Black Badger

"I'm right here."

I stared intently at the awakened scientist.

Samuel Han jumped to his feet and walked over to the patient.

"Sit back down, you fool."

"...Ye-hyeon."

John Mullen didn't seem to be paying much attention to Samuel Han's words.

"I have a report to make."

"You gonna talk for long?"

Yoon tossed the question from his seat in the chair.

Mullen didn't react to Yoon's words either. Instead, he clamped his mouth shut and stared up at the ceiling. What kind of person was this guy? I felt a bit flustered for a moment before pulling myself together.

How many people like this had there been?

I stood up and walked over to the scientist.

"It's me."

I stopped beside the doctor and craned my neck forward.

Samuel Han turned to look at me with surprised eyes. John Mullen's eyes shifted downward. I gazed at the green eyes that were a different shade from Samuel Han's.

John Mullen's voice was as low as Yoon's.

"How did you end up entering the portal?"

"Uh, I don't know exactly, but I fell out of the portal somehow. So, about a month ago..."

"...Not that. The route."

"I have almost no memories from before that."

"This guy's actually holding a conversation."

The mentor, who was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, muttered to himself.

"Though the situation does seem pretty serious."

Wasn't your standard for judgment a bit off?

John Mullen acted like he hadn't heard Yoon. Or maybe he was just naturally ignoring him.

The scientist stared at me intently before looking back up at the ceiling.

"Yoon."

"What."

As the scientist called his name, Yoon uncrossed his legs.

Yoon walked over to where we were.

"What's the problem?"

"Call Ye-hyeon."

Yoon looked down at John Mullen without moving.

Surprisingly, it was Doctor Han who urged a response. He nudged Yoon with his elbow, saying, "It seems urgent, so why not just call him quick?" The doctor's eyes were utterly serious as he prodded him.

This scientist's reaction must have been pretty unusual.

Yoon slowly reached for his phone.

We watched as he called Ye-hyeon. The conversation wasn't long. Yoon said, "Commander, Mullen says he has a report to make," then fell silent listening to the other side, and ended the call with a short, "Yes."

The mentor pocketed his phone and relayed the result.

"He says unless it's really a matter of split-second timing, he'll contact us within three hours no matter what."

Once again, silence.

The man lying there like a corpse, not even twitching a finger, finally spoke just as we were starting to think the conversation was over.

"Hand this man over to me."

...What?

Who was this guy?

Surely not me?

I wasn't the only one caught off guard. Samuel Han's face twisted into an expression like he thought this guy had finally lost it from not getting enough nutrients.

But the mentor didn't seem surprised.

He flatly refused.

"Sorry, but I got dibs. He's officially under my training during the weekdays."

"Weekends."

"Hey!"

It was Samuel Han who got angry at Mullen's short, shameless reply.

I was genuinely touched by the doctor getting mad on my behalf.

"What do you mean hand him over like he's some object? And what's this about weekends? What are you planning to do dragging a kid who knows nothing around on the weekend?"

"..."

"It's obvious."

Yoon chuckled like he found something amusing.

"There hasn't been a subject as intriguing as this one in a while. You must have a ton of experiments you want to run."

"You're going to call him in on his day off for some unknown experiments?"

"Uh, half a day on the weekend would be fine for me."

All eyes turned to me.

It was quite a sight seeing these battle-hardened folks react with pure surprise. Their gazes stuck like they were glued. The funniest part was that the scientist who'd been staring at the ceiling suddenly widened his eyes like a rabbit and fixed them on me.

Why were you surprised when you suggested it yourself?

The men looked at me like I was some alien.

"You're not right in the head either."

Samuel Han finally said.

"What makes you think you know what you'll go through there?"

"I don't think it'll kill me."

"Then come to me instead?"

Yoon said something ominous. That was a bit... Yoon and John Mullen both seemed like the mad scientist type, but if I had to pick, John Mullen looked a tad safer.

Or not?

As I blurred my gaze looking at Yoon, Mullen suddenly blurted out.

"You're something else."

Samuel Han's jaw dropped.

Yoon whipped his head around to stare at John Mullen with an incredulous look, as if he'd never heard such words in his life.

The mentor eyed the old-tree-like man intently.

"You're talking about Hilde? I've never heard you say something like that to anyone."

The mentor's character analysis kept getting deeper.

I felt inwardly proud hearing Yoon let out a disbelieving voice.

Anyway, the scientist didn't respond this time either. Instead of answering, John Mullen raised his upper body from the bed. Even his sitting posture was something else.

But was this guy even allowed to sit up?

"Lie down!"

The doctor shouted.

John Mullen ignored him. Instead, he straightened his back and sat up, looking at me.

The pale scientist with gray hair said seriously.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow's a weekday."

Yoon countered.

Mullen shut his mouth. This guy... he must have worked without any sense of days and didn't even know what day it was.

Samuel Han yelled at Mullen again.

"I said lie down!"

"You're getting played, kid."

Yoon turned to me with a warning.

"Don't think nothing bad will happen. You'll regret it a hundred percent later. Well, if you want out, just say the word anytime. I'll pull you out whenever."

