Evil Organization’s Extra Mr. A

[25th Chapter]

I first noticed changes as a hyper-human when I was in the second year of middle school.

At first, my parents said it was a normal physical change during puberty. I believed them at the time.

However, half a year later, I realized that my parents’ words were not to reassure me, but to avoid looking at me as I became a hyper-human.

Scientists from the Earth Defense Union came to my school, and I rode in their car to a research facility. Wearing white clothes, I gradually felt my body changing. Soon after, I realized my body had gained different powers than before.

When I concentrated, I could become stronger continuously, and injuries healed instantly. No matter how much I moved, I didn’t feel tired, and when I focused, everything seemed to move slowly around me.

It felt like there was a switch in my body, allowing me to turn on and off the power of a hyper-human.

I spent quite a long time living in the research facility. I didn’t return home for half a year, and no matter how much I cried and begged them to send me back, the adults wouldn’t listen.

There were other children in the facility, but I never met them until half a year passed, and I could finally go home.

Seeing my parents’ faces after half a year, I cried endlessly, but they didn’t even look at me. They only talked with the people who brought me there, showing no interest or attention toward me.

When I went back to school, my friends had already become third-year students, and so had I. The memories they made while I was gone were plentiful, and just as I was about to feel excluded, my friends reached out to me.

They welcomed me warmly. However, two days later, they began to ignore me. They stopped answering when I spoke to them and didn’t even look at me when I stood next to them. I felt like I wasn’t there, like an invisible person.

Originally, I wasn’t that outgoing. I wasn’t completely introverted either, but rather, someone you’d consider ordinary.

Around the time I entered high school, I told my parents I wanted to go to a faraway school. Even though they didn’t look at me, they granted my request.

I started attending a new school, and my parents strictly instructed my friends not to tell anyone that I was a hyper-human. It wasn’t a suggestion; they threatened me, telling me never to speak of it.

High school was a happy period. Since I was from afar, I didn’t know anyone, which helped shape my personality. I lived actively, making many friends, and my friends treated me without prejudice.

I knew that I had developed earlier than my peers due to secondary sexual characteristics. Perhaps because of this, boys’ intentions were very clear when they talked to me. From then on, I don’t remember having close relationships with boys.

Through spending time with friends, I realized that when I acted lively and proactive, everyone enjoyed it. Sometimes, I would act more lively than necessary, and occasionally, I wondered what kind of person I truly was. But it didn’t matter. Being ignored by others was worse than this.

When I was a sophomore in high school, my parents gave me a place to live alone near the school. They promised to give me pocket money regularly until graduation and suggested I live there. It was a relief. Living alone was better than being with parents who didn’t even look at me.

I graduated from high school. Just like at the middle school graduation, my parents didn’t come to my high school graduation ceremony. After that day, we stopped communicating, and only the last bit of money they sent remained in my bank account. I knew from the start that my parents had abandoned me.

I wanted to go to university. I had chosen a school to study beauty and prepared well, achieving good grades. But I couldn’t go. As soon as I turned eighteen, I needed to find ways to live independently, so I took various part-time jobs.

Thinking that now I’m independent from my parents, I proudly told people I was a hyper-human. It could be an interesting story since I was different from others.

People avoided me.

Yesterday, people I talked to and laughed with still didn’t welcome me anymore.

Why? I hadn’t changed, yet why did they dislike me simply because I was a hyper-human?

The Earth Defense Union contacted me, asking if I wanted to work for them to protect Earth.

I was a hyper-human, and there were alien forces invading Earth. With my powers, I could help people and maybe they wouldn’t ignore me anymore. Yes, if I became a hero of justice and received applause from everyone, everything would be fine.

Three years passed since I joined the Earth Defense Union. My life hadn’t changed. In battles, I won, and whenever I found new employment, I proudly called myself a hyper-human, but people still ignored me.

But I didn’t give up. Surely somewhere, there must be someone in the Earth Defense Union who doesn’t see me as a hyper-human but as a human named Quanryola.

