SOG Ch 109

Shall I have one more? Hye-in stared at the muttering Seon Jae-chan in bewilderment, then let go of his chin as if pushing him away. Jae-chan just kept stroking his chin where a red mark remained. Hye-in was infuriated. There was no way that his words were sincere; it was clearly an excuse, and he was definitely being reckless.

“Hey… hey, vomit it! Why aren’t you vomiting…!”

Gyeong Chang-hyun, whose eyes were wide open at the sudden incident, grabbed Jae-chan and shook him.

“Miss, let’s go to the hospital! Let’s go to the hospital right away… !”

He could feel some glances reaching out to me as the commotion continued from earlier. Jae-chan tapped Chang-hyun’s back of the hand to calm him down.

Jae-chan knew a lot about TZ. When he personally saw the victim who sued Chang-hyun, he confirmed that her symptoms were almost no different from what he knew. Additionally, it was a drug that had no significant side effects after taking it once or twice. The symptoms of addiction will be mild, but he could endure it.

In other words, he clearly knew the symptoms and side effects of taking the drug and swallowed it. He took the drug after weighing the pros and cons.

Meanwhile, Hye-in, who had been stiff, smiled again.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone who eats right away when told to.’

She glanced at the seemingly unharmed guide with a tilted head. From her bag, she pulled out a second vial.

“I didn’t know you were really going to eat it. This is something like an antidote.”

Hye-in shrugged her shoulders.

She was annoyed by the sudden appearance of a variable and wanted to vent her frustration at the new situation that had arisen. Go Woo-jin didn’t know that the guide, who treated him like a mistress, would swallow the drug in one go.

However, the absurdity didn’t end there. Seon Jae-chan had stubbornly refused the antidote offered to him.

“It’s okay. Just keep your promise.”

“…You’ll keep it? Then eat it quickly.”

Hye-in gestured towards the antidote. Jae-chan shook his head and said something else.

“How can I trust whether you will keep your promise or not?”

Hye-in, with an annoyed look on her face, threw her unlocked cell phone on the table. It was a touch so careless that it seemed like she didn’t care if the screen cracked.

Jae-chan noticed and entered his number there. He made a call using his cell phone and saved Kyeong Hye-in’s number.

“Please tell me your name.”

“GyeongHye-in.”

Although he already knew, Jae-chan asked as a test, and Hye-in answered without hesitation. She was still anxious because Seon Jae-chan hadn’t taken the antidote.

“Why aren’t you taking it?”

“I don’t have any other requests now.”

Hye-in couldn’t believe his attitude of not accepting the antidote as part of the deal.

Meanwhile, Jae-chan was a little nervous, although he didn’t show it. While he knew about TZ, the second drug was a new type for him. Was it really an antidote, or a catalyst? He couldn’t be sure.

Although Hye-in’s attitude seemed genuine, Jae-chan had encountered all sorts of deceptions in the past. Moreover, the other party was an unusual figure possibly connected to the Black Swan.

“her.”

Hye-in felt troubled when she saw the guide holding on. What if he fell down like that? What if Go Woo-jin came to pick a fight with here?

“Please just make sure things get done.”

“You’re really boring.”

Hye-in looked annoyed and retrieved the antidote. Chang-hyun, who had been unsure what to do between the two, looked disappointedly at the antidote. He couldn’t understand why Jae-chan wasn’t taking it, but considering the current situation, Jae-chan seemed much better off than him, so he chose to stay quiet. There must be a reason.

Hye-in got up after taking the drug. After she completely left the store, Jae-chan grabbed Gyeong Chang-hyun.

“Take responsibility for me.”

“Of course. … L-Let’s go to the hospital first.”

Chang-hyun tried to lift Jae-chan, who had become his benefactor.

“Just a moment.”

Jae-chan shook his head.

“…?”

“I’m dizzy… . A bit later.”

Jae-chan suddenly looked up. The CCTV light on the side blurs and splits into two. It was a sign the effects of the drug were kicking in.

He squinted his eyes to clear his dizzying vision and stared out the store window with the franchise logo attached. Across the two-lane road, the same gray sedan was still parked in the same spot.

The motionless car crouched in darker hues, perhaps because it was getting darker.

Then, his phone vibrated. Jae-chan checked the caller ID with a hand that felt numb as if he were wearing a glove.

[Go Woo-jin]

He stared at the name that appeared on the screen. As his senses weren’t completely dulled yet, he could still make a call to Woo-jin with just a flick of his thumb.

