Following Seok Juryeon's orders, Kang Yibin took Jaegyeom and left the art center. With the event canceled, the area around the art center was in a chaotic state as visitors were leaving. She headed towards the parking lot where Yoon Taehee's car was parked.
Kang Yibin, who took the driver's seat instead of Chief Yoon, started the car with a pale face. Jaegyeom, who had followed her lead, silently got into the passenger seat.
Even after starting the car, she couldn't bring herself to drive off. With a white face staring straight ahead, she muttered with a tearful expression.
"What on earth is going on..."
She had been in a daze since earlier.
One thing she had realized for certain after talking with Seok Juryeon was that the mission ordered by Department Head Choi was deliberately fabricated by someone within Naryecheong to divert the Exorcism Department exorcists. She couldn't believe it. She had no idea what kind of situation was unfolding.
You dumbasses, don't you understand? Can't you tell if it's a trap or a snare? What do you think you idiots, who can't even use spiritual energy, are doing there! Leave the captured one behind and get out.'
Of course, Seok Juryeon didn't give Kang Yibin the details. But the fact that Seok Juryeon was also unaware of this mission, that the Undercover Department Head had lied in between, and that their spiritual energy had been rendered unusable, all pointed to several suspicious aspects. It was undoubtedly a deliberately set trap to lure them in.
"Chief Yoon has worked so hard for the main office all this time... How can they not even think about rescuing him and tell us to abandon him?"
Kang Yibin's hands gripping the steering wheel trembled with tension.
It was shocking that they could so easily discard someone of the rank of Exorcism Department's chief.
No, she had never thought that the office would backstab them like this in the first place. She had never even imagined the possibility that the main office could plot against fellow exorcists working for Naryecheong. For her, who had been loyal to the institution, it was an enormous crack in her beliefs.
"How! How could they do this! How..."
Because Seok Juryeon had ordered their return so forcefully, she couldn't bring herself to go against Seok Juryeon's will. However, she couldn't help but feel angry. Of course, she understood rationally the superior's order to bring back at least two out of the three. But in a corner of her heart, an immense feeling of rebellion and disappointment was burning like a torch.
"Something about this felt off from the beginning. If it was planned internally, they must have mixed the spiritual energy paralyzing spray made by the Ceremonial Instruments Department into the welcome drink. Why didn't I think of that then?"
She was also angry that Seok Juryeon wasn't responding more actively, regardless of what orders might have come from above. After the one-sided order and the call being cut off, she hadn't been able to contact Seok Juryeon.
It felt like all the values she had held as an exorcist were being completely denied. Seeing that even Seok Juryeon couldn't do anything about it, there was a high possibility that it was an order from higher up. After sitting in a daze for a while, Kang Yibin finally started the car.
The reason she, who should have gone out alone originally, ended up having Yoon Taehee accompany was quite simple. Her car was currently being repaired at a car center. So when she asked to borrow someone's car just for today, Yoon Taehee, after hearing the situation, not only nodded willingly to lend his car but also offered to go out together.
Yoon Taehee was always a superior who showed kindness to his subordinates.
Come to think of it, it was the same when he helped with her mother's hospital bills, and recently when her mother collapsed and the hospital contacted her. He readily offered to go in her place so she could rush to the hospital, taking over and resolving the case Kang Yibin had been assigned to. As a result of that mission, Yoon Taehee caught a severe cold and took sick leave for a few days.
She felt a complex mix of gratitude and guilt towards Yoon Taehee, and had been carrying a debt of heart for a long time already. The snowballing sense of guilt pressed painfully on her chest like a heavy rock. It felt like all of this had happened because of her.
"This mission was originally supposed to be just me going out alone, but l unnecessarily mentioned it to Chief Yoon... I should have come alone... I should have been the one captured..."
Kang Yibin, who had been indignant, finally wiped away the tears flowing down her cheeks with the back of her hand.
"It's because of me. What if something happens to the Chief..."
She drove Yoon Taehee's sedan aggressively while crying profusely.
If she could have her way, she wanted to go back into the building right now and get Chief Yoon out.
However, they were not in a situation where they could use spiritual energy. Moreover, since this wasn't about dealing with spirits, Chief Yoon hadn't brought any separate weapons. With spiritual energy paralyzed on top of that, they were no different from ordinary people. It was impossible to break through a place with so many security personnel barehanded.
While Kang Yibin was blaming herself, Jaegyeom was staring straight ahead with an expressionless face.
What Jaegyeom knew was that regardless of the circumstances, Yoon Taehee had willingly fallen into a trap and was now in danger.
In fact, Jaegyeom wasn't particularly surprised by this situation as he had always distrusted Naryecheong.
He already knew how inhumane and heartless an organization it was.
"Manager Kang. Don't worry. Chief Yoon will return safely."