I started working at a café not too far from my house. It was a short bus ride, and I could walk there, so I thought it would be convenient. I couldn’t quit my part-time job; the Earth Defense Union’s salary wasn’t enough to cover all my expenses.

Rent, taxes, phone bills, and more. After paying these, there was nothing left of the Earth Defense Union’s salary.

A man kept bothering me at the café, asking for my number. One day, I couldn’t stand his loud voice and threw him out, and the owner called me over.

“Are you a hyper-human?”

I knew from experience that I was about to be fired.

“Go back to work.”

“What?”

This was the first time I heard such a phrase in my life.

“Go back to work. Or do you want to quit?”

“No!”

The owner said I could work at the café. He saw me as a human named Quanryola, without prejudice. A few days later, I asked him:

“Owner, you know I’m a hyper-human, why don’t you fire me?”

“Why should it matter? I hire pretty and handsome people regardless. Being a hyper-human isn’t a flaw. Why should it be a problem if a pretty person wants to work?”

His casual remark made me feel so good, and I decided to continue working at the café. Maybe influenced by the owner’s acceptance, the café staff also accepted me as a hyper-human.

One day, the owner told me:

“From today, you’ll work in the kitchen.”

I understood the owner’s feelings. Though he had no prejudice, rumors about hyper-humans made customers uncomfortable if I worked at the counter. Regardless of customer reactions, I was content as long as I could continue working where they accepted me.

The owner might have done it without much thought, but I tried to stay unnoticed by customers. I wore a large jumpsuit and a mask to make sure people couldn’t identify me in the kitchen. Occasionally, I had to confront troublemakers at the counter, but they didn’t seem to pay much attention.

After two years at the café, a peculiar newcomer arrived. Many people had worked in the kitchen before, but they quickly left. Probably, they didn’t want to work with a hyper-human.

This new person will probably leave soon too.

“I’m a hyper-human.”

“That’s none of my business.”

This person was strange. Most people reacted by pretending to understand and then ignoring me when I mentioned being a hyper-human, but this person said it didn’t matter.

We were the same age, and she seemed to have lived abroad when young. Was it common to see hyper-humans abroad?

Her name was “E.” An unusual name for a foreigner, and initially, I wanted to add “sama,” but it sounded rude, so I struggled with how to address her. Thinking it might be okay to approach her casually since we were the same age, I jokingly called her “E-chan,” and she didn’t seem to mind.

Following E’s advice, I decided to tell my old friends about being a hyper-human. We had known each other for a long time, and although we hadn’t seen each other since adulthood, I hoped they would accept me for who I am.

Working at the café for several years, I had forgotten that even among similar people, a hyper-human isn’t welcomed. What’s wrong? What did I do wrong?

Feeling troubled, I sat alone on a bench in a convenience store in front of the subway station and drank alcohol. Drinking alone was familiar to me. I had never drunk with anyone else.

When E appeared as I was getting drunk, we drank together and she took me home. E accepted me without prejudice. Thanks to E, I reconciled and befriended Red.

E called me a friend. I had a friend.

E and I drank together. For the first time, I went to a place I had always wanted to visit, which was crowded near the subway entrance. Without realizing it, I put effort into it, and although it took time, it was worth it.

My senior coworker teased me, but I enjoyed it. It was my first time drinking with a friend. I wished E liked drinking with me too.

It rained. Voices inside the café’s back door were clearly audible from the rain. The voices belonged to a senior coworker I had worked with for half a year and a younger girl who had worked longer.

As the rain quieted down, their voices echoed through the entire world.

“Damn hyper-human” “Woman who can’t meet men and is possessed” “Woman who flirts with new guys”

“They all hate her.” “Trashy woman” ……

What did I do wrong? I’m just a hyper-human.

Is that wrong? Am I a hyper-human? Is my existence bad?

Then… what should I do?

I handed Yura an umbrella at the back door of the café and picked up the one she dropped, heading back inside.

“!”

When I opened the back door, the two people who had been insulting Yura moments ago were startled and then greeted me with smiles.

