His whole body ached as if he had been struck by a shockwave.
Snapping his eyes open, Ryu Sungyeon sprang up on the bed like a coiled spring. He sat for a minute, as if in a trance, then muttered:
— ...not a dream?
After such an absurd dream, where you wouldn't even know where to start explaining—it was hard to speak. Looking around, he realized he was lying in a luxurious isolation box or a single room at the Bio-Hospital. The bed, strangely, was incredibly soft—clearly meant for patients.
"What the hell happened?"
Sungyeon tossed off the blanket and stood up, examining his limbs. Fortunately, everything was intact. In front of the bathroom mirror, he lifted his spacious white T-shirt—bio-bandages were visible on his abdomen. There was also a regenerative patch on his right arm. Frowning, he sorted through his memories and seemed to calm down.
— It really happened.
He clearly remembered how that suspicious bloodsucker, Lee Myeong, tried to destroy Kang Jihan in the back room, and how he himself received knife wounds in his arm and abdomen when he intervened. But afterward—perhaps due to a critical loss of bio-fluid—the memories were blurry. Thankfully, there were no traces of bites on his chest... or anything similar.
Assuring himself that his body was fine, Sungyeon recalled fragments of that strange Not-Dream. Ridiculously vivid and equally absurd. He felt as if he had been slapped by his own subconscious, putting all his hidden desires on display.
"It's never been like this before. Maybe it's really time to end the voluntary isolation?"
Vainly trying to shake off the obsessive images, Sungyeon plopped back onto the bed.
A little calmer, he finally looked around. The room was unusual—instead of a window, there was a huge storage cabinet, draped with thick, light-proof curtains, clearly for protection from sunlight. So, the place was specially prepared for a Class V.
Of everyone he knew, only Kang Jihan could have prepared so thoroughly.
But at that moment, the door opened.
He expected to see Jihan, but a completely unexpected person walked in.
— Ah.
The woman who entered was also surprised to see Sungyeon conscious. It was a slender woman with half-down hair in a white research coat. Sungyeon mumbled:
— Goo Seyoung?
— You've emerged from the coma. How is your sensitivity?
Seyoung quietly closed the door and approached him. In her hands, she held something like a bio-card—the white coat suited her very well. So, when she introduced herself as a biologist-researcher, it was true. She paused briefly before speaking:
— Honestly, I didn't expect you to be conscious already... Three cycles have passed. Do you remember what happened?
— Three cycles? Apparently, a very strong energy drain.
His indifference made her slightly uncomfortable.
— You are calmer than I expected.
— Three cycles is nothing. If I want, I can sleep for a hundred years.
An awkward silence followed. Sungyeon studied her expression. No hostility was felt—on the contrary, her manners were even politer than at their first meeting. Perhaps because he protected her Ally?
Her behavior sharply contrasted with their first encounter. He decided to test her:
— Since you're here, does that mean this is Lyran Hospital?
Seyoung flinched slightly. Her smile became strained, as if he had hit his target.
— Energy protection really shouldn't be relaxed.
— ...And does that compare to your Associates who scanned my past?
She remained silent. Which was an answer in itself.
Sungyeon crossed his arms and stared at her. She seemed to be flustered—meaning he could press harder.
— Does it not seem to you that I'm overpaying for destroying one corporate deal? Is it worth my life?
His tone was light, but his gaze was icy. These words were intended for Jihan, but since Seyoung was clearly part of his team, she would do. Besides, talking to her was much easier.
— If you don't explain what hierarchical game you're playing, our agreement can be considered obsolete. What do you think?
His eyes flashed red.
Seyoung sighed.
— This incident was a surprise for us as well.
— And?
She hesitated, then said:
— I apologize.
"Aha."
So, they knew it was a terrorist attack against Jihan. Sungyeon shrugged.
— A formal apology won't be enough. And you're not the one who should apologize. Where is that bastard who causes a Class to be attacked? Where did he disappear to? Did he run away?
Seyoung was embarrassed. Unexpectedly, she stammered:
— No, he just... went to treat his wounds. He hasn't left your side for three cycles.
Sungyeon scoffed.
— And I should salute him now?
— No.
She studied him carefully. But the bloodsucker, it seemed, hadn't changed at all since their last meeting.
