Chapter 17: The Leash of a Hypocrite

The old man, as always, would be holding court with his back to the grand window, an imposing posture utterly unbefitting his true stature. Pushing open the massive doors, I saw him standing before the large window, just as I had anticipated.

“You’re quite late. I believe I asked you to join me for lunch.”

“I feared dining with an old geezer like you might give me indigestion.”

Sa-yoon’s dismissive tone, as he stood with his arms crossed, caused the man’s brow to furrow deeply.

“I was relieved to hear you were doing well in the unit, but it seems you’re still a mess.”

“I doubt my well-being is what truly interests you, old man.”

“Will you still not call me Father?”

“Even referring to you as ‘father’ in public is nauseating enough. Just let me call you whatever I want at home.”

Jin Jung-woo, Jin Sa-yoon’s father and biological sperm donor, clicked his tongue, mirroring Sa-yoon’s crossed arms.

He was the one who had effectively put a leash on his son, an Awakened Esper with multiple manifestations, by demanding cooperation to save his mother.

“Right. What you call me isn’t important.”

Jin Jung-woo removed the thin spectacles perched on his nose, setting them aside. Sa-yoon’s insult of ‘old man’ seemed ironic, as Jin Jung-woo appeared no older than his late forties.

“Sa-yoon. I am a man with a great deal to lose.”

“How fortunate for you, to have so much.”

“That’s why I’m forced to react sensitively to even the smallest matters. For instance, the safety of my youngest son who ran away from home…”

Jin Jung-woo paused, then spoke in a low voice.

“…Or the health of my second wife, which no one outside this house knows about.”

Jin Sa-yoon’s face twisted into a scowl at Jin Jung-woo’s mention of his mother’s well-being.

Jin Jung-woo was a truly vile man. He feigned refinement, yet beneath the facade lay a thick wall of hypocrisy, built from the inferiority complex he harbored over his low Esper ranking.

“To bring up Mother so quickly. You must be quite desperate, aren’t you? Usually, you’d lecture and threaten me for an hour first.”

“Because it’s a topic that will be very effective for a terrible, unfilial son who has no intention of even entering the room.”

Jin Sa-yoon did not move a single step from the doorway. He wanted to maintain as much distance from that man as possible.

“I can hear you perfectly well from here. As you know, I’m a precious S-class, so my hearing is excellent. Unlike the rest of this household.”

“Indeed. That’s why you’re still alive. Come in, have a cup of tea.”

Ordinarily, a mention of his rank would have caused the man to twitch an eyebrow, but this time, he merely brushed it off.

Sa-yoon strode to the sofa and downed the pre-prepared tea in a single gulp. Its bitter taste assaulted his tongue.

‘What could he expect from a man who would forget a hundred times that he couldn’t drink bitter beverages, even if told a hundred times?’

“Can I leave now?”

“I heard you played a significant role in this mission. The lives you saved numbered in the millions.”

“Did you call me just to offer belated praise?”

“You handled the operation like that, just to save a few people?”

Jin Jung-woo’s voice rang out sharply. His mouth twisted as he spat out the angry words.

“And you lost consciousness in front of others, didn’t you? Do you have any idea how I prevented them from bringing even you to the central facility for treatment?”

“No wonder things have been quiet from above. You’ve done a good deed for once.”

Even if the headquarters had been busy focusing on Han Do-hoon, the lack of attention directed at Sa-yoon was too sparse. It had seemed a little odd, and now it appeared Jin Jung-woo had pulled some strings behind the scenes.

“And why did you bother carrying that Han Do-hoon out? If he were gone, you’d be the only active S-class Esper. Do you know how much trouble he’s causing me right now, yet you saved him?”

Of the three S-class Espers in the country, one had already retired due to old age.

If Han Do-hoon were to disappear, Jin Sa-yoon’s influence among the remaining two S-class Espers would undoubtedly soar, a prospect Jin Jung-woo coveted above all else. He ground his teeth in frustration.

“You don’t have some other hidden agenda, do you? Some audacious thought of contacting another faction, for example?”

Jin Jung-woo’s eyes were sharp. They always were. Even as he tugged at Sa-yoon’s leash, he constantly suspected Sa-yoon’s betrayal.

He understood Sa-yoon’s true worth better than anyone.

He knew that any new power broker would eagerly recruit an S-class Esper, even with the inherent risks of an Irregular, which was why he constantly pressured and tried to control Sa-yoon.

It was utterly ridiculous. With his mother’s health held like a leash around his neck, Sa-yoon was powerless to resist.

He was not selfish enough to attempt an escape, leaving his only mother behind.

However, Jin Jung-woo did not see it that way. After all, Jin Jung-woo was a man who spared neither family nor children for the sake of his own advancement.

‘Given his own nature, he would be anxious no matter what leverage he held. He must believe everyone else is just like him.’

