205. Leave No Trace 3

“Their movements have intensified recently. Their itineraries frequently overlap with key figures from other national offices. We haven’t directly caught them meeting, but they’ve certainly heard about our plans and are making countermeasures.”

“Don’t worry. I have all of Jet’s analyses in my head.”

“You absolutely must not be arrogant.”

“You think I wouldn’t handle it? I’ve even memorized how Yoon Tae-ha fought Seo Do-jin when they were kids, you know?”

As the chimera spoke, she suddenly erased the sharp expression from her face, tilted her head slightly, and smiled.

For a moment, Moon So-eun saw the being in front of her overlap with the Yoon Tae-ha she had watched since childhood. And that gave her a very chilling feeling.

“I even memorized the name of the ramen Do-jin oppa used to ask me to cook for him often.”

The chimera mimicked Yoon Tae-ha’s accent very naturally.

“Are you still worried about me?”

Moon So-eun, averting her gaze, pointed to the dressing room door. The appointed time was approaching. Just before the chimera left, Moon So-eun, out of excessive caution, gave her last piece of advice.

“Don’t forget to take your medicine on time.”

“Of course, it’s what the teacher gave me.”

The chimera left to carry out the mission assigned to her.

________________________________________

Meanwhile, Seo Do-jin was dying of anxiety waiting for the ‘Yoon Tae-ha, kidnapped by Orca at eighteen,’ whom Ark had rescued. As he sat in a chair, nervously bouncing his leg, Han Gye-oul sharply slapped his knee. Baek Sang-ho sat a little distance away from them, staring at the floor, lost in thought.

“Don’t be so restless.”

He continued bouncing his leg as if he hadn’t heard. He looked like he’d rather someone get angry at him so they could even grab each other by the collar.

Han Gye-oul read his thoughts and sighed. While waiting, she wiped away tears welling in her eyes as she reread the last messenger conversation she had with Yoon Tae-ha.

A moment later, the conference room door opened, and Lee Hae-kyung, with a bloodless face, entered. Seo Do-jin sprang to his feet. Behind Lee Hae-kyung stood Yoon Tae-ha. Han Gye-oul was so startled upon seeing her that she dropped her phone. She’s identical, Han Gye-oul murmured in a small voice.

“Agent Yoon Tae-ha will return to active duty starting today.”

Lee Hae-kyung said in a monotone voice. He stated that Yoon Tae-ha would have a period of adaptation within the office for a while, and he requested the active cooperation of those present for her quick adjustment.

Yoon Tae-ha, who had followed him in, slowly surveyed the three people waiting for her.

Han Gye-oul was tearing up, shocked just by her presence. Baek Sang-ho seemed unsure about the newly appeared Yoon Tae-ha. And Seo Do-jin wore an expression as if he didn’t even want to exchange words with her.

Soon, Yoon Tae-ha approached Seo Do-jin with a slight awkwardness. She had chosen Seo Do-jin as the first person she wanted to greet. The moment he was about to frown, she extended her hand as if to offer a handshake.

“What are you doing?”

Seo Do-jin said sharply.

“What kind of tone is that to your sister after such a long time?”

The other person was completely unfazed.

“You promised that if I came back safe, you’d be in charge of ramen for a month. If we shake hands, it starts then. Did you forget?”

“...What?”

Seo Do-jin blinked foolishly because the person remembered the promise he had made with her when she was eighteen, just before going on a mission, so accurately. It was a promise even he had forgotten.

“I’m the one who was kidnapped, so why does your memory seem worse, Oppa? Isn’t it?”

She grinned, looking back at Lee Hae-kyung. Lee Hae-kyung’s expression grew even darker. The newly appeared Yoon Tae-ha was unconcerned by people’s confused reactions.

When Seo Do-jin didn’t accept the handshake, she forcefully grabbed his hand, which was hanging limply, and gently shook it. Seo Do-jin flinched and tried to pull his hand away, but Yoon Tae-ha held on with just enough grip until she was satisfied.

Finally, when she released his hand, Seo Do-jin put his hands behind his back in an exclusive manner. Yoon Tae-ha playfully poked Seo Do-jin’s arm with her finger. He finally moved to a spot where her hand couldn’t reach him.

“How shy. Is it because you’re afraid I’ll guide you?”

Her remark caused the confusion that had settled in the conference room to swirl violently. Shock and bewilderment flashed across people’s faces.

“Guidance, what are you talking about?”

Baek Sang-ho, unable to hold back, asked.

“Agent Yoon Tae-ha has guiding abilities. Just like Cheon Geon-young.”

Lee Hae-kyung answered for her. Seo Do-jin wanted to ask immediately if it was true, but he just barely managed to restrain himself since the person was right in front of him. Yoon Tae-ha acted as if she enjoyed people’s gazes and lightly perched on the desk.

“It’s still a bit unstable. It’s hard to guide only the person I want. But I have no intention of doing it for you, Oppa?”

“I don’t intend to receive it either.”

“Now you’re finally using informal speech, aren’t you? You were using such a stiff tone, it didn’t suit you.”

He’d been drawn in. Seo Do-jin felt a terrible sense of self-reproach. The woman perched on the desk watched his reaction, then subtly curved her lips upward. And she asked Lee Hae-kyung a question.