But Kang Jihan himself, who brought the unconscious Sungyeon in, was deathly pale with terror. For three cycles, he couldn't rest, constantly asking:
"Will he definitely wake up from the coma?", "Are there any other complications?", "What if he's not regaining consciousness not because of the knife, but for another reason?"
Although he never uttered a word about that "other reason."
— Jihan was very worried about you. He was afraid you wouldn't wake up.
— Oh? So, he does have elements of self-awareness after all.
— Between you two... nothing unusual happened, right?
— Besides the fact that I got stabbed because of him, what else could there be?
Sungyeon replied indifferently. But at that moment, the door burst open. It was Jihan.
— Hey, why are you changing the bio-bandages so often? I told you everything is stable...
He froze, seeing Seyoung and Sungyeon, who had emerged from the coma. Silence reigned for a second, then he awkwardly mumbled:
— ...You activated?
Sungyeon's eyes widened. "What is wrong with his behavioral protocol?"
Seyoung looked at both of them, sighed, and said:
— It seems you need to move to confidentiality. I'll come back later.
With those words, she left.
Only Jihan and Sungyeon remained in the room. Silence fell.
Jihan, completely unlike himself, walked in like a bio-robot and sat on the chair by the bed, slightly avoiding Sungyeon's gaze. The vampire didn't understand why he was suddenly acting like a shy teenager.
— Yes. I'm fine. How are you?
— I am too.
An awkward pause ensued. Jihan hastily added:
— Gyuhyuk called. That bloodsucker really was a Class V. Burned up in the sun... Corporate security will probably record him as missing. Gyuhyuk also stabilized.
— He woke up while we were taking down that bastard.
— Ah...
Jihan was stranger than ever today. Sungyeon continued, studying him:
— In any case, that guy wasn't a strong Class... That's why I didn't recognize him. I fell for his imitation of a declaration of feelings for you.
He scoffed, as if not believing himself.
— Ridiculous. Before this, I only knew one Class V, and thanks to you, now I know two.
Jihan lowered his head and muttered:
— Reserve blood supply is in the cryo-refrigerator.
— Got it.
Silence again. Sungyeon calmly looked at him.
— Besides that, you have nothing else to tell me?
Jihan visibly fidgeted. Sungyeon mentally clicked his tongue. Was "thank you" or "I apologize" so hard to say? Apparently, that was exactly why he was so nervous.
"Well, really... It's kind of awkward to thank the very Class you hate, who saved your life." But Sungyeon decided to extract at least a word of gratitude from Kang Jihan at all costs. And to ask about what interested him.
However, after a while, Kang Jihan offered something completely different from what Sungyeon expected.
— ...Why did you provoke the incident then?
— ...What?
Sungyeon wore the expression of a person who had just been smacked with a tray.
— Oh, was I not supposed to save you? You saw—that psycho was running around with a knife!
Kang Jihan paused a bit before answering:
— Because of me... Honestly, I just get in your way.
Sungyeon scoffed with a bitter smile. He certainly hadn't expected that answer.
— Well, yeah, you're bloody inconvenient... But not enough to wish you dead. Do you think all Classes are maniac murderers who just cut everyone up?
— ...
— Ah, well, yes, you do think that.
— Not anymore! I've already realized that's not true. You probably decided it was better to suffer yourself again, right?
It wasn't that he thought about it that deeply... It was just that his body seemed to fail at that moment.
But Sungyeon didn't correct him. Instead, he crossed his arms and said indifferently:
— Well, yeah. Because of you, I had to expose myself too much, so I blacked out—so much that I saw all sorts of nonsense in a dream afterward.
— ...In a dream?
Sungyeon laughed, as if it were complete absurdity.
— Yeah, I just... had some idiotic dream. Like we were in a car... Both you and I... Ah, whatever.
But Kang Jihan's reaction was strange. Sungyeon expected him to either ask about the dream or rudely cut him off, telling him not to talk nonsense. However, the Class just sat there with a bewildered and slightly embarrassed expression, staring into space.
And the moment Ryu Sungyeon saw that expression on Kang Jihan's face, he felt like he had been struck by lightning.
Silence reigned for a while.
