The Trash Wants to Live

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh? About what?”

“The bull… it’s yours, but I made a deal with it, doing whatever I wanted with it without asking.”

“It’s okay. Yoon Jae, if it’s to help you…”

“Oh, is there anything you want? It’s a bit late to ask, but let me know if you need anything.”

I was willing to give whatever I could, whether it was money or anything else. If he wanted something that I couldn’t get on my own, I could ask Tanisha…

Jang Eui Yeol seemed a little lost in thought at my question.

“What I want?”

“Yeah. Anything.”

“Can you give me anything I ask for?”

“Yeah? Well… As long as it’s not too hard for me to give…”

As long as it was not a sudden request for a jet or a tank… Jang Eui Yeol chuckled at my words.

“No, Yoon Jae, you can give it to me.”

“Then… huh, what is it?”

“Um… I’ll tell you later.”

Jang Eui Yeol said he didn’t know yet. He didn’t know what he wanted and needed time to think about it.

“Come to think of it, I ordered the bull not to let the researchers approach. Should I take back the order?”

“Oh, you did that?”

“Well, they’re all foreigners and I thought they weren’t related to you, so I gave the order.”

Aha, so that’s why there was no response when I approached, but there was a riot when the researchers approached. It was then that I understood.

When I asked him to go ahead, the thread connected to the bull sparkled slightly. I see, that’s how he gave orders.

Once he was done ordering the bull to behave properly, Jang Eui Yeol, now wearing clothes, looked in the mirror and said,”Then… see you at school tomorrow.”

“Yes! Tell me whenever you’re ready! I’ll come get you right away!”

Jang Eui Yeol smiled, saying “I understand.” When the time limit of 10 minutes was over, the threads that stretched out of my body disappeared as if they melted into nothing. My world returned to its original state.

I could no longer see Jang Eui Yeol’s appearance nor hear his voice.

“You may approach now.”

I looked back at Tanisha and she moved closer to the bull, which was not as aggressive as before. As Tanisha stroked the bull’s back with her hand in awe, the researchers, who had been watching from a little distance, came closer.

As Tanisha approached, she gently patted the bull’s back with her hand and, after a moment of hesitation, courageously grabbed the horn and took a selfie with her cell phone.

She didn’t seem to need my help, so I went back into the mansion.

“Come to think of it…”

I realized that there were no news reports even though a gate was found. There were no supposed reporters at the school yesterday either… Reporters may not have been able to come in because of Sungwoon High School’s restricted area, but these days, they could still take enough pictures with telescope cameras or drones.

Thinking it was strange, I asked Jung Yi Joon who was following me.

“Did you watch the news yesterday and today?”

“No?”

I didn’t know why he looked at me with a frown on his face that said, “Why are you asking me that?” He really was the wrong person to ask… When I turned my head, Jung Yi Joon followed me, asking where I was going.

“Did you use his ability earlier? Jang Eui Yeol.”

“…”

“Stop borrowing it, okay? Got it?”

“Aish…”

I was tired of him telling me not to borrow someone’s abilities whenever I opened my mouth. So I ignored him and went to Ki Hyun Joo’s room and knocked.

“Who? Oh, it’s Yoon Jae. What’s the matter?”

Ki Hyun Joo opened the door and came out, asking “What’s the matter?” I was about to answer, when suddenly Jung Yi Joon interrupted.

“Are you here to borrow from her?”

“What? Borrow what?… No way?!”

“I won’t borrow it!”

At these words, Ki Hyun Joo looked puzzled, then began to be wary of me. I screamed because rather than helping me, he hindered me.

However, Ki Hyun Joo’s suspicions had not been resolved.

“…What’s the matter?”

She hid behind the door, staring at me through a gap that was barely enough to fit a finger in. The look in her eyes told me not to do anything strange which made me feel wronged.

“I’m just here to ask you something…”

I became tired of Jung Yi Joon, who pissed me off after making Ki Hyun Joo suspicious of me. I wanted to go back to my room so I hurriedly asked.

