Chapter 302
Chapter 302
“There are more pictures in the envelope . ”
Sungyoon searched through the envelope again .
Aside from the doc.u.ments, he found several pictures that had been blown up to the size of an A4 paper .
“Heek!”
Jiyoon gasped . The picture depicted a scene that was too horrifying for a normal person to stomach .
“Is… Is that a heart?”
“Yes . ”
A Connector’s heart didn’t resemble a jewel, but it didn’t look like a normal human heart either . The picture in front of them showed a red heart with a red jewel embedded inside it .
Either blood vessels or connective tissue were spread out from the jewel . Whatever it was, the picture was a creepy sight . The reaction of a normal person like Jiyoon was understandable .
Moreover, this picture wasn"t just one of a kind . Multiple pictures of the same heart showed it from different angles, and some pictures even showed its dissection .
“These pictures depict the heart of the Connector you killed . We also confirmed it with the Connectors that we killed . Most of their hearts are like this . ”
“Most? Are there other cases?”
“Some of these Connectors had normal hearts . The Rejected does have some real Connectors . They are the Connectors who awakened late, after they were thrown away by their parents . It seems they hold an unbelievable amount of grievance toward society even though they eventually became Connectors . ”
Sungyoon glanced at the pictures once again .
“If they can create Connectors at will, this is a big problem . ”
“They can’t . ”
The Mayor quelled Sungyoon’s worries .
“We questioned a few that we were able to capture alive . The success rate of this experiment was very low . Moreover, even when the process was successful, these people suffered side effects . Their lifespan became shortened to the extreme . ”
“Why are they going through with the experimentation knowing that outcome?”
“Their anger toward society and the Connectors is that large . ”
Sungyoon thought about the Connector he had killed not too long ago . When he had declared himself one of the new rulers of this world, his voice had been full of deep resentment .
‘I can understand why he went through with the experimentation if his enmity was that deep . ’
The Connector had gone through with it despite knowing he could lose his life .
“Anyway, the Rejected received orders from Lee Dongin, so he should know the exact size of the organization . He’ll have a rough idea on how these artificial Connectors are created . ”
“No . He has no idea . ”
“… He doesn’t know?”
“Yes . He"s clueless . To be precise, what he knows differs way too much from reality . ”
Jiyoon tilted her head in puzzlement . However, Sungyoon understood what the Mayor was saying, and he frowned .
“The Rejected weren’t under Lee Dongin’s command in the first place . ”
“That’s right . Lee Dongin became enraged when he realized the same thing . He was the chairman of Fabion, but the true power within the company had s.h.i.+fted toward Hyunwoo Sung . He and his group had already s.h.i.+fted their allegiance to Grenoid . Grenoid and Hyunwoo Sung were the ones who really propelled Fabion to such a height . They reaped profit, while they hid behind the front called Fabion . They are parasites!”
Boom!
The Mayor sounded incensed as he slammed his fist on the desk .
When Jiyoon flinched, the Mayor quickly brought his anger under his control .
“We did receive some guidance about the artificial Connectors from Ms . Plu-El . ”
“What did my mother-in-law say?”
“This is a form of Flesh Gem, but it differs from the Flesh Gem used by the descendants of Planote . ”
The Mayor explained while pointing to the Jewel embedded in the heart .
Sungyoon had heard about the Flesh Gems from Plu-El in the past, and he could see that the jewel embedded in the heart differed from the one in Plu-El"s description .
Afterward, the two of them continued to talk for a while .
With the conversation coming to an end, Sungyoon said his goodbye and left the Temporary City Hall .
“Was it instructional for you?”
“What?”
Sungyoon asked Jiyoon as he drove the car .
Jiyoon"s notebook was full of words as she manipulated the tablet, and his words surprised her .
She understood the meaning behind his words a beat late and nodded .
“I’m trying my best, but it"s hard . ”
Dark circles had appeared on her fine features . Unlike her normal self, she was wearing more makeup than usual . It was an attempt to hide those dark circles .
“Why don’t you take it easy for a while?”
“I can’t . ”
Normally, Jiyoon had a hard time expressing her opinions, yet she flatly refused his suggestion .
“I"m an employee in charge of the Knight . I’m not arrogant enough to say that I won’t make any mistakes, but I have to do my best to minimize the number of mistakes I make . If I make a mistake, it"ll tarnish your and the company"s reputation . ”
“The reputation of the company is important, but you don’t have to worry about my reputation . ”
“No way!”
Jiyoon was forceful once again as she contradicted him .
“Mr . Sungyoon, I’ve always noticed that you"re very indifferent when it comes to anything regarding yourself . ”
“I"m selfish in many ways, but fame and reputation are not what I desire . ”
He had his precious daughter and a beautiful wife, who would wash away his daughter’s wounds . Moreover, he had more than enough money to support his family .
“I have my family, and I have enough money to support them . That"s enough for me . ”
“… You"re a very family-oriented man . ”
Both Sungyoon and Jimin weren’t the type to excessively express their love for each other .
To be precise, they showed so much love toward their daughter that people became envious . In contrast, the two of them almost showed zero outward expression of love toward each other .
However, Jiyoon had seen the two of them at the company . A comfortable and stable atmosphere always surrounded them . It was clear that the feeling of love flowed between the two even if it was barely visible .
Moreover, Jiyoom had caught them exchanging light touches with each other . She knew this was how they showed affection to each other .
