HIDDEN CARD: Hidden Card
ESPER: Psychic [10]
김태형
“Eat a lot, my lady.”
단미래
"What are you doing? Are you acting friendly towards our heroine? I clearly told you not to touch her."
한서준
“What are you doing with your junior, Danmirae… Just eat something. The kids are staring.”
김석진
“Okay, Taehyung. You too, stop looking at the future and put your chopsticks away….”
박지민
"Oh, why are there always mushrooms in breakfast and lunch? Wow, there's even mushrooms in the soup. This is so annoying."
김남준
"Don't complain about the side dishes, eat a lot, Jimin."
정호석
"Jungkook, why are you sitting there? Don't you want to sit next to hyung?"
전정국
"……."
민윤기
"Kim Yeo-ju's face is going to be pierced. What happened between you two?"
김여주
"ha……."
Where am I? Who am I? The heroine felt her once quiet routine shatter in an instant, and she touched her throbbing forehead.
I could feel the gazes of those around me. Awe, respect, admiration, jealousy, anger, annoyance. Being the center of these mixed emotions, I felt like I was about to vomit everything out.
Seojun and Mirae came to the cafeteria, saying they had a meeting to attend, where they always ate alone. The seven of them met in the cafeteria and joined them, saying that since they were now guardians, they should eat together.
전정국
"……."
김여주
"What are you looking at?"
전정국
"……."
김여주
"I told you I don't like it?"
김태형
"Wow. What the heck. Can the female protagonist understand what Jeon Jungkook is saying? I'm the only one who can't…?"
박지민
"That's why you're a tough guy."
김태형
"What? I'm not a Park. Aren't you an idiot for being a Park?"
As the female protagonist was eating her meal and staring at Jeongguk with a fixed gaze, she ended up saying something to him, which caused Taehyung and Jimin who were nearby to grumble.
Finally, Yeoju put down her spoon, leaving half the food on her plate. With a thud, she stood up, and nine people's eyes were fixed on her.
단미래
"Our heroine, have you eaten all already? You left everything? Why? Where does it hurt? Should I go to the doctor's office with you?"
김여주
"...I'll go on patrol."
한서준
"Hey, Kim Yeo-ju! Do lunch patrol with Seok-jin and Jung-guk! Hey!"
The desperate voice calling from behind didn't reach the heroine's ears. As if she couldn't hear or see anything, she simply handled the plate in her hands in silence.
Seokjin, watching the back of the woman who had already left, grabbed the back of Jeongguk's neck and stood up. Jeongguk, who was lifted up by Seokjin's hand, didn't let go of the carrot in his mouth even as he did so.
김석진
"We'll go first. Where is the patrol area?"
한서준
"S-4. You'll find it if you make a big circle outside the school. Oh, and don't forget to take the earbuds from the guardian room!"
Seokjin nodded in response to Seojun's words and practically dragged Jeongguk out of the cafeteria. If he had been any later, he might have lost Yeoju.
김석진
“Lady. Let’s go together.”
김여주
"……."
김석진
“What’s the rush? I don’t really like running, heroine.”
Seokjin and Jeongguk's footsteps could be heard trailing behind them. When Yeoju stopped walking, the two stopped as well, and when Yeoju quickened her pace, the two quickened their pace as well.
I told them to come next to me when I stopped… Why are those two stopping at the same time? From the female protagonist’s perspective, she felt like Seokjin and Jungkook were teasing her, and a frown formed between her eyebrows.
김여주
"Then what do you like?"
김석진
"hmm…."
"A pretty heroine who frowns?"
김여주
"……."
전정국
"……."
김석진
“Hahaha… If you look at me with such scary eyes, won’t I feel a little embarrassed, heroine?”
김석진
“Jungkook, why are you looking at me like that… Yeah, it was my fault. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I said I’m sorry? Huh?”
The female protagonist turned around again and walked forward without letting her expression soften, and Jeongguk looked at Seokjin with a crooked gaze before sighing softly and following behind the female protagonist.
Seokjin, who was suddenly left alone, secretly lamented his situation, saying that raising his younger brother to the bone would not bring anything in return.
김석진
"Ah, let's go together!!"
