Junseo now stood at Hyechang's bedside, giving him last-minute information before he would eventually leave. "We've already notified Baekchon General Hospital that you won't be able to work for a while because of an 'accident'."
"Will I still be able to work as a doctor?"
Junseo put a hand to his chin. "Maybe here and there. But I wouldn't hope for it. You're gonna be busy."
Everything that Junseo said was spoken with such certainty and confidence that Hyechang thought he was being condescending.
Junseo stuffed one hand in his pocket, reaching for the doorknob with the other. "When you feel better, go to the address on the card. Don't dawdle. These people don't like to wait. Especially for people like you."
Hyechang rubbed the side of his neck, groaning. "Yeah… yeah…"
The doorknob trembled under Junseo's grip. "...Feel better, Tengoku."
He left, leaving Hyechang to stare at the empty space he just occupied.
"...Tengoku?"
Hyechang shook his head, attempting to disregard that word. Whatever it was, he'd have to find out later.
For a while, he remained still. His phone lay face down on the nightstand, retrieved from Myeongye Primary by someone he assumed must have been Junseo. Strangely, he felt no urge to check it. Instead, his gaze drifted to his bandaged wrist. Junseo's words echoed through his mind.
"You're not exactly alive, are you?"
And…
"...what you are now."
He remembered. The sudden way Chu Sung-hoon had woken up. The vice grip on his arm. The snap. The bone breaking through his skin.
Hyechang twitched. Gruesome memories like these sent a chill down his spine.
"...Hm…"
Something compelled Hyechang to unwrap his cast slowly. As a doctor, he knew his condition well.
"Open fractures take months of healing, and then rehabilitation."
It had been about a week since the incident. Hyechang's wrist was far from healed.
…Eurk!
Stitches, dried blood, inflamed skin. It was a disturbing sight to see, especially on his own body.
He should have stopped looking. He should have re-wrapped the bandages and pretended he had never seen it.
But instead, he concentrated. His instincts told him to.
His expression darkened. His fingers curled into a weak fist, trembling slightly as they closed.
He looked at the wound for a few seconds.
The white pulse from his chest shifted into a vibrant turquoise, with the same color beginning to shoot through his veins.
The stitches buckled and popped free from his flesh. The bruising and swelling faded into his skin, and the deep gash closed. The pain was beginning to dull, then vanished entirely. His wrist, which was brutally snapped, was now completely repaired.
Hyechang stared at it, as though he were unsurprised. He opened and closed his fist, rotating his wrist 360 degrees. There was no pain or stiffness. It was like the injury had never happened.
Instinctively, his hand shot up to his chest, and he pressed against his sternum. The scar had faded, but he could still feel it. The heart that didn't belong to him. It beat like it was his own, speeding up and slowing down with his emotions.
"This is too much," Hyechang breathed.
He looked at the business card Junseo had given him. Sleek, black, and professionally made. Red Korean characters were inscribed on it for an address in Seoul.
"I need answers. I have to go. Now."
He changed into his clothes and reached for his phone, noticing himself in the reflection.
"...?!"
"What happened to my eyes?!"
* * *
The train ride to Seoul drained 280,000 won from his wallet.
"Damn it," he shivered, pulling his scarf over his nose. "Top-secret organization, my ass. Couldn't even cover my train fare."
The train had taken him to the outskirts of Seoul, where there were more vacant and abandoned buildings than people. Eventually, he came to a stop below a hanging sign between two tall buildings. The characters inscribed on it were the same as the address on the card. It was pointing to the alleyway between the buildings.
"..."
Deja vu prickled his neck.
"Last time I walked into an alley, I found a man with a white heart."
He reluctantly stepped into the darkness. "But… I need answers."
* * *
His steps became more and more staggered, his anxiety rising the further he walked.
"I can barely see anything," Hyechang scoffed, pulling out his phone. "Am I walking into some kind of trap?"
Rumble…
As though to answer his question, Hyechang heard the dangerous rumble of stone beside him. The abandoned buildings that he was sandwiched between vibrated.
"YES YOU ARE!"
BOOM!
The left wall exploded. A figure lunged through the debris, foot glowing with a turquoise aura, aimed like a cannonball at Hyechang's ribs.
POW!
