* * *

* * *

Hyeonyul opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm. He brought his phone over with darkness and checked the date.

It was the weekend. No matter how he looked at it, it was definitely the weekend.

"..."

He let out a long breath, squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.

Someone might ask whether the Black Eagles worked weekends, too. Back when he was a villain, he had never run into them. He had only heard about this or that happening, so he had never taken an interest.

This had bothered him a little during his first negotiation with Haeryeon.

Weekend work.

'She said we would take turns. I never thought my turn would be this week.'

His body felt heavy. He simply could not get out from under the covers. It had been a long time since he had felt this way, but he never wanted to experience it again.

Hyeonyul blinked beneath the covers. He slipped a hand out, clenched it, then opened it.

He should have been examined by Jeongmin yesterday, but the drowsiness brought on by his medication had become unbearable. He had said he was leaving first and gone home. He did not even remember how he had gotten there.

'It's fine.'

After checking that his hand worked properly, he looked at his phone.

[Doctor Jeongmin: Are you all right?]

[Doctor Jeongmin: You're not feeling sick, are you?]

[Doctor Jeongmin: Contact me as soon as you see this.]

Those messages had come yesterday, and there were more from today.

[Doctor Jeongmin: You're really all right, aren't you? You are, right?]

[Doctor Jeongmin: You haven't passed out, have you?]

[Doctor Jeongmin: ... Ha. Should I go to your place?]

.

.

Hyeonyul's eyebrows rose slightly at the long string of messages. He was not a child, yet Jeongmin still worried so much.

He called immediately.

As the call rang, Hyeonyul got up. He could hear the ringing just outside.

He opened the door and found Jeongmin there. His breathing was heavy, as though he had hurried over. Seeing nothing but worry on his face, Hyeonyul hesitated before asking,

"... Are you all right?"

"You're really okay, aren't you? Nothing hurts?"

"Yes. I'm perfectly fine."

"I really wasn't going to come, but I couldn't help it."

Only then did Jeongmin look sheepish.

["Doctor, as you know, other villains or the Empire could be watching me. So please avoid coming over, even now. I will come to you."]

Hyeonyul had asked him not to visit his home if he could help it. Jeongmin knew that, but waiting had been difficult. Anxiety had filled his heart, and he had been too worried to get anything done.

"... Your body didn't fall apart again, did it? You were just exhausted yesterday, right?"

Jeongmin asked hesitantly. Hyeonyul was human, too; he got tired. Jeongmin had not heard the details, but apparently something major had happened yesterday. Something connected to Hyeonyul, at that.

Jeongmin came inside and looked at him. Still holding his phone, Hyeonyul suddenly averted his eyes.

An ominous feeling swept over Jeongmin at the sight, and he approached.

"W-when? How? No, why? Was the medication... was something wrong with the medication?"

As the questions kept coming, Hyeonyul headed to the kitchen. He poured some water and handed it to Jeongmin.

"Please drink this."

He had heard that a glass of cold water was good for calming down. Jeongmin looked bewildered, but took it anyway.

He gulped it down. Only after draining the glass did he look as though he had regained his senses.

Perhaps now was the chance to speak.

"I drew more deeply on my power—"

"I told you not to do that!"

Jeongmin instantly raised his voice. Hyeonyul glanced at the refrigerator, and Jeongmin narrowed his eyes.

"That's not the answer, Hyeonyul."

"It isn't?"

"No. One glass has already brought me to my senses, so don't change the subject."

"I wasn't changing the subject."

"... Fine. Hyeonyul, we tested how much power you could safely use together. Honestly, I still don't know the full extent of your power. Neither did you. We both agreed it was too soon to draw on it any more deeply than you already were."

"I know."

"And you did it anyway? Even though you knew...?"

Jeongmin felt his blood pressure rising.

Even Hyeonyul had not been adept at using his power from the beginning. It had taken training, testing, regulation through medication, and countless efforts.

His power was vast. Was the darkness itself Hyeonyul, or was darkness merely the power he possessed? Neither Jeongmin nor Hyeonyul himself knew even now.

What they did know for certain was that his body fell apart once he used a certain amount of power. Perhaps it was because his body was not yet complete.

"I thought using it was the right choice to complete the mission."

At his answer, Jeongmin's gaze sharpened, and he looked ready to growl at any moment. Hyeonyul quietly raised a hand to shield his forehead.

Whatever else he might know, Jeongmin's slaps stung strangely badly.

"... So the medication made you sleepy, and that was why you said you were going home?"

