The White Angel
"Haa...! ...Haaaah...! ...Haaaah.....!"
Watching her sweat and struggle to catch her breath, Seong-min could tell Hye-suk's fever was severe. He had seen Min-hyeok go through the Awakening stage before. He knew about the body aches and chills, the week of recovery that followed — he had even gone to check on him in person. But Min-hyeok had never suffered this badly. That was why Seong-min was so worried. That was why he couldn't leave her side and go anywhere else.
The wet towel on her forehead had already gone warm, so he went back to the sink, rinsed it cool, wrung it out, and gently laid it across her brow again.
Once someone entered the Awakening stage, they would suffer through body aches — but according to everything written on the subject, there was nothing to worry about. That was what the available information said. But more important than any article was hearing it directly from someone who had lived through it.
"Come on in."
Min-hyeok opened the front door and stepped inside.
"Wow... it's been forever since I've been here, hasn't it?"
"First time since then, right?"
"Yeah..."
A-reum, whom Seong-min had picked up from the company on the way, followed him in. Coming to an unfamiliar house, tension showed clearly on her face.
"It's fine... come on in, A-reum noona."
"...Okay..."
A-reum nodded and stepped inside, then carefully slipped off her shoes and set them neatly to one side.
"Go sit on the sofa with A-reum noona."
"What about you, hyung?"
"I'll get some drinks ready."
"Noona doesn't drink coffee, though."
Min-hyeok would settle for coffee if there was no cocoa, but his sister A-reum wouldn't touch anything that wasn't cocoa.
"Don't worry about it. Just go sit on the sofa."
Min-hyeok watched Seong-min head for the kitchen, then sat down on the living room sofa with his sister A-reum.
"Nice house... right, noona?"
"...Yeah... nice house..."
"That's why I was so shocked the first time I came here. I thought this whole single-family house with a yard was Seong-min hyung's place. Hahaha...!"
Seong-min hyung had only been living in the rooftop room of this house.
"Then... this isn't... Seong-min's house...?"
"It belongs to a lady named Hye-suk. She's an incredibly kind person~! Last time I was here, she took care of my injuries and treated me so well."
"...A kind... lady..."
"Yeah, she's a really good person~! And she's seriously beautiful, too~~!"
A-reum's lips parted slightly as she stared at him. It was a habit of hers whenever something surprised her.
"Now you're curious, aren't you?"
"...Yeah... curious..."
"But... the lady is really sick right now..."
"...She's... really sick...?"
"That's why we came."
Seong-min approached carrying a tray. He set a cup in front of A-reum first, then one for Min-hyeok — who looked stunned.
"Huh? Hyung, you had cocoa?!"
He had fully expected there wouldn't be any.
"I bought some just in case you two visited."
"You did, hyung?!"
"No — the lady did."
"H-Hye-suk did?!"
"Yeah..."
Seong-min looked at A-reum.
"She... wanted to meet you too, A-reum noona..."
A-reum blinked at Seong-min.
"Me?"
"When Min-hyeok came by last time, she heard about you and got interested. You've met her, Min-hyeok — you know what she's like..."
"Yeah... that does sound like her..."
Thinking of Hye-suk, Min-hyeok nodded. If it was her, she absolutely would. From first impressions alone, she had left a lasting good impression on him.
"But why did she want to see me...?"
She wouldn't have called them here for no reason.
"Have a sip first."
Seong-min lifted his own cup and took a drink of coffee, then began to explain. He hadn't been able to come in since Monday for personal reasons, and now it was Wednesday — the day he had sought them out. When Min-hyeok heard why, he was stunned.
"F-for real?! The lady actually entered the Awakening stage?!"
Seong-min nodded.
"Holy..."
It was such enormous news that Min-hyeok could only gape. A-reum, sitting beside him, looked just as shocked.
"So that's why... you said you couldn't come in..."
Min-hyeok nodded, understanding at last. Having gone through the Awakening stage himself, he knew all too well about the week of body aches that came with it.
"Now I get why you said you might not be able to come in for a whole week. I kept wondering what was going on — but that clears up every question."
"Right, noona?"
A-reum nodded.
"But there's a problem."
"A problem?"
"It'll be better if you see it for yourself rather than hear it from me."
Seong-min stood up. Min-hyeok set down his cup and rose as well.
"Want to come too, noona?"
A-reum looked at Seong-min.
"You can come if you want..."
Seeing the smile on Seong-min's lips, A-reum set down the cup she had been cradling in both hands and stood up to follow Min-hyeok. Together, the two of them followed Seong-min toward the master bedroom.
He carefully opened the door.
"Is it okay to go in...?"
Min-hyeok whispered the question, and Seong-min nodded. Min-hyeok stepped carefully into the room. A-reum followed, and Seong-min entered last.
"......?!"
The moment Min-hyeok stepped inside and saw Hye-suk lying on the bed, he froze. A-reum, coming in behind him, looked at her as well. Still stunned, Min-hyeok turned his head toward Seong-min.
"......"
