost satisfying. A vile sense of vicarious pleasure.

“Ji-woong did back you up quite a bit, didn’t he?”

“It was always a relationship where it wouldn’t have been surprising if I’d been discarded at any moment.”

“Well, that’s true. He was an old man with plenty of enemies.”

“…Exactly. Even I didn’t realize how much resentment I had until now. But still, he was from a wealthy family.”

“Rich families have so many children that losing one wouldn’t even make them blink.”

“Ah.”

Even without a detailed explanation, Yun-jae understood immediately.

“Then why did you say you’d stay?”

“So you wouldn’t kill yourself.”

Ho-yun’s eyes widened slightly. Then, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

**

Following Ho-yun’s directions, Ju-eon moved without any obstacles. But soon, he came to a halt when the passage ahead was blocked. As he hesitated, an explosion echoed from a crack in the corridor wall.

Boom!

The explosion sounded so intense that the ground shook, but instead of fear, Ju-eon felt a wave of longing that brought tears to his eyes. Beyond that crack was Myung-hwon. Tears threatened to spill over.

“Myung-hwon…”

The thought of finally seeing him filled Ju-eon with overwhelming emotion. His face lit up with joy.

“Woo Ju-eon!”

From within the crack, Kwak Seong-gwan, who had been hiding behind a pillar, spotted Ju-eon first and ran toward him, shouting.

“Huh…?”

Ju-eon stopped in his tracks, startled by Seong-gwan’s sudden approach. Seong-gwan’s expression was far from ordinary.

“Why are you here, reporter?”

“Inside there…! Yeo Myung-hwon…!”

“What?”

Seong-gwan, speaking incoherently, suddenly gasped for breath, then exhaled deeply.

“To put it simply, several espers were forcibly given the rampage drug, and they’re out of control. It’s a one-against-many situation, and… Yeo Myung-hwon isn’t in good shape.”

“What?”

“Two others are helping him, but…”

Trailing off meant they weren’t much help.

“I’ll go right away.”

The chaotic noises outside didn’t stop. Entering the scene without warning was dangerous, but there was no other choice. The only relief was that Seong-gwan had provided a brief explanation of the situation, giving Ju-eon some idea of what was happening. Ju-eon pushed down his excitement at the thought of seeing Myung-hwon. Guiding everyone would be difficult. Though he had never seen someone on the rampage drug, it likely worked similarly to regular rampages. If he guided them for longer than usual, it might work.

‘I should’ve asked Ho-yun to come with me.’

In his urgency, even Ho-yun’s help felt like it would’ve been useful.

“Oh, right. That thing you left behind last time!”

Seong-gwan hurriedly pulled a pill case from his pocket, something he had held onto for a long time. Ju-eon snatched it from Seong-gwan’s hand.

‘This is what Yun-jae gave me…’

It was the suppressant Yun-jae had prepared for him. Ju-eon had thought he’d lost it while changing clothes.

“Thanks!”

With the suppressant, Ju-eon might be able to manage on his own. Without hesitation, he slipped through the crack.

**

As soon as he entered through the crack, he felt the heat prickling his skin.

Boom!

A powerful blast sent up a cloud of dust, and Ju-eon shielded his eyes with one arm. He gripped the pill case tightly. On his way here, he had thought of many things. There was something he absolutely had to tell Myung-hwon.

The building’s debris scattered everywhere, and several people used the rubble as weap*ns against each other.

Thud.

Crash.

One person, hit by an attack, flew into the wall right next to Ju-eon. The person snarled as they clawed their way out of the debris.

“What the h*ll? How do you subdue someone without k*lling them when there’s such a power gap?”

“Gu-young?”

“Hyung?”

Gu-young, emerging from the debris, froze when he spotted Ju-eon standing right next to him.

“What are you doing here?”

“Hyung…! Is that all you have to say to me the moment we meet?”

“…”

“You show up out of nowhere? Do you have any idea how worried I was?”