Lee Jinwoo's panicked voice sent an ominous chill down my spine.
I bolted out of the training ground and rushed into my room.
When I switched on the wall-sized TV, a chaotic scene appeared, plastered with breaking-news captions.
The backdrop was the front of the Awakened Management Bureau.
Dozens of reporters had encircled Bureau Chief Chae Ganghyeon on his way in, shoving microphones at him under an aggressive barrage of camera flashes.
"Bureau Chief! Is it true that a Nest Guild member has second-awakened?!"
"Your son, Vice Guild Master Chae Junhyeok, denied it outright as groundless — why is the Bureau suddenly holding a press conference on the matter?!"
Under the torrent of questions, the Chae Ganghyeon on the screen looked completely at ease.
If anything, he even affected a benevolent smile as he raised a hand to calm the reporters.
A-a press conference?
Just as the murmuring swelled, someone tossed out a sharp question.
"Wait a moment! Nest is a fully private guild — why is the Bureau stepping in? It's no longer under the Bureau's jurisdiction, is it?!"
The question hit dead on the mark, but Chae Ganghyeon just laughed heartily and brushed it aside.
"Ha ha ha! Affiliation may have changed, but a bond of blood isn't something you cut off like slicing a radish, is it? I'll save the rest for the press conference three days from now — do stay tuned."
He gave a leisurely smile and turned on his heel without a backward glance.
"Did you hear it directly from Vice Guild Master Chae Junhyeok?!"
"Are you officially acknowledging a connection between the Bureau and Nest Guild?! Chief Chae!!"
The reporters clung on ferociously, but Chae Ganghyeon strolled off at his leisure, and the Bureau's front doors swung firmly shut behind him.
The anchor's narration followed.
[Following this morning's remarks by Bureau Chief Chae Ganghyeon, the question of whether Nest Guild's second awakening is real is boiling up again, and with terrifying force. Unlike his son Vice Guild Master Chae Junhyeok, who denied it outright, the Chief has left the door wide open — and the whole nation's attention is now fixed on the press conference set for three days from now.]
The anchor's voice pouring out of the screen faded away into the distance.
I've been played.
I clutched my head and dropped down onto the bed.
So this was how he'd set the board, just because I'd been dodging his calls. I never saw it coming.
There was no more room for dodging or delaying.
I snatched up my phone, scrolled through my contacts, and tapped the two syllables labeled [Dad].
Brrring—.
It hadn't even rung twice.
[Ha ha! I finally hear from you, son!]
The voice on the other end was hearty enough to make my teeth ache.
I sucked in a deep breath, put on my perfect delinquent-ungrateful-son mask, and shouted loud enough to blast the phone apart.
"Dad!! What the hell are you doing?!"
[When you dodge my calls that hard, what's a father to do? A little air time was the only way. Otherwise you'd have kept running from your old man forever, wouldn't you?]
"Ha!"
I let out an incredulous scoff.
"Cut it out! How are you going to fix this?! I went to all this trouble pulling us out into a private guild just to stay clear of the Bureau — and now you've slapped the Bureau's brand right back on us, just like back in the institute days!"
A low chuckle drifted over the line.
[Ha ha ha! Oh dear, my son. What a naive thing you are.]
"What?"
[Didn't you just see the news? So long as you are Chae Ganghyeon's son — so long as you draw breath — that label will never come off. Don't tell me you actually thought a flimsy signboard swap was going to get you out from under your father's shadow?]
The chilling, pressing voice hit like a hammer to the back of my head, and I was left speechless.
[Or…… is there some 'special reason' you feel you need to keep the Bureau — and this father — at arm's length?]
"……."
[I can't for the life of me see why you keep pulling out of your father's embrace, drawing these hurtful little lines between us.]
The perfect tone of a father hopelessly besotted with his son.
But the coercive pressure squeezing my throat sent goosebumps flooding down my spine.
I bit down hard on my lip and snapped back sharply, on reflex.
"Who says I'm drawing any lines?! I'm just sick of my name always having your name-tag stuck on the front of it!"
The moment I flipped the tables and threw a tantrum, a small sigh drifted over the line and the taut air on the other end eased noticeably. A soothing, fond voice followed.
