SOG Ch 173

Jae-chan burst into exhilarating laughter as he saw the Technician’s eyes fill with shock. The dumbfounded look on his face was so entertaining that even the burning pain in his eyes felt sweet.

Seon Jae-chan had seized the device and pressed the button from the moment he was caught by the man. He swallowed the laughter that threatened to erupt like a madman, recalling Chae Seong-hwan’s words from the lab.

‘This is a byproduct of the dictator. The wireless circuits converge into a single control.’

‘It’s designed so that only one person can control it.’

‘There’s also a bomb attached. Probably structured to detonate immediately upon escape. He wouldn’t want to leave a single part to the military.’

So Seon Jae-chan had been eyeing the Technician carefully from the moment they encountered him. The Technician was the dictator, and he had a habit of always keeping important items close.

Of course, his habits could differ from before the regression, but Jae-chan was fairly certain. Like the password ‘fractal’ set exactly the same as in the past, he believed the man’s behavioral patterns would be similar in broad strokes.

There were limited places on the body to store a wireless remote control device, so it was easy to narrow down. After that, he just waited for the man to get close. He muttered words carefully chosen to burrow into the man’s nerves like poison fangs. Only when his blood vessels were boiling with rage would he not notice the remote control device being taken.

Behavioral schema? You think you’re the only one with that? I have it too.

“No—”

Too late. The technician tried to protest, but Seon Jae-chan had already pressed the button as soon as he acquired the old-fashioned control device. He couldn’t tell if it simply stopped the windless zone or if it exploded as Chae Seong-hwan had said.

However, Seon Jae-chan disappeared as if melting into the air. Because his ability had returned.

The windless zone had been deactivated.

The Technician frantically grasped at the air, but due to the large discrepancy between what he saw and what he actually felt, it wasn’t easy to grab the hostage. At that moment, the vanished hostage struck his head hard. Even though he tried to dodge by sensing the presence, his skull was rattled. His vision spun.

Damn it. As he fell sideways, the Technician realized he had let his guard down. He had overlooked certain details in his fury, much like someone who’d been stabbed and was now thrashing in agony.

How did Seon Jae-chan know about Go  Young-chang? The thought he had dismissed an hour ago surfaced simultaneously. The thought that there was no way those escaped rats could have sneaked into his secret lab.

That was arrogance.

‘If they had snuck into the secret lab, they would have known about Go Young-chang, as well as the windless zone suppression device…’

But it doesn’t make sense. How on earth did they sneak into the lab? It was a lab that had never been infiltrated by outsiders, to the point where even trusted subordinates who attempted infiltration knowing of its existence were killed. It was a place that could only be accessed by knowing the password. Of course, there was a way to hack the multi-layered security system he had personally devised, but it required highly specialized equipment and a long time.

How did they get into the lab?

But this was no time for such thoughts.

“—!”

The technician, who had collapsed sideways, immediately regained his balance in a strange posture befitting a physical Esper. He tightly gripped the knife and began to swing it recklessly towards where he sensed a presence. He had to kill the bastard and get back the windless zone control device.

Something finally grazed the jackknife as it slashed through the air. Got him, almost got him…! As he brightened up, his wrist holding the knife was grabbed and held in mid-air. The knife tip trembled.

It seemed the rumors of him being a low-grade Esper was true. The young multi-guide flickered like a broken fluorescent light after just a few seconds, revealing a faint figure. Just as he was about to stab him, putting his weight on his forearm, the posture was reversed. The bastard had turned invisible again. Not giving up, the Technician reversed the position again, getting on top, and shouted to his subordinates.

“K1ll him, I said k1ll him…!”

But the terrorists pointing their guns didn’t know what to do. Not only was the target invisible, but the boss and the hostage were continuously grappling, so they might accidentally hit the boss.

At that moment, a gust of wind blasted through. It wasn’t just a breeze—it crashed upon them.

Everyone fell over screaming like bowling pins struck by a strong gust that even lifted the poor flooring. Even the submarine floating on the water rocked greatly. The Technician was also blown away. He struggled desperately to grab his invisible enemy, but the other skillfully kicked away his hands, causing him to hit the ground empty-handed.

Darkness fell like a curtain overhead. E-SOF unit members wearing night vision goggles immediately began to rush in from the darkness. With their abilities returned, they utilized various attack methods as if they had grown wings. The Technician, clung to the cracked concrete floor, trying to withstand the relentless wind, but his grip weakened. The hostage had kicked him, and he hadn’t even reclaimed the remote device.

Meanwhile, Go Woo-jin was already reaching for his rifle the moment Jae-chan and the Technician toppled over together.

Bang-!

The terrorists fired at him as soon as they spotted him. With a dozen guns aimed at him, Woo-jin launched himself forward, bracing to take one or two hits in non-critical areas. The technician had a knife to Jae-chan’s throat.

At that moment, he felt his body become infinitely lighter.