Sungyeon carefully examined Jihan's unnaturally calm face, from head to toe. First, an awkward smile appeared on his lips, then an expression of "could it be?", and then his face completely contorted, as if he was about to cry. Sungyeon spoke, stammering:
— Hey, please... That was a dream, right?
— ....
— Please.
Kang Jihan, with a stony face, abruptly rose from his seat and, without saying a word, turned toward the exit. But the moment he turned his back, Sungyeon noticed a large gauze bandage on his neck—exactly where he himself had torn his skin with his claws in the "dream."
Sungyeon's pupils widened.
That wound—it wasn't the work of the maniac attacker. He left it. In that very dream.
Bam!
The door slammed shut. Sungyeon froze, as if petrified, staring at the closed door.
Left alone, he muttered into the void, still in disbelief:
— Wait... So, that... Wasn't a dream?
Immediately, Goo Seyoung's words came back to him:
"You two... Nothing... unusual happened?"
Sungyeon automatically covered his mouth with his palm.
"That Not-Dream... Was real?!"
That strangely aroused moment, the hot breath, the intertwined bodies... All of it—not a figment of his imagination?
Sungyeon clutched both hands into his hair.
— A-A-A-A!
Goosebumps ran down his spine. Fragments of the "Not-Dream" surfaced in his memory, like frames from a movie, assembling into a single picture.
A moment later, Ryu Sungyeon, still clutching his head, was rolling on the bed in a silent scream.
He tossed and turned, and then began to furiously pummel the innocent pillow with his fists. Soon, the corner of the pillow tore.
When dull thuds were heard from the room, hurried footsteps sounded outside. A moment later, Goo Seyoung knocked and cautiously opened the door with a worried expression.
— Mr. Ryu Sungyeon, are you alri...?
But in the next moment, she saw Sungyeon, who was hysterically tearing at his hair on the bed and screaming into the void:
— Am I out of my mind?! To destroy myself, just to destroy!
Goo Seyoung froze for a second, watching the scene, and then just as quietly closed the door. It seemed now was not the most suitable time for further inquiries.
***
Some time later, Sungyeon met Seyoung with a drawn face. It seemed that in a short period, he had endured such an internal storm that he had suddenly aged ten years. Ryu Sungyeon sat on the bed, cross-legged, pulling the blanket over his head, deep in thought.
Kang Jihan, who had been raging recently, asking when Sungyeon would finally wake up, now, barely five minutes after the vampire opened his eyes, had left. It gave the impression that they had breached the Protocol. Goo Seyoung cautiously called out to Sungyeon:
— Mr. Ryu Sungyeon...? Are you alright?
— Listen, — Sungyeon suddenly turned to her sharply, his eyes flashing. Then he beckoned her with his finger. When Seyoung approached, he lowered his voice: — Did he tell you anything? About what happened between us?
— No... I asked several times, but he didn't answer anything.
Sungyeon briefly considered using hypnosis on Seyoung to check, but changed his mind. Even knowing Kang Jihan, he was certain—he would never tell others about this incident.
If Sungyeon himself felt such unbearable shame, how humiliating must it be for Jihan, who always proclaimed his hatred for the Class the loudest?
Moreover, Sungyeon at that moment... liked it. The mere thought of those sensations made him shiver—did he subconsciously desire Kang Jihan?
— Alright. Then don't ask any questions from now on.
Goo Seyoung replied with an awkward smile:
— What are you talking about?
— It doesn't matter what.
At that very moment, Sungyeon's face flushed bright red again. It was unclear—from anger or from shame over his own words at that moment.
"...Invasion. Discharge inside me."
"...!"
The memory resurfaced. And that look of confusion on Kang Jihan's face back then!
If the other man had been under hypnosis—any words could have been blamed on insanity. But Jihan was fully conscious, unlike himself. This man, who in a normal situation would rather smash his head than give in to something like that—what the hell did he agree to? Whatever the reason—Sungyeon had shown himself in the most unseemly light.
"Damn pervert. Has it been that long for you? Although... Mortals are all like that by nature."
Sungyeon shuddered and again strictly warned Goo Seyoung:
— And don't you dare try to find anything out. Clear?
— ...Clear.
