Fwoosh!
Ectoplasm burst from Sun Yo-han's dozen grotesque hands as they slammed into the shallow riverbed.
Rumble…
The ground vibrated beneath Hyechang's feet, the force nearly knocking him off balance. His instincts screamed at him to move. Just as the water beneath him erupted into jagged spears, aiming to impale him.
"?!"
With his mysterious, newfound leg strength, Hyechang vaulted into the air, landing hard on the blood-red grass beyond the river's edge. His eyes snapped to Do Juhwan, who remained calm, handing Chu Sung-hoon's corpse off to his twin. The twin vanished through a swirling portal of water.
"Is this one of those Corpse Abilities?!" Hyechang shouted over Sun Yo-han's unintelligible screeches.
"Yup," he replied unflinchingly. "Though it's rare for one to manifest so early on in a Revenant's life. Who was Sun Yo-han as a human?"
As Hyechang landed on the crimson grassland just behind Juhwan, his memories raced back to meeting Sun Yo-han before his appendectomy. His patient file that contained all of his information.
Hyechang listed the most noteworthy information. "He was studying to be a marine biologist."
"Was he passionate about it?"
"Yeah. Runs in his family."
Juhwan's gaze flickered toward Sun Yo-han's grotesque form. "Then that explains it. C.A.'s always stem from a person's passions, regrets, or their identity when they were alive."
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Sun Yo-han's many arms hammered the shallow water like drums. With each strike, numerous tendrils of water with spear-like points shot toward Juhwan and Hyechang. Juhwan evaded them with ease, but Hyechang seemed to struggle. It was his first legitimate battle after all.
"Damn it!" Hyechang gritted his teeth. "The Samdocheon is nothing but shallow water. If he can manipulate it, he has the entire battlefield."
Hyechang kicked off the ground, launching himself skyward. "Stay off the water. Stay moving. Get above him."
Vwoom…
The peak of his jump placed him directly above the Revenant. With a focused breath, ectoplasm circulated his clenched fist much more efficiently than the last time. A single, decisive blow. That was all he needed to–
Shink! Splash…
"Geurgh—!"
Agony exploded in Hyechang's chest.
Juhwan, who was still watching the battle, winced. Not from pain, but from apprehension.
Hyechang looked down. A watery blade had stabbed clean through his sternum. Clean through his heart.
The world around him began to blur.
"Shit…" Juhwan gasped, preparing to assist Hyechang. "If that heart breaks—if the Ghost Heart's destroyed—who knows what happens…!!!"
"Dr… Sa…"
A cold, clammy grip seized Hyechang's arms, head, and torso. Sun Yo-han's rotting, extra hands held him in place. The ghost's hollow eyes bore into him, whispering in a distorted voice.
"Why couldn't you… save me?"
"I…" He coughed up blood. "I'm…"
"Don't talk, Sa!" Juhwan shouted, closing in. "STAY ALIVE!"
But Hyechang ignored him.
He looked Sun Yo-han in the eyes—the eyes of a patient he'd once sworn to save—and whispered back to him. "I'm… sorry."
Vwoom… FWOOSH!
Ectoplasm erupted around Hyechang in a blazing fire. His damaged flesh and muscles began to reattach themselves around his bloody chest.
"?!"
Sun Yo-han faltered. His monstrous body trembled, and for the first time, his vacant eyes wavered, watching Hyechang's fist roll back.
GRAH!
Hyechang didn't hesitate.
"GRAH!"
The impact cracked through the air like thunder. The shockwave sent a geyser of water into the sky, the mist swallowing the battlefield. Juhwan couldn't see what happened until the debris settled.
Hyechang's fist, his forearm muscles swollen and glowing with ectoplasmic energy, buried in the Revenant's torso. His expression wasn't fury.
It was grief.
"Dr… Sa…"
"..."
Hyechang was completely silent. Now, Juhwan saw his true feelings of remorse.
"Dr… Sa…" the Revenant murmured in its final moments, its grotesque hands trembling. "..."
"…I'm sorry, Sun Yo-han," Hyechang whispered, clutching one of the ghost's hands. "You deserved a future."
"Dr… Sa…"
The Revenant's ghostly form began to crumble. Within the dissipating ectoplasm, for just a moment, Hyechang saw him. The real Sun Yo-han.
"...Thank you."
He was finally free.
"..."
Juhwan approached him from behind, placing his hand on Hyechang's shoulder. "You did good, Sa," he called out. "He's in a better place. Really."
Hyechang sat his knees on the water. His hand was still curled into a fist and dripping with Sun Yo-han's ghostly blood. His inflated, glowing forearm muscle shrank back to normal size.
Juhwan bit his lip. "Chu Sung-hoon was remorseful, but not as much as this guy," he thought. "As much of a nutcase as he was, Chu Sung-hoon was still kind."
Hyechang washed his hands in the river, staining the water red. He stood up and looked at Juhwan with vacant eyes.
"Maybe…" Juhwan's thoughts defied the rest of the KSPI's.
"The Ghost Heart is in good hands."
* * *
"Any change?"
KSPI Grand Master Kim Yunae stood over Chu Sung-hoon's corpse in an examination room. His skin was still damp from the river.
Junseo hesitated. "I'm afraid there's… no way of saving him, Grand Master."
Yunae looked away with doleful eyes. "...I see."
