Chapter 70
“Oh Habin?”
Thinking I must have seen wrong, I rubbed my eyes repeatedly, but the unlucky bastard approaching me was indeed Oh Habin. Oh, wow. I never expected to see that guy again in my life. Covering my mouth with my hand, I exclaimed.
“Didn’t you die?”
Immediately, Oh Habin’s face crumpled up.
“I absolutely won’t die. Lieutenant, no, I’ll stay alive somehow until you die.”
“Oh Habin, you’ve grown up a lot.”
“I was already grown originally.”
Oh Habin muttered, glancing at me. Seeing him after several years, nothing seemed to have changed, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Feeling a subtle sense of happiness, I realized that meeting this subordinate who had been alive for years felt somewhat comforting despite the blurry line between life and death just moments ago.
Oh Habin was my direct subordinate when I was still in the military. He followed me quite well, but after I deserted, all contact was cut off and I didn’t know if he was alive or dead.
He was doing well. I smiled warmly at him.
“Are you a sergeant now? When will you be promoted?”
“That’s none of your business. I’ll take care of that myself.”
Oh Habin replied, snorting arrogantly. It was quite a cheeky attitude, but since he wasn’t under my command anymore, there was nothing I could say. I shrugged.
“So, why are you here?”
At my question, Oh Habin’s frown deepened further. He seemed displeased about having to come all the way here.
Sighing, he pressed his still youthful cheek with his palm.
“The General wants you to come to the official residence next week.”
“Why?”
“He says there’s a new request.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly, recalling what Shin Hae-jun had said.
“Wait for me. I’ll bring something interesting.”
“Lieutenant Min will like it. Look forward to it.”
Something interesting, something to look forward to. Was he referring to the new request? That’s likely what it meant, I thought. Which made me feel rather bewildered—because of Oh Habin standing right before me.
“About that.”
I asked, tilting my head slightly.
“Are you involved in it too?”
Oh Habin’s lips tightened slightly. He stayed silent for a moment, then faintly fluttered his pale brown, almost transparent eyes.
“Well, your intuition is sickeningly sharp.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll be involved, yes.”
He replied, brushing his slightly long light brown hair behind his ear.
“Besides me, there are others.”
“Who?”
“You’ll see for yourself.”
“…..”
I lifted my chin and gazed at the dreary sky. With the onset of winter, a dull blanket of clouds spread across the sky. I stared intently while taking a few deep breaths, then lowered my head again. Right. I can’t get mad at the kid… No, but this brat.
“Why are you talking like that? Huh? You wanna fight me? Or want me to punch you?”
“Ah, you can’t hit me.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t hit me.”
Oh Habin dodged my fist narrowly, sniffing.
“I don’t feel like using honorifics, but anyway, I’m talking politely to you because you’re older, but I don’t know why you’re complaining.”
“Habin-ah. Oh Habin.”
“What?”
I stared up at Oh Habin, who was replying curtly. How old was he again? Twenty-two? Twenty-three? In any case, he was considerably younger than me. And having joined the military around the same time as I did, his mind wasn’t exactly clear. I suddenly recalled the night before I deserted, when Oh Habin had grabbed me, tears welling up in his eyes. I shook my head.
“Sheesh, why am I even saying this to you. Alright, I got it. I’ll go.”
Oh Habin nodded.
Now that his purpose was accomplished, Oh Habin could leave. There was no need for him to linger and speak to me further. But he hesitated, still seeming like he had something to say.
“Why?”
At that, Oh Habin took a half-step closer, clenching his fists tightly under his military uniform sleeves.
“Deserting,”
His long eyelashes fluttered.
“Why did you do it? Did you hate the military that much? Enough to abandon all of us?”
Habin’s expression was quite complex, with a mixture of resentment, anger, and betrayal apparent on his face. I looked at him intently.
“There was a reason. You know, I was looking for my younger brother.”
He took a deep breath.
“You could’ve searched for him in the military.”
