CH 178

Yet, how can one run away from a state institution? Yongno contemplated this question, but soon, he realized that these men weren’t the only people he had to flee from. Right now, running meant obeying their orders and hoping for some kindness and leniency, then calling his father and begging him to protect Yongno somehow….

Ring!

At that moment, Yongno’s cell phone started ringing loudly. A frigid smile appeared on the men’s faces.

“Yeah, it seems about the right time. Listen to me. When you answer the phone, don’t offer to go anywhere else. Tell her that you need to meet right now. Give her the southern area as the meeting spot.”

“Uhm, but Eunhye is in America….”

“She just arrived in Korea, so don’t worry and say that you need to see her.”

“You aren’t going to do bad things to Eunhye, right?”

Yongno asked this casually, but it was a stupid, superfluous question. Would someone have good intentions if they broke into another person’s home and started ordering them around?

“Shut up and talk.”

Yongno felt goosebumps rising on his skin as a gun jabbed his neck forcefully. Fear. Yongno was utterly terrified. However, it was impossible for him to sell out Eunhye.

‘Yeah, these guys coming out and asking for so much means that Eunhye is planning to do something fatal to them. Since that’s the case, I’ll answer the phone and tell her to hurry up with what she intends to do. Afterward, I’ll subdue these guys.’

They had firearms, but currently, Yongno could use his special abilities. As long as he wasn’t being shot by a bunch of machine guns, he believed it was possible to take down any number of people.

“Hello.”

“How have you been?”

Eunhye’s voice was quite different from usual. This could only mean two things, either she was feeling optimistic about something, or she was extremely nervous.

‘I need to tell her that she needs to hurry up with what she’s planning. At the very least, I need to tell her to be careful….’

However, the words that emerged from Yongno’s mouth were completely different.

“Where are you right now?”

“I came back to Korea for work. It’s a brief trip.”

“Oh, then, why don’t we meet up? I want to see you.”

“…”

Since Yongno had never said something like this, Eunhye was shocked and taken aback. Of course, it wasn’t a bad feeling for her. Rather, she had been waiting to hear Yongno say this for a long time.

“No, that’s not possible.”

However, the bodyguard standing next to Eunhye shook her head and spoke. By coming to Korea, Eunhye had put herself in a dangerous situation. While her enemies, like the Institute, wouldn’t do anything directly unless they went crazy, the risk to her life needed to be reduced as much as possible.

“I’d like to see him.”

“I always thought your steady calmness and rational outlook were your strong points, but….”

Lena, Eunhye’s blonde female bodyguard, frowned. However, she didn’t have the authority to dictate and control Eunhye’s actions. Simply put, she was just Eunhye’s bodyguard.

“Okay, where should we meet?”

“How about the southern area? I’m around there.”

“Okay.”

After saying this, Eunhye ended the call. The agent who had the gun pointed at Yongno’s neck smiled brightly.

“Well done. Have you acted in the past? You’re quite skilled.”

“…”

“It would be best if we don’t cross paths ever again. That will be advantageous for both of us. Oh, I’ll be taking this off your hands.”

As the agent spoke, he took Yongno’s cell phone as the latter timidly resisted.

“There’s no use taking my phone, right? Your voice is different from mine anyway.”

“You sure worry about everything. I’ll be texting her from now on.”

Then, the agent and his coworker left Yongno’s house. Bang! The door slammed shut behind them. Immediately afterward, Yongno collapsed on his sofa.

“…”

He knew that he’d just made the worst decision in his entire life. Yongno sold out his friend because he couldn’t continue to face the constant fear he had felt in the men’s presence.

‘So, what are you going to do about Eunhye?’

Initially, Yongno thought that a warning would be appropriate. If he cautioned Eunhye to stop doing such useless things and stay under the radar for a while, that might be enough. However, Yongno knew this wasn’t true. Things wouldn’t end without anyone getting hurt.

‘She’s in danger.’

Yongno needed to stop them. He recalled the young girl crying in his memories, a girl who grabbed the edge of his shirt and followed him around everywhere. Yet, what could Yongno possibly do?

“I need to at least avoid the worst-case scenario.”

When the gun was gone, the overwhelming fear that had made his body tremble disappeared, and slowly, his reasoning returned bit by bit. Yongno wasn’t satisfied with this response, though. If he were consumed by that terror again, it would eat away at his reasoning once more.

“Anyway, right now, I need to move.”

He immediately changed clothes and stepped outside his house, where he found a man in a suit standing outside his apartment building. It was one of the agents that had entered his house earlier. Judging by the overall atmosphere of the agent’s demeanor, they seemed to be a minion.

“Wait. It’ll be troublesome if you leave your house right now.”

“You haven’t seen anything, so stay still.”