“…You really don’t have some kind of relationship with Han Do-hoon, do you? You didn’t let that sensitive bastard figure out your identity, did you?”

Jin Jung-woo’s gaze was sharp, probing repeatedly about his relationship with Han Do-hoon.

“I said no, so why do you keep asking the same thing?”

“Tsk. If not, then fine. But next time such an opportunity arises, just let him die. You missed a regrettable chance. If he were gone, things would be so much simpler…”

He was the kind of man who would casually discard human lives to protect his power, treating them as utterly insignificant.

Even after making such heinous remarks, Jin Jung-woo would undoubtedly appear the next day with a perfectly straight face, spouting platitudes about striving for the nation’s welfare.

‘What exactly was it about power that could make a person so vulgar?’

“Are you laughing? Does your current situation seem like a joke? If your identity is exposed, not only you but our entire family will be subject to investigation.”

“How unfortunate for you.”

Jin Jung-woo clicked his tongue, a discomforted expression on his face.

“You insolent brat. If danger arises, I will put your mother on the front line. I will claim that I knew nothing of your true identity and merely took in an illegitimate child. Then your mother, who concealed the truth, will become the greatest sinner.”

“……”

Sa-yoon silently picked up the glass. The bitter liquid, half-empty, sloshed within as he slowly swirled it by the handle.

Then, he hurled the glass, aiming precisely beside Jin Jung-woo.

The ceramic shattered against the wall, fragments scattering everywhere.

Shaken by the glass exploding next to his ear, Jin Jung-woo nervously checked his face and body for injuries.

“You’re overreacting, the glass didn’t even touch you. It seems the old man is just getting more anxious with age. No one even provoked you, yet you’re digging your own grave all by yourself.”

Sa-yoon calculated the coordinates of the fallen fragments, gathering them one by one.

In the air, the broken pieces reassembled, reforming into the shape of a glass.

“Nothing happened, and there was no damage, so what’s the problem?”

Jin Jung-woo was a coward, constantly fretting that even the slightest scratch might mar his possessions.

Despite this, he was a trash-tier individual, overflowing with ambition and arrogance that permeated his very being.

“You’re already living well by selling my name, aren’t you? Doesn’t that mean I’m doing my part sufficiently even now?”

Jin Sa-yoon was young, the youngest among all active S-class Espers in South Korea.

Consequently, executives, eager to entrust him with their future, frequently contacted him, showering him with flattery.

To secure a private audience with Jin Sa-yoon, who was firmly entrenched in his unit, they had no choice but to curry favor with his father, Jin Jung-woo.

Sa-yoon, too, would play the dutiful son, appearing whenever his father called, shaking hands with high-ranking officials and forcing a smile.

Thanks to this, Jin Jung-woo, a mediocre B-class Esper, had managed to climb to the rank of minister.

Rumors were also circulating that he would soon be transferred to a department directly under the commander.

“Don’t call me here for trivial matters like this. There’s nothing good about seeing your face often.

What more will I hear if I meet you frequently, other than that you’ve achieved undeserved success thanks to your S-class son?”

Sa-yoon brushed off his clothes and walked out.

As he left, a torrent of enraged shouts erupted from behind him.

“That—that! I saved a man who should have been selling his body in the countryside! And he shows no gratitude!”

Jin Jung-woo, having cast aside his refined facade, had veins bulging in his neck.

“Thanks to an S-class Esper? It seems you’ve forgotten your place. You were originally a low-class Guide who should have been accepted by some unknown Esper through the back door! I saved that kind of trash!”

Jin Jung-woo was an Esper supremacist. Despite being merely a B-class Esper himself, he was intoxicated by Esper superiority, looking down upon non-Awakened individuals and Guides.

Though he complimented Jin Sa-yoon’s mother’s beauty and maintained a relationship with her, he never once dreamed of marrying her, a non-Awakened person.

“I called you here to tell you to get your head on straight from now on. I was afraid you couldn’t shed your lowly origins and might be swayed by some outwardly decent guy like Han Do-hoon!

Act properly so your dirty origins aren’t exposed. Don’t let your Guide habits get the better of you, recklessly throwing yourself around and getting caught!”

This was always the inevitable conclusion. Their relationship, even when cloaked in polite conversation, invariably devolved into shouting and vulgar insults.

Accustomed to the familiar tirade, Sa-yoon offered no retort and simply left the room.

“……”

“Your coat is here.”

In the brief interval of their conversation, the secretary had retrieved Sa-yoon’s discarded coat from the floor, dusted it off, and even ironed it before bringing it back.

Sa-yoon looked at the man, whose hair was streaked with white and appeared about ten years older than Jin Jung-woo. He had always found the secretary more unsettling than Jin Jung-woo himself.

“Could I see my mother before I go?”

He hadn’t consciously thought of it, but being near his mother’s quarters, he felt a sudden urge to at least send his regards.