Chapter 90
Baek Je-ha.
Just recalling the name made his stomach churn and his breath catch, as if his mind was becoming distant. Je-ha, Baek Je-ha. How many times did he call out and cry that name? Shin Hae-jun recalled memories that overlapped with the time he spent with him.
Shin Hae-jun came from the research institute.
He, too, found himself at the facility one day, at some point. When he opened his eyes in the glass tube filled with sloshing water, he was quite different from how he is now.
He was always afraid. Terrified of every moment, every second. Constantly gripped by the fear that he might die. They say the fear of death is a human instinct, and while part of Shin Hae-jun saw it as fortunate proof that he was human, another part of him was sick of it. He had never truly lived a proper life, yet he feared death—he found himself pathetic and pitiful. That’s how he was back then.
Baek Je-ha was a young boy in the glass tube right next to his, with light brown hair and skin so pale it was almost transparent. No, what stood out more were his eyes, always wide open.
The world outside the glass tubes was truly dreadful. Children were dragged away bleeding, people were whipped right in front of them, limbs were severed. So Shin Hae-jun kept his eyes shut almost constantly. He didn’t want to see that horrific world anymore.
But Baek Je-ha always kept his eyes open. As if he wanted to etch every single thing that happened here onto his retinas and into the folds of his brain.
Why?
Shin Hae-jun was curious.
So one day, when they were released from the glass tubes to become true experimental subjects, he grabbed Baek Je-ha and asked him. His answer is still vividly etched in his memory.
“Well, once we get out of here, we have to let everyone know.”
“We have to let people know everything we saw, everything we went through. There must be many more victims besides us.”
It was a thought Shin Hae-jun had never had before. He had only ever desired and yearned for his own well-being—in other words, the preservation of his own life. He had never harbored any altruistic feelings about having to do something for others. So Baek Je-ha was an anomaly to him. Wondrous and a bit strange. And at the same time, he felt an indescribable emotion towards him—looking back now, it was probably akin to admiration, but at the time he couldn’t articulate it clearly, so he just followed Baek Je-ha around faithfully. Yes. Even the great Shin Hae-jun had such moments.
“Haaa.”
Taking a long-awaited drag from his cigar, Shin Hae-jun leaned his head back against the chair. He inhaled the smoke deeply into his lungs, despite knowing it would shorten his lifespan. Shortened or not, he closed his eyes and savored the rich cigar aroma.
“If one of us had to die, what would you do?”
“I’d save myself first. You wouldn’t save me, would you Shin Hae-jun?”
Damn bastard.
If you said that, you should have acted that way.
Why did you put a gun in my hand? Why did you make me pull the trigger? Why did I…you…
“Fuck, seriously.”
Shin Hae-jun threw down the barely smoked cigar and abruptly stood up, pacing anxiously around the room.
It was only natural that he realized the radio’s protagonist was Baek Je-ha. The pattern that emerged when he traced the detected radio signals…
“When I get out of here, I’ll definitely get a tattoo in this shape.”
“Wings. Aren’t they pretty?”
It was the drawing Baek Je-ha always showed him. Combined with Baek Je-ha’s voice, the music he loved, the things he always said.
“We’re bringing color to a black-and-white world!”
Stopping his pacing, Shin Hae-jun put his fist to his forehead and caught his breath.
“He’s alive.”
He let out a cynical laugh.
“Truly, he’s alive.”
Clenching and unclenching his fist repeatedly, he kept muttering.
“Alive, alive…”
The decision had already been made within him.
“He’s trying to overthrow the military.”
It seems that radio broadcasts are gathering revolutionary forces and giving them instructions. Yes, Je-ha was part of the revolutionary forces.
While Shin Hae-jun was the exact opposite—part of the military.
“…Je-ha.”
Shin Hae-jun stared blankly into the empty space as he spoke.
“What should I do this time?”
I don’t know anything.
I don’t know what to do.