"Yes. That's correct."

The moment Hyeonyul took a step back, Jeongmin came forward and slapped his upper arm.

SMACK!

Hyeonyul lowered his hand and gave him a slightly resentful look.

"What do you think you did right to give me that look?"

"It was necessary for the mission—"

"So you did the right thing?"

"... No."

Hyeonyul lowered his eyes. Wrong was wrong.

'It was for the mission, though.'

Unable to bring himself to say it aloud, he grumbled inwardly.

'And I completed it fairly well, too.'

Jeongmin walked over to the table and sat down. He beckoned Hyeonyul over, and Hyeonyul joined him.

"Stop complaining. So how was yesterday?"

"What do you mean?"

"How you felt, Hyeonyul."

"You're asking the same question as big brother Baek Sinu."

"Sinu asked you that, too?"

"Yes. I felt nothing then, and I still feel nothing now."

"That's a shame. I wanted to see you looking triumphant now that you're one step closer to revenge."

A smile would be even better. Jeongmin imagined the various expressions Hyeonyul might make and chuckled to himself.

"Have I ever looked like that?"

"Very subtly? When I first met you at the Nest after you became a Black Eagle?"

"Did I?"

"But Hyeonyul, why are you up so early on a weekend? You should still be in dreamland."

At Jeongmin's utterly oblivious expression, Hyeonyul let out a long breath.

"... I'm working this weekend."

"Oh..."

Jeongmin froze for a moment.

"L-let's go together. I can check your condition while we're there."

"Yes. Please wait a moment."

Hyeonyul slowly rose from his seat.

"By the way, Hyeonyul."

"Yes?"

"Your place is turning into a mess, isn't it?"

It was somehow clean yet so badly organized that it looked untidy. It certainly had not been like this at first.

Pretending not to hear, Hyeonyul hurried into the bathroom. Jeongmin sighed and shook his head.

'... He'd be good at it if he tried. Why can't he manage this?'

CLICK!

When he took a photograph, Hyeonyul came back out.

"Why are you taking pictures?"

"To send you whenever you fail to tidy up. You're grown up now. You should be able to do this much on your own."

Jeongmin rested his chin on his hand and gave him a pitying look.

"Your standards are always strange, Doctor. Sometimes you see me as a child, and sometimes you treat me as an adult."

"That's how it is. Sometimes you look young, and other times you look grown up. Stop grumbling and go wash up."

Jeongmin waved him off. Hyeonyul gave him a resentful look, then went into the bathroom. Jeongmin grinned at the displeasure evident in his footsteps.

* * *

Jeongmin's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Hyeonyul had been about to leave after hearing the examination results, but Jeongmin's unusual expression compelled him to ask.

"Well, how should I put it? Your body seems to have changed a little. The readings are different from two days ago. I'll have to change your medication again."

Jeongmin always recorded Hyeonyul's physical condition. Today, those numbers had changed.

'There can't be anything wrong with the medication I gave him.'

Hyeonyul was already taking many medications. Every one of them was so potent that anyone else taking them might die from the adverse effects. His drug tolerance was exceptionally high, and few medications suited him, leaving Jeongmin no choice but to use strong ones.

'... Has he already developed a tolerance?'

He had been changing them little by little precisely to prevent that.

His basic regimen consisted of medication, injections, and IV drips to maintain his current condition. He had also been prescribed medicine to keep his body from falling apart in emergencies, along with medicine to ease the complexity of his thoughts, since his body could not handle it when they became too tangled.

"I think I may have become more assimilated."

"You mean assimilated with your power?"

Jeongmin took an interest in Hyeonyul's casually offered remark.

"Yes. The more I used my power, the more I felt I was losing my body. This has happened before, hasn't it?"

"Your body itself was too unstable back then for us to define it precisely."

"Please don't worry. The new medication will suit me."

Hyeonyul smiled. He even knew how to offer reassurance first now. Finding that rather admirable, Jeongmin's lips curved into a crescent.

"... True. I'm not alone anymore."

Hadn't Haeryeon agreed to develop the medicine with him? With the readings changing now, it was a good time to put their heads together.

"For now, you haven't noticed anything strange while taking your current medication, have you?"

"I haven't."

"Keep taking it until we make the new medication, but tell me immediately if anything feels wrong."

"Understood."

Hyeonyul got off the bed.

"Hyeonyul."

"I know. I'll tell you immediately."

Expecting another repetition of the same warning, Hyeonyul answered first.

"Not that."

"That wasn't it?"

