Chapter 64
The moonlight was faint, and the night was relentless.
The sounds of animals from somewhere, the bleak night wind, the indistinct chirps of insects. Low-lying mist hung in the air. The stench of blood-tinged water, the stink of rotting corpses.
Infected crawling despite severed limbs, their eerie defiance against death.
Bang!
Ahyeon’s gun silenced their rebellion.
Shin Hae-jun looked up at Ahyeon.
In the dim moonlight, her face was shadowed, making her expression unreadable. Ahyeon remained silent. Since Shin Hae-jun called her, she seemed to be waiting for his next words.
However, Shin Hae-jun had no intention of speaking to her. He simply gazed at her, the sole light in this desolate world.
Looking back, Ahyeon had always been a light to Shin Hae-jun. A light that illuminated his shameful life, a light that allowed him to look inward, a light that made him run away, a light that made him jealous. Truly amusing.
When the world was still creaking along like turning gears, he had merely been jealous of her, unable or unwilling to grasp any feelings deeper than that. But now, after the world has crumbled to this extent, he finds the shattered pieces of his emotions, allowing the gears to turn once more.
“General? Why did you call me?”
Shin Hae-jun looked at Ahyeon. He looked at the light. Her light that always made him feel ashamed.
“I thought you looked even prettier when you came back to life.”
“…I didn’t hear you well?”
“Lieutenant. You know you’re beautiful too, don’t you?”
“What nonsense… Did you hit your head too?”
Shin Hae-jun laughed at Ahyeon’s unchanged attitude.
I like you. I’m in love with you. But so what? What am I supposed to do about it?
Would anything change if he told Ahyeon his feelings? No, it might. Ahyeon might push him away more than she does now, or she might completely withdraw. For her, Shin Hae-jun’s feelings might be nothing more or less than a burden.
Shin Hae-jun had always made objective judgments, and even in the face of his uncontrollable emotions, it was no different.
He had to endure it. And he had to hide it. He could not reveal any of his feelings for Ahyeon. Only then could he remain by her side.
“Help me up. I’m in pain.”
“I won’t hug you though.”
“I didn’t expect you to.”
Ahyeon let out a soft laugh and supported him to help him stand up. With infected corpses strewn all around them now, being the only living beings walking amidst this sea of death instilled a sense of subdued victory, but also an eerie feeling of enervation.
Resting his face on Ahyeon’s shoulder, Shin Hae-jun murmured like a petulant child.
“I’ve exerted too much strength all day. I don’t even have the strength to lift a finger.”
“Yes. That’s understandable.”
“Especially when dealing with Lieutenant Min.”
Ahyeon’s steps faltered.
“General.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want me to leave you here?”
“Why. Feeling ashamed now?”
Of course, she would feel ashamed. Instead of answering, Ahyeon turned her head away. Shin Hae-jun chuckled, looking at her flushed cheek faintly visible in the dim moonlight.
“You’re going too far. I was the one doing all the embarrassing things, yet now you’re feigning ignorance…”
“First, we need a proper assessment of the situation.”
Ignoring Shin Hae-jun’s continued playful teasing, Ahyeon changed the subject. This guy just won’t keep his mouth shut, she muttered before getting to the main point.
“It’s true that the revolutionary fraction detonated the bomb. However, before that, Yang Jun-tae made contact with them and had some sort of conversation.”
The sharpness returned to Shin Hae-jun’s eyes, which had momentarily softened as he caught his breath.
“So Yang Jun-tae is behind the circumstances where the short-lived forces suddenly went berserk and nearly ruined everything for us all?”
“Yes. That’s my speculation.”
“Your intuition is mostly accurate.”
Shin Hae-jun looked up at the sky. This frustratingly pitch-black night had not ended yet, and it seemed a pity for it to end now.
Removing his face from leaning against Ahyeon, Shin Hae-jun muttered while gripping a machete with his other hand.
“Let’s kill him quickly and go. I’m tired.”
Ahyeon let out a laugh, and they quickened their pace.
🕂
Hiccup!
Yang Jun-tae, hunched over with trembling shoulders, couldn’t even think to wipe his runny nose. The chill of the floor seeped through his knees and spread through his body. The back of his neck grew cool and his whole body tensed up.
“L-Lieutenant Min.”
Rolling his eyes, Yang Jun-tae addressed Min Ahyeon standing before him.