Nevertheless, Jae-chan only kept his eyes on the name of the person he was waiting for the most these days. He returned the persistently ringing phone back into his pocket without answering.

“Hey, let’s go to the hospital.”

It was when Chang-hyun, who had been restless, grabbed Jae-chan’s elbow again. Jae-chan’s gaze flickered. With the outside darkening abruptly, the vividly lit rustic store was clearly visible on the glass wall. The figure of someone approaching slowly overlapped with that shadow.

Seon Eun-soo was approaching like a nightmare come true.

“… What.”

He heard Gyeong Chang-hyun’s voice sounding very wary. Seon Eun-soo’s soft voice.

“I happened to see it while passing by. It looks like Jae-chan ate something. Did he eat something bad?”

Seon Eun-soo, who had clearly witnessed his younger brother swallowing a blue pill outside the store with his superior Esper’s vision, made a seemingly worried voice.

Chang-hyun’s mouth twisted. He had become distrustful of Seon Eun-soo after the incident where his first Esper, Lee Hyo-hee, sued Seon Eun-soo. It seemed that Seon Jae-chan also didn’t like his older brother very much. He couldn’t possibly tell him what had happened in this situation.

“Go. We’ll handle it ourselves.”

“I will hear the answer directly from Jae-chan. Jae-chan.”

“…”

“Why is this guy not answering?”

“Where does it hurt?” Seon Eun-soo, with a benevolent expression, reached out toward Jae-chan’s forehead as if to check for a fever. Due to the seating arrangement, Chang-hyun had no choice but to pass by, and he irritably pushed away that hand.

“Get lost. I’ll take him to the hospital.”

However, it was not easy to push Esper away. Chang-hyun was annoyed with himself for being so flustered. No matter how disoriented Jae-chan was, he shouldn’t have stayed here; he should have taken him straight to the hospital.

Seon Eun-soo smiled, pretending not to notice Chang-hyun’s confusion.

“If we need to go to the hospital, then it’s even more reason for me to take responsibility. I’m family, after all, and his guardian.”

Meanwhile, Jae-chan, whose eyes were wandering here and there, thought that the effects of the drug would end soon. His head didn’t seem to be functioning properly, as if it were packed with cotton. His limbs didn’t feel like his own. Was this how it felt to be detached from reality?

Fvck, what are you doing! Jae-chan’s body was lifted and swayed helplessly while Chang-hyun was swearing. In a moment of dizziness, Jae-chan recognized the hand forcefully hugging him.

“…”

His shoulders and waist were grabbed and he was lifted up like a doll.

Even though he was likely quite heavy as an adult man, Seon Eun-soo easily handled him as he was an A-class Esper. Chang-hyun, who had been going wild and swearing, suddenly became quiet.

Perhaps Seon Eun-soo had already attempted to take control of his mind.

This is really crazy. Jae-chan laughed even though his sense of reason seemed to be fading away.

“Jae-chan. Look here.”

A whispering voice close to his ear. The voice was already imbued with unpleasant energy, intent on using him as a puppet.

Trying to make eye contact was an attempt to solidify psychic domination even further. Jae-chan obediently raised his gaze. He tried to half accept and half let go of the sticky sensations creeping into his mind. It was quite a struggle, considering that what should have been as easy as breathing became quite a task when his condition wasn’t normal.

In any case, Seon Eun-soo seemed to have come to think that Jae-chan was completely under control. Judging by the satisfied murmurs under his overly prominent nose.

‘…I’m fine with it too, hyung.’

Jae-chan muttered to himself, hiding his anger. He looked up and checked again the location of the CCTV and the glances of people glancing at him.

Jae-chan, who had been gathering materials to attack Seon Eun-soo along with the civic group ‘United Freedom Alliance,’ which had been wary of the abuse of abilities by psychic Espers, was feeling disappointed. The reason for the complaint from a practitioner of the United Freedom Alliance was as follows:

‘As you instructed, we’ve gathered testimonies from the victims, but there’s a bit of a lack of evidence in crucial areas. This is visible evidence that Esper Seon Eun-soo abused his psychic abilities.’

If things continued this way, it would only mark Seon Eun-soo as a sexual offender, and it wouldn’t deal a decisive blow to the introduction of the legislation on the use of psychic abilities in psychic realms that the United Freedom Alliance wanted to oppose. Jae-chan didn’t want it to go that way. It would be much better if Seon Eun-soo were convicted not just as a common criminal but as a sexual offender who had misused psychic abilities for crimes.