Of course, the younger brother had no interest in Seokjin whatsoever.
Controlled Area S-4 was a place where trees and a lake blended beautifully. The gentle lapping of waves and the occasional chirping of birds brought peace to my mind.
Seokjin smiled faintly as he remembered the time when he had talked alone with the female protagonist, and Jeongguk, who was still thinking only about his confrontation with the female protagonist, was only looking at the back of the female protagonist's round head.
김여주
"…fizzle."
김석진
“…Why? What’s wrong?”
전정국
"...heartbeat."
김석진
"huh?"
Chijijik–
It was a moment. The female protagonist put her index finger to her lips, forcing her to be quiet. Before Seokjin could even grasp the situation, Jeongguk used the ground to shoot electricity in the direction of the sound.
"Ugh!"
Jeongguk's judgment was correct, as a short scream was heard from the grass beside the tree. It wasn't a beast, but a person. The heroine strode toward it and quickly cleared the grass.
김여주
"...What is this? How did you get in here?"
“Please… please save me… I, I didn’t do anything… please save me….”
The figure hidden in the grass was a boy who looked at least five years old, and at most seven. Judging by his attire, he didn't seem like a school student... How did a normal person get in?
The woman stood about five steps away from the child, rolling her eyes as she tried to identify the child.
Seokjin and Jungkook, finding the heroine's lack of attack odd, approached her and peered into the grass. Startled by the sight of a boy, Seokjin gasped and shut his mouth. Jungkook, along with the heroine, stared blankly at the child.
김석진
“Why is there a child here… Hey, what’s your name?”
“Please… please save me… I never want to go back there… please….”
김석진
"There? Where is that place?"
Her clothes were torn and her body was utterly devastated. The most striking thing about her was the needles piercing her arm. As she counted the needles, the woman's face darkened.
김여주
"name."
“Please save me…. Please save me….”
김여주
"If you want to live, tell me your name. I hate repeating myself. If you ask me the same question just once, then I'll kill you for real."
"……."
김여주
"Do you want to die?"
As if to show that what she had just said was not a lie, the female protagonist took a step closer to the child, exuding a murderous aura.
As the heroine approached, the child tried to take a step back, but his chin trembled as if he was too tense to move.
“Si… Subject 9….”
김여주
"what?"
"Poem, I'm Subject 9. My name is…."
Subject 9. It was clearly not the name of an ordinary person. Seokjin and Jungkook tilted their heads, puzzled by the meaning, while Yeoju sighed, her expectations confirmed, and she approached the child.
As the heroine approached, the child hissed and closed her eyes, but soon realized that what she felt was not pain, but warmth, and slowly opened her eyes.
김여주
"I told you my name. I won't kill you. Don't tremble."
전정국
"……."
김석진
“What… what is it? Is it okay to hug me like that?”
김여주
"If it had been judged dangerous, it would have been killed immediately."
He must have killed her. The child's body flinched at the cold words, but only for a moment. The cardigan that had been draped over the heroine's shoulders wrapped around the child's body.
The child's small hands touched the cardigan, feeling the warm, yet gentle scent she'd never smelled before. She could see the part of the body she'd touched becoming soiled, but the woman didn't pay much attention.
김석진
"Why are you taking the child?"
김여주
"Yes. I have something to check."
김석진
"What are you trying to check?"
전정국
“…is coming.”
Ss ...
As soon as Jeongguk finished speaking, long snakes with red tongues swarmed from the trees. … Are they snakes again? The eerie sounds coming from all around made Yeoju scowl.
김여주
“Haa… I really hate having no arms or legs.”
It was when the female protagonist, intending to use her powers, entrusted the child to Seokjin. The child lifted his eyes from the cardigan and quietly scanned the snakes. At that moment,
김석진
"What, what is it!"
The snakes on the tree fell to the ground, blood flowing from their eyes and mouths.
Seokjin, who accidentally caught a snake falling from a tree on his head, was startled and threw the snake away, and Yeoju lowered her head to look at the child because of the murderous intent she felt in his arms.
“Please…save me.”
The heroine didn't miss even the brief moment she spent watching the child speak casually. The child's eyes, briefly clouded, quickly regained their natural color.