[Ha ha, yes. It must be exhausting, having a father as accomplished as I am. Sorry about that.]
Laughing it off like the sly old fox he was, Chae Ganghyeon finally got to the real point.
[So — when are you bringing me that second-awakened child?]
"Second awakening my ass! Nothing like that happened, I told you!"
At my continued denials, a deep sigh drifted over the line.
[Junhyeok…. You seem to keep forgetting who your father is.]
"……."
[Do I really have to say it out loud — that Lee Sea-ah second-awakened in District Eight — before you'll admit it?]
For an instant, my heart dropped straight through the floor.
How does he know the exact location — District Eight — and even who it was that second-awakened?
Don't tell me it was Kang Taemin?
But he'd been locked up ever since the incident, hadn't he?
So — was there another spy planted around me, then?
The next voice that drilled into my ear was affectionate — which only made it more chilling.
[Bring the child around to the Bureau when you have a moment, would you. Actually — better yet, bring all the little ones. I'll give them a tour while they're at it.]
"…"
[Well, seeing as you're quite a way off at the moment, I don't imagine it'll be right away.]
"...!"
[Then I'll be sure to speak veeery highly of you at the press conference. That our own Junhyeok has finally produced a second-awakened Hunter. Ha ha — your mother up in heaven will be so pleased.]
"What——!"
[Well then. See you on the news, three days from now.]
Click—.
"D-Dad! Wait, Dad!!!"
I shouted desperately, but only the cold call-ended tone struck at my ear.
I frantically called back, but the sly old fox ignored every one of my calls, like he was getting his own back.
"Damn it!"
Unable to hold down the boiling rage and awful helplessness, I flung the phone onto the bed.
It felt like being jerked awake from a sweet dream by a fistful of hair.
Maybe it was because the time I'd spent with the kids on the island had felt too much like a dream.
Without even realizing it, I'd been indulging a naive fantasy.
Maybe…… no one had to leave after all — maybe we could just keep on like this, together, exactly as we were.
But cold reality came down on the crown of my head and trampled me flat.
As long as I was "Chae Junhyeok," the kids would never escape Chae Ganghyeon's vast shadow.
My very existence beside them — meant to protect them — was actually the cruelest shackle around their necks.
"Ha, ha ha……. What an idiot."
Bone-deep self-mockery leaked between my lips. Yeah. A brutally stupid delusion.
Changing the sign out front from "institute" to "guild" was never going to be the end of it.
For the kids to actually be safe, they had to go somewhere completely cut off from me.
Somewhere no trace of the "Chae Junhyeok" label had ever touched them.
For an instant, a corner of my chest started aching, like a knife twisting in.
Those eyes — dropping their guard, leaning on me, starting to fill with blind trust and affection.
I could feel it myself — how much more the kids liked me now, how they'd taken to me.
But that couldn't happen.
Thankfully… it wasn't too late yet.
I had to sever those bonds, starting now.
So that when the day came for them to escape, they could leave me without a backward glance.
Right…… I knew this already. The kids can't forgive an abuser, can't be fond of one. If anything, this is for the best.
Muttering it to myself like I was running a brainwashing loop, I hurried out of the room.
When I picked up my pace and reached the training ground, the kids were still going all out, drenched in sweat.
The first to notice me walking in grim-faced was Han Jewoon.
He studied my face intently, gave Kang San a quick instruction, and strode over.
"What's going on? Why do you look like that."
"Sorry — I think I have to head back."
"What? Right now?"
When Han Jewoon's brow furrowed, I silently powered on my phone and projected the news as a hologram in the air.
His face went cold and hard the instant he saw the footage.
"You're not seriously thinking of going to the Bureau?"
When I nodded silently, he raised his voice in disbelief.
"Are you crazy? You're going there alone?"
"Shh!"
I hastily clapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him off to a corner of the training ground.
"What else can I do?! If this keeps going, Sea-ah's second awakening is going to get blown wide open to the whole world — everything about that child, right down to her past, is going to get ripped apart piece by piece by the press! I can't watch that happen."
Meeting my bloodshot eyes, Han Jewoon let out a groan and a deep sigh.