The feeling of wind supporting his feet. The heavy sensation that had constricted his body like being underwater fell away, and a rich energy was returning like a massive tidal wave. He simultaneously discovered Jae-chan, who had suddenly turned invisible, and the Technician pinning him down. Woo-jin used the wind to immediately push away the surrounding enemies.

As he ran towards Jae-chan, he noticed the terrorist leader was still resisting with his fingers dug into the ground. Without hesitation, Woo-jin aimed his gun directly at him. Bang! With a brief noise, a flash of light blinked.

The Technician died instantly, without even realizing what had happened.

Woo-jin glanced at the hole in the old man’s head and turned towards Seon Jae-chan. The guy who had been intermittently visible had disappeared again, but he could pinpoint his location by the unique sense of dissonance. He crossed the space made chaotic by the wind he had summoned. Since the wind was originally meant to push away the old man pressing down on Seon Jae-chan, the finely controlled ability didn’t even move toward the guy.

Woo-jin, who had created a different kind of windless zone, embraced Jae-chan, who would still appear invisible to others. He quickly moved behind cover.

“Jae-chan, it’s me. Let me see your face…”

Show yourself to me. As he urged, suppressing his trembling voice, Jae-chan slowly revealed himself.

“…”

Though they were still in the darkness created by Ahn Sook-young, Woo-jin could see clearly with his S-class vision that the old man had so envied. Jae-chan’s right eyelid was covered in blood.

It was so bad he couldn’t even touch the wound. Woo-jin’s fingertips trembled as he carefully cradled Jae-chan’s swollen cheek. He couldn’t believe that Jae-chan, who had told him just half a day ago that he liked him and would come to him, was now so terribly injured.

Suddenly, he remembered how he had been cold to Jae-chan for four days after hearing those insensitive words from Gyeong Hye-in. How he had deliberately reduced contact using missions as an excuse. And the last call just a few hours ago when he had sulkily asked if Jae-chan had anyone else he liked for more than him.

You can like someone else.

You can even like that person more than me. As long as you’re safe and healthy.

If  Woo-jin had known this would happen, he should have said that instead.

“…”

Meanwhile, Jae-chan, looking up at Woo-jin who was visible only in black and white through the darkness, was overcome by a sense of relief and deep emotion.

“…You came.”

Saying this, he took in the sight of Woo-jin, who looked unharmed. Those two eyes gazing at him, those pitch-black pupils he had wanted to protect, were just as he’d remembered them.

And it wasn’t just his eyes. The current Woo-jin was taller and more handsome than before the regression. There was no trace of his once tired and shadowed appearance. The Woo-jin before him had the vivid face from before he was hurt by the world, the one he had encountered right after regressing, and looked even more full of life than in the past.

The pain in his eye, like being gouged by a sharp pen tip, was terrible, but Jae-chan had no regrets. He thought he’d done well. Unlike before the regression, when he’d wanted to rely on Woo-jin and be protected by him, he’d long since wanted to be the one to protect him instead.

‘I think… I felt that way from the moment I met him right after the regression.’

The moment he encountered the incredibly young-looking Woo-jin was so vivid. With the emotion welling up deep in his heart, he felt he had shamelessly fallen for him at first sight again. Back then, he was so confused and fixated on the thought of letting him go that he probably didn’t even realize it.

Obsession, possessiveness. Such feelings could be love too, but he hadn’t felt happy when he loved like that. Since the regression, living for the one he loved, Jae-chan had come to understand what happiness really was.

That’s why he could genuinely accept the reality even if he lost part of his body now. He also felt like he had repaid the debt of his aunt’s life to the Woo-jin of the past. It would have been better if he hadn’t been hurt, but it was all right. He felt like he’d taken on the misfortune in exchange for Woo-jin’s safety.

He was glad he could be of help to Woo-jin, who had such a warm nature despite having been controlled and raised artificially.

At the same time, he recalled the thoughts he had been forcibly pushing aside.

The research records related to Woo-jin’s growth that he’d found in the Technician’s lab. He had thought that Woo-jin probably didn’t grow up easily because of Yoon Seo-mi’s existence, but he never imagined this guy’s childhood had been like that. Remembering the young Woo-jin’s growth environment and the training he had to endure, he felt anger rising but also a deep longing to see him.

“…I missed you.”

Jae-chan whispered, wanting to embrace Woo-jin and gently stroke his back.

Woo-jin was at a loss for words, then whispered “I missed you too” as he grasped Jae-chan’s weakly outstretched fingertips. Just as Woo-jin was about to bend his large upper body to hug him, Seon Jae-chan let out a groan of pain.

“…”

Go Woo-jin’s gaze clouded with worry as he hurriedly and carefully laid Jae-chan back down. Jae-chan’s side was covered in blood as if grazed by a stray bullet. For some unknown reason, his shirt was completely undone, and his neck and shoulders under it were also a mess, covered in cuts.

They needed a healing-type Esper and a Guide.