Chapter 130 - Promotion Exam (1)

Jaeyeon practically snatched me from Lee Seunghyeon and dragged me toward the car.

The cold wind stole my body heat. I shivered at the chill washing over me, too dazed to check where we were coming from or where we were going. I simply walked wherever Jaeyeon led me, then climbed into a limousine.

Pleasant warmth enveloped me. Colton was already inside. Seated opposite me, he watched coldly as I gave a small groan and all but collapsed onto the seat.

Jaeyeon climbed in beside me and slammed the door.

Silence settled over the car, which looked spacious enough to seat six in the back alone.

"Thanks," I murmured, my upper body stretched out across the seat. "What time is it?"

"The one on your stomach is bigger, huh?"

Instead of answering, Jaeyeon pulled up my shirt without asking.

I couldn't be bothered to reply and simply lay there. The car glided into motion. I heard Colton set down the documents he was holding and straighten the watch that had slipped around his wrist.

My old friend broke the silence.

"What a pathetic sight."

I'd known he'd say something like that.

I pushed myself up on my elbows.

"I have no excuse. Letting myself get kidnapped like that was idiotic."

Judging by Colton's attitude, this didn't seem to be Jaeyeon's doing. I met the blue eyes of my disagreeable old friend as he scrutinized me.

"Do you know who kidnapped me?"

"What difference would knowing make?"

A typical answer from him.

I sighed, ignoring Jaeyeon as he snapped pictures of the "Lab Rat" brand.

"I didn't think my skills were that bad... But I suppose it all sounds like excuses to you. Fine. Never mind that for now. Is this car going to the exam site?"

"The hospital."

"Huh?"

My voice shot up at his curt reply. I shoved Jaeyeon's arm away, my eyes widening.

"What hospital? Why are we going to a hospital now? My exam starts at nine thirty!"

"You couldn't even walk properly."

"Oh."

This was absurd.

I whipped my head from side to side but couldn't find a clock. Growing desperate, I looked pleadingly between my friend, sitting imperiously across from me, and Jaeyeon, slouching at my side.

"I can do it. Please, just take me to the exam site. I've done it before. It worked out. I managed to kill a dragon even with my arm crumbling to ash."

"That story again!"

Jaeyeon shuddered.

"Stop telling that fucking story! Ugh, it was so much better when you couldn't bring it up because you'd lost your memory."

"I'll stop if you take me to the exam site."

"What for? To put on a show of flunking in front of those brats?"

"Hey, no."

I tried tensing my hands and feet.

They seemed a little stronger than before. Maybe I'd gradually recover at this rate. Maybe all the drugs in my system would dilute, too. My only external injuries were burns and bruises. If the drugs would just dilute, things might get a lot better.

Would forcing some food down help?

The car window reflected a pewter sky. I glanced at the streets slipping past, then turned back.

"Isn't there some way to dilute the drugs?"

Colton looked at me for a long moment.

"You came quickly because you knew my exam was coming up, didn't you?"

"Do you intend to go to the exam with that on your forehead?"

"Oh, this."

I touched my forehead. It still burned, and touching it made the pain worse.

Still, it hurt less than my stomach.

"I wonder if it can be removed."

"Want me to remove it?"

Jaeyeon smirked.

"I can do the forehead stamp free of charge~."

I looked at Colton.

As always, his hair was neatly swept back, and he wore an immaculate dark suit. His cane, its handle covered in smooth silver, rested at an angle in a corner of the back seat.

Ah, the good old days. Seeing something unchanged brought memories flooding back. The two of them used to appear together at operas and exhibitions. Jaeyeon would take the form of a woman around Colton's age and smile elegantly with an arm linked through his. A scarlet dress. Opera glasses engraved with angels. Fine silk gloves that half revealed the skin beneath.

And Colton would thrash Jaeyeon with that cane whenever he got uppity.

He sat there without moving.

I chuckled softly.

"You're angry, aren't you?"

My disagreeable friend didn't so much as change his expression.

"At least you're perceptive."

Oh, of course...

He probably disliked all of it: my going to work under Yehyeon, my skills still being this poor, my ending up in this state the day before the exam.

But none of it could be helped.

And even if I'd fallen out of a portal in Colton's territory, I would never have considered working under him.

Well. That probably displeased him, too.

"Don't be angry," I said, as gently as I could. "I've regained quite a lot of my skills, you know."

His only answer was to raise an eyebrow and run his gaze over my injuries.

I gave a bitter smile.

"Just give me a little more time. I'm working on it."

"If I keep waiting, I'll end up receiving your corpse."

"I won't die until I've dealt with what I set in motion."

Not that I could make that happen by sheer will.

I recalled our reunion at the social gathering, and what he'd said to me then. ["Once you're authorized to operate within the cores, we'll finish this conversation."]

That would happen if I passed the promotion exam.

I spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Once I pass the exam, I'll have more freedom to act."

My old friend understood what I meant.

"We don't have much time, do we?"

Dawn broke beyond the car windows. Light washed over the ebony leather seats, and dust danced in the silver beams.

After a silence, Colton flicked his hand.

"To the exam site."

"Yes, sir."

"Remove it for him."

A hand grabbed my collar.

Jaeyeon shoved my upper body backward. Forced flat onto the seat, I stared wide-eyed as he climbed on top of me.

More precisely, I blinked at the laser-pointer-like object in his hand.

