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The mention of my father, the one who disappeared without a trace, sent a ripple of shock through the room. "Father... is dead..." I uttered, grappling with the gravity of those words.
"Nope, no, your father operated with us. I sent him to work on a mission, but he went missing days later, it was given," Arthur interjected, locking eyes with Chan, a palpable hatred lingering in his gaze. "He doesn't know he had a tracker on him like you guys, but yeah... apparently, you had help."
Chan responded with a disdainful sneer, a proud defiance evident in his expression.
"...I intended on blowing his cover, but I found out he was concealing his daughter from me. One look at your photo, and I fell in zest," Arthur's eyes scrutinized me, nodding approvingly at how I had grown, both in appearance and abilities. "Knowing your abilities, you can guess how much... I wanted you. I left him to wander around the world briefly before seizing him. We kept him for a while until James's invention came alive. Now, what was it again you made, James."
James, still engrossed in his tea despite Arthur's storytelling, relinquished the cup after consuming his third serving. "Your father had freakish skills like yours. Only one in a billion, he had mind abilities. Unlike you who control, he could read but also obliterate anyone..."
The revelation of my father's extraordinary power left everyone in awe. While the room buzzed with astonishment, I grappled with the shock of discovering his hidden abilities. How could he have kept this from me? Did I inherit this gift from him?
James continued his narrative, unveiling the current state of my father, "Right now, your father is safe and sound but has entirely lost his memories since I zapped him with his own power, the reason why he never returned home." A hint of remorse flickered in James's eyes, acknowledging the sadness a child would feel when their father vanished without a trace. "As you've figured already, my invention is to use one's power on themselves, but everything has a side effect..."
"...What the hell did you do to her father!" Jisung erupted with rage, a sudden outburst shocking everyone given his typically reserved demeanor. Over time, Jisung's protective instincts for me had seemingly grown stronger than even Minho's.
"Like I said, he is fine but... won't be long, I'm afraid," James spoke with careful consideration, choosing his words delicately to avoid causing further distress to the already shaken children, notably Seungmin and Jeongin. "I forgot how strong his powers were. In a few months or probably a year, his brain will lose its ability to function and soon completely stop working." The weight of this revelation hung heavy in the air, casting a shadow over the room as the true nature of my father's fate unfolded.
