The Assistant of the Research Institute (2)
"Director! I got it! I passed!"
With no impressive resume to speak of, Seowoo could only attribute his success to good fortune.
Having grown up in an orphanage since childhood and endured a long period of wandering,
he now believed he could finally return to a life on the same track as everyone else.
"The company I mentioned last time?"
"Yeah! The one connected to the Red Cross or something, right? Yeah, that's it!"
"Heh heh, that's some good news."
At twenty-two, that conversation with the director—who had been like a father to him—was the last one.
"Agh...! My head...!"
The pain that made him wonder if his brain had been crushed shook Seowoo awake from his sleep.
After tossing and turning for who knows how long, he had finally fallen asleep.
But that brief moment of sweetness hadn't lasted even an hour.
His dreams, which he had missed so much, hadn't been able to hold onto him either. Was there any need to say more?
It felt like his small skull had been pierced with a needle.
'Should I ask to share some blood tomorrow...?'
Thinking about a vampire's blood, it could be called a modern miracle drug.
Ingestion by mouth would lead to death with very high probability, but applying it to the wound or rubbing it on would temporarily drastically increase regeneration and immunity.
It was a fact he didn't particularly want to know about.
But through many experiments and sacrifices, he couldn't ignore it.
"..."
Seowoo thought it over for a moment and quickly shook his head.
What had he done to deserve having blood given to him?
If he spoke carelessly, he might end up making a demand that was too much and lose his life.
Even if the pain lasted long, he had no choice but to endure it.
"Haah..."
Thinking about the woman who had made his head like this, a long sigh escaped him.
Lucia Earl Grey.
The first and last time he had seen her face was three years ago.
Ash-blonde hair that didn't feel awkward at all.
Ruby-red eyes reminiscent of foreign jewels.
Truly, her beauty was so exquisite that even the praise for the pinnacle of beauty felt insufficient.
Yes, before her hands had stained with blood.
Back when he hadn't even realized he had been brought here.
The sight of the person's head bursting when they were raging still lingered in his memory.
The moment her slender hand pierced through a human's head...
Ultimately, the fear of that day had deeply embedded itself in Seowoo's mind.
Scary.
Unavoidable.
And...
The thought of having to escape dominated his mind.
"...Then what? It's impossible anyway."
Although he had spent three years here, there had been no opportunity to do anything.
Would he become Patrick Henry shouting for freedom?
Or a livestock that had adapted to the environment?
Every day, he repeated the cycle of thoughts and struggled to sleep.
Knock knock.
[Seowoo, are you okay?]
A worried voice came from beyond the thin wall.
"...No, I think I'm going to die. But why are you awake at this time? Before work, you always slept."
[Thanks to someone groaning, I had to sleep.]
"Ah... sorry."
[Hmph, it's fine. I was worried for nothing.]
Should I call her a pen pal or something?
Suyeon was the only human relationship Seowoo had built in Nectar.
Even though they were in adjacent rooms, their work times and locations were opposite, so they couldn't meet directly.
But strangely, she was the kind of person who could reveal her inner thoughts.
In this foreign land, how could one not become close with the neighbor in the next room who was from the same hometown?
Clearly, the heavens must have pitied them.
[Anyway, what happened today?]
"I almost died stepping on that bastard Lucia. Ah, my head..."
[What did you do...?]
"I unconsciously looked up when I heard my name called?"
[Did you make eye contact?]
"No? I didn't make eye contact because I was hiding in the report. She must have been annoyed that I was trying to sneak past. She stepped on my head first, but then she just stepped on it slowly. She seemed to be adjusting her strength, but the pain didn't go away..."
By the time he said it himself, his blood pressure rose again.
[Director Lucia is indeed picky. But thanks to her usual obedience, she survived. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn't be strange if they died.]
"Haah... The fact that I'm grateful just to be alive in this situation is ridiculous."
[Either way, if you die, it's over... But have you thought about what I mentioned before?]
"Ah, that... the escape together?"
[Yeah.]
The choice point he had mentioned earlier had been uncertain due to Suyeon's influence as well.
The reason he couldn't easily abandon something he had already given up on if there was no hope at all.
That was the escape plan she had talked about.
As an assistant in the human distribution department, she wasn't restricted by the space of the research institute.
Two years older than Seowoo, Suyeon had calculated escape routes and optimal times over the years.
"Can we not think about it a little more...?"
[We don't have time. By next week at the latest.]
"Yeah, sorry... Thank you."
Escape.
Behind the sweet and ideal word lay a reality more terrifying than death.
Since it was a decision that couldn't be made lightly, emotional decisions should be avoided.
[Let's sleep before we get more tired.]
"Yeah, let's do that. Thanks for always worrying about me. It would be easier to escape alone."
[No, I'm the one who suggested it. Well...]
"Again with the humility. Again. Still, if it weren't for you, Suyeon, I might have gone crazy a long time ago."
[What, what are you saying.]
Although the twenty-five-year-old pair were far from the innocence of their peers, Suyeon's response to Seowoo's sincere gratitude was at a loss.
After all, she was someone who didn't care about manners or speech that grated on the nerves.
She was the mentor who taught them how to survive among those who were a collection of pride.
She was an oasis in the research institute filled with unheard-of melancholy.
"Sleep well."
[Yeah.]
***
The throbbing head had become bearable after a day had passed.
Early morning.
Leaving the room without a single ray of sunlight and wearing a pristine white coat, Seowoo headed to the 'livestock pen'.
In the lowest floor of the research institute, high-ranking vampires rarely made appearances.
Since it was replaced by surveillance cameras, it was also the only place where one could hold their head high.
