Chapter 35: The Frozen Flower and Unspoken Concern

“Take it.”

Without hesitation, Ryu Yishin retrieved the ice-encased flower from the vase and immediately offered it to Jung Hanseol.

Jung Hanseol, whose surprise at the unbelievable sight was clearly etched on his face, instinctively took the flower.

“Thank you…”

Though he couldn’t fathom Ryu Yishin’s intent in abruptly freezing a flower and presenting it to him, Jung Hanseol offered his thanks first.

Only then did he lower his gaze, examining the flower in greater detail, and found himself gasping in involuntary admiration. Each delicate petal, encased in a shimmering, thin film of ice, presented an unusual and captivating spectacle.

“Team Leader… this, it doesn’t melt?”

What was even more astonishing was the complete absence of moisture seeping into his palm, even after some time had passed.

Despite enduring the chill and repeatedly clutching and releasing the stem, the ice remained stubbornly intact, firmly encasing the flower, showing no sign of melting.

But Ryu Yishin responded to Jung Hanseol’s almost innocent curiosity with a dismissive nod.

“So, it’ll stay like this forever…?”

“If I leave it alone.”

Ryu Yishin, who had by then crossed his legs and folded his arms, answered Jung Hanseol’s follow-up question with an air of nonchalance.

Jung Hanseol, a faint smile gracing his lips at the cool reply, once again fixed his gaze on the flower, turning it over to examine it from all angles. An ice flower that wouldn’t melt—it felt as though he had come into possession of something magnificent, defying the very laws of nature.

‘If it stays like this, will the flower never wither and live on indefinitely?’ Jung Hanseol pondered the new surge of curiosity to himself.

Ryu Yishin, tilting his head slightly as if failing to grasp something, then spoke.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Huh? Oh… it’s just so fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it before… and it’s beautiful, too…”

‘He gave it to me, telling me to take it, so why does he look so displeased now?’ Jung Hanseol’s voice trailed off as he furtively glanced at Ryu Yishin’s impassive face.

Even after hearing the answer, Ryu Yishin’s doubts remained, as he narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the flower in Jung Hanseol’s hand for a long moment.

Feeling somehow self-conscious, Jung Hanseol carefully placed the flower on the table. Just then, the ring of a telephone bell echoed, providing a timely rescue.

Ryu Yishin, a clear expression of annoyance on his face, rose and returned to his seat, while Jung Hanseol blew warm air onto his cold hands to thaw them.

“Go eat lunch on your own.”

“Yes…”

With a curt, one-word reply, he swiftly ended the call, then stretched his long legs and quickly exited the office.

Jung Hanseol, gathering the faint sigh that had escaped him, did not immediately go for his late lunch. Instead, he placed the rose Ryu Yishin had given him back into the vase and gazed at it for a long while.

“…”

‘It seems I’ve been seeing many unexpected sides of the Team Leader lately.’

Jung Hanseol glanced down at Ryu Yishin’s clothes he was wearing, and a wave of awkwardness washed over him again, causing him to bite his lower lip.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Jung Hanseol put his hands on his knees and stood up. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but at least this was a golden opportunity to submit his work log.

****

Ryu Yishin found himself watching the vase on the table, the sound of a spray bottle, which for once didn’t grate on his nerves, serving as background music.

His intense gaze, fixed upon the flowers, shimmered with an unfamiliar, subtle vitality.

‘Oh… it’s beautiful, isn’t it? Seeing something beautiful makes me feel good… Though it’s a bit of a shame that it withers over time…’

‘Is it beautiful? What exactly, where is the beauty?’ Ryu Yishin pondered, his eyes still on the flower, as he tilted his head, replaying the voice that lingered in his ears.

To Ryu Yishin, who had lived with his parents in a country house with a well-maintained garden and a large greenhouse until he moved out at twenty, flowers were nothing more than objects his mother and father enjoyed.

Still, when his father occasionally brought bouquets to the office, he would dutifully place them in a vase. This was more of a compromise, a hundred-fold concession, because his mother had made them herself.

Perhaps because he had grown up surrounded by plants from a young age, regardless of his own will, flowers themselves were not particularly bothersome objects, which made this possible.

Ryu Yishin’s sentiments regarding flowers ended there. They were not objects of greater significance, nor did he ever intend to devote any interest to them.

‘Huh? Oh… it’s just so fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it before… and it’s beautiful, too…’

The way Jung Hanseol kept staring at the frozen flower with such wonder, and how the word “beautiful” was always the first to escape his lips—it seemed things like this truly appealed to him.

Ryu Yishin found himself inexplicably recalling Jung Hanseol flapping around like a paper doll in his ill-fitting borrowed clothes earlier today, and that face, unable to tear his unusually sparkling eyes from the flower, kept resurfacing in his mind.