Jaegyeom, who had been staring straight ahead, slowly turned his head to look at Kang Yibin. Jaegyeom was noticeably calm, with eyes that betrayed no emotion.
"Manager Kang, can I borrow your knife?"
"Huh? Why suddenly a knife...?"
"Just because. I have somewhere to use it for a moment."
Kang Yibin, who was wiping her tears in confusion, took out a jackknife and handed it to Jaegyeom.
Jaegyeom tucked the knife he received into his waistband, then abruptly opened the console box between the driver's seat and passenger seat and started rummaging through the miscellaneous items
inside.
"Wha... what are you doing? What are you looking for?"
Kang Yibin, her voice trembling with unease, glanced at him nervously. Without replying, Jaegyeom finally found what he was searching for. Shutting the console with a loud thud, he suddenly grabbed Kang Yibin's arm. Startled, she let out a scream.
"Kyaaa! What are you doing!"
At the same time, the steering wheel jerked and the car swerved greatly to the side. With a screeching sound, black tire marks were left on the road following the trajectory of the wheels. Because the car Kang Yibin was driving suddenly stopped, the cars following behind also came to a halt. It could have led to a major accident. The drivers of the cars behind were sticking their heads out of the windows and shouting something.
As the cars temporarily halted, Jaegyeom unbuckled his seatbelt and flung open the passenger door.
"Go ahead first!"
Jaegyeom, who had jumped out of the passenger seat, started running right on the road.
"Jaegyeom! Where are you going!"
Kang Yibin, who had narrowly avoided a collision and was gripping the steering wheel in confusion, belatedly looked back at Jaegyeom. She screamed with a pale face.
Nevertheless, Jaegyeom didn't stop running.
Arriving in front of the art center, Jaegyeom caught his breath and examined the entrance. By now, unlike before, there was not a single person visible at the entrance. With the event canceled, even the security guards who had been guarding the entrance had withdrawn. The iron gate that looked like a fence was firmly closed. He lightly jumped over the iron gate.
'Go back to the main office with Manager Kang. This is a trap.'
In fact, Jaegyeom had been very angry for a while now.
Perhaps Yoon Taehee had sensed this situation to some extent. If so, whatever his reasons for staying inside alone, Jaegyeom kept getting angry thinking about Yoon Taehee who had fallen into danger by willingly walking into a trap without any explanation.
However, no matter how immortal Jaegyeom was, it would be foolish to rush in barehanded with his spiritual energy blocked. First, he needed to restore his paralyzed spiritual energy. Fortunately, Jaegyeom had a method in mind to restore it.
If, as Kang Yibin had guessed, they couldn't use spiritual energy after drinking something, the solution was simple. If it was something remaining in the body after drinking that prevented the use of spiritual energy for that time, all he had to do was draw out that much blood. It was a method only the immortal Jaegyeom could imagine. He put the knife to his arm.
However, losing too much blood would cause him to go berserk. Going berserk would be troublesome. This wasn't an isolated mountain like that time, and having to struggle between life and death for a while would be a headache to clean up afterwards. After pondering for a moment, Jaegyeom put the knife to a suitable spot, avoiding where the arteries were. However, he suddenly hesitated without knowing why.
Jaegyeom realized his fingertips were trembling.
"..."
It was a sensation he had never felt before. It wasn't because of the pain from self inflicted injury, nor was it because of anger. Looking down at his trembling fingertips, Jaegyeom suddenly realized.
Ah, he was afraid something might happen to Yoon Taehee…
What if something had already happened to him or it was already too late? If everything went wrong. If he ended up unable to die in the end, and Yoon Taehee was gone forever, and everything went back to the way it was before as if nothing had happened..
Immersed in the ominous thoughts creeping up,
Jaegyeom put down the knife he was holding and took out his cell phone from his suit pocket. He made a call somewhere.
- Hello? Oh, Jaegyeom.
Jeongju answered the phone after a few rings.
- What's the matter? Aren't you at work now?
"Yeah. I'm working but I have something to say."
- Oh, okay. What is it?
"I think I'm going to get hurt badly today."
There was silence on the other end of the phone after the abrupt statement.
- ...Get hurt? What do you mean?
Jeongju spoke with a stiff voice after a moment of silence.
"I'm telling you in advance so you won't be surprised later."
58)
- Wait. Wait.. Jaegyeom! Where are you right now...!
"Don't worry. I'll see you later. Tell Mesani too."
Jaegyeom hung up, leaving Jeongju's urgent voice behind. He gripped the knife in his hand again. Jeongju and Mesani might get angry later, but at least he had told them in advance.
Staring at his phone, Jaegyeom looked at the art center building with an impassive face. Yoon Taehee is somewhere in there. If you die, everything ends, so I must protect him. So...
So this time, let's do it for sure without second thoughts.
Without a moment's hesitation, Jaegyeom plunged the jackknife into his own shoulder.