He had just enough time to react, blocking the man's target with his arm. Pain shot through his bicep, and he was knocked back, colliding with the wall of the building behind him.
"...?!"
Hyechang braced himself for impact in a split second, fully expecting to die in a splattered mess against the wall. However, its surface began to ripple like water, swallowing him whole.
* * *
"Ughnh…"
Hyechang found himself on the floor with the wind knocked out of him. He barely picked himself back up on his feet as he saw the same man who attacked him appear out of empty space, the air behind him rippling like a puddle.
"You're the newbie, huh?" the man scoffed, smiling ear-to-ear. He had sinister murderous intent practically bleeding from his eyes.
Hyechang observed his surroundings. It was an impossibly wide space, infinitely expanding just like the black void he found himself in previously. Only this time, it was a red sky. He was capable of moving and there was a floor he could walk, a shallow river that only reached his ankles. Beyond him was a red grassland area, dead trees, and bridges. A plethora of lanterns and spider lilies were scattered across the river.
His arm throbbed. A deep, bloody bruise where the man had struck. It wasn't as bad as getting his wrist broken, but it was close.
"Where the hell am I?!" he shouted.
"The Samdocheon, of course. Ever heard of it?" He ran his foot through the grass. "Japan calls it the Sanzu River. In Egypt, it'd be like the River Styx. China, the Huang Quan. India, the Vaitarani. My Corpse Ability just gives me access to it."
"Corpse Ability? What the hell is that?"
"God, you really don't know…" the man groaned. "This is what happens when a human gets tangled in Phantom affairs."
He was using new words and phrases that Hyechang couldn't wrap his head around. Corpse Ability, Phantom, Tengoku… just trying to understand it racked his brain.
"Chu Sung-hoon was a man in need," he spat out, holding up his uninjured arm in an attempt to defend himself. "I'm a doctor. That's my job–"
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly came face to face with his opponent, who had his fist rolled back.
"Your JOB is to not MESS WITH THE KSPI'S SHIT!"
BAM!
His fist collided with something, creating immense wind pressure that kicked up dirt and dust around them.
When the dust began to settle, his nerves would fire when he saw Hyechang's palm, having caught his fist seconds before it reached his face.
"?!"
He was aiming for Hyechang's liver, an angle that his arms couldn't protect. His injured arm left that side defenseless. He was moving way faster than his uninjured arm, so a direct hit was guaranteed. So how was Hyechang blocking him now?
Vwoom…
He beheld the trauma on Hyechang's bicep healing with turquoise energy.
Vwoom…
Turquoise light pulsed through his veins.
"I don't know what the KSPI, Phantoms, or Tengoku are," Hyechang muttered, clenching his fist. "But if it's my heart you want—"
Vwoom…
"I won't let you get it that easily."
BAM!
Hyechang's fist, wrapped in green energy, shot and collided with the man's face at a velocity that almost rivaled his, creating an explosion of dust. He felt it slam against what had to be the man's cheekbone, but it was like punching a wall. It was even more disconcerting to hear his cackle among the clouds of dust.
"Not bad, not bad…" the man said, clutching Hyechang's fist. "You've got the reinforcement down. What's more, the regeneration! Even Chu Sung-hoon had trouble with that."
Hyechang immediately pulled his hand away. "Reinforcement?"
He looked down at his hand, which was still swirling with glowing energy. It shimmered like jade and felt like it invigorated Hyechang's muscles enough to give him superhuman strength.
"That right there is ectoplasm," the man pointed at Hyechang's hand. "It's the energy of the undead."
Ectoplasm? The most Hyechang had heard about such a thing was only in legend.
Hyechang scratched his head, trying to make sense of the current situation. "...Why did you attack me?"
The man put his hands in his pockets, walking over to a part of the shallow river. "Just my own personal test. I wanted to see if you were cut out for this line of work."
"If I wasn't, why would I have been summoned here?"
"The KSPI seeks out everything that has one, the ability to use ectoplasm, and two, sentience. There's inevitably gonna be some discrepancies."
As he spoke, the man held his hand over the water. It began to shimmer and sparkle with ectoplasm and appeared to move as his hand moved. With a smooth motion, he pulled it up into the shape of a spiral, which expanded into a circle. He gestured Hyechang towards it.
"Now come. It's almost time for your induction, Tengoku."