## Chapter 14 – Difference
After taking off my gown and hanging it on the chair,
I move towards the site of the engagement.
As I enter the alleyway, about a 15 to 20-minute walk from the trailer parked in the university parking lot,
agents in white protective suits are controlling access for the general public.
“Good work.”
“Good to see you, Doctor.”
I nod my head slightly to greet the agent,
and they salute me in return.
Passing them and entering the controlled alleyway,
a scene that never gets familiar unfolds.
A repulsive smell, as if something is rotting,
corpses melted down to the point where their original forms are unrecognizable.
“Sunbae-nim! Please wear your gas mask!”
“Ah, sorry, I forgot.”
“Seriously, how could you forget when it’s a site exposed to toxins…”
I receive the gas mask from Min-jeong, who follows me with a worried expression, smiling,
and put it on.
I feel like I can breathe a little easier.
“Alright, then…”
I receive protective gloves from a nearby researcher and put them on both hands, then
slowly begin to examine the bodies of the pursuit team, decayed beyond recognition.
“…Just what kind of poison do you have to use to melt a person’s flesh like this?”
“Well, I’m not sure either.”
I tear off a piece of flesh from the corpse.
Tearing off the already mushy, mud-like flesh wasn’t difficult.
Next to me, Min-jeong frowns, covering her mouth, hidden by the gas mask, and takes a step back.
I insert the piece of flesh into a device I brought.
The device makes a slight mechanical noise and immediately displays the results on the screen.
‘Unable to interpret.’
“I figured as much.”
It seems they put in a considerable effort to avoid leaving traces.
Looking at the results the device did manage to interpret,
I can see how they died.
First, it penetrates the victim’s body.
I don’t know by what means, but
it was probably injected.
The body injected with the unknown toxin gradually begins to break down, starting from the cellular level.
First, muscle paralysis,
making it impossible to control one’s body, then gradually paralyzing the tongue, making it impossible to utter a single word.
Second, the collapse of the body.
This must have been really painful.
From inside the body, muscles, internal organs, and bones slowly, very slowly, melt away.
Third, just death.
Once the whole body has rotted away, there is no way to cure it with our technology.
“It’s like radiation exposure.”
“…”
A life form that can create a toxicity similar to radiation, one of the most threatening things to the human body.
Just how far do the flowers’ limits extend?
The more I see, the more fascinating they are.
“Alright, there’s not much to salvage here.”
“Are you… finished already?”
“Hahaha, Min-jeong-ssi needs to get a little more used to this.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
I make a joke to Min-jeong and pass her, looking at the scene from a broader perspective.
“…”
A scene with all traces neatly erased.
Not a single bloodstain or strand of hair can be seen.
Amidst the noisy voices of people and the repulsive smell, I rest my chin on my hand and ponder.
“…A way to catch them.”
————————
“So, you just make a call and ask for help without any explanation? What am I supposed to do?”
“That’s why I’m explaining everything now.”
Seo-hee, carrying Chae-yoon on her back, asks me, grumbling, after arriving at my room.
I explained what had happened as concisely as possible, and
Seo-hee began to think with a serious expression for the first time.
“…By the way, she’s okay, right?”
“She’s fine. She’s just using all her energy to recover from the critical injury right now,
so she’ll wake up soon if we leave her alone.”
“That’s a relief, then.”
I feel sorry for Chae-yoon, who has a scar on her neck.
It’s because she helped me with the reckless plan I made.
“Isn’t there a way to make her recover faster?
I need Chae-yoon to wake up soon so we can discuss things.”
“Have a round with her.”
“…Excuse me?”
I thought I misheard and immediately asked again, but
Seo-hee calmly and seriously began to explain to me.
“We, unlike humans, get nutrients from food and use that for everything.
Moving our bodies, Chae-yoon touching people’s heads with her tentacles,
me creating poison, and so on.”
“…”
“But there’s an even better way to get nutrients than eating, and that is…”
“Stop, I don’t want to hear any more.”
I shake my head and wave my hands.
I don’t want to move my waist around like a horny monkey at a time like this,
and more than anything, I feel a bit of resistance to using her body, which was hurt for my sake, as I please.
Even if it’s an action for her sake.
“…Do you like her?”
“…No, I don’t.”
“Idiot.”
I can’t even respond to Seo-hee, who curses at me after seeing me lower my head, not knowing what to do,
answering awkwardly.
