Ch.80Aftermath!

#080

The sight of the three people coming out of the boiler room was quite amusing.

Emily walking awkwardly.

Jesse moving with a creak while holding her waist.

And Dexter exiting the boiler room confidently with his shoulders straight.

“That bastard, with his good stamina, without a shred of consideration…!”

Jesse, who had been patting her waist, was quietly fuming while looking at Dexter.

“How could you possibly go four more times in there?”

“Obviously, with overwhelming power?”

When Dexter replied with a smirk, Jesse’s eyes lit up with fury.

“You’re laughing? The rest of us are dying here!”

“I can’t exactly cry about it.”

“Then don’t say anything!”

Emily, experiencing something like this for the first time in her life, had a slight smile at the corners of her mouth despite her unnatural gait.

“You’re enjoying this?”

“…Jesse and Dexter used to do this every day, right?”

“Not every day! If we did this every day, I might die.”

“…I can understand that.”

While Emily was certainly feeling good, she was also somewhat tired of Dexter’s endless stamina that she had just experienced alongside Jesse.

“Is this why you asked for extra prison uniforms? Huh? The clothes are completely soaked.”

The laundry in the basket Emily was carrying was not only damp, but also retained the strong scent of bodily fluids the two had emitted.

“Emily works in the laundry room. I thought it would be easier to clean up afterward.”

“That’s true. Dexter had a good idea.”

“Oh come on, even Emily isn’t taking my side anymore.”

When Jesse frowned, Dexter reached out and smoothed her brow with his thumb.

“You’ll get wrinkles. Relax your face.”

“Damn it, then don’t make me frown.”

“Look.”

When Dexter stuck out his tongue playfully, Jesse punched him in the side.

“Ugh.”

“You be quiet for a while.”

After silencing Dexter, Jesse spoke up.

“Really, I don’t know how we ended up like this… things have gotten complicated. Emily, what do you think about Dexter?”

“If you’re asking about our relationship, I want to stay together with both Jesse and Dexter, just like now.”

“For that to happen, you need to keep this secret, you know that, right?”

“Of course. I’m not stupid.”

“Even after I leave prison, keep the secret, and if you want to be with Dexter, I’ll give you my email address so you can contact me. Promise.”

When Jesse held out her pinky finger to Emily, Emily linked her own pinky with Jesse’s and said:

“Promise.”

“This promise involves me too, can’t I join in?”

Dexter pointed to himself as he spoke, but Jesse wasn’t having any of it.

“You stay quiet. This is all because of your face and body.”

“That’s so unfair, really.”

‘What am I supposed to do about being born this way?’

He felt somewhat wronged—one minute they were complimenting his looks, and the next they were blaming his handsome appearance.

“But I thought you two would fight over me, but you’re not.”

As soon as Dexter said that, Jesse glared at him.

“What, did you think we’d grab each other’s hair and fight to have you all to ourselves?”

“Uh? Well… I did briefly think it would be troublesome if that happened.”

“You know what I told you. I understand you’re full of yourself, and I accept that you can’t help being an inmate.”

“You did say that.”

“We’re being incredibly understanding, and you’re expecting us to fight each other? You’re secretly selfish.”

Feeling like he’d suddenly become public enemy number one, Dexter looked at Emily, who also nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. This time Dexter is in the wrong.”

“Huh? My fault? Really?”

“Instead of comforting us, Dexter is trying to make us fight. Just as Jesse gave you up to me, I’ll give you up to Jesse.”

With Emily’s serious accusation, Dexter suddenly found himself cast as the villain trying to pit two friendly women against each other.

“Wow, really? Is this for real?”

“Bad guy. Self-absorbed guy. Narcissistic guy.”

“You should reflect on your actions.”

Dexter, under this counterattack, couldn’t understand how things had turned out this way.

In the end, after being scolded by both Jesse and Emily, Dexter was kicked out of Medium Security Facility Block 2 like he’d been rejected.

After taking a shower with the excuse of being drenched in sweat, Dexter stopped by the guard office.

“…Is something wrong?”

Judy gave Dexter a concerned look as he had lost his smile after being harshly criticized by the two women.

“What? Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just feeling a bit tired today.”

“Really? You’re not sick, are you?”

Judy stood on her tiptoes and placed her hand on Dexter’s forehead.

“No fever… but still, tell me if you have a headache or anything? I have some basic medications.”

Judy opened her personal locker attached to the office wall as she spoke.

Dexter whistled at the sight of the numerous medicine bottles and first aid kit in Judy’s locker.

“Aspirin, fever reducers, digestive medicine, antiseptics, ointments… this is like a pharmacy.”

“For serious symptoms, it’s obviously better to go to the infirmary, but for simple things, it’s better if we handle it ourselves.”

Judy said with a bright smile.

“That’s true. Anyway, I’m not sick, so don’t worry. Just something on my mind.”