“I couldn’t find him. Never.”
“But he might have died.”
“He’s not dead. Absolutely not.”
Habin’s gentle eyes welled up with tears. He looked at me, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly spat out as if expelling a breath, and lowered his head slightly.
“A lot of people waited for you.”
“……”
“Most of them died.”
Habin spoke while still keeping his head lowered.
“I’ll see you next week. If we’re both still alive by then.”
🕂
“That impertinent brat.”
Chwaak!
I grumbled as I hacked through the obstructing bushes with a machete.
“How did I raise that guy! Since he was a minor, I’ve been pampering him, praising him endlessly. What? You? You?”
Chwaak! Chuk! I barged forward, slashing through the bushes. Right. I know. I’m currently venting my frustrations on innocent shrubbery.
“Haah……”
My head throbbed. Memories of the past that I had tried so hard to forget kept flooding back.
“Lieutenant! Look at this, I got promoted!”
“Haha, Lieutenant, you’re truly the god of marksmanship, aren’t you? A sharpshooter?”
“I want to become like the Lieutenant too!”
They used to chirp like baby birds looking at their mother. Quite adorable, really. Watching them made me think of Woo-joo too, so I doted on them in my own way.
“They’re dead.”
Who died? Hansuho? Kim Yugyeong? Lee Dohyeon? No, no. I don’t know. In fact, it’s not something I should even know. After all, I’m a deserter, a criminal, and they were still respectable soldiers serving in the military.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy and annoyed. I let out another sigh.
“Why the hell did Shin Hae-jun send Oh Habin instead of just coming himself? He said he’d come to find me soon, didn’t he?”
Come to think of it.
“Wait for me.”
He said that, but sending Oh Habin instead? What kind of nonsense is this?
“I feel like I’m walking into a tiger’s den.”
A shiver ran down my spine, my instincts warning me. Be careful. One wrong move and you may meet your demise.
Woo-joo-ah. Your nuna is going through such hardship searching for you. So you better stay alive, okay? Speaking towards wherever Woo-joo might be, I hurried my steps.
After parting with Oh Habin, I left the Seoul shelter and headed down towards the Gwanak Mountain area to find the refugee camp set up inside the university grounds, as well as its affiliated repair shop.
“My car.”
“You can’t come in until you get it back. Don’t even think about setting foot in the shop!”
Our Yongcheol, showing such a firm stance… He’s grown up…
I couldn’t help feeling a bit resentful towards Yongcheol, who had no idea how much I had suffered in Gangwon, but nonetheless, since I was the one who had smashed up his car, it was a fact that I had to offer appropriate compensation. I, Min Ahyeon, know the importance of principles.
“Phew.”
As I descended the hill, I gazed at the university’s main gate not far away. To be precise, I looked at the buses piled up like mountains in front of the gate. The stacked buses, numbering in the tens, served as a sort of barricade, preventing the advance of the infected. I approached the buses with my K2 rifle slung over my shoulder.
University shelter.
Since the Seoul shelter could only protect a small area upstream along the river, those who didn’t belong there, as well as people downstream were in imminent danger of death. They couldn’t just stay holed up at home, but going outside meant encountering roaming infected. What could they do? Crying into the radios, asking, “What should we do?”, they realized in times like these they needed to band together. So they sought to congregate somewhere, and this university was that place.
Not only was the elevation advantageous, but with proper barricades set up, the terrain made it suitable for blocking infected. There were large buildings and enough open land for cultivation—a place that could accommodate many people.
So people began to gather here little by little, and eventually, this place became a huge shelter on par with the Seoul shelter.
‘There are a lot of students here, so they’ve made a lot of things.’
Yongcheol’s Jeep was also modified here.
“It’s Min Ahyeon. I have some questions. Can I come up?”
I shouted from a distance in case they opened fire on me for getting too close.
“…Huh?”
What’s this?
Why is there no response?
🕂
Thank you for reading! ♡
