Chapter 62

Haon requested that Won Jaehyuk, Siyun, and Jeongwon be added as additional personnel. Although he wasn’t particularly close with Won Jaehyuk, he considered him trustworthy since he was Cha Yugeon’s friend. Siyun was a given, and although he had only recently become closer to Kim Jeongwon, he didn’t seem like someone who would betray them.

Even while the three were gathering, the accident site was being swiftly cleared. With the help of espers, the scene of the accident quickly regained its original appearance as if the chaos had never occurred. Haon anxiously watched the entire scene while receiving treatment, worried that Cha Yugeon might be buried under the building debris.

“Your wounds are quite deep, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Two healing espers treated Haon’s injuries with concern. After hearing his answer, one of them immediately moved on to another patient, while the other stayed to caution Haon.

“I’ve treated you as much as I can for now, but your wounds aren’t fully healed, so you shouldn’t overexert yourself. Please be careful.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

After the healer moved away, Haon stood up right away. The pain in his side flared up just from standing, but he ignored it.

“…There’s nothing.”

Director Han approached Haon, looking around cautiously as he spoke in a low voice. The ‘nothing’ he mentioned referred to Cha Yugeon.

Cha Yugeon, who had been right in front of them, had disappeared without a trace. Haon clenched his fist tightly, recalling the last moments when Cha Yugeon was losing consciousness. His short nails dug into his palm, but Haon didn’t even feel the pain.

“Let’s move for now. If we stay together, it might seem suspicious, so let’s meet at your quarters.”

“Alright.”

As soon as Haon finished his response, Director Han teleported away. He was probably heading to the conference room first.

Haon hastened his steps to get to his quarters. Despite the sharp pain in his side with every step, he kept walking quickly.

When he finally arrived at the quarters, Won Jaehyuk and Siyun were already there. Opening the door, he found Director Han waiting inside. Shortly after, Kim Jeongwon arrived, panting heavily.

“Huff, huff, what’s going on? Oh, hello, Director.”

Haon had left a message saying it was urgent and not to tell anyone else, which was why Kim Jeongwon had rushed over without knowing the details. He asked what was going on and then awkwardly greeted Director Han upon noticing him.

“What’s this about?”

Since Won Jaehyuk had no prior connection with Haon, he must have been even more confused to receive an urgent message to come to Haon’s quarters. Though his contact information was saved on his watch, it wasn’t typical to urgently summon someone he barely knew.

Despite this, Won Jaehyuk had come without any complaints, indicating there must have been a good reason.

“Is it about Cha Yugeon?”

As expected, he had guessed the situation. Haon nodded. Won Jaehyuk’s usually friendly eyes turned sharp.

“Cha Yugeon? What about him?”

Siyun asked, and Haon took a deep breath before speaking.

“Cha Yugeon has disappeared. Although I said ‘disappeared,’ it might be more accurate to say he was kidnapped.”

The three seemed taken aback by Haon’s words. Won Jaehyuk furrowed his brow in thought, while Siyun and Kim Jeongwon tilted their heads in confusion. After all, Cha Yugeon was an S-class esper. It was unimaginable for someone of his caliber to be kidnapped.

“What makes you say that?”

Won Jaehyuk asked calmly, a stark contrast to the puzzled reactions of the other two. Since he was Cha Yugeon’s friend, it seemed to concern him more.

“The last thing I saw was Cha Yugeon collapsing.”

“Collapsed?”

“Yes. He was eating when he suddenly said he felt dizzy and then collapsed. I tried to check his condition, but there was an explosion, and I was thrown away. After the situation was under control, I found that Cha Yugeon was gone.”

Haon recounted the earlier events in as much detail as possible in response to Director Han’s question.

“So, he collapsed while eating.”

“Yes.”

“Was Cha Yugeon feeling unwell before that?”

“Not at all. He was fine.”

Haon shook his head after a moment of thought. Even when he recalled it, Cha Yugeon had been fine before eating. Then, during the meal, his condition suddenly deteriorated, and he lost consciousness.

“Then the food must have been the issue. Someone must have deliberately drugged the food.”

Won Jaehyuk, who had been silently listening, spoke up.

“The timing is too perfect. A person who wouldn’t die even if you killed him loses consciousness while eating, and then there’s an explosion, and he disappears in the chaos.”

Haon had the same thought but had been hesitant to voice it. The timing was unbelievably precise. It seemed impossible unless someone had meticulously planned and executed it.

“Do you remember what he ate?”

“He ate various things…”

“I don’t think the specifics of the food matter.”

Siyun, who had been quiet, spoke up. It seemed he had quickly grasped the situation while listening to the others’ conversation. The four of them, including Haon, turned their attention to Siyun.

“Since the food was from the cafeteria, it wasn’t just Cha Yugeon who ate it, but other people as well, right? If only Cha Yugeon had an adverse reaction, the issue isn’t what he ate but who gave it to him.”

Siyun was right. Haon nodded and tried to recall the person who had given the food to Cha Yugeon.

“I know who it is. Cha Yugeon said he was close to one of the cafeteria ladies.”

When Haon had taken care of Sang-deok’s meal last time, he had seen the lady Cha Yugeon referred to. He tried to picture her face in his mind.

“Please wait a moment.”

Director Han, with a brief comment, pulled out a tablet and seemed to search for something busily. Soon, he showed the tablet screen to Haon, displaying photos of all the cafeteria workers. Haon calmly went through the photos, searching for the face he remembered.

“Here, it’s this person.”

It didn’t take long for Haon to find her. When he touched the photo with his finger, the screen changed to display information about her.

“Lee Jung-hye… 51 years old. She has one son.”

“Yes, I heard her son is abroad. So, she treated Cha Yugeon like a son because he reminded her of him.”

“…Abroad?”

“Yes… isn’t he?”

Haon sensed something was off from Director Han’s question. As expected, the words from Director Han were shocking.

“Her son is in Korea right now. There’s no record of him traveling abroad.”

“…We have a lead now,” Won Jaehyuk murmured grimly.

***

“…My head hurts.”

Yugeon frowned as he opened his eyes. Immediately, he felt something was wrong. His body felt unusually constricted. Looking down, he saw that he was wearing a restraint suit. Along with that, fragmented memories began to surface.

He remembered feeling dizzy and hearing Park Haon calling him. Then, there was a loud explosion. When he woke up, he found himself in a strange place wearing a restraint suit. He roughly understood the situation.

“Damn it, how embarrassing.”

The fact that he had been kidnapped annoyed Yugeon. The idea of an S-class esper being kidnapped was ridiculous. On top of that, the thought of collapsing in front of Park Haon made him even more upset.

“Is Park Haon alright?”

More than anything, the explosion meant there had been a blast, and Yugeon worried if Park Haon was safe. The last thing he remembered was Park Haon’s desperate voice, and he feared that Haon might be worried about him.

“First, let’s find out where I am.”

Despite being kidnapped, Yugeon showed no signs of fear. He had confidence in himself, confidence that he could survive any situation. Therefore, even though his body was tightly restrained, he wasn’t scared. He was only worried about Park Haon.

“…So it’s a restraint suit that controls esper abilities.”

He tried to use his abilities, but they didn’t activate properly. Considering it was a suit made for an S-class esper, it was obviously not an ordinary restraint suit. He had tested it just in case.

“This is really troublesome and annoying.”