“E. What brings you here at this hour?”

“Yura forgot her wallet, so I came to get it for her.”

I smiled back at the two of them. Despite the two women in front of me appearing vulgar and hypocritical, I pretended not to hear anything and acted as if nothing happened, going to the storage room to retrieve Yura’s wallet. I wanted to lash out at those two immediately.

I considered Yura a friend, and hearing groundless gossip made me furious.

“I’ll go now.”

“Yes. Be careful.”

Without responding to the final greeting, I left the shop. Yura was still standing there. Her T-shirt was wet, and I removed the shirt she was wearing, placing it over her shoulders and folding her umbrella.

Holding the umbrella I had given her, I led her home silently, staring blankly into space.

Since I had walked this path once before, I didn’t get lost. During the journey, I didn’t say anything to her, nor did she say anything to me. We walked in silence until we reached Yura’s house.

Carrying the drunken Yura home felt like it didn’t take long to reach her house, which used to seem distant.

“……”

Even when standing in front of the building, we were silent. I gave her the umbrella.

“Go inside and rest. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

There was nothing I could do for her at the moment. I felt it was best to let her have some alone time, so I gave her the umbrella and unfolded the remaining one, slowly walking away from her house.

As the rain intensified, the sound became louder, and every step I took made the water noise irritating. Even the sound of the rain seemed to be mocking her.

Twenty steps? Thirty steps? I couldn’t tell how far I had walked, but I knew it wasn’t long. In that brief moment, I experienced countless emotions. Hoping she had gone inside, I turned back to check.

She was still standing there, motionless, like a soulless person, just as she was when I gave her the umbrella.

Unable to leave Yura standing alone in the rain, I turned back and approached her.

“Let’s go inside.”

I hesitated momentarily before entering the password for the door lock. Since I had seen Yura enter the password when she was drunk that night, I could enter. But I prioritized taking her inside the house.

We took the elevator to the seventh floor. I held her hand to bring her in, and I checked her appearance again at the entrance.

A sigh almost escaped, but I suppressed it and opened the door, entering. I took off her shoes and sat her on the sofa in the living room. The rain was heavy, and even with the umbrella, both Yura and I were soaked.

“We’re both soaked.”

I took two towels from the bathroom, covering her legs with one and drying her wet hair with the other.

“……”

I couldn’t say anything. Any wrong word might ruin the Yura in front of me.

Though her eyes were hidden by the towel, her trembling lower lip was clearly visible. I had never seen lips tremble like that before.

Where did it go wrong? Going back to the café to get her wallet? Deciding to drink today? Meeting that woman before leaving? No matter how far back I traced, I couldn’t pinpoint where things went wrong.

It was obvious. I knew nothing and could understand nothing.

The only thing I knew was that Yura seemed happy when we were drinking together.

“Let’s go wash up and sleep.”

Why does Yura have to endure this treatment? Why are hyper-humans treated this way?

Shouldn’t we hate Spacystro instead? Why do people hate hyper-humans, who fight to protect themselves, more than invaders like Spacystro?

Why is Yura receiving the treatment that should be reserved for us?

Comforting Yura now would be superficial. I am a soldier of Spacystro, here to monitor her, and we are enemies.

“I’ll go.”

After drying my hair, I put down the towel and was about to leave when I felt her pulling my sleeve.

She held my sleeve with trembling hands, but her frail hand barely had any strength, as if she wanted to hold on but couldn’t.

I held her hand and sat beside her.

Yura just lost the place she could rely on. Even if I’m her enemy, perhaps I am the only person in this world who sees her without prejudice.

Comfort won’t come from just saying it.

What can I say to Yura right now? Should I just be there for her?

Would that be enough?

Her eyes, hidden behind her bangs, were trembling. Her expression, biting her lower lip hard, entered my vision.

“I won’t go.”

The pent-up feeling of being ignored burst out, and she cried endlessly.

She cried like a child who had lost something precious, deeply and sorrowfully.

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