“Did you come back?”
“I told you to speak casually.”
Despite Nam Ju-hyeon’s words, Lee Hye-won, no, Lee Hee-won shook her head. She intended to maintain an appropriate distance from the person in front of her.
“By the way, where exactly did you go? Mr. Smith even asked me to protect Nam Ju-hyeon, it’s troublesome if you act on your own like this.”
It’s a task entrusted to her by ‘that’ Mr. Smith. As a benefactor to whom she owed her life, Lee Hee-won intended to carry out this mission very diligently until she returned to Sirius.
At Lee Hee-won’s words, Nam Ju-hyeon smiled ambiguously and said:
“Hmm, Mr. Smith. So he introduced himself to you with that name.”
At those words, Lee Hee-won sighed. He even gave different aliases! Though she knew from when he first used the alias Smith, as expected of that person.
“It’s sloppy, isn’t it?”
“Yes, incredibly.”
Nam Ju-hyeon nodded immediately.
After realizing he had no intention of harming her, her tension eased and she started treating him casually bit by bit, but he accepted it all. When he said to tell him anything she needed, she said she was craving cake, and he even bought her cake.
She barely suppressed the laughter rising inside when he grumbled that there was even a 30-minute wait.
“Actually, I was a bit scared of that person at first.”
“Really?”
Was Mr. Smith’s impression scary? He’s a bit eccentric, not very reliable, and quite suspicious, but not scary, is he?
Nam Ju-hyeon burst out laughing at Lee Hee-won’s expression.
“Hahaha!”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Ah, I think I know what kind of image that person has for Lee Hee-won. Ah, and I completely agree with that thought! At first, he seemed like, how should I say it, a complete villain…”
“A villain?”
“No, I mean! The situation I was in at that time was just perfect for misunderstanding.”
After saying that, Nam Ju-hyeon immediately muttered softly, ‘No, is it not a misunderstanding?’ Not realizing Lee Hee-won’s eyes were narrowing, Nam Ju-hyeon continued her self-talk.
“No, he is a villain. He is, but. No, is he not? Should I say he’s not?”
Lee Hee-won sighed internally at that behavior that made her dizzy just looking at it. As expected, this woman doesn’t match her at all. Still, it’s not like there’s no amusement in watching her.
Whatever conclusion she reached, Nam Ju-hyeon put on a grave expression and said to Lee Hee-won:
“Well, even though he kills people occasionally, he’s not that bad of a person.”
“Huh?”
Lee Hee-won’s mouth gaped open at those words.
“He kills people?”
“Ah, oops?”
Nam Ju-hyeon closed her mouth with a face that said she made a mistake, but it was already too late.
“Did Mr. Smith kill people?”
“Uh, bad guys! They were bad guys!”
“Hmm.”
At those words, Lee Hee-won arbitrarily came up with a plausible story for Smith’s actions in her head. Smith said he was chasing villains. Though he said he was in charge of villains for the Top at that time, is he chasing other villains too? If he was a secret agent raised by the Awakener Association, it wouldn’t be strange to receive such missions.
Then is he living with blood on his hands unavoidably? Well, if you want to actively save victims from villains, there’s no other way.
Seeing Lee Hee-won’s serious face, Nam Ju-hyeon carefully opened her mouth.
“I don’t know what misunderstanding you’re having, but that person is definitely not a villain, no, he is a villain, but…”
“Huh? That person is not something like a villain.”
Lee Hee-won answered Nam Ju-hyeon’s words.
“He’s just someone who does various things secretly. If we’re being precise, rather than a villain, wouldn’t he be closer to a hero?”
“Huuh? He killed people though? Wait, are you calling him a hero while knowing what that person does?”
“…Wouldn’t he have had unavoidable circumstances?”
At those words, Nam Ju-hyeon’s face turned pale. Looking at Nam Ju-hyeon subtly distancing herself, Lee Hee-won shouted:
“Why, why are you moving away from me?”
“I just remembered who introduced Lee Hee-won to me. You’re already on that person’s side!”
“No, that person and I aren’t that close…”
“Aah! No excuses needed!”
“No, weren’t you the one who said first that even though that person occasionally kills people, he’s not bad?”