"Congratulations on finally picking up their trail."

As Jeongmin beamed, Hyeonyul blinked, then smiled.

"Yes."

He answered and left the room. He still felt nothing. He was merely curious who awaited him at the end of that trail.

* * *

Team Three.

The moment Hyeonyul saw the nameplate outside the room, his energy drained away.

Weekend work. What dreadful words.

This weekend's shift was not in the predawn hours. The hours changed, too, but that did not alter the fact that he was working on the weekend.

As soon as he opened the door, he heard Haeryeon's urgent voice.

'I have a bad feeling about this.'

First, he checked who had arrived. No one else was there. He could see snacks that had been bought for them to eat while waiting for an assignment. Apparently, weekends were usually quieter than he had expected.

'Why... would weekends be quiet?'

Puzzled, Hyeonyul quietly took his seat. When he had been a villain, weekends and weekdays had not been much different. The very concept of a weekend had simply been erased. He had even wondered whether they were testing how long a person could endure working.

Hyeonyul turned his head. Someone seemed to have arrived. Judging by the footsteps, it was Nayun.

"Hi, Hyeonyul!"

Nayun waved cheerfully.

"Good morning."

"On my way here, I seriously wondered whether this was real. We're working on the weekend. ... Ha. I'd forgotten because of what happened yesterday, but the moment the Team Leader reminded us, I started losing my mind. I barely managed to get up today."

Denying reality, Nayun sat down.

"I feel the same."

"Right, Hyeonyul? You couldn't believe it either, could you?"

She grinned.

"No. Weekend work should be abolished."

"I really, really agree. Oh! They run things like companies over there, too, don't they?"

"Do you mean the villains?"

"Yes. Isn't that how they operate?"

"It is."

"Then why don't they take weekends off? They're working for salaries like we are, so why don't they rest?"

Nayun's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"That was what puzzled me most, too. Everyone but me simply took it for granted. Why do they do that?"

"So that's why we have to keep working weekends. Right. If the villains come to work, we can't very well stay home."

"Ha ha ha."

Nayun laughed with lifeless eyes. This was supposed to be a precious day off.

She pressed hard between her eyebrows, then noticed something was off and looked around.

"Where's the Team Leader? Isn't she here yet?"

"She's in her room. She seems to be on the phone."

"The... phone?"

Nayun fiddled with the corner of her mouth.

"That doesn't sound good... I think something urgent has come in. I'll go instead."

As Nayun rose with determination in her eyes, the door opened. Haeryeon quickly looked at Hyeonyul and Nayun. Relief was plain on her face.

"Both of you need to be deployed immediately."

"Let's go, Hyeonyul."

"No. You're going on separate assignments."

"Separate assignments...?"

Nayun's eyes widened.

"You're both providing support, but you're needed in different places. Suspicious magic has been discovered. Nayun, your assignment is to protect the White Sparrows searching for it."

After explaining to Nayun, Haeryeon turned to Hyeonyul.

"An entire ride burned down at an amusement park, and they suspect a magical bomb. Hyeonyul, you need to help investigate the park and provide bomb-disposal support. The Black Eagles from Team One will be there."

"Understood."

Hyeonyul rose. Once an assignment came in, he had to act immediately. That was the right thing to do.

"... Hyeonyul, you're really all right, aren't you?"

Haeryeon asked cautiously. This was not just any day; it was a weekend shift. In fact, some weekends had fewer assignments than weekdays, while on others, several incidents erupted all at once.

To think today was one of those days. She wasn't sure it was all right for his first weekend shift to go this way.

"No."

Hyeonyul answered without any change in expression.

"It's already a terrible day."

Haeryeon caught her breath at his next words. No one hated this more than Hyeonyul. Even during their first negotiation, he had looked at the words "weekend work" with displeasure.

"But I'll do it. I'll be leaving now."

Hyeonyul bowed his head and went outside.

"Hyeonyul does look... a little angry."

"... Exactly. We really need a new team to take over the weekend shifts soon."

"Are there actually any applicants?"

Nayun did not let that remark pass, asking in surprise. Surely weekends were meant for resting.

"There are always applicants. They simply don't meet the requirements."

"Right...? It's not as though the villains go easy on us because it's the weekend. We can't do this halfheartedly, can we?"

"Exactly. We can't let the number of casualties rise. So, Nayun, don't just stand there. Let's get going."

Haeryeon smiled at Nayun, who had not moved an inch. An awkward smile settled on Nayun's lips.

'... I don't want to work.'