Black Badger

Chapter 245: Presence of the Absent (1)

The aircraft arrived.

After that, everything moved quickly. We boarded the emergency transport and returned to HQ. Emergency treatment began right inside the transport plane—thank god.

He still needed surgery, though.

Fortunately, the operating room was already prepared. Samuel Han had finished setting up and was waiting for Yun’s arrival.

The surgery began immediately.

If I could have, I would’ve stayed right outside the operating room, but I had to file my mission report at once.

The squad members told me they’d hold the position and sent me off.

I rushed to the computer room and wrote up the report.

Seba. Being discovered by Jonathan. The reconnaissance order. The Titan who descended all the way to C Zone. Green Dream having been used. The existence of spatial-transference arrays. Portal device installation completed.

When the report was done, I sprinted back to the operating room.

Ricardo was hugging Ami, comforting her as she cried.

Kai stood against the wall, arms folded. Sophia wasn’t present—apparently she’d listened when I told her to just go inside and rest.

I walked slowly toward the seats outside the operating room.

Ricardo, who had been patting Ami’s back, lifted his head.

“You’re here~?”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

Then I quietly sat in an empty chair, laced my fingers together, leaned forward, and didn’t move.

There was nothing left we could do now except wait.

With nothing to do, my insides twisted.

I forced myself to stay still, trying not to think useless thoughts.

A silence sharp enough to sting the ears.

After a long while of sitting motionless, hurried footsteps suddenly approached.

“Commander.”

Kai was the first to break the silence.

The source of the sound was Yehyeon, pale and shaken. He couldn’t hide the fear flooding his large eyes.

I rose from my seat.

Ricardo also stood, gently stroking Ami’s head as she curled into herself.

Yehyeon stopped before the operating room door, face stiff. It took him several minutes to open his mouth.

“Hilde.”

He addressed me.

“I want to hear the situation in more detail....”

I explained everything.

The moment I finished, Yehyeon pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and rubbed his face tiredly. His long, pale fingers trembled faintly.

I looked at the child, feeling guilt, fear, and apology tangling together inside me.

“I’m sorry.”

“No. If it weren’t for you, they wouldn’t have handled things that skillfully.”

Still looking drained, Yehyeon lifted his head and murmured in a hoarse voice:

“Thank you for dealing with the enemy. You’re all exhausted—go rest. There’s nothing any of us can do by standing around out here.”

“Ah~... then we’ll clear out, so it’s not uncomfortable~.”

Ricardo slid his hands into his pockets.

Kai pushed off the wall.

“I’ll go in.”

“Thank you.”

“If you don’t mind... I’d like to stay.”

I asked quietly.

Yehyeon looked directly at me.

“Yeah.”

He answered.

“I was actually going to ask you to stay with me.”

He doesn’t need to ask. He could just order it.

Ricardo and Kai prepared to leave. I heard Yehyeon thanking Kai for giving blood.

“Of course.”

With a short answer and a nod, Kai disappeared. Ricardo followed after him at a slow pace. Their clean, steady footsteps faded into the distance.

Soon it was just Yehyeon, Ami, and me.

A pale, cold hospital hallway.

Ami walked over to Yehyeon, still sniffling, and clung to him tightly. He lifted her into his arms with practiced ease and sat down.

I looked at the operating room door that refused to open, then sat beside him.

And in silence, we waited for the surgery to end.

Breathing in the fear that swelled in the air.

***

“Hey.”

Two hours later—

Dr. Han appeared, looking exhausted.

“It went well, so loosen those faces.”

“Sammy!”

“Samuel.”

Ami screamed his name and rushed at him.

Yehyeon shot to his feet. I rose slowly, watching the bed being pushed out by the nurses.

My mentor lay pale on the bed, eyes closed.

A mass of tubes and IV lines. The bed rolled toward the elevator, and soon Yun vanished from sight.

Samuel Han ruffled Ami’s hair roughly as she stared after the bed without blinking.

“Don’t worry. No complications, no scars.”

“Thank god! Thank you!”

“Go to his room. He’ll be knocked out by the anesthesia for a while.”

Ami broke into a bright smile and dashed down the hall.

Yehyeon let out a deep sigh of relief and wiped his face with a hand.

The doctor snorted and smacked him lightly on the shoulder.

“Don’t be scared, you brat. Don’t you remember when you were dragged in with your limbs hanging by threads? I stitched you back together when you came in with your muscles torn to shreds and a whole box of staple wires inside you.”

“...Yeah.”

Staples?

I gaped. It didn’t sound like a joke, but I wanted desperately to believe it was one.

Yehyeon, however, was completely unfazed.

He nodded and murmured weakly:

“Thanks, Samuel. Really.”

“Don’t mention it. That guy’s got good stamina and good immunity—he’ll bounce back fast.”

The doctor said this, then scratched his head.

“Still... I can’t believe he came in this beat up.”

Guilt shot through me again. The thanks I’d meant to say dried up on my tongue.

The emotions I’d shoved aside earlier coiled around my throat. If I had cut Hekate’s head cleanly the first time, or if I hadn’t gotten distracted, things wouldn’t have gone so wrong.

Idiot...

As I chewed on regret, the doctor’s gaze flicked my way.

His blue eyes narrowed as he took in my face.

“...What the hell. You. What happened to you?”

“Oh.”

Right. I’d forgotten Jonathan hit me.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Did you fall on your face? Come here. I’ll put bruise cream on you.”

