Chapter 47

“What is this…? No way, right? Ugh, it can’t be.”

Haon resisted the rising flesh-colored memories. Surely, that couldn’t be true. His memories must be manipulated somehow.

Even though he denied it, the simultaneous realization that he was doomed was instinctive, acknowledging his impending downfall.

Haon wrapped his head in his hands, feeling despair wash over him.

“What do I do? I’m going crazy. I’m losing it.”

Fragments of memories from last night surfaced. Despite not being complete, they were all rated R.

Even recalling them vaguely was alarming enough, and he dared not imagine how much more intense the actual events might have been.

Now he finally understood why Cha Yugeon was so angry. After going wild all night, only to wake up with no recollection whatsoever, it was understandable that Cha Yugeon would be frustrated.

“I’m truly a piece of trash…”

A lament mixed with despair echoed through the quiet hallway before fading away.

* * *

“Aaargh! You crazy bastard! Aaargh!”

Haon, burying his face in the pillow, intermittently convulsed.

At first, Sang-deok was startled and meowed as if asking ‘What’s wrong?’ But now, with the recurring screams, he seemed accustomed to it and paid no attention.

Realizing that the spots on his body were not allergies but traces of last night’s events, Haon promptly returned to his dormitory.

That was fortunate, at least.

Before going to the hospital for an examination, he remembered what had happened. He almost bragged to the whole world about the wild night he had had. The mere thought was terrifying.

However, even with this relief, he still felt desperate. The accident had already happened. Haon screamed again, raking his hair in frustration.

“Aaargh, why did I do that, why!”

He asked his past self hundreds of times, but there was no answer. If only he could turn back time.

But that was impossible.

“Should I… erase the memories?”

Perhaps that would be better. He didn’t know much about it, but there might be espers in the Center who could manipulate memories. If reversing what had already happened wasn’t possible, erasing the memories might be a better option.

“…But then what? Cha Yugeon would still remember. Damn it…”

Even that wasn’t a perfect solution. If Cha Yugeon remembered, erasing only his own memories would only half the solution, or perhaps even less than that. And he couldn’t drag Cha Yugeon along to erase their memories together.

Despite calling himself trash, Haon wouldn’t stoop so low.

“How will Cha Yugeon react…?”

Yes, that was the real problem.

Actually, he could pretend to be crazy and suggest to Yugeon, ‘Since last night was a mistake, let’s forget it’, and suggest erasing their memories. But to do that, he had to meet Cha Yugeon again. Or at least leave a message. However, he couldn’t bring himself to see Cha Yugeon again in any way. Actually, he didn’t even know if erasing memories was possible.

“Crazy bastard, crazy bastard, aaaaaargh!”

He convulsed again. As time passed, more fragments of memories came to him. With each one, his despair only grew. What he did, what he thought with each memory that came to mind was beyond desperate.

“What do I do? What should I do!”

He hoped there wouldn’t be any dispatch, but he knew he couldn’t keep this up forever. If a dispatch came, he would have to forcibly meet Cha Yugeon again. Haon hoped that a gate wouldn’t open, or any rampaging espers.

But as always, God wasn’t on Haon’s side.

—Beep. Beep. Beep. Emergency situation. Emergency situation. Prepare for dispatch. Prepare for dispatch.

“Aaargh, FUCKKK!”

Just as he finished hoping there wouldn’t be a dispatch, the call for dispatch sounded as if mocking Haon. Normally, Haon would have jumped up reflexively and rushed out immediately, but now, despite the noisy call, he lay motionless on the bed, not moving.

“…Uhhhh, this sucks!”

But that didn’t last long either. Knowing that the longer he delayed, the bigger the damage would be, whether it was a monster attack or a rampaging esper, Haon reluctantly got up after a few seconds and rushed out.

During the journey to the helicopter, Haon thought of a thousand ways to make meeting Cha Yugeon a little less despair-inducing. His conclusion was to act as if he remembered nothing at all.

Haon took a deep breath. “I don’t know anything, I don’t know anything. I don’t remember anything from last night.”

He repeated these words many times.

But the more he did, the clearer the memories became, driving him mad.

Then Cha Yugeon appeared. He approached with a stern face, then frowned upon seeing Haon. Despite Haon’s numerous attempts to show that he didn’t remember anything, his face flushed crimson, and he quickly turned away from Cha Yugeon.

It was clear to anyone that there was something wrong. The nature of that “something” was too lascivious, making it problematic. Haon once again buried his face in his hands as even more fragments of memories resurfaced.

“Mr. Park Haon, please board.”

Reality was not lenient at all. In this life-or-death moment, the boarding gate attendant urged Haon. Haon raised his head with his palms stained with tears. Cha Yugeon hadn’t boarded yet. Haon hurriedly boarded the helicopter.

But even after boarding, Haon, like a lost puppy, paced around his seat, not knowing what to do. Though he managed to sit as far away from Cha Yugeon as possible, his heart pounded wildly. Cha Yugeon’s face was vaguely visible diagonally in front of him. Haon’s cheeks flushed red just by looking at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh, Huh… Oh it’s Mr. Baek Chan-kyung…Yes, yes… I’m fine.”

Even after sitting down, Haon didn’t know what to do and fidgeted nervously. Someone approaching him startled him.

Fortunately, it was Baek Chan-kyung. Finally meeting him after a long time, Baek Chan-kyung had truly grown into his status as an S-rank esper, he looked great in his uniform.

“Can I sit next to you?”

“Huh? Oh, yes… Yes, please.”

Though he wanted to be alone, maybe being with Baek Chan-kyung now would be better. Perhaps talking to someone else would be a little better than struggling with his memories alone.

“Are you hurt?”

“Oh, no, it’s not that…”

“If it’s not that, then what’s wrong?”

Baek Chan-kyung’s worried expression only made Haon more distressed. He wished he hadn’t asked anything.

“It’s nothing, really… It’s nothing.”

Haon replied as he had repeatedly reminded himself. But deep down, he was screaming, ‘It’s not nothing! You crazy bastard!’ Haon was tortured by his own anguish.

Just as Haon was suffering, a crackling sound signaled the start of a transmission from Director Han.

—You are heading to Jeju Island. A Gate has been generated in front of Jeju Island, and various underwater monsters, including a giant kraken, are appearing. The gate will close in about 5 minutes, but as around a hundred monsters have already come out, please dispose of them quickly. Especially since the area is the sea, there is a high possibility that the monsters will swim to other areas, so please make sure not to miss any monsters.

As serious as the situation seemed, Haon felt sorry for Director Han, but he would rather face dozens or even hundreds of monsters. That way, his mind would be focused on fighting monsters, and he wouldn’t have other thoughts.

But even that was just a temporary solution. To forget the memories of last night, Haon would have to face every single monster that appeared in front of Jeju Island today. Or perhaps he would be hit hard during the fight and have his memories erased. Maybe that would be better. While seriously considering this, the helicopter transformed to hover over the sea.

—Then, we’ll leave it to you.

With Director Han’s final instructions, the door of the helicopter opened, landing above the sea.