The Stalker's Blade
"What?"
She looked at the man with a puzzled expression. No one expected anything sudden to happen.
Right at that moment, the man pulled something from his pocket.
A few of the bodyguards noticed something was off, but they were far too distant to stop him in time. Focusing on his hand, a yellow object came into sharp relief.
What he'd drawn out was none other than an office box cutter.
Han Yojung still hadn't grasped the situation.
Damn it!
The instant suspicion hardened into certainty, I drove power into my legs and launched myself off the ground.
"Why… why… didn't you answer me… I sent you DMs every single day without fail… so why the hell!!!"
Whoosh!
The man swung the box cutter.
In that instant, my mind flashed white and time slowed to a crawl. I saw her gaze snap toward the man's hand. The sharp blade arced toward her face, and the bodyguards were frantically scrambling up onto the stage.
As everything stretched into slow motion, my body shot forward as if elongating through space. At the same moment I thrust out my arm to shield her face—and time snapped back to normal.
Slash—
"Kh!"
My arm wrapped around her as I fell backward, and the box cutter that had been slicing diagonally upward grazed across my arm. I'd considered grabbing his wrist, but without absolute certainty I could catch it, I chose the safer option.
A searing heat flared through me as I kicked the man square in front of me.
"Gueeek!"
"Kyaah!"
As I tumbled back with her in my arms, Han Yojung screamed at the sight of blood spreading across my clothes from my arm.
"Kyaaaaah!!"
"Don't move!!"
The fans screamed too, and the bodyguards urgently subdued the fallen man.
"Get Miss Han Yojung out of here, now!"
I shouted quickly, and the remaining bodyguards checked her condition before hurriedly escorting her off the stage.
"Wait! You there! Are you okay…?"
Han Yojung kept looking back at me and calling out, but she couldn't overcome the bodyguards' strength.
"Assistant Manager Noh!!"
"Assistant Manager Noh, are you okay?! What on earth… Oh my god! Look at all that blood!!"
Meanwhile, Associate Kang Bitna and Junior Associate Kim Seungho rushed over, shouting.
"Ah, it's nothing. Just a graze."
"How is this a graze?! Your clothes are soaked in blood!! This won't do! I'm calling 119 right now…"
When Associate Kang Bitna urgently pulled out her phone, I quickly caught her wrist and stopped her.
"I'll go. To the hospital. LK Hospital happens to be close by."
"Then I'm coming with you!"
She said it so firmly I had no choice but to nod. Then I looked back at Junior Associate Kim Seungho.
"Junior Associate Kim. Could you handle things here? Please contact Manager Park for me."
"Don't worry and go. I'll wrap things up here."
Kim Seungho nodded with a resolute expression.
LK Hospital.
"It's just a light scratch. No need for stitches."
The doctor wiped the wound with an alcohol swab, checked the condition, and spoke with an indifferent expression. Associate Kang Bitna, who'd been waiting behind me, stepped closer with her eyes wide.
"What? That can't be right! Earlier it was clearly…"
She couldn't finish. Even she could see it was nothing more than a scratch.
"Could you give us a moment…?"
I said with an awkward smile, and she nodded blankly before leaving the treatment room. I rolled down my sleeve and spoke with an embarrassed look.
"We seem to keep running into each other lately. Unintentionally."
The doctor looked down at the bloodstained sleeve, then at me with a blank expression. He looked like he'd figured something out.
"Quite a lot of mysterious things keep happening to you, Mr. Noh Hoojin. But don't worry. Patient information is never disclosed externally."
"Thank you for your consideration."
I gave a light bow.
"Not at all. It's only natural as a doctor."
"I keep troubling you every time and have nothing to offer in return."
I smiled awkwardly and looked around. Then my eyes landed on stock-related books lined up in the most conveniently reachable spot from his seat. Judging by how well-worn they were, he looked at them often. Economic texts I knew well myself.
"It's fine. This too is only natural as a doctor…"
"Ah—by any chance, do you invest in stocks?"
"Pardon? Stocks?"
The doctor's eyes lit up instantly. Just from his wavering gaze, I could tell. Whatever stocks he'd invested in, he was deeply underwater.
Apparently doctors aren't good at everything.
The next day's lunch.
I headed to the meeting place with a bandage wrapped around my arm. Han Yojung had said she wanted to treat me to lunch to thank me for yesterday.
Of course the wound on my arm had healed completely, but I needed this precaution to avoid suspicion. I still didn't know the relationship between brain activation and physical regeneration, but there was clearly a connection. There was no other way to explain it.
The place she'd reserved was a private Korean fine-dining restaurant. They must have been tipped off in advance—when I gave my name, a server kindly guided me to a private room. Two men in black suits stood solidly at the entrance.
Well, after what happened, they had every reason to be on edge.
"Welcome, Assistant Manager Noh Hoojin."
