TS 069

A red light pierced through the darkness and bloomed. It was at the same time the small, nail-sized light illuminated the coldly set face. Yoon Taehwa let out a long breath that he had taken in shortly.

“Ha…”

The sound of him catching his breath vaguely sounded like a sigh.

Sitting on the terrace, which was made to have a panoramic view of the wide yard, the man slowly smoked a cigarette. It was convenient that he could smoke freely in a detached house with a deliberately spacious yard.

Of course, he hadn’t built a detached house simply because of cigarettes. Underneath the ground was a bomb shelter.

‘Though I’ve never used it.’

He had installed an Esper-use bomb shelter in the process of tearing down the two houses that had been there and building a new one. B-class and above could receive support from the state, but for Yoon Taehwa, it was unnecessary support.

His grandfather, for someone who had sent his young grandson to dungeons and terror scenes, was a person with deep affection for his bloodline. Apart from using a card that could be used for business.

Thanks to that, Yoon Taehwa had received a lot of support from his family, and the detached house with a bomb shelter and a wide yard was one of them. For both his grandfather and Yoon Taehwa, it was a very small support.

‘I don’t think I’ll be going into the bomb shelter in the future either.’

As he was looking at the lawn without any particular meaning, he raised his gaze a little higher. A silent night view spread out endlessly before him. It was a rather suitable scenery for clearing his busy mind.

Yoon Taehwa smoked, blinking his eyes at a slow speed, like a person who was about to fall asleep. The man who had melted into the darkness looked very quiet.

“I have to catch my breath before I move…”

The quietly spoken mutter vaguely felt like a resolution.

As soon as Pavel woke up, the story about Monomorium had completely come to the surface. It was a matter of course that the team leader of Esper Team 1 was being called to various places.

‘Oh dear, this friend, really… just whispering to Director Shin and that’s it.’

‘The related information was received by the Director, not me, first.’

‘But it would have been easier if you had given me a heads-up.’

This was nothing.

‘If something like that happened, you should have told me!’

‘I’m sorry. The President ordered it to be top secret…’

‘Thanks to that, I’m the only one who’s going to get chewed out for not approving the rummaging of that bastard Pavel’s head!’

The human figures he had encountered while rolling around at the Center naturally included the higher-ups. It wasn’t particularly surprising, as it was a reaction he had predicted to the point of being sick of it. It was just annoying that he had to repeat what he had already said.

If there was anything to be thankful for, it was that there were signs of things moving forward.

‘I heard you’re taking on this case, Director.’

‘To be precise, you and I are taking it on, Team Leader Yoon.’

Shin Ae-hi’s face looked refreshed, as if a nagging tooth had been pulled. It seemed she was pleased to have brought Director Gye’s nose down a peg.

‘Pavel is surprisingly cooperative.’

‘Have you found out about the negotiations?’

‘Do you think that’s important?’

‘Since he broke away from Monomorium because of it, it must be an important issue.’

Shin Ae-hi snorted, as if he didn’t know anything.

‘Team Leader Yoon is still young.’

‘..…’

‘The important thing is that Monomorium is in Seoul, and in this Center.’

‘It won’t be easy to ferret him out.’

‘Yes, it won’t be easy. A Shooter doesn’t give off a feeling when you look at them like Espers or Beastmen do. And he must have laundered his identity… It’s not difficult to change your face with today’s technology, is it?’

Yoon Taehwa just sat quietly and listened to Shin Ae-hi’s words.

‘But it’s a relief that he’s at the Center. It’ll be easier to weed him out. Wouldn’t that be better than searching all the citizens of Seoul?’

‘It seems he’s been active for quite a while… He might have access to a lot of internal information at the Center.’

‘It’s not difficult to make him move first.’

The lips that curled up into a smirk showed her confidence. Yoon Taehwa easily grasped Shin Ae-hi’s intention. There were two things that Monomorium was after in the Center.

‘You’re planning to use Pavel and me.’

‘Pavel first. The best thing is to catch him when he comes to kill Pavel. Since it’ll be convenient for him to move with his identity as a Center affiliate. Even if he doesn’t move himself, we’ll be able to catch his pawns.’

‘Are you going to leak different information this time as well?’

‘Yes. You tell your team members different information too.’

It meant that the members of Team 1 were also suspects, but Yoon Taehwa readily nodded his head. He cared for his team members, but he had no intention of being swept away by emotions and messing things up. He had already dealt with a traitor himself 5 years ago.

“Ha…”

Yoon Taehwa slowly exhaled cigarette smoke. They would be moving in earnest soon, so it was better to catch his breath, even for a moment. A dry hand flicked off the cigarette ash.

“The problem is Han Suryeon…”

Han Suryeon was still a member of Esper Team 1. In a situation where his identity had not been revealed, the Center couldn’t just step in and reveal his identity first.

‘There’s no need to reveal it, either.’

Yoon Taehwa stubbed out the cigarette that had grown short. Long fingers found a new cigarette and brought it between his lips. Instead of lighting it right away, he just held the cigarette.

‘What is Han Suryeon planning to do?’

The problem was that because they were always together, he sometimes mistook him for a fellow team member. He would find himself involving Han Suryeon in this incident without even realizing it.

Yoon Taehwa, out of habit, flicked the lighter on and off repeatedly.

Pavel had woken up, and the Center had also gotten what it could from him, so all Han Suryeon had to do was receive him and hand him over to the Russian side. The reason Monomorium had infiltrated the guild with Ants was also a situation where it could be easily found out through Pavel.

“I don’t know why he’s not saying anything.”