Walking down the corridor with neatly curved like a new moon while reading the documents fixed on the approval board.
"Today's selection, huh."
Since the last experiment failed, they were selecting humans for the clinical trial of the next batch of reagents.
Among them, they would select the healthiest ones, raise their condition over several days, and then put them into the experiment.
After walking for about five minutes?
His diligent legs stopped, and he opened the door of the livestock pen that had been tightly locked.
Between the door opening and the dark, humid livestock pen, a beam of light entered.
"Ugh..."
The foul stench like filth wafted even through the mask.
The long corridor stretching between the men and women split left and right was hard to gauge the end with the light coming in from the entrance.
"Eh...?"
"...I'm here."
"You're here!"
"Hey! Please take me with you!"
"Please take me! I can work hard!"
People shouting as if Seowoo, who entered the corridor's light like a savior, were reaching out with arms that couldn't reach through the tightly locked iron bars.
"...I'm sorry."
The reason these people were volunteering as test subjects was due to group brainwashing using a thread of hope.
A tactic to sap and gnaw at a person's mind and, just before they broke, implant false hope.
In short, if selected, they would help with small experiments in exchange for being sent home.
"This is the last words of Mr. Layton who applied in the previous round."
Click.
From the tablet taken out of his pocket, he played a video.
[I hope everyone like me can catch a good opportunity and return home. Thank you.]
"Oh... indeed!"
"...That's great."
Just like people in the past North and South grew up watching anti-communist, anti-American videos.
The video filmed before the test subjects died was played repeatedly.
"These idiots are putting on a show."
Insults flew among the humans.
Attention was momentarily drawn to the direction from which the spiky voice came.
It didn't matter if they didn't believe it anyway.
By repeatedly hearing, seeing, and touching it, even a tiny bit of influence would be received.
Ultimately, in the current situation where people with blind faith had been born,
those who stretched out their hands saying "take me" were no different from pushing their heads into the guillotine.
"Then, let's call the selected person for this round."
Of course, there was guilt.
After all, it was the role of pushing others into the abyss by deceiving them to survive.
But if only those who were not selfish in the face of life could curse him,
who could say anything carelessly.
"Linda Perkins. Let's see, B-3 pen..."
"Here, here!"
In the midst of many people unable to hide their disappointment, someone raised their hand and shouted.
The research institute wasn't spacious enough to provide separate rooms in the livestock pen.
Leaving aside hygiene, it was only for accommodation, so she, who had been naked, was in a terrible state.
Click.
"Don't get excited. Just come out slowly."
"Yes..."
Opening the locked door, Linda the woman came out running as if someone was going to catch her.
"Kikik, take care. You idiots~ I'm leaving first!"
With a smile on her face as if there had been some bullying in the pen, she exited the cage.
Despite the situation being enough to make one angry, the people in the same pen quietly sent her off.
No one made a fuss about trying to escape with her.
What they wanted was freedom, not death.
They didn't make empty promises.
By showing a quiet reaction, the atmosphere in B pen seemed not to be swayed by false propaganda.
"Hey, can we go out in a few days?"
"Haha... I don't know about that either."
"Ah, really? Hoo hoo~."
This brief conversation was the last conversation with Linda, the woman.
***
Upper floor of the research building.
Entering the office, a white dress made of light fabric greeted Seowoo.
"Is this the way back after handing over the test subject?"
"Yes, that's right."
Lucia didn't even look at him.
She just slowly opened her mouth while looking around the bookshelves.
"You worked hard."
"No. I just did what I had to do."
A superficial compliment that didn't show emotion.
Seowoo's response to Lucia's words was also mechanical.
"How was the atmosphere in the livestock pen?"
"As per Director Lucia's calculations, everyone is desperate to become test subjects."
"As expected. How are the humans' hygiene?"
"We are maintaining it at a minimum."
The eyebrows looking at the books twitched.
"Too vague. Explain in more detail."
"...If there are any abnormal symptoms like diseases, we immediately euthanize them, and we are also reducing the cycle of excretion with a small amount of feeding as much as possible."
"Good."
After hearing the report, she nodded her head.
Her eyes seemed quite satisfied, as the end of the sentence was rising.
"Is your head okay?"
"Yes... ? Ah, it's fine."
She asked even about well-being for some reason. She must have been right.
Seowoo, who was flustered in return, was dazed for a moment before coming back to his senses.
Lucia said 'I see' and stroked his head.
"Thinking about it, you have only seen my face once, right?"
"Yes, the first and last time I came to Nectar was when I came."
"At that time, I thought you were only proficient in language. Even though you were asked without much expectation, you showed quite a good appearance."
"...It's an honor."
Her hand, which had been moving slowly, stopped.
"Look up."
"Yes? How can I..."
"Are you going to make me say it twice?"
"...Understood."
The conflict of whether this was really necessary disappeared with Lucia's one word.
As her head slowly rose, her hand that had stopped from Seowoo's head slid down his cheek.
'Cold.'
The tip of her hand that brushed his cheek for that brief moment was terrifyingly cold.
"..."
And beautiful.
Truly, enough that one wouldn't get tired of looking even if they did it all day.
Oddly enough, in that brief moment, the loneliness felt from her beauty was greater than the fear felt from her.
"Heh... I allowed you to look up. But aren't you staring too much?"
"Hah... sorry!"
"It was a joke."
The eyes curved like a crescent moon from laughing made for a very bewitching look.
"Recently... there has been one rumor going around."
Walking with a clacking sound towards Seowoo, she whispered in his ear.
"Someone is trying to escape from here."