oneshot part 1
The last medical bandage slid off Lee Know’s arm as the nurse checked the monitor one final time.
“Well... looks like you survived this time too,” she said with a smile as she disconnected the wires attached to his chest.
Lee Know slowly sat on the edge of the bed and rolled his stiff shoulder.
She handed him a small box of medicine.
“Take these twice a day for a week. And don’t go back to work right away.”
He glanced at the medicine before carelessly slipping it into his pocket.
“I’ll think about it.”
She stopped at the doorway before he left.
“Take care of yourself, Lee Know.”
Without turning around, he raised a hand in farewell.
“I’ll try.”
The moment he stepped out of the hospital, the cold morning air greeted him.
He took a deep breath.
For the first time in weeks, there was no smell of disinfectant surrounding him.
He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, but just before lighting it, his phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
With a tired sigh, he returned the cigarette to the pack.
Caller ID: Director Seo
He swiped to answer and brought the phone to his ear.
“Hello?”
The director’s serious voice came immediately.
“Lee Know. How are you feeling? Have you recovered?”
Lee Know glanced at the bandages hidden beneath his clothes.
“I’m fine.”
An obvious lie—but one he had grown used to telling.
The man on the other end chuckled, as if he already knew.
“Good.”
“So, what do you want? It’s obvious you didn’t call just to check on me.”
Director Seo let out a sigh.
“Actually... I have a mission for you.”
“I just got discharged from the hospital!”
“And that’s exactly why you’re the right person.”
Lee Know rolled his eyes.
“I hate it when you say that... What’s the mission?”
“This isn’t something we can discuss over the phone. Come see me”
About an hour and a half later...
Lee Know stepped into the glass-walled office overlooking the city.
Director Seo sat behind his massive desk. He looked up as Lee Know entered.
"Have a seat."
Lee Know pulled out the chair and sat across from him.
"So... what's the mission?"
"I want you to retrieve a specimen."
Lee Know blinked twice.
"A specimen? That's it?"
"No."
The director leaned forward.
"There are numerous organizations keeping an eye on it—companies with enough influence to make entire countries disappear."
Silence settled between them for a moment.
Then the director slid an ID card across the desk.
"Go to this location tomorrow."
Lee Know picked up the card and read it.
"A few men will accompany you to retrieve the specimen."
"And what exactly is this specimen?"
A mysterious smile spread across the director's face as he leaned back in his chair.
"You'll know when you see it."
The next morning...
The sky was blanketed with heavy clouds.
Lee Know stood at the harbor, staring at the enormous ship docked before him.
"A laboratory... inside a ship?"
He let out a quiet whistle.
"Don't tell me the specimen is actually in there."
One of Director Seo's men, standing beside him, nodded.
"It is."
Lee Know clicked his tongue.
"Must be one hell of a specimen."
The security door opened, and they stepped aboard.
The deeper they went, the tighter the security became.
Steel doors.
Armed guards.
Biometric scanners.
Lee Know began piecing things together in his mind.
Maybe it was a new weapon.
Or some classified military project.
While he looked around the laboratories and the countless samples stored inside, one of the scientists—Chan—enthusiastically explained the project.
"This project took seventeen years of development..."
"Mhm."
"...The success rate was less than one percent..."
"Mhm."
"...And the final results exceeded all expectations."
"Mhm."
Chan suddenly stopped and looked at him.
"Are you even listening?"
"Of course." Lee Know nodded confidently.
"What was the specimen's name again?"
Chan sighed.
"So you weren't listening."
Lee Know remained silent for a moment before pointing ahead.
"I think we've arrived."
The group came to a stop before a massive glass wall.
The other side was completely dark.
Lee Know couldn't see anything—only his own reflection in the pitch-black glass.
One by one, the lights slowly flickered on.
A pristine white room came into view, decorated to resemble a beach.
At its center stood a giant television screen endlessly replaying the sight of ocean waves.
And then...
A young man sat quietly on a chair beside a table, his gaze fixed on the enormous screen before him.
Black hair.
Soft, rounded cheeks.
Simple clothes resembling a hospital patient's.
He looked to be around nineteen years old.
Lee Know blinked several times in disbelief before letting out a sarcastic laugh.
"Huh?"
He turned toward the staff, then to Chan beside him.
"You've got to be kidding me."
No one responded.
Every face around him remained completely serious.
The smile gradually disappeared from his face.
"Wait... you're serious?"
One of the scientists, whose name tag read Seungmin, spoke calmly.
"This is the specimen."
Lee Know looked back at the young man, then turned to them again.
"All this security... this entire ship..."
He pointed toward the room.
"...for a teenager?"
Seungmin replied evenly,
"He's not an ordinary teenager."
He began explaining the project.
How he had been created.
How his cells had grown.
How his abilities had been developed.
And how he had become the first successful human clone.
This time, Lee Know actually listened.
With every sentence, his eyebrows rose a little higher.
"A human clone?"
"Yes."
"That's insane."
"I know, isn't it?"
Chan signaled to one of the staff members, who nodded and unlocked the door to the room.
The employee entered, approached the young man, and exchanged a few quiet words with him.
The young man slowly raised his head and looked toward them.
Chan waved at him.
His eyes were strangely calm.
He stood in the middle of the room.
Then his gaze settled on Lee Know.
Silence filled the room.
The next instant, his expression changed.
A dark aura seemed to gather around his eyes.
The ground trembled as though an earthquake had struck.
Lee Know felt a crushing pressure against his chest, as if an enormous hand were squeezing the air out of him.
"What the hell is this...?"
A scientist's pen slipped from his pocket.
But instead of hitting the floor...
It stopped in midair.
Then it slowly began to rise.
The metal instruments throughout the room followed, floating one after another.
It was as though gravity itself had disappeared.
Lee Know stared around him in utter disbelief.
"Impossible..."
