Boy Monster Chapter 32

Doctor Aztec waved his fan to shoo away a fly. The aged man’s blue pupils stared at the distant Himalayan peaks.

“100 years ago, Jae Eunho tried to start a rebellion using his sensory abilities. At that time, Jae Eunho seduced the son of his enemy and turned him into Sa Hwelju. Some people imagine that the two had some kind of forbidden love, but I believe that’s absolutely not the case. In any case, what Jae Eunho did was bold and wicked. He’s certainly a charming human being.”

Scientist Oni replied in an irritable voice.

“Anyway, after losing Sa Hwelju like that, we can’t lose Jae Eunho this time too. This is a project that the future of all humanity depends on!”

“Yes, seeing how things are going, it won’t do. The lunar eclipse is not far off either.”

Doctor Aztec let out a long sigh and readjusted his heavy backpack. After a moment lost in thought, his next instruction came.

“Let’s make Jae Eunho come of his own free will.”

“What?”

“Continue the surveillance, but send three more people who can shapeshift and turn invisible to cause a train terror attack. Make it so they know it’s our doing, but not who we are. Don’t act directly; use gangsters or criminals to stir up trouble. Our creatures are designed not to reveal our identities and to self-destruct upon failure, so there’s no risk of this place being discovered.”

“Terrorism?”

“Jae Eunho can’t stand to see innocent and weak people sacrificed. He projects his self-pity onto others. He will never be able to endure a situation where an unspecified number of people get hurt. Then, if we also pull out the biochemical germ card, Jae Eunho will have no choice.”

Unlike Scientist Oni, who nodded, Hacker Jekyll was skeptical.

“Um… isn’t there a leader in the Korean Blue House who has had foresight and has been supporting our project both materially and morally since before the end of the war? Couldn’t we contact them to ask for help with Jae Eunho’s kidnapping?”

“Well, we have to be careful with that. It’s a sensitive issue, so it could go wrong.”

The three, having cooled their sweat, re-entered the bustling market street. They arrived at a secluded shop in the market, large backpacks on their backs. Entering the open space behind the pottery shop, they threw their backpacks onto a crematorium piled high with ash.

They prayed as the flames blazed.

The origin of all things, the spark of genes, the perpetuity of life, happy creatures….

Farewell, my friend. Farewell, my friend.

From within the burning backpacks, human corpses appeared. Arms, legs, shoulders, a face, another face, all failures of biological enhancement…. Translucent bodies were engulfed in flames.

:･⚜️⊹.️

Lim Geonhwi clutched his throbbing head. He couldn’t find any trace of the person behind the attempt to kidnap Jae Eunho by sending special infiltration agents to the detention center. To make matters worse, Shi Taehyun had killed them all, leaving no evidence.

Moreover, Jae Eunho had broken the lock and left the residence. He heard that the heads of S.E.T.U had gotten Jae Eunho out of house arrest. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff rushed to the President’s office.

“Look. As soon as an emergency arises, they move as they please! We must weaponize their powers at once.”

“At a time when extensive intelligence activities are needed, it was you, Lieutenant General Lim Geonhwi, who confined Jae Eunho. It’s only natural for them to push back, given this unprecedented situation.”

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff looked frustrated. Until the last presidential term, the atmosphere had been agreeable to the project of separating the powers from the Hweljus and Yeonris and fitting them with control devices to create supernatural secret weapons, but this administration was firmly opposed. The President shook his head and drank his coffee.

“Putting people on an unethical experimental table is something that, if it were to be discovered, would make it impossible to manage world opinion. I do not consent.”

“What risk of being discovered could there be?”

“Hmm… that sounds like you’re saying you’ll kill the test subjects to silence them if it fails. Is that correct?”

“……”

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff withdrew with a sour face. Lim Geonhwi had no idea why the President had called him separately. The President, putting down his coffee cup, called Lim Geonhwi closer.

“You said you are in a common-law marriage with Sa Yeonri No. 38, Jae Eunho.”

“That is correct.”

“It hasn’t been long since I took office, but I’ve had many occasions to see Lieutenant General Lim Geonhwi here and there. This is the first time I’ve seen Lieutenant General Lim Geonhwi, who never panics even when missile or submarine incidents break out, this stressed.”