A red flame touched the white cigarette and then went out. Only then did Yoon Taehwa bring the cigarette between his fingers and tilt his head back. As he leaned his head against the chair, the night sky spread out even more vast.

Han Suryeon had no reason to stay in Korea. And yet, his actions made him look like a person who would stay in Korea until he caught Monomorium. The fact that the empty living room table had started to be filled with piles of all sorts of documents was also about half because of him.

Yoon Taehwa realized, anew, that his traces were increasing in his own house.

“I don’t think this is right…”

“What’s not right?”

Even at the voice that had come out of nowhere, he just rolled his eyes.

This was definitely not right. Including the fact that Han Suryeon had become able to come and go in his personal space as he pleased.

“I don’t think I should be like this with you.”

“Like this?”

“Don’t you think we’re too close?”

“I haven’t even gone next to you yet, Team Leader.”

He was saying it even though he had immediately understood what kind of ‘close’ he meant.

True to his word, ‘yet,’ Han Suryeon came closer. Right next to him. Regardless, Yoon Taehwa slowly inhaled and exhaled the smoke.

“When are you going back to Russia?”

“I’ll go when the Center hands over Pavel.”

“I’ll hand him over within this week.”

“It sounds like you’re telling me to go quickly, doesn’t it? There’s no way Director Shin will hand him over that easily. Unless she uses him as bait.”

Yoon Taehwa stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. His neatly drawn eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Haven’t you achieved your purpose for coming to Korea?”

“I wonder, I’ve achieved about half…”

Han Suryeon’s gaze went past his lips to the cigarette in the ashtray.

“Why do you keep trying to kick me out?”

“Because I’m getting too close to you.”

Yoon Taehwa answered in an indifferent tone. There was no reason to make up another excuse. It wasn’t a story limited to the physical act of kissing Han Suryeon and rubbing dicks. It was, so to speak, a story about a relationship.

“I like being close to you, Team Leader.”

Han Suryeon, who had drawn out the end of his words, whispered, his eyes crinkling. At his perfectly nonchalant reaction, Yoon Taehwa stroked his cheek and then took out the last remaining cigarette.

“Should I be honest?”

He beckoned with his hand and opened his mouth. The cigarette between his fingers shook up and down along with it.

“I don’t let people into my house like this.”

It was because of the risk of going rampant, but it was also because he was always hounded by people, so he was more comfortable being alone.

“But Han Suryeon’s traces keep increasing?”

“I don’t think I have any of my traces in your bedroom yet.”

“You’re shameless, for someone who crawls into my bedroom.”

Another person’s toothbrush, the blanket on the sofa, the things that were piling up in the empty guest room, they were all getting on his nerves. It was a kind of danger signal.

He should have noticed it from the day he had first brought Han Suryeon home, when his instincts hadn’t put him in the category of danger. He was dumbfounded by himself for only noticing it now.

“Is it a problem because I’m an Esper?”

Yoon Taehwa raised his eyebrows slightly, as if to ask what he meant.

“I think I’ve told you before. I don’t know if you can’t think of it that way because I’m an Esper, or if you’re ignoring it even though you know.”

A moment came to Yoon Taehwa’s mind as well. His answer was the latter.

“That’s why I’m prostrating myself in front of you, Team Leader.”

A saccharine voice continued.

“I don’t want to be put in my place by you, Team Leader, I want to mount you.”

For someone who was talking about mounting a fellow Esper, his face was extremely fresh.

“..…”

Yoon Taehwa, who had been chewing over those words for a few seconds, beckoned with his finger again. He was quick to grasp the situation. The same went for himself.

“I didn’t know I’d be that crazy bastard…”

He muttered to himself and bit the cigarette between his lips. As if he had taken it at some point, Han Suryeon struck a flint and lit a fire. His gaze was blatant.

Yoon Taehwa, without avoiding the insistent gaze, took a short drag of the cigarette smoke. Fire caught on the end of the white cigarette, and embers flared up like dying sparks and then disappeared.

A hand with a scar on it took away the cigarette that was bitten between his teeth. When he extended his arm, Han Suryeon smiled thinly and put the cigarette between his own lips. His pale cheeks hollowed, and gray smoke flowed out from between his red lips. It was similar to the color of his eyes, which were vivid even under the night sky.

“Cough.”

Despite his eyes reddening from the strong cigarette and even letting out a cough, his movement of inhaling the smoke was uninhibited.

“..…”

It was just the act of smoking a cigarette, but Yoon Taehwa instinctively recognized the nature that constituted Han Suryeon.

He was not afraid of anything, he had to do what he wanted to do to be satisfied, and he would get what he wanted by any means necessary.

“Han Suryeon.”

Their gazes were entangled. In a space where only the two of them existed, there was no need to call the other’s name. But Yoon Taehwa rolled the familiar three syllables on the tip of his tongue.

As if he had sensed something, Han Suryeon smiled broadly.

Yoon Taehwa’s nature was also the same. He was not afraid of anything. It was just that he had nothing he wanted to do, nothing he wanted to have. The instinct that he had pressed down bared its teeth sharply.

Han Suryeon, who had answered with a smile, brought the cigarette to his lips again. A heat rash bloomed on the cheek that was inhaling the smoke. Yoon Taehwa reached out his hand.

“Just like that…”

As he took away the cigarette that was bitten between his lips and tilted his head askew, Han Suryeon raised the corners of his mouth and created a smiling face. The crumbling face was quite a sight.

“Swallow.”

Yoon Taehwa commanded, grabbing and pulling apart his cheek. When he mixed their tongues, he could clearly taste the cigarette he had been smoking.

Of course, I have to have what I want.

His inescapable nature was like that. It was too tempting to pass up for the simple reason that it was harmful.