Jiyoon was in college, and when her friends dated, they made sure everyone saw their affection for their significant other .
Although she didn’t think that it was bad, she didn’t want the intense affection shown by her friends . She preferred the calm and mature feeling displayed between Sungyoon and Jimin .
In the beginning, Sungyoon only showed his love and affection to s.h.i.+nhae .
However, it changed after he married Jimin . Sungyoon’s love was like a calm wave, and it washed over Jimin without him realizing it . Jiyoon could feel it being near the two .
‘I want… . ’
She wanted that wave to wash over her too . She wanted to be a part of it .
This was why she didn’t want to cause any trouble for Sungyoon .
“Please don’t worry about it . I won’t do anything unreasonable . ”
Sungyoon no longer brought up the issue .
“How’s your father’s business doing?”
“Not well . He is no longer receiving his supply of moonstones, but he"s doing his best . My father dreamed of running a large company, so he"s working hard to find different streams of revenue . ”
“He is that kind of a person . If he needs any help from me, he just needs to ask . ”
“Understood . ”
The two of them continued to converse in a low voice, and the ambient sound of the car didn’t bother them . There was a level of peace that could be felt between the two .
***
“Here . ”
Jimin took out the tofu from a black plastic bag . It wasn’t boiled or fried, but an uncooked piece of tofu .
She wielded it like a weapon as she shook it in front of Woosang and Woosung .
“Open your mouth . ”
“No, Noona!”
“Open!”
Woosung resisted, but his protests didn’t work on Jimin .
While Woosung was having a hard time fending off Jimin, Woosang looked toward his mothers for help .
However, both women were amused by their antics, and they didn’t stop Jimin . They folded their arms as they watched the scene unfold .
Woosang looked at Sungyoon as a last resort, but Sungyoon just shrugged . He felt tempted to move his eyes toward s.h.i.+nhae and Soyoung, who stood next to Sungyoon, but his pride wouldn’t let him ask for help from the two girls .
In the end, Woosang shut his eyes, let go of the strength in his body, and opened his mouth .
Shove!
The soft tofu crumbled inside his mouth .
Woosang put his hands up to catch the crumbs as he chewed on the tofu .
“Noona! The investigation found that we committed no crime . We are prisoners who just finished… Oohp!”
Jimin ruthlessly shoved a different piece of tofu into Woosung’s mouth .
If Woosang and Woosung were to resist in earnest, Jimin wouldn"t be able to commit such atrocities against them . However, the two refrained from doing so .
In many ways, the three siblings were close to each other . After Jimin finished feeding the tofu to each of her brothers, Hweeyoung and Aiin approached their children . They hugged their sons as they commiserate with the hards.h.i.+ps they suffered .
Sungyoon had rented a large vehicle for today and driven everyone to a nearby expensive restaurant . Aiin and Hweeyoung wanted to do this because their sons probably didn’t get to eat good food in recent days .
It had been a while since the whole family was able to meet like this, so everyone was happy . However, things started to become weird when they started talking about Soyoung .
“So you"re saying this child is our dongsaeng?”
Woosung looked at Soyoung, and Soyoung flinched a little .
“Why are you scaring the kid?”
“I didn’t!”
Woosung was a bit sad that his dongsaeng looked a bit afraid of him on their first meeting . As if to make things worse, his mother berated him too . He grumbled .
Woosang was more patient compared to Woosung, and he approached Soyoung with kindness .
Soyoung stammered as she slowly started to talk to Woosang, and this scene made Woosung more frustrated .
“Did you say her name is Ms . . . Plu-El? Where’s our new mother?”
“The descendants of Planote are still in the process of settling on Earth, so she has a lot of work to do . Unfortunately, she couldn"t make it here today . ”
Sungyoon answered Woosang .
“Ah . Is that so? We should go greet her sometime in the future . ”
Woosang and Woosung were used to these scenarios as Connectors, and they held no suspicion toward the existence of a new mother .
After having a party to celebrate the addition of a new family member, the group returned to Hweeyoung and Aiin’s house .
The sun had already set, and when they arrived at home, s.h.i.+nhae and Soyoung were sound asleep .
“As expected, this house is the best!”
Woosung was in his feelings as he stood in the front yard and opened his arms wide . Aiin slapped him on the back, and the others laughed when they saw this exchange .
“Ah! Elder brother-in-law . . . ”
Elder brother-in-law .
For a brief moment, Sungyoon had no idea who Woosang was referring to . He quickly realized that Woosang was talking to him .
“Uh . What is it, Brother-in-law?”
Sungyoon sounded a bit fl.u.s.tered, but he also used the correct t.i.tle .
“Thank you very much . ”
Woosang bowed at a ninety-degree angle .
“We learned about what happened to our father thanks to you . ”
Silence descended in the surroundings .
“If you weren’t in our lives, we would"ve continued to believe that our father died fighting monsters . We would"ve continued to call those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds ahjussi, and we would"ve been under their thumbs . Moreover, we wouldn’t have been able to meet our new mother and our cute dongsaeng . ”
“The one who didn’t give up until the end is your noona . You should give your thanks to Jimin . ”
“Of course, I"m going to thank her . However, she wouldn’t have been able to achieve her far-fetched dream without you . You helped her make her dreams come true . That"s why we would like to thank you, Elder brother-in-law . ”
Woosang bowed even deeper .
“Thank you very much, Elder brother-in-law . ”