The President, having thrown his bit of humor, returned to a serious posture.

“I feel like Lieutenant General Lim Geonhwi could solve this situation. How about you take responsibility for this matter and handle it? By temporarily sitting in the S.E.T.U director’s seat in place of Monk Chogwang.”

“……”

“The attempt to kidnap Jae Eunho is a serious national security threat. I plan to designate it a national state of emergency without informing the general public. I will give you control over S.E.T.U for the time being, so take responsibility and deal with the forces trying to steal our divine power. And strengthen the security control over the S.E.T.U psychics. How about it.”

For Lim Geonhwi, the President’s words were more than welcome. He answered without delay.

“I understand.”

“And keep an eye on the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Minister of National Defense. They may try to push forward with biological experiments by taking advantage of the chaos.”

“I will keep that in mind as well.”

Coming out of the Blue House, news was waiting for him that they had lost Jae Eunho. It’s troublesome if you keep getting out of control, Jae Eunho. It’s all to your detriment. Scolding him in his head, Lim Geonhwi called Oh Jigeun, the Deputy Chief of the NIS.

“Where would Captain Jae Eunho be.”

—I cannot say.

“This is a national state of emergency. I am warning you that from now on, any S.E.T.U agent who does not follow orders from above may be met with force without warning or arrested without a warrant….”

—If you hit our Captain Eunho, I’m gonna punish you, mister!

—Hey! Choi Jungkyung! Your son is….

—Don’t touch our Captain Jae Eunho, we’ll all join forces to punish you.

—My dad is stronger than Iron Man. He’s going to poke your eyes and poke your nose and poke your arms. And you’ll bleed lots and lots of blood!

The S.E.T.U team members and their families, gathered on the other side of the phone, ganged up on Lim Geonhwi with one voice. Lim Geonhwi sighed, “Ugh,” and hung up the phone.

:･⚜️⊹.️

Jae Eunho first called Deputy Chief Oh Jigeun to create an alibi.

“Please pass this on to Monk Chogwang and get your stories straight. Tell them you sent a cutting saw to the residence and got me out.”

—Got it. That’s no problem, but who did it?

“……It was Shi Taehyun.”

—What?! You’re with that suspect right now?

“I’ll explain later. First, let’s talk about this.”

Upon hearing about the toxic powder, Deputy Chief Oh Jigeun completely forgot the shock of hearing about Shi Taehyun and began to respond. They had to investigate all the distribution points Shi Taehyun had looked into and establish countermeasures.

Jae Eunho was about to talk about his plan to resolve this whole situation, but suddenly closed his mouth.

I’m going to start a rebellion again, as soon as I know what country those kidnappers belong to.

I’m going to erase us from everyone who knows us, including those guys.

It was too risky to say such words, which carried too much weight, over the phone. Shi Taehyun was also next to him, so the timing wasn’t right. Jae Eunho decided to save it for later and hung up.

While Jae Eunho was sending photos of the document and discussing life-threatening matters, Shi Taehyun was excitedly twisting an escape room prop cube. Jae Eunho stood facing Shi Taehyun, who was blocking the door.

“Move.”

“Where are you going. Don’t you want to meet Sa Hwelju?”

Jae Eunho snatched the cube from Shi Taehyun’s hand and threw it.

“If you’re playing games with that child’s death, I won’t let you get away with it.”

If Shi Taehyun was deceiving him, he might really kill him. He couldn’t be swayed, hopeful, and then disappointed by Sa Hwelju’s life or death. That was a scope of pain Eunho could not bear.

Shi Taehyun slowly turned his head to check the door lock. The room’s door was locked. A chill ran down his spine. Inside the pocket of the man’s work vest was a hammer. Eunho backed away as Shi Taehyun slowly approached.

“Calm down. Shit, you scared me.”

“If there is a monster, where is it. Tell me right now.”

“I said I’d tell you after the third tutoring session, why are you being so stubborn. Why are you suddenly so antsy like you’re about to cum. You were so relaxed.”

“I need a definite answer right now!”

“So, why.”

