“There are more pictures in the envelope . ”


  Sungyoon searched through the envelope again .

  Aside from the documents, he found several pictures that had been blown up to the size of an A4 paper .

  “Heek!”


  Jiyoon gasped . The picture depicted a scene that was too horrifying for a normal person to stomach .

  “Is…… Is that a heart?”


  “Yes . ”


  A Connector’s heart didn’t resemble a jewel, but it didn’t look like a normal human heart either . The picture in front of them showed a red heart with a red jewel embedded inside it .

  Either blood vessels or connective tissue were spread out from the jewel . Whatever it was, the picture was a creepy sight . The reaction of a normal person like Jiyoon was understandable .

  Moreover, this picture wasn’t just one of a kind . Multiple pictures of the same heart showed it from different angles, and some pictures even showed its dissection .

  “These pictures depict the heart of the Connector you killed . We also confirmed it with the Connectors that we killed . Most of their hearts are like this . ”


  “Most? Are there other cases?”


  “Some of these Connectors had normal hearts . The Rejected does have some real Connectors . They are the Connectors who awakened late, after they were thrown away by their parents . It seems they hold an unbelievable amount of grievance toward society even though they eventually became Connectors . ”


  Sungyoon glanced at the pictures once again .

  “If they can create Connectors at will, this is a big problem . ”


  “They can’t . ”


  The Mayor quelled Sungyoon’s worries .

  “We questioned a few that we were able to capture alive . The success rate of this experiment was very low . Moreover, even when the process was successful, these people suffered side effects . Their lifespan became shortened to the extreme . ”


  “Why are they going through with the experimentation knowing that outcome?”


  “Their anger toward society and the Connectors is that large . ”


  Sungyoon thought about the Connector he had killed not too long ago . When he had declared himself one of the new rulers of this world, his voice had been full of deep resentment .

  ‘I can understand why he went through with the experimentation if his enmity was that deep . ’


  The Connector had gone through with it despite knowing he could lose his life .

  “Anyway, the Rejected received orders from Lee Dongin, so he should know the exact size of the organization . He’ll have a rough idea on how these artificial Connectors are created . ”


  “No . He has no idea . ”


  “.…… He doesn’t know?”


  “Yes . He’s clueless . To be precise, what he knows differs way too much from reality . ”


  Jiyoon tilted her head in puzzlement . However, Sungyoon understood what the Mayor was saying, and he frowned .

  “The Rejected weren’t under Lee Dongin’s command in the first place . ”


  “That’s right . Lee Dongin became enraged when he realized the same thing . He was the chairman of Fabion, but the true power within the company had shifted toward Hyunwoo Sung . He and his group had already shifted their allegiance to Grenoid . Grenoid and Hyunwoo Sung were the ones who really propelled Fabion to such a height . They reaped profit, while they hid behind the front called Fabion . They are parasites!”


  Boom!

  The Mayor sounded incensed as he slammed his fist on the desk .

  When Jiyoon flinched, the Mayor quickly brought his anger under his control .

  “We did receive some guidance about the artificial Connectors from Ms . Plu-El . ”


  “What did my mother-in-law say?”


  “This is a form of Flesh Gem, but it differs from the Flesh Gem used by the descendants of Planote . ”


  The Mayor explained while pointing to the Jewel embedded in the heart .

  Sungyoon had heard about the Flesh Gems from Plu-El in the past, and he could see that the jewel embedded in the heart differed from the one in Plu-El’s description .

  Afterward, the two of them continued to talk for a while .

  With the conversation coming to an end, Sungyoon said his goodbye and left the Temporary City Hall .

  “Was it instructional for you?”


  “What?”


  Sungyoon asked Jiyoon as he drove the car .

  Jiyoon’s notebook was full of words as she manipulated the tablet, and his words surprised her .

  She understood the meaning behind his words a beat late and nodded .

  “I’m trying my best, but it’s hard . ”


  Dark circles had appeared on her fine features . Unlike her normal self, she was wearing more makeup than usual . It was an attempt to hide those dark circles .

  “Why don’t you take it easy for a while?”


  “I can’t . ”


  Normally, Jiyoon had a hard time expressing her opinions, yet she flatly refused his suggestion .

  “I’m an employee in charge of the Knight . I’m not arrogant enough to say that I won’t make any mistakes, but I have to do my best to minimize the number of mistakes I make . If I make a mistake, it’ll tarnish your and the company’s reputation . ”


  “The reputation of the company is important, but you don’t have to worry about my reputation . ”


  “No way!”


  Jiyoon was forceful once again as she contradicted him .

  “Mr . Sungyoon, I’ve always noticed that you’re very indifferent when it comes to anything regarding yourself . ”


  “I’m selfish in many ways, but fame and reputation are not what I desire . ”


  He had his precious daughter and a beautiful wife, who would wash away his daughter’s wounds . Moreover, he had more than enough money to support his family .

  “I have my family, and I have enough money to support them . That’s enough for me . ”


  “.…… You’re a very family-oriented man . ”


  Both Sungyoon and Jimin weren’t the type to excessively express their love for each other .

  To be precise, they showed so much love toward their daughter that people became envious . In contrast, the two of them almost showed zero outward expression of love toward each other .

  However, Jiyoon had seen the two of them at the company . A comfortable and stable atmosphere always surrounded them . It was clear that the feeling of love flowed between the two even if it was barely visible .

  Moreover, Jiyoom had caught them exchanging light touches with each other . She knew this was how they showed affection to each other .