“But I can’t meet that person today? I heard he’s a very busy man.”

Her large, passionate eyes gleamed wickedly.

“I want to meet Cheon Geon-young.”

________________________________________

Cheon Geon-young received a call from his uncle and headed to the art museum owned by his wife. As he drove his car and arrived in front of the museum, plainclothes bodyguards who didn’t seem to care about hiding their Esper abilities greeted him.

A female Esper, whose feet were frozen white, smiled at Cheon Geon-young and told him that Cheon Dong-woo was waiting for him inside. She seemed to be an Esper who used ice.

He entered the building. Despite its sophisticated exterior, the interior was desolate. Only a sign indicating that it was a preparation period for an exhibition stood lonely in the lobby.

After passing through two empty exhibition halls, he came to a brightly lit one. Cheon Dong-woo was sitting on a long chair in the center of the space. Of the three brothers, Cheon Dong-woo was the thinnest and tallest. The man, who looked almost fragile compared to Cheon Beom-jun, turned around at the sound of footsteps.

“I thought I’d fail to invite a celebrity like you.”

Cheon Dong-woo motioned for him to sit next to him, and Cheon Geon-young, not wanting an unnecessary struggle, sat beside him. In front of them hung a single work of art much taller than a person.

It was a photograph that seemed to look up at the bow of a massive ship floating on water. The photographer seemed to have actually entered the water to take the shot. The imposing presence of the massive metal mass was evident even in the photo.

“I heard there’s a good exhibition on display. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see it in advance.”

Cheon Dong-woo seemed pleased with the answer, turning his head to gaze at his nephew’s profile.

“It’s a photo by a rookie artist I’m sponsoring. I’m relieved to hear you think it’s good. Even if it’s just flattery.”

“I want to hear what you urgently need to tell me.”

Cheon Geon-young said firmly. Cheon Dong-woo handed a brown paper bag placed next to him to Cheon Geon-young. Cheon Geon-young took it, opened the bag, and checked its contents. It was a bundle of documents smelling of old paper.

Silently examining the documents, Cheon Geon-young soon realized that it was a report written after someone had been under surveillance. And the subject of the surveillance was his grandfather. The person who ordered the surveillance was Cheon Dong-woo, sitting next to him.

“Your filial piety is truly impressive. You even tried to record the time Grandpa went to the bathroom during dinner gatherings.”

“The same was true for my father. He also monitored me and brother Beom-jun for the past few years. He bribed people I trusted and tried to invade my private space.”

“Am I supposed to be involved in this now?”

“I called you here to ask you to finish this. Not to ask you to continue this kind of work.”

Cheon Dong-woo cleared his throat as if he were the one who had to tell a very long and tedious story alone. Cheon Geon-young endured the silence, recalling the quiet time he had spent alone in the hideout. Soon, Cheon Dong-woo began to speak.

“I believe there’s another person inside my father’s body.”

Cheon Geon-young’s eyes widened slightly.

“I’m saying it’s not just a change in personality, but that a completely different person seems to have taken over my father’s body.”

As soon as he heard those words, Cheon Geon-young’s mind echoed with Cheon Seong-beom’s voice, despairing over the death of his second son. And the old man’s desperate wish to distance his grandson from the terrible incident, even by erasing his memories. The bizarre puppet show at school was also similar.

He was one of the people who knew that Cheon Dong-woo’s hypothesis, which ordinary people would have dismissed, was actually possible.

“You’re not as surprised as I thought. I expected you to make a dumbfounded expression. Even my wife, who’s lived with him all her life, worried about my mental health when I first said this.”

“Since when have you thought that?”

“About 10 years. Maybe a little more than 10 years... Back then, it wasn’t such a concrete suspicion, but a concern that father’s mind seemed to be muddled. His forgetfulness had gotten worse. At first, I thought it was just one of the unpleasant symptoms that come with aging, so I advised him to go to the hospital. But my father vehemently refused. He’s a very proud man, so I backed down then, thinking I had gone too far.”

Why would he go to such lengths as to erase memories immediately after the accident, only to send his grandson back to Yoon Jung-hoon? Cheon Geon-young realized that if he applied his uncle’s suspicion, his own questions also disappeared.

“As soon as I felt something strange, I started investigating my father. I first looked into who he was meeting. And names I didn’t know started popping up everywhere. The people in these documents are them.”

“They all have ties to Ark.”

Cheon Dong-woo nodded.

“The chairman has separate people he considers friends. The people listed here are people the chairman never met before your parents died. After meeting them, the chairman reduced his meetings with his previously close acquaintances.”

“Just because the people he meets have changed doesn’t prove that the chairman’s soul has changed.”

“That’s why Bae Hee-joo is important.”

It hasn’t been long since Cheon Seong-beom remarried Bae Hee-joo. It wasn’t just his immediate family who were shocked by Cheon Seong-beom’s choice, as they had thought he would live his entire life grieving his first deceased wife.

Bae Hee-joo was one of Cheon Seong-beom’s secretaries. While the prevailing opinion externally was that she had seduced him to become “Madame,” the family knew that wasn’t true. It was because Bae Hee-joo had smiled brightly in her marriage only a handful of times.