“Aaaah! Don’t come closer!”
And so, the misunderstanding between the two deepened (?) steadily.
* * *
「Assemblyman Seol Rok-jin ‘We must not forget that Korea is a country under the rule of law’」
「Crime method cruel and vicious, psychometry ability user faints while revisiting the scene」
「Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk’s funeral held amid family’s grief」
「Strange rumors surrounding Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals, angry shareholders at stock price drop. Rumors with unclear facts are intervention by manipulative forces」
Sensational news poured out continuously on TV. It was natural for there to be various reactions regarding the assassination of a sitting assemblyman.
But if you carefully examine those news stories, you can see that what they’re saying is pointing in only one direction.
The political world began to thoroughly use his death for their own benefit. Seol Rok-jin stood at the forefront of this.
After Assemblyman Seol Rok-jin’s intervention, no one dared to dig into Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk’s wrongdoings.
Separately, the Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals incident began to be actively resolved after Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk’s death. Though they failed to implicate Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk, it was because there was so much definite related information.
The media was silent, but the media wasn’t the only channel through which information could be obtained.
The reporter who identified himself as ‘N’ spread all the materials they investigated on the internet. The materials uploaded simultaneously to places accessible to everyone were full of content that no one but insiders could know.
The materials were deleted not long after being uploaded, but there was no way to completely erase materials once spread on the internet.
The sparks N spread remained through various methods.
And those sparks didn’t go out even with the fire extinguishing agent sprinkled from above. Like embers burning under ash, suspicions of those trying to dig out the truth burned within the white ash.
「Honestly, it’s obvious they’re trying to cover this up too quickly. Even if just a small part of the materials that spread last time were true, shouldn’t there be an uproar?」
「They did say HM Pharmaceuticals is under investigation now. Since KSD who was covering for them died, they’ll probably investigate properly.」
「Looking at that, it seems KSD was the one who ordered all that, well. Though he publicly supported the government, he apparently profited a lot by taking over all sorts of other businesses behind the scenes.」
Their conversations soon progressed in an extreme direction.
「To be blunt, would Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk have received any punishment if it weren’t for Weltschmerz?」
「Honestly, agree. He would have just gotten away with it, isn’t it the rich are innocent, the poor are guilty?」
「They’re bad guys too, but it does feel satisfying.」
Of course, these extreme conversations were immediately pointed out by others.
「So if you have power, you can just catch and kill everyone?」
「No one knows the real reason why Weltschmerz killed Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk, right? It could just be personal grudge, we’re unnecessarily hyping them up.」
「No matter what, murder is going too far. If it weren’t for Weltschmerz, maybe it could have progressed to a proper trial and legal punishment could have been imposed.」
「Agree. Weltschmerz unnecessarily interfered and made things feel unfinished like stopping mid-poop.」
Do Chae-hee calmly observed all these reactions. Unlike in the past when she would look at anything related to Weltschmerz with white eyes, she could now ruminate on these conversations with a somewhat cooled head.
Of course, she still didn’t think Weltschmerz was right.
As Assemblyman Seol Rok-jin said, no matter what wrongs Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk committed, it wasn’t right to resolve it by killing him.
‘Of course, indicting him, putting him on trial. Everything was impossible. But still, he shouldn’t have been punished in that way.’
Still, Do Chae-hee absolutely couldn’t say this situation was ‘satisfying’. Even if you think that way, you shouldn’t say it out loud.
If everyone with power like Weltschmerz starts wielding that power privately, this country called Korea would collapse in an instant.
After the appearance of awakeners, after people appeared with powers so strong it’s unbelievable they’re the same humans, the government always did its best to protect civilians.
That’s why so many restrictions were placed on awakeners.
Just Do Chae-hee alone managed to break through dozens of security guards, raid Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals, and succeed in diverting evidence there.
If Do Chae-hee had really intended to trample that place, there would have been dozens of casualties.
Awakeners are certainly dangerous.
That’s why we must be more wary of power and find the right way. If it were the previous Do Chae-hee, she would have reached this conclusion and said Weltschmerz was bad.
However, Do Chae-hee didn’t simply blame Weltschmerz as before.