Yongno activated his Magic Eye before leaving his apartment. Right now, Yongno’s eye hadn’t fully developed into a Magic Eye, and he did not have a large reservoir of magic power. So, since Yongno needed to use the mark on his forehead, it took nearly five minutes to activate the Magic Eye. However, since Yongno already knew that someone was standing guard, he was able to prepare well beforehand.

“Oh, I see.”

After hearing the agent’s reply, Yongno walked past them and put on a black hood. Yongno had changed all his clothes beforehand. Moreover, by covering his face with his hoodie, the agent wouldn’t recognize him if their eyes met.

Now that he was outside, he made his way to a side street.

“Please go to the southern area.”

“Yes, sir.”

Yongno got into the cab and clenched his fists. A conflict was brewing in his mind.

/Let’s stop. This is stupid./

A dull voice continued to whisper in Yongno’s mind. It was telling him to stop; it was telling him that what he was doing was meaningless. It even whispered doubts as to whether Eunhye would even be in danger. The voice was spewing illogical nonsense.

‘No. I need to go.’

Yongno’s mind was murky and messy. He had always clearly understood everything around him, but right now, his head wasn’t working properly. Yongno had no understanding of the situation or what to do. He seemed to have instantly turned into an idiot.

“Thank you.”

After handing the taxi driver the cab fare and thanking him, Yongno stepped into the southern area. He looked around, but there was no sign of Eunhye.

‘They took my phone. That means they want to relay more messages to Eunhye.’

If they led Eunhye to another part of town, there was nothing Yongno could do about it.

“Location… tracking.”

Luckily, Yongno could use magic. While his ability to use it was extremely limited, finding Eunhye would only need relatively low-level magic, as they had a long-standing relationship.

‘She’s near the train tracks?’

Unexpectedly, Eunhye was standing on one side of the train tracks after entering the platform. It was as if she was waiting for an incoming train. The meeting was supposed to be in the southern area, so why was she waiting there? However, Yongno easily surmised the reason.

‘It seems they lied and said I was traveling here by train. She must’ve been asked to meet me on the platform.’

Having grasped the situation, Yongno quickly bought a train ticket for the next stop. And just as he was making his way down the platform, he heard an announcement.

/[A tram is currently entering Line 1. Please step back from the yellow line.]/

As Yongno descended the stairs toward the platform, he saw Eunhye looking at her texts. After hearing the announcement, she stepped behind the yellow line, but she was still close to the Line 1 track.

Clunk! Clunk!

While giving off the familiar sounds of metal grating on metal, the train entered the station. However, the train didn’t seem like it had any intent to stop, as it did not slow down whatsoever. Furthermore, a blonde woman was sitting on a bench and keeping an eye on Eunhye when she trembled for a moment before fainting. As they seemingly walked past her, someone got close and shocked her with a high-voltage stun gun.

‘Eunhye!’

When there were about ten steps left before Yongno reached the platform, someone walked up behind Eunhye. The man held a syringe-like object with an ampoule attached to it.

Whoosh!

The moment the man pressed the ampoule’s button, a small needle pierced Eunhye’s neck. Eunhye turned in surprise, but the man easily moved Eunhye back to her original position. She tried to struggle, but she stumbled as her strength drained away.

Thud!

Eunhye collapsed onto a protective screen door that was placed between the tracks and the platform for safety reasons. This screen door would only open once the train had come to a complete stop. Eunhye tried to regain her balance, but she just struggled since she couldn’t move properly.

Clunk! Clunk!

The train was coming into the station. However, none of the other passengers looked at Eunhye with any noticeable concern. There was no chance that she’d fall onto the tracks because of the protective screen door. Then, at that moment….

Screech!

Suddenly, the protective screen doors opened, and Eunhye, having been leaning on one of the screen doors, fell onto the tracks.

“W-what? Why did it suddenly open?”

“Aww!”

“Someone, get her out!”

“It’s too late!”

The train had already entered the platform. The distance between Eunhye and the oncoming train was only about twenty or thirty meters; also, the train that was approaching wasn’t one that stopped at this station, so it didn’t slow down. Even if the breaks were applied immediately, it wasn’t possible to stop in time.

“Damn it!”

“Kyak!”

Those observing the freakish scene groaned and screamed. Though the scene took a long time to describe, only a few seconds had passed. From the start, there wasn’t enough time for Yongno to take action.

Tap.

When Yongno finally made his way down the last stair and set foot on the platform, the gap between the train and Eunhye was only about ten meters. Eunhye had not lost consciousness, and she was struggling to somehow escape, but her body wasn’t listening. She felt as though she was drunk and completely unable to control her body.

“N-no!”

Yongno clenched his jaw and ran towards her. However, in the meantime, the distance between the train and Eunhye was reduced to nine meters. Somewhere deep within Yongno, a voice began to whisper again.

/It’s already too late. What are you planning to do?/