“Is that so? You can talk to me if something’s bothering you.”

When Judy expressed her concern, Dexter felt even more uncomfortable.

The reason for Dexter’s gloomy face was purely woman trouble, and the very idea of seeking comfort from another woman was pricking his conscience.

Even though Dexter could be shameless and thick-skinned when needed, he couldn’t do that to innocent Judy.

“I’m really fine. Truly.”

Seeing Dexter trying to reassure her with a forced smile, Judy smiled again and said:

“Alright. You’ll be preparing for the handover soon, right?”

“Yes, I should get to that. You worked hard today, Judy.”

“You too, Dexter.”

Dexter felt both grateful and sorry for Judy’s concern.

After completing the handover to the night shift worker, Dexter headed home and started grumbling.

“It would be best to just smash everything and forget about it all.”

When he was in space, his employer and friend Eliya handled most things, and he could delegate complicated matters to his subordinates.

Even when he briefly left Eliya to work at Preston Express, there wasn’t much to think about.

If something got in the way, he could beat it up, and if that didn’t fix it, breaking something would solve the problem.

But since coming to Earth, there were many more restrictions.

“Obviously can’t kill, have to move in secret, need permission for everything.”

Dexter could only shake his head and click his tongue.

After continuing to grumble, Dexter arrived home and immediately lay down on the sofa and took out his phone.

There was a message from Himena.

-Are you really okay?

Himena seemed worried about the text Dexter had sent earlier in the day.

‘It’s my fault, I guess.’

Feeling sorry that people around him were worried because of his improper behavior, Dexter called Himena.

“Have you finished work?”

-No, I have something to look at today… but you’re really okay, right?

Like Judy, Himena’s voice was concerned about Dexter, who cleared his throat once and tried to speak in a deliberately light tone.

“I’m fine. It’s just something I can’t really talk about right now, but I’ll let you know once things are sorted out.”

-That’s good then. Make sure you tell me. Don’t struggle with it alone.

Though her tone was similar to Judy’s concern, the atmosphere was a bit more comfortable, so Dexter responded lightly.

“Have you ever seen me struggling alone?”

-Even so.

“Alright, I’ll let you know as soon as things clear up.”

Dexter said with a slight smile.

“By the way, what happened with the NSA situation? I didn’t get a detailed explanation.”

Normally he wouldn’t have asked, but hearing that Himena was still at work, Dexter inquired about the day he helped William.

-Oh, that… We received intelligence that NSA was approaching Pilgrim. So another department officially told them not to approach carelessly, but it didn’t work well.

Himena spoke with a hint of frustration about NSA’s actions.

OSA and NSA weren’t exactly archenemies, but their relationship was ambiguous—not friendly enough, and neither could claim superiority over the other as government agencies.

Especially given NSA’s focus on national security, they often clashed with OSA. In a normal situation, NSA would have accepted OSA’s request and backed off.

“If it was an official request, they wouldn’t have refused, right?”

-Yes, even their department said it was unusual.

Federal government departments are like well-meshed gears.

When these gears turn properly, the clock of the nation ticks smoothly.

But with the series of recent incidents…

It felt like teeth were falling out of the gears one by one.

Government departments that had been running smoothly, including OSA, were becoming misaligned one after another.

‘Is it a coincidence? Simply because they’re old?’

While Dexter couldn’t know the cause and effect of everything, the gears needed to be repaired before they broke completely.

“Couldn’t you find out who rejected the request?”

-Probably not. If they’re willing to reject the request, they probably won’t tell us anything.

It was impossible not to be concerned as new problems kept appearing.

“Then at the very least, could you find out the name of the NSA agent who approached Mr. Pilgrim?”

-Why do you need the name?

“When I searched the NSA agent who approached Mr. Pilgrim, I found an unidentified ampoule and syringe in his pocket.”

When these unexpected words came out of Dexter’s mouth, Himena was taken aback.

-What? An ampoule and syringe?

“Besides his wallet, he had no other belongings, but those two items were inside his suit, so he was clearly planning to inject Mr. Pilgrim with that substance.”

After hearing Dexter’s story about knocking down an NSA agent, Himena was silent for a moment, then replied in a lower voice than before.

-…I understand. This clearly exceeds my authority, so I’ll have to inform the director. What on earth… a drug? What were they trying to do?

A faint sigh from Himena followed those words.

“I don’t understand either. What is NSA up to…”

-For now, since the director is still here, I’ll talk to him. I’ll contact you again soon. Mwah.

The call ended with the sound of Himena’s kiss.

‘NSA… why did they approach Pilgrim?’

He carefully considered reasons why someone would want to stop William’s research, but nothing significant came to mind.

The General briefly crossed his mind, but the idea that the General had taken over NSA was too far-fetched, so he buried that thought.

Dexter closed his eyes on the sofa until Himena called back.