It was a gentle voice, as if soothing a lover, but Shi Taehyun had already pushed Jae Eunho against the wall. A drop of sweat slid down from beside Jae Eunho’s ear. Eunho, watching to see if Shi Taehyun’s hand would go into his work vest pocket, winced. The tips of firm fingers touched Eunho’s hair.

“Why the tantrum.”

The man smoothed back the hair he hadn’t thought to tidy since yesterday, strand by strand. Jae Eunho, keeping his eyes on the hammer at his waist, said.

“I’m going to die on the day of the lunar eclipse this year.”

And when he looked up, Shi Taehyun was even closer. A hot energy, steeped in his scent, rushed over him. Jae Eunho felt again how much the man’s close-set eyes and the bridge of his nose resembled Hwonwoo’s. A deep part of his body reacted. He didn’t want to avoid the sticky, clinging gaze.

“And this time, I won’t come back to life.”

“……”

“If what you said about Hwonwoo being alive is a lie, I’m going to break the curse. I’m going to the hell I was originally supposed to be in.”

Shi Taehyun subtly pressed his body closer. They were so close he was worried his pounding heart would be discovered.

“Before that, I’m going to erase the memory of us from everyone who knows the Hwelju and Yeonri. If, by any chance, the monster story isn’t real, I don’t have time to waste on you! My life and the lives of my comrades are at stake.”

Shi Taehyun was silently listening to Eunho’s dramatic shouting. It was about when the man’s breath touched his cheek. Jae Eunho, trying to push him away, lost strength in his left foot and knee and fell.

Fuck, Shi Taehyun spat out his disappointment and pulled Jae Eunho up with one hand. The hot gazes that had been entangled for a moment were instantly distanced.

“In the last lesson, I heard very well that you used that guy Hwonwoo from the beginning and used him until the very end before he died. But now, you’re saying if the monster is dead, you’ll die too…? It doesn’t quite add up.”

“That’s not all of it. I… we….”

Jae Eunho, unable to figure out where to start talking, just stated the conclusion.

“I… I still miss that boy so much. I would do anything if I could.”

Eunho suppressed the heat that stiffly filled his throat. He continued speaking, glaring resentfully at the appearance that resembled the boy.

“I swear I didn’t want to kill him. It was a choice I had no choice but to make.”

“Saying you killed him because you had no choice doesn’t make sense, teacher.”

“Sometimes in life, things that don’t make sense happen. It was wartime and I didn’t know anything. And you know…… life is sometimes really insolent. It gives you a crossroads where either way is a tragedy and mocks you to choose.”

Jae Eunho let out a dry laugh at the end of his sentence. Shi Taehyun, who had been observing Eunho for a while, ruffled his back hair and shouted a cool answer.

“Ah, I get it. I’ll take you on the next tutoring day. Okay?”

“…Really?”

“Anyway, I have a weakness for faces and sensual bodies. I’ll spill everything next time! Why and how I tailed you for so long, and what I’ve been preparing.”

“…Is that true? Can I trust you?”

Eunho asked the same question again. Shi Taehyun nodded and grinned.

“Yes. Because I’m in a hurry too.”

“What? What are you in a hurry for.”

“Sex.”

Jae Eunho ignored Shi Taehyun’s smile and picked up his phone. Done. After confirming the monster’s whereabouts and securing his person, he would then cast a hallucination on Shi Taehyun as well. Shi Taehyun, blocking Jae Eunho who was preparing to leave, asked a chilling question.

“Teacher, you’re not seducing me right now, are you? To use me for your purpose and then throw me away.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I’m asking because… I’m thinking that boy must have fallen for your eyes too, and gave you his innocence.”

“……”

Eunho did not bother to answer. He judged it would be better not to speak. In the silence that hovered between them, a noise rang out.

Growl.

Jae Eunho swallowed in embarrassment. Looking back, he hadn’t eaten anything since last night.

“……I’m hungry.”

“……”

Now that he said it, his ears grew hot. Eunho glanced at Shi Taehyun with awkward eyes. Shi Taehyun, who had been staring intently at Eunho with a rather serious expression, wiped his face and let out a short laugh. The man reached out, grabbed Eunho’s cheeks and squished them, and muttered a word.

“Fuck… I’m so screwed.”