Goo Seyoung was now absolutely certain—something had definitely happened between them. But whatever happened between Kang Jihan and Ryu Sungyeon, the important thing was that it didn't affect their corporate plans. She was a sensible woman. She looked silently at Sungyeon for a while before speaking:
— If you're feeling a bit better, could we move to another room? We have a lot to discuss, and this isolation box isn't entirely appropriate.
— Let's do it right here, I don't want to exert myself.
— ...The Head of Lyran BioTech Corporation wants to meet with you.
Sungyeon's eyes narrowed.
— The Head of Lyran BioTech... Is that your father?
— Yes.
— And why do I need to meet with your father?
— ...He will answer all your questions.
Sungyeon thought for a moment, then, adopting his usual expression, nodded.
— I see. So, he is your true Boss-Operator.
Goo Seyoung neither confirmed nor denied. But sometimes silence is also an answer.
Sungyeon left the room, following Seyoung. Unconsciously, he glanced around, but Kang Jihan was nowhere to be seen. He let out a sigh of relief.
"He probably wants to pretend nothing happened too. And when I started acting like I remember everything, he just ran away out of shame."
He understood this logically. But...
— Son of a Class.
— Excuse me?
— Nothing.
The Director's office was on the very top floor of the building—the fifteenth, which could only be accessed by swiping a corporate access card. This was a security system preventing the infiltration of unauthorized Classes. Goo Seyoung held her work card to the reader beneath the elevator buttons, and the mechanism whirred.
When they reached the 15th floor, the atmosphere in the corridor immediately felt different. The desertedness gave the space a special solemn and reserved aura. Doctors and nurses they occasionally passed greeted Goo Seyoung warmly.
Seyoung knocked on the Director's office door:
— Father, it's me. I brought him.
— Come in.
A low male voice sounded from behind the door. Ryu Sungyeon took a deep breath.
The moment had finally arrived to meet the Boss behind this entire scheme.
With slight tension, Sungyeon opened the door and stepped inside. A gray-haired old man sat in a chair. Looking closer, he realized it wasn't just a chair, but a high-tech wheelchair. Sungyeon was slightly surprised.
"About eighty? At best—nearing eighty."
— It's good to see you. I apologize for not being able to visit you first—my legs won't allow it.
Sungyeon was struck by the old man's courteous tone. Such words seemed out of place for a man who kept such a notorious scoundrel like Kang Jihan close by. Moreover, the man looked quite benevolent.
— ...My name is Ryu Sungyeon. Are you the Director of Lyran Hospital?
— Yes, that's right. Thank you for accepting the invitation.
The name engraved on the old man's desk plaque read: "Goo Taesung, Director of Lyran Hospital."
At Goo Taesung's glance, Seyoung wheeled his chair up to the desk. The old man gestured to the sofa, inviting Sungyeon to sit. He sat down, not hiding his suspicious gaze. Goo Taesung addressed his daughter:
— Seyoung, prepare us some bio-tea, please.
— Alright.
Judging by the setting, a serious conversation was ahead.
Sungyeon asked without preamble:
— So, you know who I am?
— Yes.
— Then you are the one giving orders to Kang Jihan?
The old man laughed.
— There's hardly a person capable of giving orders to Jihan. We are more like... helping each other. Allies of a sort.
At that moment, Seyoung placed porcelain cups in front of Sungyeon, the Director, and herself. Looking inside, Sungyeon saw a beautiful chrysanthemum flower blooming in the hot water. While he examined this, the old man spoke again:
— First of all... Thank you for saving Jihan. I wanted to say that first. We also didn't expect such a sudden attack.
Sungyeon tore his gaze from the cup and stared at Goo Taesung:
— Alright, enough about that. Who exactly are you people? And who was that attacking Class?
Goo Taesung's face became serious:
— Regarding Lee Myeong, who attacked you... We couldn't fully find out everything. We wanted to conduct our own bio-investigation, but you already... thoroughly destroyed the body.
Sungyeon scoffed:
— Don't put the blame on me. You must have some guesses. Otherwise, you wouldn't have called me so confidently.
Goo Taesung smiled briefly—as if he had expected this reaction.
But the next sentence completely exceeded Sungyeon's expectations:
— ...We are 99% certain he was sent by West Corporation.