“Th-there must be some misunderstanding, b-but can’t we resolve this through dialogue first? Yes?”
“Sixteen civilians and twenty members of the security member died. Do you mean to say we should resolve this through dialogue?”
“N-No… I mean, isn’t it unnecessary for violence to accompany every situation?”
Ahyeon stared down at Yang Jun-tae. Then, she chuckled and nodded.
“Yes. We will resolve it through dialogue.”
“……”
“Well then.”
Shit, take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Is that the face of someone resolving through dialogue? Yang Jun-tae shivered even more violently and gulped down his saliva.
Still, the silver lining in this misfortune was that General Shin Hae-jun did not come along. If that crazy bastard had been here, Yang Jun-tae would not be alive right now…
“Argh, shit!”
Bang!
Before that thought could even finish, the office door flung open—practically breaking off its hinges—and a familiar figure strode briskly inside. The moment Yang Jun-tae saw him, he gasped as if his breath was caught in his throat, because the one who had entered was none other than Shin Hae-jun, the crazy bastard Yang Jun-tae never wanted to face again in his life.
“Why are you angry again?”
“That fool isn’t setting the bone. He’s breaking it. Should I just kill him?”
Ahyeon hurriedly blocked Shin Hae-jun, who was gripping his gun, from advancing further.
“He was probably trying to set the bone.”
“Well, it fucking hurt like hell.”
“But you usually don’t complain about pain.”
“Because I’m in front of you. It hurts, Ahyeon-ah.”
“……”
Ahyeon shook her head and let out a sigh, while Shin Hae-jun chuckled and draped his arm over her shoulders. Yang Jun-tae was the only one unable to adapt to this gentle atmosphere.
Still kneeling on the floor, Yang Jun-tae trembled uncontrollably, unable to focus on their conversation at all. If he lost focus for even a moment, he felt he might faint outright. His mind was reeling.
“Jun-tae. It’s been a while, huh?”
Dragging over a chair with a screech, Shin Hae-jun sat down facing the backrest, legs spread wide. Embracing the chair’s backrest like folding his arms, he rested his chin on it and looked down at Yang Jun-tae.
“Y-yes. L-long time no see, General. I hope you’ve been well……”
“I was doing well, until today that is. Because of you, I nearly got screwed over.”
Shin Hae-jun spoke with a wide grin, but that smile was, of course, menacing and not reassuring at all. Yang Jun-tae crawled towards Shin Hae-jun on his knees and slammed his head onto the floor.
“General! It’s a misunderstanding!”
He shouted, hands tightly clasped together.
“Of course! Of course, I talked to the revolutionary fraction. But I was just telling them I would meet their demands! If things continued this way, it would lead to an unfavorable situation for us both!”
He pounds his chest as if truly wronged.
“But I never dreamed they would cause such a ruckus. Really!”
Yang Jun-tae shouted with an expression that anyone would see as being wronged…or rather, an expression that portrayed him as a deeply earnest mayor making decisions solely for the citizens. It was such a convincing act that an outsider would undoubtedly fall for it. Maybe he should consider becoming an actor, Ahyeon thought.
“Lieutenant Min.”
Then Shin Hae-jun called out to her.
“Yes, General.”
“Doesn’t it seem like this bastard is looking down on me? What do you think?”
“Yes. It seems he sees you as a runt.”
I didn’t say runt. Doesn’t that mean you see me as a runt? Shin Hae-jun felt a strange unease and then turned his gaze back toward Yang Jun-tae.
“Jun-tae.”
“Yes, yes!”
It didn’t seem to bother him at all to be bowing before Shin Hae-jun, who was much younger. It seemed like as long as he could keep his life, nothing else mattered. Shin Hae-jun’s eyes narrowed.
“I already know the bomb that blew up the power plant was a homemade bomb made right here. I’ve also heard the revolutionary fraction testify that you gave them the bomb.”
“Th-th-that’s, General…!”
“So let’s make this easy, alright?”
Twirrrrrl—
The sound of a revolver’s cylinder spinning, then click—it was reloaded. The muzzle was pointed straight at Yang Jun-tae’s head.
“Why were you gathering the infected?”
Shin Hae-jun was telling him—don’t answer properly and die, but even if you do answer, you could still die.
🕂
Thank you for reading! ♡
