Chapter 92 – An Unexpected Face (Part One)

Sunlight streamed through the window, rousing Il-hyeon from his slumber.

He kicked off the covers and got out of bed.

As he habitually started to leave the room, he flinched, startled by something soft under his foot.

“Ah. Sorry, I forgot.”

Il-hyeon scratched his messy, bed-headed hair in embarrassment.

It was Seo Jeong-hwa, wrapped up like a cocoon in a blanket on the floor below his bed.

“So you were sleeping after all. Time to get up.”

Il-hyeon checked the time on the clock and nudged her again.

When he yanked the blanket off, Seo Jeong-hwa was revealed, sleeping soundly with her hands tied.

It was a scene that would inspire some serious misunderstandings, but he had only tied her up in the same room to prevent her from escaping or attacking while he slept.

He couldn’t fully trust her yet.

“Why are you waking me up so early?!”

“What do you mean, ‘so early’? Do you know what time it is?”

Il-hyeon scoffed at Seo Jeong-hwa, who was yelling without even being able to open her eyes properly.

It was the first time he had a schedule since his disciplinary action, so he had to leave soon.

There was a reason Seo Jeong-hwa was unexpectedly sleeping at his house.

After stopping the terrorist attack and the Gate at Yeouido Park, a decision had been made to keep her existence top secret.

It was decided after a discussion with Lee Soo-yeon and other relevant executives.

The judgment was that she would be a crucial key, as she was the only captured terrorist who hadn’t taken her own life.

Because of this, after the incidents were wrapped up, she was taken directly to Il-hyeon’s house, bypassing the heavily watched Aegis headquarters.

An expert in mental-type abilities and her examination were scheduled to happen at their destination for the day.

Though he hadn’t been told the exact location or why they had to go to another country.

All Lee Soo-yeon had told him was that he would find out when they got there.

Il-hyeon untied her hands and helped her up.

“Why is this house so big? What a strange taste.”

Seo Jeong-hwa said, shaking her head as she came out into the living room and looked around.

It was big enough for at least ten people to live in; she still couldn’t understand it.

She wouldn’t know, but for Il-hyeon, who usually lived with three people and his summons, the space had to be large.

Right now, Hyeon-seo and Seong-won were staying out because their work was so busy.

“The Ether Cores for the cat…”

Il-hyeon went into another room and rummaged through a box full of cores.

The numerous cores were sorted by output rank. Most were low-rank, but there were also two incredibly valuable A-rank cores.

Of course, most of them were for his permanently summoned creatures.

While they didn’t require any extra power to maintain, he had to make sure to feed them cores regularly, as if it were their meals.

Even if Hyeon-seo, Seong-won, or other team members took care of the ones out in the field, he had to separately ship cores for the cat he’d left with his parents.

The poor thing had to secretly receive and eat the cores he sent every week while also putting up with the unpalatable cat food.

“Hey, I’m hungry.”

Seo Jeong-hwa burst through the door.

“Did you leave your meals in my care? You seem to be getting more and more shameless.”

“This is how I’ve always been. If I agreed to cooperate, you should treat me right. You said I was important, didn’t you?”

“When did you overhear that?”

Shaking his head, Il-hyeon got up.

* * *

Il-hyeon and Seo Jeong-hwa, both wearing baseball caps pulled down low, entered Incheon Airport.

If this had been an official trip, they would have flown directly to another country on an Aegis transport plane, but Il-hyeon was officially under disciplinary action.

They had to make it look like he was simply traveling abroad, and even then, they were departing as quietly as possible to avoid being noticed.

The media was too preoccupied with the recent terrorist incident to pay him their usual attention.

“The atmosphere is tense.”

An airport was a prime target that terrorists would be eyeing, so security was tight right from the entrance.

Although Il-hyeon, an Awakened from Aegis, passed through easily with his ID, soldiers and what appeared to be government-affiliated Awakened were visible throughout the airport.

“But what on earth are these things?”

Seo Jeong-hwa asked, pointing to her shoulders.

Perched on each of her shoulders was a white weasel wearing a black fedora.

They were admittedly cute, but as someone who wasn’t fond of animals, she wasn’t particularly thrilled.

“They’re my summons. Even when I’m not looking, you’d better not try anything funny. They’re stronger than you.”

“What? No way. What do you take me for?”

Seo Jeong-hwa said, glaring at him in disbelief.

Two ridiculous weasels being stronger than her.

After all, within her organization, she had been considered one of the stronger Awakened.

“Believe it or not, I don’t care.”

Il-hyeon’s response was indifferent.

They might look like strange pet weasels in ill-fitting fedoras, but the reality was different.

He had invested a considerable amount of power to summon them before coming to the airport, and they had even been fed high-rank Ether Cores to make them permanent.

Now he didn’t have to worry about her trying anything suspicious while he was asleep.

At his reaction, Seo Jeong-hwa sulkily glared at the weasel on her left shoulder.

“This doesn’t suit you at all. Ouch!”

The weasel sharply slapped away her pointing finger.

For such tiny creatures, their wrist strength was incredible; her finger was throbbing.

The weasels perched on her shoulders were feistier than they looked.

“You little…!”

Biting her lip hard, Seo Jeong-hwa clenched and unclenched the hand that had been hit, trying to suppress her anger.

If she caused a scene with so many people around, she might get caught by the grim-faced government Awakened on guard and have her identity exposed. It was humiliating, but she had to endure it.

