SOG Ch 101

“Yeah.”

Jae-chan confirmed. An incident involving a drug group was something that was likely to happen in the next year, but it seemed like it would be a good idea to prepare in advance.

He made eye contact with Woo-jin again. Previously, it was impossible to discern what was going on in Woo-jin’s mind, but at this moment, everything seemed crystal clear to Jae-chan.

And such a gaze was like a flame to him. Feeling the fire igniting in his chest, Jae-chan pulled Woo-jin closer without hesitation. Fatigue was forgotten.

“Let’s just do it one more time and sleep.”

Truly the last time. Woo-jin burst out laughing at Jae-chan’s emphasized words. This time, their lips were tightly pressed together without anyone saying anything first.

The next morning after spending the night like that. Even though both of them had a day off, Jae-chan quietly slipped out of bed around 9 o’clock.

As Jae-chan was getting dressed and grabbing his wallet, Woo-jin sensed a presence and opened his sleepy eyes, under his disheveled hair.

“… What are you doing?”

“Ah… Go back to sleep.”

Feeling sorry for waking him up but unable to resist his beauty, Jae-chan approached the bedside and gently stroked his hair.

He intended to continue until Woo-jin fell asleep. However, Woo-jin, pulling Jae-chan’s hand and giving him a brief kiss, sat up abruptly. Blinking slowly with still drowsy eyes, he asked.

“Why are you up so early?”

“I’m going swimming.”

“Swimming?”

“Yeah. I thought I’d go buy a swimsuit.”

Actually, he had been itching to dive into the pool every time they stayed at a hotel. Since he was prone to leaving marks on his body, using the public pool was a bit uncomfortable, but luckily, this room came with a private pool on the terrace.

Five minutes later, despite looking sleepy, Woo-jin followed Jae-chan with a clear complexion. Twenty minutes later, they were both jumping into the mirror-clear pool water.

As he dived like a seal and happily played pranks on Woo-jin, Jae-chan felt a little disappointed.

‘I heard there was unlimited alcohol.’

When staying in an expensive room, there were often benefits that came with it.

Still, he had insisted on swimming (originally, he was planning on just quietly splashing in the water by himself until Woo-jin woke up), so it didn’t seem right to push for more activities.

Thinking about it, he suddenly became worried and approached Woo-jin to ask.

“Aren’t you bored?”

“Nah. I’m having fun.”

Woo-jin answered, brushing up his wet hair. Then he reached out his hand and properly fixed Jae-chan’s swimming goggles, which were worn comically like a headband.

Contrary to Jae-chan’s concerns, Woo-jin was thinking about something else. Even though Jae-chan was having fun diving, he would often look down at the main swimming pool, which was clearly visible beneath the transparent glass wall. It was clear Jae-chan wanted to play in the big pool.

Woo-jin looked down at Jae-chan, who was wet and shiny with water. Red marks remain on the nape of the neck, shoulders, chest, and stomach. Even though Woo-jin couldn’t see it, his back was probably the same. He thought he should be careful not to leave marks next time.

The two people enjoyed playing in the water to their heart’s content, even extending check-out, and left the hotel around 2 p.m. Jae-chan, who was very satisfied as it was his first time playing in the water in several years, waved excitedly at the back entrance of the center as usual to see Woo-jin off.

Still, the excitement that felt like he was floating on a cloud did not go away, so he went for an afternoon jog along the course leading to his accommodation.

When he returned to the room, he was truly exhausted, but Jae-chan’s heart was still racing. He rested his head on the pillow, his lips curling up slightly. Each day with Woo-jin was incredibly fascinating.

The bright autumn sunlight poured through the vertical blinds. A bright smile hung on Jae-chan’s lips, then slowly faded as he fell asleep, peacefully.

*

However, the peace was short-lived, and as the end of September approached, a series of events occurred that disrupted Seon Jae-chan’s daily life.

[Esper Seon Eun-soo has returned to Korea.]

First, Jae-chan received news from his long-dormant father’s research team that Seon Eun-soo, who had been in the United States, had completed facial reconstruction and plastic surgery. It had been a whopping nine months.

Sure enough, the next day, Jae-chan’s cell phone started ringing non-stop.

[11 missed calls

-Unknown Number]

However, Seon Eun-soo’s behavior pattern has changed a bit. Instead of calling until dozens of missed notifications piled up every day like before, he stopped at around ten calls and started sending dozens of photos.

[(picture)

(picture)

…

(picture)

2:31 PM]

The images were grotesque. He didn’t know where Eun-soo found it, but he sent him a series of creepy and hateful photos of skin with staples, eyeballs tangled like grapes, and split tongues.

‘Outrageous.’

Jae-chan chuckled. What a middle schooler. Going abroad seemed to only increase his perverted tendency.

Jae-chan started making backups of the messages. He also didn’t forget to save each image carefully. Despite feeling nauseated, he knew these valuable evidence could be useful, so he even blew a kiss to the screen.