"This will sting a little~."

What the hell was this now?

Watching Jaeyeon smile and bring the laser to my skin as if I were at a dermatologist's left me unbearably tired.

Resigned, I let my arms go limp.

"Could you remove the one on my stomach while you're at it?"

"That area incurs an additional fee~."

So fucking exhausting...

I closed my eyes and endured the pain searing my forehead until the sleek limousine arrived at the exam site.

* * *

It was 8:40 when we arrived.

The ride had been an ordeal. The treatment hurt like absolute hell. More than once, I'd wondered whether I should simply take the exam with the "Lab Rat" mark still on me. I'd gritted my teeth, determined not to let these people hear me groan, but sounds escaped anyway.

By the time the treatment ended, just as we reached the exam site, I was drenched in cold sweat.

Colton heaved a deep sigh and handed me a fresh shirt.

"Thanks."

Inside the car, I changed into the shirt, which was tailored to fit me perfectly.

Colton didn't reply. Jaeyeon surveyed my forehead with satisfaction.

"I really am good at this."

As I did up the buttons, he grabbed my chin and turned my face to admire his handiwork.

"This would've scarred if we hadn't treated it in time."

"Thanks. Though some anesthetic would've been nice."

"Not a chance."

He grinned and released my chin, then jerked his head to indicate that the job was done and I should get out.

He tossed me my phone, too. Holding it, I carefully climbed out of the limousine. I made every effort not to repeat what I'd done at the kidnapping site. I didn't want to make a pathetic spectacle of myself in front of them again.

Fortunately, I managed to walk out without incident this time.

There was the sea.

"I owe you."

Listening to the crashing waves, I turned back toward the limousine.

Jaeyeon kept his eyes fixed on his phone and didn't even acknowledge me. Colton, who had been scanning his documents, rolled his eyes toward me.

His vivid blue eyes pinned me with a glare.

My old friend spoke in an unreadable tone.

"Don't be such a fool about how you live."

A fool?

I was being a fool about how I lived?

The window rolled up just as I was about to ask. Its pitch-black tint reflected my incredulous face: wide eyes and a smooth forehead.

No sooner had my reflection opened its mouth than the car pulled away.

I was left standing at the exam site, dumbfounded.

Hah.

My ringing phone brought me back to my senses.

[Commander-in-Chief]

Ah...

I squeezed my eyes shut at the name on the screen.

For a moment, I stood with a hand over my eyes. I needed a little time to steel myself.

Only once I'd braced myself did I grimly answer.

"Yes."

I feigned composure.

"Commander. I've just arrived at the exam site."

["You're not taking the exam today."]

An unyielding voice.

The instant I heard it, I knew I was doomed if I tried the same stubborn approach I'd just used. Yehyeon's voice was firmer and colder than I'd ever heard it.

He'd made up his mind before calling.

This was bad.

A spirited "Oh, I can do it! I'm really fine!" wasn't going to work here. If anything, it would earn me a cold "Are you disobeying an order?"

I pulled my scattering wits together and answered, weighing my words.

"There's something I'd like to ask of you."

["You want me to let you take the exam."]

"Yes. I'm not being stubborn without reason."

Yehyeon didn't answer. I seized the opening.

"That organization took issue with how I was recruited. It's unlikely they found out on their own. I think they planned my abduction after someone tipped them off. In other words, there's still someone out there who knows about the irregularities in my recruitment."

["And?"]

The response was nearly as icy as Yun's.

Scary.

I gulped, more frightened than I was when facing my training officer. Then I gathered my courage and finished what I had to say.

"I believe someone will make an issue of it if I don't take the exam with my fellow recruits."

["You have a perfectly valid reason to miss it."]

"But I need to pass as soon as possible to do what I have to do, don't I?"

["I'll arrange a makeup exam."]

"They'll definitely use that against us. And there's no way we can keep it from leaking. The exam is organized in coordination with outside agencies..."

["Hilde."]

Fucking terrifying.

"Yes, sir."

["Go to the hospital."]

I bit down hard on my lip.

The salty sea breeze whipped my white hair about. Far out, waves tossed in the wind.

Feeling the wind sweep toward me over the waves, I pleaded.

"I really want to take this exam. Please let me."

["Why are you so fixated on this particular exam?"]

"Because Kyle is back."

A long silence followed.

I seized on that hesitation. Time to press my case.

I spoke firmly.

"Falcon must have seen the need as well, or he wouldn't have brought me here. I'll pass. I promise."

In the ensuing silence, I could sense Yehyeon's conflict.

He must have known I had a point. The Badger promotion exam wasn't some small internal event.

The exam schedule was posted on the official website, and once it was over, the promoted Badgers' personnel profiles went up. Every year, the media also reported on the Badgers who had become full-fledged members, introducing the latest rookie Black Badgers.

The exam received more public attention than most national qualification exams.

There was no way to arrange a makeup exam without controversy. There couldn't possibly have been one before, either.

My superior was surely weighing that reality and all the other conditions with a troubled mind.

After listening to his silence, I spoke.

"And I really am doing better than you'd think. Jaeyeon even personally removed the brand on my forehead."

["You endure far too much."]

His voice was a mixture of sorrow, anger, and resignation.

["And you claimed you were quick to make a fuss over nothing."]

A faint smile touched my lips.

There we go.

He'd come around.

"I'll pass and come back safely."