  Jiyoon was in college, and when her friends dated, they made sure everyone saw their affection for their significant other .

  Although she didn’t think that it was bad, she didn’t want the intense affection shown by her friends . She preferred the calm and mature feeling displayed between Sungyoon and Jimin .

  In the beginning, Sungyoon only showed his love and affection to Shinhae .

  However, it changed after he married Jimin . Sungyoon’s love was like a calm wave, and it washed over Jimin without him realizing it . Jiyoon could feel it being near the two .

  ‘I want…… . ’


  She wanted that wave to wash over her too . She wanted to be a part of it .

  This was why she didn’t want to cause any trouble for Sungyoon .

  “Please don’t worry about it . I won’t do anything unreasonable . ”


  Sungyoon no longer brought up the issue .

  “How’s your father’s business doing?”


  “Not well . He is no longer receiving his supply of moonstones, but he’s doing his best . My father dreamed of running a large company, so he’s working hard to find different streams of revenue . ”


  “He is that kind of a person . If he needs any help from me, he just needs to ask . ”


  “Understood . ”


  The two of them continued to converse in a low voice, and the ambient sound of the car didn’t bother them . There was a level of peace that could be felt between the two .

  ***

  “Here . ”


  Jimin took out the tofu from a black plastic bag . It wasn’t boiled or fried, but an uncooked piece of tofu .

  She wielded it like a weapon as she shook it in front of Woosang and Woosung .

  “Open your mouth . ”


  “No, Noona!”


  “Open!”


  Woosung resisted, but his protests didn’t work on Jimin .

  While Woosung was having a hard time fending off Jimin, Woosang looked toward his mothers for help .

  However, both women were amused by their antics, and they didn’t stop Jimin . They folded their arms as they watched the scene unfold .

  Woosang looked at Sungyoon as a last resort, but Sungyoon just shrugged . He felt tempted to move his eyes toward Shinhae and Soyoung, who stood next to Sungyoon, but his pride wouldn’t let him ask for help from the two girls .

  In the end, Woosang shut his eyes, let go of the strength in his body, and opened his mouth .

  Shove!

  The soft tofu crumbled inside his mouth .

  Woosang put his hands up to catch the crumbs as he chewed on the tofu .

  “Noona! The investigation found that we committed no crime . We are prisoners who just finished…… Oohp!”


  Jimin ruthlessly shoved a different piece of tofu into Woosung’s mouth .

  If Woosang and Woosung were to resist in earnest, Jimin wouldn’t be able to commit such atrocities against them . However, the two refrained from doing so .

  In many ways, the three siblings were close to each other . After Jimin finished feeding the tofu to each of her brothers, Hweeyoung and Aiin approached their children . They hugged their sons as they commiserate with the hardships they suffered .

  Sungyoon had rented a large vehicle for today and driven everyone to a nearby expensive restaurant . Aiin and Hweeyoung wanted to do this because their sons probably didn’t get to eat good food in recent days .

  It had been a while since the whole family was able to meet like this, so everyone was happy . However, things started to become weird when they started talking about Soyoung .

  “So you’re saying this child is our dongsaeng?”


  Woosung looked at Soyoung, and Soyoung flinched a little .

  “Why are you scaring the kid?”


  “I didn’t!”


  Woosung was a bit sad that his dongsaeng looked a bit afraid of him on their first meeting . As if to make things worse, his mother berated him too . He grumbled .

  Woosang was more patient compared to Woosung, and he approached Soyoung with kindness .

  Soyoung stammered as she slowly started to talk to Woosang, and this scene made Woosung more frustrated .

  “Did you say her name is Ms . . . Plu-El? Where’s our new mother?”


  “The descendants of Planote are still in the process of settling on Earth, so she has a lot of work to do . Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it here today . ”


  Sungyoon answered Woosang .

  “Ah . Is that so? We should go greet her sometime in the future . ”


  Woosang and Woosung were used to these scenarios as Connectors, and they held no suspicion toward the existence of a new mother .

  After having a party to celebrate the addition of a new family member, the group returned to Hweeyoung and Aiin’s house .

  The sun had already set, and when they arrived at home, Shinhae and Soyoung were sound asleep .

  “As expected, this house is the best!”


  Woosung was in his feelings as he stood in the front yard and opened his arms wide . Aiin slapped him on the back, and the others laughed when they saw this exchange .

  “Ah! Elder brother-in-law . . . ”


  Elder brother-in-law .

  For a brief moment, Sungyoon had no idea who Woosang was referring to . He quickly realized that Woosang was talking to him .

  “Uh . What is it, Brother-in-law?”


  Sungyoon sounded a bit flustered, but he also used the correct title .

  “Thank you very much . ”


  Woosang bowed at a ninety-degree angle .

  “We learned about what happened to our father thanks to you . ”


  Silence descended in the surroundings .

  “If you weren’t in our lives, we would’ve continued to believe that our father died fighting monsters . We would’ve continued to call those bastards ahjussi, and we would’ve been under their thumbs . Moreover, we wouldn’t have been able to meet our new mother and our cute dongsaeng . ”


  “The one who didn’t give up until the end is your noona . You should give your thanks to Jimin . ”


  “Of course, I’m going to thank her . However, she wouldn’t have been able to achieve her far-fetched dream without you . You helped her make her dreams come true . That’s why we would like to thank you, Elder brother-in-law . ”


  Woosang bowed even deeper .

  “Thank you very much, Elder brother-in-law . ”