There was a clear reason for Weltschmerz’s actions this time.
That was her own, moreover the Awakener Crimes Department’s, this country’s incompetence.
If she could really catch and judge Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk herself, maybe Weltschmerz wouldn’t have done such a thing.
It was Weltschmerz who found Bomnal Orphanage before anyone else, and punished the monster who created that Bomnal Orphanage.
It was all Weltschmerz.
There was one commonality in their actions.
It was to punish the wrongs of the real bad guys.
‘Bomnal Orphanage, and the Butcher Park Sang-pyeon incident. And this incident too.’
To have the right to say that vigilantes and private revenge are bad, you must be able to confidently say you can resolve those matters.
But Do Chae-hee, as well as the current Awakener Crimes Department, didn’t have such qualifications.
‘Judging them is something I can only do after I gain those qualifications.’
She who couldn’t accomplish anything herself right now can’t curse Weltschmerz.
After gaining a bit more qualification, then she’ll step up.
And gaining those qualifications should start with cutting ties with the man in front of her.
Do Chae-hee narrowed her eyes looking at Park Cheol-wan who came to her office.
“So it ended up like this.”
“Do you really have to go this far?”
“Yes.”
Because of this incident, Do Chae-hee had to step down from her team leader position. Park Cheol-wan said he could use his authority to dismiss any disciplinary action if Do Chae-hee sincerely reflected on this incident, but Do Chae-hee refused.
Because she realized what kind of reflection Park Cheol-wan meant.
Do Chae-hee, who packed all her belongings from her office, no, the place that was her office, asked Park Cheol-wan who was still standing in his place:
“Do you have anything more to say?”
“One month unpaid suspension.”
“A whole month?”
“Cool your head and come back.”
Team leader position removal, and on top of that one month unpaid suspension.
Though it was the result of various disciplinary actions overlapping, it was an unbelievable punishment for a hero who uncovered Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals’ corruption. Do Chae-hee raised the corner of her mouth and asked:
“Will my position still be there when I come back?”
“I have no intention of kicking you out of here.”
“Then, are you planning to make me leave on my own?”
Park Cheol-wan asked with a pained face:
“Do you really think I would kick you out? Why, why are you doing this?”
“Someone has to not turn a blind eye to injustice. I’m going to take that role.”
“Don’t do something you’ll regret.”
Park Cheol-wan didn’t look into her eyes, and it was the same for Do Chae-hee.
The two had already crossed a river they couldn’t return from.
Park Cheol-wan closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and continued speaking:
“Our team will all chase Weltschmerz. You said you wanted to catch those guys too, right?”
At Park Cheol-wan’s words, Do Chae-hee clenched her fist.
“That was when I didn’t know anything.”
“The Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals case wasn’t our responsibility to begin with. Their crimes didn’t involve awakeners.”
“I know, but.”
Do Chae-hee said:
“You know that chasing Weltschmerz isn’t just for that reason.”
“So you’re going to just leave those bad guys alone? This isn’t like you, Chae-hee.”
“No, uncle, you’re the one who’s not like yourself.”
Has that kind person I knew, that police officer who purely cried out when he let a criminal escape, already disappeared?
“Let’s stop this talk.”
Do Chae-hee stepped out of the office door holding her belongings. Park Cheol-wan, who followed her to the hallway, asked her back:
“What do you plan to do from now on?”
“Why are you asking that?”
“Of course because I’m worried about you!”
“You’re not planning to tattle to those above, are you?”
“What?”
“Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk is already dead but nothing has changed, so there must be someone else. Who exactly is that great superior?”
Looking at Park Cheol-wan who couldn’t say anything, Do Chae-hee smiled bitterly and said:
“You can’t answer, right?”
“Chae-hee.”
“Me too.”
Do Chae-hee took in the face of Park Cheol-wan, the cowardly uncle, with her eyes. She hoped until the end that he would say it wasn’t true, that it was all over now, that the bad guy was dead. But as expected was as expected, and Park Cheol-wan was still just a hypocrite following someone.
“Goodbye.”
Do Chae-hee bowed slightly to Park Cheol-wan and turned her head.
Her eyes felt hot.