Shin Hae-jun felt so dejected, he couldn’t muster the strength to get up. No, he couldn’t even think about getting up. It felt like if he nonchalantly got up from here, it would be another betrayal of Je-ha.
That’s when it happened.
Knock knock.
There was a knock at the door, followed by a lieutenant’s voice.
“General. The Commander is looking for you.”
“…..”
Commander Shin, Shin Gi-tae, my stepfather, the one who saved me, and the one who cast me into the abyss.
Like instinct, like Pavlov’s dog responding to the bell, Hae-jun struggled to rise to his feet.
There was no time to grieve. There’s no mental space to honor Je-ha. He simply had to go to Shin Gi-tae.
“…Tell him I’m coming.”
Suddenly, Shin Hae-jun looked up at the empty space.
Glub glub. It seemed like bubbles were rising. The place he was in still felt like inside a glass tube.
🕂
“Sister, where are you?”
I walked down the quiet library corridor with my hands in my pockets.
“Sister, come out unless you want a bullet in your head.”
The only sound echoing was my plodding footsteps. I suddenly realized the library was quite scary in the early morning hours. Not because I was afraid an infected would jump out, but because a ghost might appear. One might ask why a Catholic would be afraid of ghosts, but you could respond that demons are mentioned in the Bible. After all, isn’t a demon a type of ghost?
“Please come out, Sister. Or should I call all the infected over? Huh? Is that what you want? Should I really do something crazy?”
“Argh! That crazy bitch, I’m going to kill her!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Yoon Soojin burst out, ranting loudly. I waved at her visible on the 3rd floor.
“Oh, Sister. You came out? But can you really kill me? If you shoot from there, the bullets won’t even reach me. Heh. What a waste of bullets.”
“Hey!”
“Just come down, will you? We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”
At my words, Yoon Soojin flinched for a moment, but it seemed she eventually decided she had no choice, starting to come down the stairs. Naturally, Im Do-hyeon was by her side.
“What? Why? Got something to say?”
Seeing Yoon Soojin’s nonchalant attitude, I let out a mocking laugh.
“Oh, Captain Yoon. Looks like you’ve lost all your military bearing. You’re quite the rascal.”
“Aren’t you the same? And if you’re going to talk about the military, shouldn’t you be more respectful to me?”
“Our general told me not to bother with the Air Force. So I’ll just speak casually, roughly.”
“I really want to kill her.”
Hearing that, Im Do-hyeon shook his head, then glanced disapprovingly at me as well.
“You too, mercenary. Calm down. What kind of person angers everyone they open their mouth to?”
“The same goes for you two.”
I shrugged and put my hand on my hip, ready to draw my gun at any moment in case of an incident. But Im Do-hyeon shook his head again.
“We’re not armed.”
With that, he raised both hands. Yoon Soojin, with an annoyed expression, also raised her hands.
“We’re here to talk. That’s why we came down.”
“Oh, really?”
I chuckled and took my hand off my hip. Then, I took a half-step closer to them.
“I have something to ask you.”
I looked them directly in the eye and asked.
“You’re part of an organization opposing the government, right? Isn’t that right?”
“Because the government isn’t protecting people.”
“Yeah, yeah. Everyone has that reason. The villains recorded in history always had a reason. A shitty reason, but still.”
“…..”
Yoon Soojin glared at me, breathing deeply, while Im Do-hyeon tried to calm her, saying ‘Please restrain yourself.’
“That’s why I’m asking.”
“Go ahead.”
“Instead of creating some useless pseudo-religion, have you never thought of using those brains of yours to fight against the government?”
At that, Yoon Soojin let out a mocking laugh. But it didn’t stop there. She suddenly grabbed her stomach and broke into a loud guffaw.
“Puhahaha!”
After laughing for a while, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and exhaled deeply.
“Hey, Min Ahyeon.”
Then, she pushed my shoulder with her index finger and said.
“You’re really damn naive, aren’t you?”
🕂
Thank you for reading! ♡