Savoring the lingering image that showed no sign of fading and the voice that continued to echo in his ears, Ryu Yishin subtly tapped his foot, then let out an involuntary chuckle.

Startled by the laugh that pierced his ears, Director An turned around, mid-watering his orchids, still clutching the spray bottle.

As Ryu Yishin’s profile, adorned with a lopsided smile, came into view, a look of bewilderment flickered in his eyes.

For a moment, a sudden wave of concern washed over him: had his son eaten something strange? Was he unwell? Was this truly the son he had doted on for 27 years?

He cleared his throat with a few coughs, then placed the spray bottle on the desk and approached the sofa where Ryu Yishin sat.

By then, Ryu Yishin had reverted to his usual impassive expression, all traces of his faint smile gone.

Relieved by the familiar, emotionless demeanor, Director An covertly glanced at Ryu Yishin’s left sleeve before speaking in a heavy tone.

“Are your injuries… alright?”

“Yes.”

Despite his father’s worried inquiry, Ryu Yishin’s reply remained indifferent.

Though he knew his son’s recovery rate was exceptional, a father’s heart couldn’t simply be at ease, prompting his question. Yet, Ryu Yishin’s utterly unconcerned response immediately brought a wave of regret, making him wish he hadn’t spoken at all.

Nevertheless, Director An did not avert his gaze, filled with worry and concern, and continued to speak.

“They said Kang, the deputy team leader, was originally in charge of that matter yesterday, didn’t they?”

“…”

“Then you should have sent the deputy team leader. Why did you go alone? Why on earth did you go alone?”

“…”

“You know your mother would tie herself in knots with worry if she knew you were hurt, so why do you always…”

Listening to the voice laced with so much anxiety, a faint headache began to bloom.

‘Tying herself in knots with worry’—wasn’t that just his father’s excessive delusion? Since when did his mother ever tie herself in knots with worry?

Ryu Yishin didn’t even glance at Director An, who was spouting such nonsense. Instead, he let out a short sigh and pressed firmly against his temples.

This had happened just yesterday.

The Chief Director had assembled all the team leaders, raising his voice and lecturing for over thirty minutes about how chaotic and lax the atmosphere had become since the investigative headquarters was restructured into five teams.

It was then that the Research Team Leader burst into the conference room, looking for Ryu Yishin. A report had come in: an adult monstrous creature had been discovered at the site where Kang Seungmin, An Heeseong, and Yoo Gyeongjun had been dispatched about two months prior.

The reappearance of a monstrous creature in the same location implied that the previous job hadn’t been cleanly concluded.

Postponing the task of holding his subordinates accountable, he had abruptly stood up, driven by the thought that it would be better to go to the field and eradicate all the monsters rather than endure the Chief Director’s nagging.

Ryu Yishin took the shotgun and jackknife from the Research Team Leader, who was fussing over an unconfirmed fact about a likely mutant, and instantly teleported to the site.

The first thing he encountered there was a civilian bleeding profusely from a torn wound near their thigh.

Using his ability, he sent the civilian to the emergency room of the company’s affiliated hospital.

Immediately reloading his gun, he indiscriminately fired at the monstrous creatures charging at him from all directions.

When their approach speed proved too rapid, forcing him into close-quarters combat, Ryu Yishin finally understood why the Research Team Leader had specifically handed him a shotgun and a jackknife.

It took some time to completely neutralize the situation, eliminating even the larvae and eggs hidden deep within the ground.

Due to being outnumbered, Ryu Yishin sustained an injury, a chunk of flesh torn from his left forearm.

His back and shoulders were soaked with the blood of the monsters that had attacked him, and his injured left forearm was bleeding quite heavily, so it was hardly surprising that Jung Hanseol had been shocked to see it. However…

‘Oh… the hospital… let’s go to the hospital first! I’ll go with you… quickly, Team Leader…’

It made no sense. Why had Jung Hanseol thrown such a fit, insisting they go to the hospital first, looking as if he himself were in pain?

Watching Jung Hanseol fuss about so frantically, Ryu Yishin had thought to himself.

‘Doesn’t he know that Espers, unlike ordinary people, heal quickly even from wounds, and even severe injuries recover completely in three or four days? Doesn’t he truly understand that if an Esper is injured, they should be guided immediately, not taken to a hospital? What exactly do they teach at the Guide Training Center for Jung Hanseol to lack such basic common sense?’

A string of thoughts, each fueling his indignation, followed one after another.

‘Team Leader, I’ll do the guiding first, so… if I fall asleep, you have to leave me and go to the hospital. Oh, you understand, right? If you don’t get treated quickly, it might get worse and hurt even more…’

Ryu Yishin found himself recognizing the emotions embedded within Jung Hanseol’s rambling words.

It was because Jung Hanseol was looking at him with eyes that held the same warmth as the unspoken emotion he had seen in his parents’ gaze since childhood.