"Haaah……. Even so. What are you planning to actually do, walking in there alone?"
"I don't know yet. But I've got to hash it out with him, one way or another."
At my firm answer, he studied me with worry in his eyes, and finally gave a heavy nod.
"……fine, for now. I'll have the charter plane in the air right away."
While Han Jewoon stepped out to make the call, I went over to Kim Sunja.
"Ma'am. Something urgent has come up and I need to head back ahead of the group. Please look after the kids for me."
"Director, you're leaving……?"
Ari, listening from beside her, caught hold of my sleeve with a crestfallen face.
"The kids have been really looking forward to playing with you……. If you go like this, they'll all be so sad."
That small, gentle touch made my heart throb — but I clenched my fist and forced a cold voice out of my throat.
"Nonsense. Tell them not to worry about me and to focus on their training."
At the deliberately cold rebuff, Ari flinched and cast uneasy glances at me.
Reading the chill in the air, so clearly unlike my usual self, Kim Sunja tapped her cane against the floor and asked,
"Serious business?"
When I nodded silently, she clicked her tongue and gave a nod of her own.
"Understood. Me and the Bawi Guild boys will keep the children properly in hand, so put it out of your head and go see to it. I'll make sure they get plenty of rest and solid training both."
"……Thank you."
Not long after, I boarded the charter plane and left the island.
Watching the island shrink away beneath me, I bit down on my lip until it bled.
"Director! You're back already?!"
"Wait, why so soon…! We thought you'd be there at least two weeks…!"
Lee Jinwoo and Han Soeun came running out in a panic at my sudden return.
Ignoring their shocked stares, I asked shortly,
"Number Three — still in the basement, right?"
"Y-yes, sir! He is, but……"
"Give me the restraint keys."
At the cold, urgent order, Lee Jinwoo hurriedly rummaged in his coat and pulled out the keys.
I snatched them roughly out of his hand and headed straight for the basement.
Clank—.
When I opened the basement isolation cell, Kang Taemin — chains to the wall now unfastened, but the heavy restraint still around his neck — looked up at me.
"Director……?"
His eyes flickered not just with surprise, but somehow — strangely — with a hint of joy.
Instead of answering, I walked over, slotted the key in, and unlocked the restraint without hesitation.
The rough iron collar hit the floor with a heavy thud.
"You've got ten minutes. Wash up and get down to the garage."
Kang Taemin looked bewildered, but ex-military as he was, he nodded without a word of complaint and hurried out of the cell.
Meanwhile, I went up to my room, grabbed whatever useful artifacts I might need just in case, took a car key, and headed down to the garage.
Kang Taemin was already there, somehow cleaned up, standing at attention.
Out of Chae Junhyeok's flashy garage, I picked the most understated one — a black sedan — and tossed the key to him.
"Drive."
"Where to, sir."
"The Awakened Management Bureau."
Kang Taemin's shoulders stiffened for a beat at the destination, but he got into the driver's seat without a word.
I settled into the passenger seat too, closing my eyes heavily, as if trying to cool my tangled thoughts.
As the engine growled to life smoothly, Kang Taemin spoke up, careful,
"……why are you taking me along, sir?"
"Pressure."
"Sir?"
"A few things I need to grill my esteemed father on. However I turn it over, none of it adds up."
"?"
"You'll see when we get there."
After that curt answer, a heavy silence settled over the car.
How long had we been driving?
"We're here, sir."
At Kang Taemin's low, weighted voice, I slowly opened my eyes.
The view out the window wasn't the crowded front entrance of the Bureau, but a quiet back door with almost no one around.
"The reporters had the front entrance staked out, so I brought you around to the back."
"Good call."
I left the short compliment at that, got out, and strode into the Bureau without a moment's hesitation.
As I walked into the lobby radiating a grim killing intent, people went white and quietly parted way on their own.
Ignoring the flood of shocked stares, eyes locked only on the top floor, I was making straight for the elevator when —
"Oh my! Director!"
A voice too cheerful for the thin-ice tension in the room — enough to shatter it in a single beat.
Frowning, I turned — and there stood a familiar white-haired figure.
"……Ms. Ma Dohee?"
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