Rumors about Seon Eun-soo’s return to Korea accelerated in early October when he immediately returned to the Center.

“I heard that Esper Seon Eun-soo returned to work?”

Even while leisurely having lunch at a bone soup restaurant near the main gate of the center with Yu-ram, a talk about Seon Eun-soo came up. It was a day without counter-terrorism training lectures. Since the Seon brothers were known to have a smooth relationship publicly, Yu-ram brought up the topic.

“By any chance… Did Esper Seon really have nose plastic surgery?”

Jae-chan, who was holding a bowl of rice, almost dropped the rice on the table when he heard Yu-ram’s cautious voice. He couldn’t hold back the laughter that burst out.

“Is it a bit inappropriate to ask about that?”

Yu-ram looked at Jae-chan’s reaction and showed him a URL using her cell phone. It was sent by the informant Team 9 guide, who had close ties with Jae-chan.

“People were reacting so unusually.”

It was a photo posted on Seon Eun-soo’s SNS and hundreds of comments below it. It was all about the nose.

In the photo, Seon Eun-soo was raising his chin at a side angle, basking in the sunlight with his nose prominently displayed. Who even took these kinds of photos?

It was really all about his nose. Jae-chan knew that Seon Eun-soo had always admired his high nose bridge, but this seemed a bit excessive.

“How is the research going?”

Jae-chan swallowed his laughter and asked to change the topic.

Yu-ram, who barely looked up from her phone at the sound of that voice, suddenly felt her eyes brighten. Was it because she was looking at a smoother nose instead of the burdensome one?

‘Was Jae-chan always like this?’

She chuckled, scrutinizing her colleague’s face. While his black-and-white eyes and delicate facial features were no different from usual, there was something subtly more captivating about him. If she had to describe it, it felt like he was ripe with love…?

‘Ah, I’m thinking too much.’

She shook her head and took a sip of her hot soup.

“I’ll tell you. Listen and don’t make fun of me.”

When she started speaking seriously, Jae-chan nodded. Yu-ram swallowed the hot soup with large barley pods and continued speaking.

“The research topic is ‘The correlation between sperm activity and the manifestation of abilities.’ When frozen…”

While Yu-Ram was explaining, she noticed Jae-chan avoiding her gaze for some reason.

In fact, Yu-ram also found the topic of her research team to be a bit absurd. She knew others would find it amusing too. However, she spoke confidently.

“Oh, talking about sperm? No need to be embarrassed. You were once a sperm too.”

“Well, of course. I was once a sperm too.”

Jae-chan muttered. It was a moment when he became distraught, thinking about his father Seon Min-yeol.

“How about it? Do you think the higher sperm activity, the higher the probability of manifesting abilities?”

Yu-ram asked. He wanted to say that he would bet there was no correlation, but Seon Jae-chan just smiled. He seemed to be encouraging her, so Yu-ram smiled back.

Jae-chan was lost in thought as he watched Yu-ram add rice to her bowl.

‘Just when I thought she didn’t have a future, she fell into a researching.’

In fact, Park Yu-ram seemed to be more interested in academics than guiding, enough to volunteer at the library. Her subsequent explanation provided further evidence.

“It might seem ridiculous, but this is just the beginning. I’m planning to move to District 5 next year for more in-depth research participation.”

Yu-ram explained that she planned to serve as a research esper guide as well. Jae-chan’s thoughts immediately turned to his aunt Gu Jie-eun, who was also planning to move to District 5 next year.

Meanwhile, Yu-ram felt relieved after explaining her situation. Yu-ram opened up further.

“To be honest, I’m anxious. Wouldn’t it be a waste of effort, or would staying in District 1 be the right choice?”

All kinds of worries were overwhelming.

Yu-ram took off her glasses and wiped away the fog from the edges of the lenses. She looked at Jae-chan again with a clearer vision and continued speaking.

“At least I’m doing something.”

Though she may have wandered aimlessly without a clear direction, she was still moving forward in some way. Finding solace in this thought, Yu-ram nodded to herself.

After a brief moment of silence, Jae-chan nodded in agreement. A smile formed on Yu-ram’s lips, and Jae-chan smiled along.

Suddenly, it occurred to him that this was an opportunity.

‘The nuclear power plant incident would not have suddenly occurred.’

Before a big event happened, there were usually more than a dozen small signs. If they were lucky, Yu-ram and his Aunt might be able to catch those signs quickly.

“I’ll come visit.”

“Huh? To District 5?”

“Yeah. My aunt is going there next year too.”

Yu-ram blinked, then lifted her nose high and said, “You’re always welcome if you bring me something delicious.” Jae-chan responded by putting his hands together and saying, “It’s an honor.”

“Are you going to eat with Gyeong Chang-hyun again starting next year? He said he doesn’t like eating alone.”

“Well…”

At that moment, a notification flashed on Yu-ram’s phone beside the additional rice.