When I stepped inside, she greeted me calmly. Her voice was noticeably softer.
"How's your arm? It must hurt a lot, right?"
She asked with a deeply apologetic expression.
"I'm fine. It was just a graze."
I was the one who felt awkward, honestly. I was perfectly fine, after all.
"I'm truly sorry. Because of me…"
"Haha… I really am fine. If you keep this up, I won't even be able to eat."
When I frowned as I said it, she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Ah, yes… I ordered ahead to match the timing. Is the barley gulbi alright? Or I can order something else."
"I like it. Barley gulbi."
I smiled and sat down. The table was laden with a full spread of dishes. She'd ordered everything already—and now she was asking?
"I was truly grateful for yesterday."
"Not at all. We share some of the blame. We should have paid more attention to Miss Han Yojung's safety. We took it too lightly. I apologize."
When I bowed my head slightly, Han Yojung hurriedly waved her hands.
"No. Really, no."
"We'll be more careful going forward so this doesn't happen again."
"Well, as long as Assistant Manager Noh is around, I don't think I'd mind much…"
She trailed off and glanced at me sideways. Just as I sensed her face flush slightly, she quickly continued.
"But how were you so fast? You were clearly far away, but the moment I blinked you were right in front of me."
"It was a calculated performance."
When I smiled as I said it, Han Yojung looked embarrassed.
"Ah…"
She'd remembered the teasing remark she'd made yesterday. She bowed her head with sincere apology.
"What I said back then—I was being too playful. I'm truly sorry. I never actually thought that."
"Haha. I was joking too. Don't worry about it—I don't mind. Please, eat."
I readily accepted her apology and continued the meal. I pulled off a piece of barley gulbi and placed it over the rice soaking in green tea water, then brought it straight to my mouth.
The salty, savory flavor of the barley gulbi spread through my mouth. Something I'd once read in a book surfaced naturally.
This is… umami driven by inosinic acid.
The deep savoriness from barley gulbi dried for a long time then grilled. It wasn't a flavor produced simply by soy sauce or salt—it was the product of natural fermentation left behind by protein-degrading enzymes. That was the core of umami.
So that's why barley gulbi is expensive.
Another way of understanding the world through the sense of taste. Even while eating, my brain never stopped analyzing and judging.
Taking another bite of barley gulbi with rice, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
This taste I'm experiencing right now isn't merely a stimulus on the tongue—it's the result of everything: past and present memories, change, physiological responses!
A meal was, ultimately, memory, science, and emotion.
Wait.
What on earth am I thinking right now?
This is… nothing short of pretentious nonsense. Am I slowly going crazy?
"Assistant Manager Noh, you seem a bit different from other office workers."
Just then Han Yojung looked straight at me and spoke.
"Do I? Well, I wouldn't know."
"How should I put it… Something unrestrained and full of confidence, like there's this aura about you?"
"That's too generous a compliment."
I smiled as I answered. She had a sharper eye than I expected.
Truth was, until recently I'd been going all out thinking I was terminally ill, and lately I'd been going all out after realizing my brain had awakened.
I shouldn't meet this woman too often. Time to change the subject.
"But are there a lot of people like that?"
At my sudden question, she smiled awkwardly.
"Pardon? Ah~ haha. Kind of, yeah."
"Living as a celebrity isn't easy."
"…Is there anything easy in this world?"
Throughout the meal, she gradually opened up about her own story. Listening to her for a while, I came to understand the bodyguards' rough behavior a little better. Of course, bodyguards varied—but still.
After the meal, I parted ways with Miss Han Yojung. Apparently she'd postponed her overseas schedule just to have lunch with me and was taking the next flight.
Had I been someone of that much value to her? Well, a celebrity's life is essentially their face.
After parting with her, I didn't return to the company. Given yesterday's incident and today's lunch with Miss Han Yojung, the company had given me the entire afternoon off.
The restaurant was situated along a stream, so I walked slowly to aid digestion. The riverside was well landscaped—a path perfect for mindless walking. I walked along, deep in thought.
I wasn't afraid of the changes in my body, but that didn't mean I wasn't paying attention to them. Would my head overload and explode? Would I wake up one day back to how I used to be? Or would I become so hypersensitive that I'd go insane?
Every time I woke up, I thought about it. It wasn't a problem I could find answers to, either. I just had to live each day gratefully.
In fact, that was also why I couldn't easily quit my job. Because I didn't know what would happen. I needed insurance.
Buzz— Buzz—
Then my phone rang. Checking the caller, it was my mother.
Why is Mother calling at this hour?
I answered immediately.
"Yes, Mother. What's going on?"
Then I walked in silence for a while, listening to what she had to say, said I understood, and hung up.
"Hmm…"
I slipped the phone into my pocket and slowly looked up at the sky. Fine dust made the sunlight hard to see. The saying that autumn skies are especially high and clear had become a thing of the past.
Ah—is it winter now?