She was lucky to have met Il-hyeon, who was at least reasonable. If she had been captured by the government, they might have used harsh torture to make her talk.

‘I want to get out of this situation too.’

She tried not to get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help but wonder if, by some stroke of luck, things worked out, she might be able to return to a normal life.

Knowing the inner workings of the massive organization, she was well aware that it was a sliver of hope, but she didn’t want to let it go.

Just then, the phone in Il-hyeon’s pocket rang.

He checked the caller ID. It was Lee Soo-yeon, who should be in Eastern Europe by now.

“Timjang?”

-Yes, where are you now?

“We’re at the airport.”

-Were there any problems during the night?

“Well… not really.”

Il-hyeon glanced at Seo Jeong-hwa, who was bickering and engaged in a war of nerves with the two weasels.

Other than having to keep an eye on her constantly, there were no major issues.

He was being cautious because he wasn’t sure about her, but it didn’t seem like she was planning to attack or cause trouble suddenly.

“How are things on your end?”

-We just finished one. We can finally catch our breath. Hyeon-seo was in top condition today.

“That’s a relief. By the way, we’ve come this far. Isn’t it about time you told us where we’re going and why?”

-You’ll find out when you get there.

“Give me a break…”

The answer was the same as before.

She had said it was something originally scheduled that had been moved up because of the recent incident, but he was dying of curiosity about what kind of job she was sending him on.

-Anyway, I’m glad there were no problems. But you never know when or where those bastards might attack, so always be careful.

“Yes, I understand.”

After a brief exchange, he hung up the phone.

Il-hyeon took a moment to scan his surroundings, heightening his senses.

He was checking for any suspicious movements or objects that could be explosives.

‘I definitely need to stay on my toes.’

The incident at the park had been resolved one way or another, but he’d been hit by a nullification weapon, unable to use his powers. The slightest mistake could have gotten him killed.

Of course, the main reason was his lack of knowledge about the anti-Awakened weapon he’d encountered for the first time, but Il-hyeon knew well that such excuses were useless in a real fight.

‘Hm?’

Just then, he sensed several people who seemed to be Awakened approaching them at a brisk pace.

Sure enough, a group of Awakened in black Defensive Coats swarmed toward them.

“Stop right there!”

“Hands up!”

It didn’t take long for five Awakened to surround Il-hyeon and Seo Jeong-hwa.

As the men, who had even drawn their swords, shouted, a startled Seo Jeong-hwa warily backed away from them.

“What… what is this? You want a fight?”

“Aah!”

The sudden commotion sent the surrounding crowd scattering in all directions.

In the past, a crowd of onlookers might have gathered to see what was happening, but in these times of heightened sensitivity to terrorism, everyone ran without a second glance.

Il-hyeon raised his arm and pushed down Seo Jeong-hwa’s raised fist.

Seeing that the police on the perimeter weren’t intervening, he figured they weren’t from a criminal organization.

“What’s this about?”

Il-hyeon raised his hands slightly and gestured with his eyes for Seo Jeong-hwa to do the same.

“We received a report. Don’t move.”

Seeing their unexpectedly cooperative response, the Awakened eased their aggressive stance slightly.

The fact that they weren’t carrying any visible weapons also helped.

However, not ruling out the possibility of hidden explosives, they used equipment to check for Ether reactions before searching them and taking their passports and IDs.

“Dammit, what’s going on?”

Seo Jeong-hwa’s eyes darted around in confusion.

She had been letting her guard down, at least concerning the government, so she never expected something like this.

They checked Seo Jeong-hwa’s passport and ID but found nothing unusual. The forgeries, provided by her organization in preparation for the attack, were exceptionally well-made.

Then they checked Il-hyeon’s ID and were quite taken aback.

It was Kang Il-hyeon of Aegis, a high-ranker whose name had been popping up frequently lately.

Looking closely at the face partially hidden by the baseball cap, they saw it really was him.

“Kang Il-hyeon…?”

“I think we’ve got the wrong guy.”

“But the situation room said they were certain.”

The once-confident Awakened began to mutter amongst themselves, clearly caught off guard.

Il-hyeon stepped forward as they were busy talking to each other.

“Are we done here?”

“Ah, I apologize. We’re sorry for the trouble. You personally stopped the terrorist attack, so you’re free to go. However, the woman with you will have to come with us. We ask for your cooperation.”

At the man’s clear words, the color drained from Seo Jeong-hwa’s face.

She looked desperately at Il-hyeon, her eyes pleading with him to somehow resolve the situation.

“How long will it take?”

“Just identity verification and a couple of tests. It should only take a few hours.”

“Our flight is about to take off.”

“We can’t do anything about that. Given the circumstances, we must insist on your cooperation.”

Il-hyeon sighed inwardly, searching for a way to break through this sudden impasse.

If Seo Jeong-hwa was taken away and her identity was revealed, things would get complicated in many ways.

It didn’t seem like they would let her go easily with some excuse, but using force against government Awakened wasn’t a good option either.

At that moment, a woman strode in from the entrance, her coat tails fluttering behind her.

“Oh my, fancy seeing you here.”

“Seo… Seol Ah-yeong?”

A confident voice and a pretty face, even at a glance.

To his surprise, the woman who had appeared before him was the Team 1 Timjang of the Government Response Team, Seol Ah-yeong.