"No... well, it's true that I'm a weird guy, right?"

I tried to ignore the unease creeping in like waves.

It wasn't some foolish impulse that made me accept the offer. I really just wanted no more problems caused by me. If my recovery couldn't improve, then at least I should have tried to get rid of this trait that attracted creatures, right?

Of course, this old-tree-like scientist hadn't exactly said he'd remove that trait.

In any case, if participating in experiments could prevent potential issues in advance, I was willing to give half a day on the weekend—or even a full day if success was guaranteed.

Suddenly, a phone popped up in front of me.

"...Your number."

Mullen said.

The men reacted with unfiltered surprise. Yoon's eyes widened, and he blinked a couple of times. The doctor's jaw stayed dropped, refusing to come back up.

I took the proffered phone.

"I got it."

When I handed it back, the phone rang almost immediately.

Mullen had called me right away. While I saved the scientist's number, Yoon and Samuel Han didn't move from their spots. They kept expressions like they'd seen it all after living so long.

Even as John Mullen settled back into bed, the men didn't budge.

But did this guy lie back down just because of Samuel Han's nagging?

"You better report this to Ye-hyeon later too."

The one who broke the silence was the doctor.

"About how this green newbie's trying to drag him off every weekend."

There was no response this time either.

The scientist lay there with his hands clasped, staring at the ceiling, while the stunned men watched.

Not long after, I was chased out of the Hospital Wing. The doctor even shooed me away with his hand. He said the work was done, so go rest. Now that even my weekends were compromised, shouldn't I have hurried back and rested while I could?

*

Should I grab some dinner to bring back?

As I walked down the company corridor mulling it over, I ran into a familiar face.

The other person was tall and striking, dressed in eye-catching attire, so I recognized him immediately.

I called out to the guy blending into the crowd in the Science Wing.

"Ricardo!"

"Ah~... Newbie..."

The man in combat uniform, walking lazily, looked up at me.

The habitual smile dangled from his lips as always. The sharp aura pierced through the smile. The only difference was the bloodstains caked all over his body. But even to my untrained eyes, it was clear it wasn't his blood, so I wasn't worried.

Ricardo approached me slowly.

"Seeing you again... You doing well~? Did you head out beyond the Core?"

"Yes. I got back early yesterday morning. Looks like you were out on duty. Good work."

"It's just the usual~... If you got back yesterday, today should still be your day off, right~? So why are you coming from the Hospital Wing?"

Did he get hurt somewhere else? Ricardo asked, slipping one hand into the pocket of his combat uniform.

People hurried past us in the corridor. I shook my head and closed the distance to my senior. Ricardo watched me approach with his habitual smile.

"I went to the Hospital Wing for a simple check-up."

"Ah... Alone?"

"No. I went with my mentor and another senior, but I came out first."

"Which other senior? A badger?"

Ricardo resumed his lazy steps. I followed along, matching his pace.

I still hadn't familiarized myself with this vast space. So I couldn't tell where Ricardo was headed. But since our conversation wasn't over, I kept up with him.

I looked into Ricardo's vivid green eyes.

"It was Senior Mullen. We ended up going together by chance, but we just exchanged numbers and left."

Ricardo stopped dead in his tracks.

What? I halted in surprise too. Why did he stop so suddenly?

But my senior didn't explain. Instead, he stared at me through his glasses without so much as a blink for a long while.

What's wrong...

Only after a long time did the green-eyed man ask back.

"Mullen?"

"Yes."

"John Mullen?"

"Yes. From the Science Department."

"You exchanged numbers?"

"Yes."

"Phone numbers?"

"...Yeah."

"Did you ask for it?"

"No, he asked first."

"What the hell are you up to?"

There was no trace of amusement in Ricardo's voice.

The habitual smile had vanished from his lips. He pierced me with serious eyes. People passing by glanced at us, but he didn't twitch an eyebrow.

Receiving that needle-like gaze, I mumbled.

"Well..."

When I briefly explained about meeting John Mullen every weekend, Ricardo's mouth formed a straight line.

Silence returned once more. The air grew stiff. He stood motionless in the wide corridor teeming with people.

I waited quietly for him to speak.

But the silence dragged on.

Did I do something to get on this guy's nerves?

As the quiet stretched, I started to get flustered. Yoon was expressionless but honest, whereas Ricardo was the opposite, making him harder to deal with in some ways.

Should I just apologize even if I didn't know what for?

Thankfully, just as I was starting to wonder if I should, he broke the silence.

The green-eyed senior plastered his characteristic smile back on his face.

"Hilde..."

"Yes."

"Wanna talk for a sec~?"

Ricardo draped an arm over my shoulder.

I nodded readily. Ricardo didn't remove his arm as he started walking. I followed, matching his steps without resistance. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

We walked through the crowded corridor and turned left.

We stopped in front of the emergency stairs.

Facing the gray door, Ricardo naturally turned his back to the corridor and looked at me with a silent smile.

Then he asked.

"Did someone threaten you?"