“Did the news say anything about Sungwoon?”

“Huh?”

Only then did Ki Hyun Joo open the door after resolving her suspicions. She looked dazed at my words and frowned.

“…I don’t think I did. My side didn’t control it. Was it controlled by the chairman?”

“I see.”

I nodded and left her room. Within hours, it was soon revealed who had control of the press. Not surprisingly, it was the U.S. government.

“Good to see you again, Mr. Ki.”

It was Rachel who came with a contract saying that they would sell me the products that were developed later in exchange for helping with research. She greeted me as she sat down opposite me and smiled charmingly with her chin on her hand.

“I thought it was a little too easy to get the information… we meet again.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right… In fact, it was my judgement to ask permission from Mr Ki’s father and grandfather. I thought Mister was obeying the old man.”

She said that she thought I was just a pawn because the Confucian ideology still remained in Korea, and Ki Jae Mu was the one who had the most power in the family.

“Hmm, that–”

“I apologise if you were offended by my judgement. In fact, not only me, but our side thought Mr. Ki was a puppet.”

She thought Ki Yoon Jae, who was putty, would be the owner of the guild in name only, and considered him as a representative that Ki Jae Mu or someone else would essentially take control of.

“But if you’re the big shot in the guild… It’s a different story, right? I hope you’ll excuse us for our rudeness.”

“Is there any difference because I’m the big shot?”

“Of course.”

Rachel looked at me with a silly face. It had been 10 years since superpowers appeared, and it had been about 4 years since the United States, which had been leading the concealment of the facts, made the information public.

How much had the world changed since the disclosure of superpowers?

“It’s hardly changed—the world.”

Rachel laughed, both mockingly and self-deprecatingly.

“We discovered it first, and we studied it first. The United States is always in the lead. China and Russia tried to follow suit, but… Mr. Ki, to be honest, what do you think of gifted people?”

“They’re great, but… they’re not Superman.”

“Yes, that’s it.”

Gifted people were great, but they were not Superman. You could not fly in the sky or kill a person or blow up a building with a beam from your eyes. The power was not infinite.

If it was really powerful, inside the gate, Jung Yi Joon would have picked the monster up and crushed it with one hand instead of having to flee, and he would have flown like he was really Iron Man instead of just slowing down the speed of falling from a cliff.

Of course, what he had alone was a great power, but it was a somewhat realistic power, unlike the heroes in manhwas and movies.

Well, that’s true for now, but…

I could only use the different abilities that were given to me now, but later, when I could handle the Force, the source of my abilities, I would literally become Superman.

However, that would be something farther in the future, and as long as all the people able to teach them how to use such great skills were in hiding, ordinary people with special abilities would always be in an ambiguous position.

“Stronger than the average. But is it stronger than a tank? Is it harder than an armoured car? You can’t fly like a combat plane. Maybe in the days when we used to fight with swords, but in modern warfare…”

I could not help but be disappointed. Now was the era to fight with missiles and nuclear weapons, so individuals weren’t as strong. The reality was not a game.

“Russia and China, who were following us, also gave up after a little research. No, just to be sure. I don’t know if they’re doing illegal research pretending to keep their hands to themselves but… Anyway, in the meantime, we paid attention to the fact that a company, not led by the state, created a guild in Korea. Seeing that the guild’s owner was just a mere child in middle school, we figured that there must be a big shot behind him.”

“Hmm…”

“Furthermore, unlike other businesses that will soon close, we will continue to maintain ours.… I’ve been watching, and most of the Gifted people in Korea are gathered under Sungwoon.”

Hence, Rachel said she was really curious about the identity of the big shot in Sungwoon Guild. Who was the one who would continue a business that didn’t seem to be profitable in the future…?

Of course, it was all Ki Yoon Jae’s thoughts, and I couldn’t tell her what she wanted to hear due to my sparse memories of him.