“Then let’s think about that first.
Some unknown light at the university is detecting us, so
what about her?”
Seo-hee closes her eyes and thinks, then points her finger at Chae-yoon, who is lying on the bed asleep.
Certainly, Chae-yoon’s current residence is definitely the university dormitory.
If she doesn’t go back to the dormitory now, it would be the same as openly declaring, ‘I am a crazy monster who eats people’s brains,’
and even if she doesn’t go back, it’s no different from the former case.
“…I know, it’s driving me crazy…”
“Even if we say she’s staying out for tonight or tomorrow,
it’s a problem if she doesn’t go back for too long, and it’s a problem if she does go back, right?”
“…I can’t see a solution.”
Both she and I put our heads together to think, but no matter how much we think, a good idea doesn’t come to mind.
Chae-yoon is the best at using her brain, but she’s unconscious right now…
This problem feels frustrating.
Then, Seo-hee, who had been groaning while pondering, suddenly got angry and shouted.
“Ah, really! There’s nothing we can do while we’re like this.
Just close your eyes and do it!”
“Wow, you’re really talking dirty.”
“…”
Seo-hee glares at me.
“I guess we have no choice.”
I mutter those words softly, bring my face close to hers, take a deep breath, and
kiss her.
“…”
The first kiss between her and me was a one-sided, forced kiss, but
a kiss where she grabs my head and leads feels a bit different.
Her tongue enters my mouth and starts to stir around,
her tongue and my tongue intertwine, and saliva drips down.
“…No! Wait, what are you suddenly doing!!”
“You were all excited to do it earlier, but now you’re acting all precious, acting precious…”
I suddenly snap out of the moment of soft pleasure and push her away.
Seo-hee wipes the saliva from her mouth with her sleeve and looks at me.
The situation is what it is.
The pursuer, who had felt distant, has come right up to my nose and is holding a knife to my throat, and
Chae-yoon almost died.
If Seo-hee had received the call even a little later, she really could have died.
Until just a few hours ago, the fear of ‘I might die’ had risen to my chest, and
to be honest, I was really scared when I was alone for that brief moment when Seo-hee was rescuing Chae-yoon.
After experiencing that feeling once,
I can’t think about this problem as easily as before.
It’s scary.
I don’t particularly want to enjoy it or do anything like that right now.
Seo-hee stares at me for a long time, then
extends her nails to make them like needles.
And she gently stabs Chae-yoon’s neck with the needle,
and starts injecting some liquid.
“What is that?”
“Nutrients broken down from your saliva.”
“You could do that?”
“No, originally your semen would be the best, but what can I expect from a guy who’s already acting like a dead person?
I’m doing this because I’m frustrated.”
“…”
Seo-hee clicks her tongue, pulls the needle out of Chae-yoon’s neck, turns her nails back to their original size, and
collapses next to Chae-yoon.
“I’m tired too, I’m going to sleep here tonight.”
“…Okay.”
“Chae-yoon will wake up around dawn.”
“Thank you.”
“…And you.”
Seo-hee, who had been saying one word at a time while turned away, turns over and looks at me.
“Don’t act so halfway,
it’s annoying to watch.”
“…”
After saying those last words in such an aggressive tone, Seo-hee turns away, saying, ‘I’m going to sleep.’
Halfway, that’s what I am.
I scratch the back of my head, get up from the bed,
take out a blanket from the closet, spread it on the floor, and lie down on it.
“…Damn it.”
I can’t sleep.
My head is a mess.
————————
“No, no, no.
It wasn’t my fault.
You know that too, don’t you? Huh?”
“I wouldn’t know about that, Team Leader.”
“Wait a minute, think again,
I might be needed for this operation, right?
Just once, think about it just once more.”
“…Um… No, I don’t think I need you that much, really.”
“Wai-”
I pull the trigger of the small gun in my hand.
A sharp sound erupted from the end of the gun, and
the team leader in front of me really turned into a lump of lard, just as he appeared.
“Did you take care of it?”
“Ugh… I thought I’d be okay, but it’s not a very good feeling.”
I drop the gun on the floor and wipe the blood that splattered on my face with a handkerchief.
“From now on, you are the team leader of the ‘Ancient Weapon Research Team,’ Dr. Luke.”
“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve been called by my English name, it feels awkward.”
“…”
I ended up eating the head by accident.
Should I try making that once?
That would be fun.
