The first thing he encountered was a clear, green eye, transparent like a glass bead.
"He's awake."
Immediately, faces popped into view: Seo Min-gi, the boy, Jung Bin, Bae Won-woo, Kang Ji-soo, Honeybee, Yoon Ga-eul, and even Kkokko. Every one of them looked solemn. Ga-eul was blushing red from crying.
"What on earth…"
Eui-jae began to speak, then touched his face. Thankfully, the mask was still on. He slowly pushed himself upright and turned his head. He had gone into Seo Min-gi's shadow to see the fragment, so why was this…
'…a hospital room?'
It was the Seowon Guild infirmary. How or why he'd ended up here he could not tell. Ga-eul, sniffling and blowing her nose on a tissue, mumbled in a squeaky voice as she tried to explain.
"Sorry. Our connection got cut… no matter how much we tried to wake him, he wouldn't come up…."
When she cleared her throat she explained that J's consciousness had abruptly disconnected. Normally, if the link dropped he'd come around immediately, this time he hadn't. Reconnection failed. He didn't wake. Ga-eul was utterly flustered. She'd pounded the shadow trying to find someone to help…
Seo Min-gi, pale-faced, clutched his stomach.
"My stomach still… ugh."
"S-sorry, we were in a hurry…"
"It's okay… please next time, call us by phone… ugh."
Seo Min-gi clamped a hand over his mouth and dashed out of the room. Jung Bin forced a rueful smile. Seo Min-gi had apparently retched violently in front of the Director and Jung Bin. In any case, as soon as Ga-eul escaped the shadow she shouted toward Jung Bin and the Director.
"J won't wake up!"
Alarm bells rang automatically. Jung Bin, still reeling from Seo Min-gi gagging, hoisted J onto his shoulders and ran. Ga-eul followed, running whether her power would be exposed or not. Emergency networks were mobilized, and in place of the absent Lee Sa-young, Bae Won-woo and Kang Ji-soo came to serve as guardians at Seowon Guild.
"So where's Honeybee?"
Eui-jae's gaze found Honeybee; she tucked hair behind her ear and answered primly.
"I was here on business with the Doctor. But the Doctor collapsed, too, and someone there passed out, so I came to check."
Jung Bin asked carefully
"Are you alright? If you're at your limit, please say so."
"I'm really fine. This isn't something to overreact about."
"Overreact?!"
Bae Won-woo barked, then scowled at himself for the loudness. Clearing his throat he tried a serious tone.
"J, you've never really rested properly, have you? Always running from one thing to the next. Everyone's worried about you."
Heads around the room nodded in agreement. Bae Won-woo scratched his head sheepishly.
"We might not be much use, but… we want to help. There's too much for one person to do."
Eui-jae looked around. Every pair of eyes on him was warm, familiar yet strange at the same time. He wanted to speak, but no voice came. He parted his lips a few times and then fell silent.
A warm hand rested on his shoulder. Jung Bin smiled gently.
"Reliable, aren't they?"
"..."
"J used to carry everything alone. But now there are many people to share the load."
"..."
"You don't have to fix everything by yourself, J. We'll help."
A breeze came through a half-open window.
When he blinked the scene had shifted: they were now on the emergency stairwell of the Bureau. At a distance of a few steps from Jung Bin, people chattered and waved from the landing hunters J had met many times on missions. They called greetings, J awkwardly waved back.
Thinking back, there had been people he could call comrades…
Eui-jae smoothed the thin white blanket and asked, "Do we have any secured specimens of the big-mouthed monsters?"
Honeybee, twirling a cigarette between her fingers, nodded.
"I brought one to the Doctor myself."
"Is the corpse still intact?"
"I heard they were going to preserve it for research… Ask this kid, he knows."
The boy faced them and answered crisply, "Yes. For data preservation we taxidermied the specimen and put it in storage."
"Can I… could I see it…?"
As Eui-jae tried to get up, several hands surged forward and shoved him back onto the bed. He stared, wide-eyed. What… ?
Bae Won-woo sighed.
"You really have no learning ability…"
Jung Bin, holding his shoulder, smiled softly.
"J, what did I say earlier?"
"No, this is something I need to see in person…"
"J?"
"No, but this really is—"
"No."
The friendly pressure was intense. Damn it. Their concern was welcome, but their protectiveness was suffocating. Eui-jae squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
"I have to get into its stomach!"
A dreadful silence followed.
Hands that had gripped him loosened one by one. Honeybee dusted her hands off and muttered
"Maybe we should restrain him? He's not in his right mind yet."
"Hmm, we'll consider it."
"Do me a favor. I've got someplace to be."
"...You're going to see that person?"
"I got permission, you know? Don't try to arrest me."
She flicked her hand and marched out of the infirmary. Kang Ji-soo murmured
"Looks like he's been through a lot…"
Sympathetic glances pressed on him. Eui-jae felt his temper fray. He turned desperately to his last hope, Ga-eul.
"Ga-eul, I came for you."
"What? For what?"
"How to get to the White Hole. I saw it while your connection was down!"
"Into the monster's belly…?"
At the very thought her face drained; she stepped back. Eui-jae stifled a silent scream. He felt like a two-eyed stranger in a one-eyed village.
For the first time in his life Cha Eui-jae longed for Hong Ye-seong. He would have backed this mad scheme, pulled out every tool for escape. Lying there with blankets tugged around him, Eui-jae whispered one name.
"Hong Ye-seong."
He needed him. Now.
***
Honeybee stepped into the dim room, arms folded. Beyond the bars that filled the space, someone was tied to a chair. At the sound of footsteps the bound figure slowly lifted her head; disheveled brown hair hid half her face.
"Ah… I wondered when you'd arrive."
A crooked grin tugged at the speaker's mouth; round, skewed glasses flashed. It was Ga-young. After being captured trying to infiltrate Seowon Guild, she'd been confined in the room where Matthew had once been isolated.
She laughed, shoulders shaking.
"Nice ad campaign, Honeybee."
Kwang! Honeybee kicked the chair facing the bars. She stepped right up to the cage, gripped the bars, and whispered.
"Cut the bullshit and answer my questions."
"You're violent…."
"Since when?"
"Since when what?"
"Since when did you start seducing Matthew?"
"Kekeke…."
Ga-young laughed, shoulders trembling.
"'Seduce' sounded odd", she said, "we were always on the same side."
"Don't talk nonsense! Why would Matthew move with fanatics like you?"
"Well… I might know more about Mok Tae-oh than you do. He could have been a good comrade, but… was he a good man?"
Honeybee's knuckles went white. Fingers clutched the bars, metal groaning under the pressure. Ga-young's laugh rose louder.
"Hahaha! You didn't think he was some saint, did you? A responsible guild master? A man sharp as a blade but with a warm heart? Ha, your judgment of people is pathetic."
Her laughter stretched on. After a long while she calmed and exhaled, looking drained. Honeybee slipped her hand in her pocket, leaned in a little to meet Ga-young's eye level.
"Matthew hated Awakeners."
"..."
"So you teamed up with them? To defeat the apocalypse with human power, to eliminate Awakeners?"
Ha… Ga-young snorted scornfully, lips curling.
"He doesn't care about such things."
"..."
"Whether he lives or dies, he doesn't care. The drugs? He injected them himself, you know."
"..."
"Have you ever seen fire that burns in only one place? It spreads everywhere…"
Ga-young lifted her head sharply, her brown eyes glittered.
"Mok Tae-oh… he's the one who wants the world to end more than anyone."