“Ah. Then can I at least look in on Yun first?”

“Cream first, cream! He’s asleep anyway!”

“Samuel, I know you’re tired, but can you check Hilde as well? He said he got hit by a senior.”

Yehyeon suddenly shoved me toward the doctor.

“He told me earlier.”

“What?”

The doctor’s eyes widened.

“You got hit? By who?”

Yehyeon.

I thought he’d keep that to himself...

The bluntness of my superior’s words made my pupils shake violently.

I didn’t know how much to explain—certainly not Jonathan’s name.

As I hesitated, the doctor clicked his tongue loudly.

Yehyeon pushed my back again as I tried to reflexively step away.

“Ska said he’d talk to the Badger who hit Hilde. Seems there was a misunderstanding. Hilde just stood there taking it, so check him thoroughly.”

“Dammit—then instead of waiting here, you should’ve dragged him to someone else to look at!”

“I’m really fine. It’s been days, and nothing hurts. It’s just a very colorful bruise.”

Ignored.

No ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ one listened, and in the end I had no choice but to do as Samuel ordered.

I got checked while receiving a bucket’s worth of scolding. Through the entire exam he kept muttering about how badly I’d been hit. I nearly broke into a sweat trying to dodge his repeated question about who the attacker was.

I’m not snitching.

“Better not be Jason.”

After a short treatment—

Samuel muttered this while entering prescriptions on his tablet. I let out an awkward laugh.

“No. Trevain-sunbae isn’t an easy person, but he’s not the type to resort to violence.”

“Yeah, well. You’re definitely not the type to cross lines either.”

“Yes... if I cross a line, will he hit me?”

“You didn’t know he once turned a junior into mince?”

Wow.

That was news to me.

My expression must’ve said everything, because the doctor snorted.

“It happened. Anyway, don’t just stand there and take hits next time. At least run. Did he forget your regeneration sucks?”

He probably wasn’t in the mental state to remember anything.

I gave a sheepish smile and thanked him. When I added that I felt guilty always receiving his help, the blue-eyed doctor scoffed.

A genius exempt from the fitness tests despite being an enhanced body like John Mühlen.

Among the Black Badgers, his popularity was guaranteed.

I gave the famed doctor of the Black Badgers a faint smile and stood up to head for Yun’s room.

Then Samuel suddenly looked up from his tablet.

“Oh, and when you have time, call Hesh Lyle.”

“...Sir?”

“He got attacked by some lunatic recently. Hurt his hand.”

What?

“With a knife covered in Green Dream. The wound isn’t deep, so don’t worry—still, check in on him.”

What the hell.

Yow.

I froze and repeated the familiar name silently.

My broken little strategist.

If you keep crossing lines like this, I won’t stay quiet either.

***

Hesh didn’t answer.

Tom didn’t answer either. Tom must’ve been outside the Core on a mission. Hesh had the day off; maybe he was on leave or asleep, but I couldn’t reach him.

I tried calling Kairos too—no answer.

After leaving ten missed calls and fifteen messages on Hesh’s phone, I gave up and went to Yun’s room.

A still hallway.

I knocked, and Yehyeon answered politely.

I pushed the door open gently.

“...Ah.”

I blinked at the scene.

“Yehyeon.”

He’d been crying.

Seeing his bloodshot eyes twisted something inside me.

But the moment he turned those red eyes toward me, he smiled softly.

“Hilde.”

He gestured for me to come in.

“Thank you. You must be exhausted.”

“No.”

I instinctively used formal speech, but judging from his loosened posture and the fact he was off-duty, it seemed unnecessary.

He looked like he wanted to lean on me. I should drop the honorifics.

Thinking that, I sat in the chair beside him.

The room was quiet. Curtains drawn, no sense of time. Yun lay motionless, eyes closed. Without his cold expressions or sharp remarks, he looked strangely innocent.

A strange feeling.

As I stared blankly at Yun, I realized Ami wasn’t in the room.

Scanning the room in confusion, I heard Yehyeon explain:

“I told her to go wash up.”

Good. She must be exhausted; she hadn’t relaxed once since Yun got hurt.

I nodded slowly.

Then I turned back to the off-duty child beside me.

His face was even paler than earlier.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Please stop apologizing.”

He whispered.

“Otherwise I’ll have to start apologizing for countless things.”

What does he have to apologize to me for?

I wondered, but didn’t ask. I simply nodded. I hadn’t come here to lighten my guilt. I’d come to check on the patient—and to comfort the child who adored that patient so fiercely.

I also had questions.

I’d wash up later. For now, I looked at Yun’s profile.

Sharp features.

In the silence, I studied his face and murmured:

“What was that about a whole staple box?”

Yehyeon let out a small “ah.”

“It’s nothing. Back when Jaeyeon was rampaging in full force, I got beaten in all sorts of creative ways.... He’s calmed down a lot now, so don’t worry.”

That bastard.

I’d have to interrogate Jaeyeon about this later.

I swallowed a sigh.

Then slowly asked:

“At the public schedule... nothing happened, right? I just heard Hesh was attacked by some unknown guy. Sounds like Yoou to me.”

“Ah.”

What?

I snapped my head toward him.

Yehyeon flinched.

He tensed up, watching me carefully before speaking slowly:

“No one was seriously hurt, but...”

“So something did happen?”

“It might not have been Yoou.”

Let me hear it and judge.

I narrowed my eyes, and Yehyeon asked gently:

“Do you... know who Adam is?”