"But," he started again. "A Revenant made its way into the entrance dimension. Sa Hyechang and my brother are dealing with it."
Yunae's eyes snapped to him. "Seriously? Do they need backup?"
"It seems to be a 5th Tier Revenant," Junseo responded. "Juhwan can handle it if Hyechang can't."
"Oh…" she returned to her sorrow. "I see."
Silence fell.
"Ahem–," Junseo cleared his throat. "If it's truly necessary… we could extract the Ghost Heart. Sa is the first human Tengoku… it might be possible to perform a retrieval operation."
Junseo felt a sting in his chest. He felt terrible about throwing Hyechang under the bus, but… the KSPI took precedence.
"No," she quickly responded. "It's not fully understood, but... some say the Ghost Heart has a mind of its own."
"You mean…"
"If that's true, then it chose Hyechang. Not Sung-hoon. We have to trust its decision." She gripped her uniform. "This has not once occurred in Phantom history, Chief Investigator. I believe Sa Hyechang… will change everything."
…Fsh!!
The automatic sliding doors opened to reveal Do Juhwan. Upon seeing Grand Master Yunae, his legs straightened, and he gave a silent bow.
"What's it looking like?" Juhwan asked, straightening his back out. His lackadaisical attitude greatly contrasted with his younger twin's superior tact.
"..." Junseo shook his head at Juhwan. Not good, his head spoke.
"How is Agent Sa?" Yunae asked Juhwan.
"Well… he killed the Revenant," he shoved his hands in his pockets. "It was a close call. But I took him to the medical bay, and he said he wanted to go home."
"You let him go?" Junseo questioned. It was not out of derision but rather concern. "That's his first Revenant kill."
Juhwan shrugged, turning to leave as quickly as he came in. "He was pretty insistent. Probably because he had to kill the same patient twice."
"Ah… right."
* * *
Ding!
The sliding doors of one of Seoul's more high-end apartment buildings hissed open.
"Sa," an elderly lady at the desk addressed him as soon as he arrived. "It's been a while."
Hyechang, who entered with an extremely detached void in his eyes, looked at her, surprised. "Oh, Miss Park… I've been out of town for a while."
"You're behind on rent," she snapped. "I would have evicted you, but you're a doctor, so I can't stomach throwing someone like that out. Do you have my money?"
Hyechang scratched the nape of his neck in a nervous chuckle, approaching the front desk. He quickly pulled out his checkbook and started to scribble on it. "Yeah, yeah…"
New burdens were on his shoulders. Ghosts, Revenants, "Tengoku"... but money was not one of them. Hyechang was thankful for at least that.
"Sorry," he ripped the check out and handed her the paper. "Just had a lot going on."
The money-hungry landlord took the check from his hands. "...Just don't be behind again."
Hyechang nodded and turned to the elevators. Miss Park pinched her nose.
"And take a shower."
* * *
The door to Hyechang's apartment opened after a long week of neglect. The room was in the same state as he had left it on Sun Yo-han's death.
He peeled off his dirty clothes and stared at himself in the mirror of his bathroom.
"Eugh," he shuddered. "I've been running around and fighting ghosts. I totally forgot to take care of myself."
After a long shower, Hyechang approached his fridge. "Oddly enough, I don't feel that hungry."
However, as a doctor, he knew that his body needed food, so he prepared a small assortment of porridge, steamed egg, and seaweed soup.
The exhilarating feeling of eating after fasting wasn't there.
"Huh?... I'm already full," he placed down his spoon in a daze. "I haven't eaten for the past day or two. Is this because of…?"
He pulled the collar of his shirt down. His Ghost Heart was beating with a faint turquoise glow pulsating through his skin.
Hyechang sighed. His body could live off a minimal amount of food, it seemed. But he was disappointed that he couldn't indulge in life's greatest pleasures.
He put his food away and collapsed onto his bed after a few days of not sleeping.
He tossed and turned. Hours passed by, and his frustration grew. When he felt the sun on his face, his body whipped up, and he ruffled his hair in frustration.
"I don't need sleep, I don't need to eat much…" he stood on his own two feet and opened the door to his balcony, presenting the quiet city under the morning sky.
"HOW CAN I LIVE LIKE THIS?!"
"Uh…"
Hyechang whipped his head back in response to a voice he heard behind him. It was Do Juhwan who appeared from a rippling portal in Hyechang's bedroom.
"Is this a bad time?"
Hyechang suddenly appeared in front of him, in a blinding burst of speed. He put his hands on his shoulders and looked at him with bloodshot eyes.
"Do Juhwan," he spoke coldly. "What the hell is this 'Ghost Heart' doing to me?!"
"?!"
Hyechang let go of him and ran his fingers through his hair, pacing back and forth. "I've eaten almost nothing, yet I feel full. I haven't slept a wink since I woke up in the hospital, but I still feel completely energized. Wha–"
BRRING! BRRING!
Juhwan's pocket vibrated.
"What?..." he grunted into the speaker. "Now? Alright... We'll be there soon."
Juhwan hung up his phone, lifting another portal. "I can help you figure that out later, but get dressed now. Gotta leave soon."
"What? Why?"
"It's time for your first assignment."
"Now?"
"Yup…" he was halfway through the portal. "And what's more… Division Commander Baek Hyunwoo will be overseeing it. Don't disappoint him."