Seong-min said nothing — just gave a single nod. Min-hyeok turned back to look at Hye-suk.
Min-hyeok was an Awakener himself. So why was he so shocked at the sight of Hye-suk, who had merely entered the Awakening stage? It was because of the Psychic Energy flowing from her body.
Ordinary Awakeners radiated a blue mist — the energy known as Psychic Energy. But look at Hye-suk. The Psychic Energy pouring from her body was not blue. It was nearly white — as if a pure white radiance of light were wrapping itself around her.
After studying her, Min-hyeok looked back at Seong-min. His eyes said he had seen enough. Seong-min opened the door. Min-hyeok stepped out.
"......"
A-reum, who had been quietly gazing down at Hye-suk on the bed, turned to leave — then looked back at her one more time before walking out of the room. Seong-min came out last and quietly closed the door behind him.
They made their way back to the sofa. Min-hyeok and A-reum noona sat down, and Seong-min took his seat last.
"......"
Min-hyeok didn't open his mouth. A brief stillness settled over them. Silence hung in the air. How much time passed like that?
"Hyung... am I thinking what I think I'm thinking...?"
There was none of the earlier lighthearted, joking atmosphere in Min-hyeok's voice as he asked Seong-min.
"It's exactly... what you saw."
"......"
Min-hyeok fell silent again. A-reum did the same.
"Min-hyeok."
This time, Seong-min spoke first.
"I called you because it looked like she was having a harder time with the Awakening stage than expected. Sure, the body aches from Awakening are supposed to clear up in a week — but what I saw was worse than that."
She had stabilized for now, but Seong-min told Min-hyeok about the labored breathing that still came in waves, the way she struggled through it.
"I don't know if it's exactly the same... but based on what I went through, she should be fine. The Awakening stage is a transformation that builds a vessel — it's not a disease or anything like that. Still... if it's as bad as you say, hyung, then yeah, the process is probably going to be rougher for her."
Having said that much, Min-hyeok looked at Seong-min again.
"Even so, hyung... this is too much. I heard they're rare even worldwide. There were fifty-one of them globally, and now it's down to forty-seven. And more than anything — there wasn't a single one in our country...!"
"So you think I'm right, too?"
"Do you know what I felt the second I saw the light coming off her?"
"Was it different somehow?"
Seong-min wasn't an Awakener. But Min-hyeok was — so he might have sensed something Seong-min couldn't.
"Warmth and comfort... and... a full-body shiver."
"What does that mean?"
"The moment I looked at her, this sudden wave of emotion just flooded my chest... I've heard that in Europe and America, people openly say a White Angel's Holy Light is a blessing of radiance and a grace of life for Awakeners. Literally — a white angel sent down from heaven."
Seong-min had looked it up himself, so he knew the phrase well. And those words had long since become common parlance not just in Europe and America, but across the entire world. The reason was all too clear.
"It's a pretty fitting description. White Angels can save dying Awakeners — they can even regenerate damaged organs and severed limbs. Calling it a sacred miracle wouldn't be wrong. And more than that... they're beings who give everything. The religious comparison to angels actually feels right. But... I also think that comparison is... too cruel."
White Angel. White angels — holy women sent down from the heavens. Their pure white radiance, the Holy Light, saved dying Awakeners and breathed the energy of life into them. Even severed limbs could be restored and healed. But in exchange, the White Angel who bestowed that grace of light had their lifespan cut short. Holy Light — that sacred, radiant power — was a force that used the Angel's own life energy as collateral.
That was why White Angels were, in most cases, managed and protected at the national level. Awakeners were an extremely important resource even from a national standpoint. A country's standing rose or fell depending on how many powerful Awakeners it held.
The United States already had three Awakeners of the caliber known as Sky — the title given to Jon Davis. China, with its population of over 1.5 billion, claimed a staggering six individuals who had reached that same realm. Of course, that was only China's official line, so it couldn't be verified — but given a population of 1.5 billion, it was entirely plausible. In fact, the countries producing the most Awakeners in the world were population giants like China. India was producing nearly as many, which only reinforced the pattern. India was also said to have four Awakeners of a level comparable to Jon Davis — which made the claim all the more credible.
Of course, once machines capable of quantifying Psychic ability were fully developed and measurements could be taken, the truth would come out precisely. But those were still in the development stage. Official commercial use was a long way off. Regardless, India's standing on the world stage had risen dramatically. Japan, too, had publicly announced the existence of one Awakener on par with Jon Davis.
By those standards, the position and influence an Awakener could hold was staggering. South Korea had yet to announce that any Awakener had reached the realm called Sky. That could mean none existed — and yet one presence made it impossible to simply dismiss the country: Jeoldaeja, Kang Jung-gil. The fact that a man who had risen to the level of a superhuman as an Ordinary Human existed in Korea. Of course, many argued he still couldn't be compared to Jon Davis as a benchmark — but even so, he was impossible to ignore.
In any case, given all of this, the fact that White Angels — beings who could heal Awakeners and even regenerate their bodies — were controlled, managed, and protected at the national level was, in a way, simply the natural order of things.