March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 117

With a slanted gaze, I roughly traced the shapes of the letters. Even before the specific content came into view, I felt as if I had been murdered by this trivial piece of paper.

Gi Taejeong hesitated for a long time, then stroked the surface of the crumpled paper. White fuzz-like particles rose along the folds. The soft, scattering sensation at his fingertips somehow resembled Lee Sehwa.

Hesta 7ml, Allion 15ml, Tyran tablet 9ml, dilute with 630ml water Transferred only enough for the medicine bottle capacity

Gi Taejeong, who had been reading the first line, let out a short laugh, making his hardened expression seem meaningless. It seemed he had initially written “Hisuk,” as several black lines were drawn through the correctly written word on the left.

When I read it under the light, all the erased letters are visible… Didn’t he think of this? Well, he wouldn’t have had the leisure to care about such things. He must have been busy preparing the medicine and hiding various things, avoiding the eyes of the surveillance agents until he arrived, so he wouldn’t have had any time to meticulously conceal such cute mistakes.

Taking antipyretics relieves some discomfort (especially when eyes feel dry and mouth is parched) It’s good to have ingredients like Arismin or Keron And for a while, avoid medicines or foods that warm the body Lieutenant Na will probably take good care of you with good recovery medicine, but I’m telling you just in case.

As he read each line of the text, Gi Taejeong’s eyes twitched. After the last sentence, there was also a black line drawn, but unlike the few words erased above, here it was almost drawn like a rectangular box.

Even holding the paper up to the ceiling and shining it under the light, he couldn’t read what words had originally been written.

What was the message Sehwa had hidden so carefully? What resentment might he have poured out while preparing to leave him? Gi Taejeong’s gaze lingered on the black rectangle, meticulously filled in but appearing clumsy.

He wished it were a curse he couldn’t even utter. I wish you would die, but becoming a murderer feels unpleasant, so I’m leaving this. At least he wished it were something like that…

Perhaps Sehwa, true to his personality, had written and erased soft and gentle words. He was a person who, even while making potent medicine, couldn’t bring himself to be vicious until the end, and left such a kind note. He was Lee Sehwa, who, even when turning away from him, told him not to treat others harshly if he found someone new, just as he had treated him. So, surely…

“…Hmm.”

Ah. Gi Taejeong let out a small groan and pressed his forehead. He stroked his dry face, then slowly bent his upper body, resting his elbows on his knees. The corner of the note touched his nose, and with each breath, he smelled the unique scent of faded paper.

He vividly pictured Lee Sehwa from that day, whom he had never seen. His tear-soaked, panting breaths, the warm steam rising from his feverish skin, his reddened eyes, the scent rising from his moist face. His slender body, trembling uncontrollably as he curled up, overwhelmed by his emotions… It felt as if that sorrow was being transferred directly to him.

I knew you were a monster who wouldn’t die even after taking strong medicine. You said you’d rather die at Captain Kim’s hands… So why did you prepare this? Why did you write it down and leave? I… was so consumed by the fact that you dared to think of leaving me, that I only just now learned the story you left for me.

“Is something wrong?”

Noticing his unusual expression, Warrant Officer Choi seriously tried to assess his condition. Gi Taejeong waved his hand, saying it was nothing, and straightened his bent body. Then, resting his neck on the sofa’s headrest, he briefly stared at the light. The unpleasant stinging that threatened to blind him was rather welcome.

Carefully sifting through that day when he wasn’t in his right mind, he barely remembered… the moment he had roughly shoved something he was holding into his pocket and left the house office. If he had kept it instead of throwing it away, he must have thought he would check it later, even then… So why had he forgotten it until now?

Of course, there were many excuses. His body, his brain, ravaged by the drug, the feeling of his brain being crushed, was utterly terrible. No, it wasn’t just the drug; what Lee Sehwa had said to him, what he had done with the resolve to kill him, had prevented him from being sane. He was literally in a state where he couldn’t see anything. And…

“…Ha.”

Gi Taejeong, who habitually rationalized his actions, soon let out a cynical laugh and lightly shook his head. It was exactly what Sehwa had pointed out that morning. He had boasted that he would grant everything and change everything, yet even in this situation, he was trying to interpret it in a way that was favorable to himself.

“General. Mr. Lee Sehwa is here.”

Gi Taejeong, who had been self-deprecating, cleared his throat and hid the note in his shirt pocket. This time, he tried to fold it neatly, but the piece of paper, which had been sealed for quite some time in the roughly shoved shape, still bore the crumpled traces.

Paper couldn’t be washed or ironed flat, so it was natural. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t return it to its original state. It was impossible to make these lines, which looked like cracks everywhere, disappear as if they had never been there. He knew. He knew, but…

“…You’re here.”

A word with a strange ending, neither a question nor a statement, popped out. Sehwa seemed flustered by the greeting, just mumbled with a blurry face, then shuffled his feet and entered the living room.

Looking at him now, he had definitely lost a lot of weight. Although he was a bit better than just before he collapsed, he was still terribly thin. Gi Taejeong, who was scanning Sehwa’s prominent wrist bones and protruding ankle bones, suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to embrace Sehwa. There was no lust whatsoever. He just wanted to cling to him as if they had always been one body.

I only just now learned the story you left for me, he wanted to cling to him with his whole body and whine. Now I know what the problem is, so is it not enough to say that I’ll cherish you, even if it’s late? Even if I write a sworn statement that I won’t say cruel things about the child’s life again, even if I can get it notarized if you want… will it still not be enough?

Until now, he had believed there was a way to turn things back. He believed that if he just lingered by Sehwa’s side, pretending not to know, the day would come when he would hear that soft voice, whose ending softened, again. Unlike him, Sehwa was kind and gentle. He was always starved for affection, and thus weak to the warmth of others… He expected the day to come when Sehwa would rest comfortably in his arms again, just like before.

But after reading this note… he lost his confidence. Sehwa had left even this for him, but what he had poured on him was threats to kill everyone around him, a dog collar made of jewels, and cynical remarks that would throw the child Sehwa had decided to embrace after much deliberation into the abyss.

What was more despairing was that even if he had seen this at the time, his nature was so rotten that he would have tried to confine Sehwa in the same way. He would have arbitrarily broken him and kept him by his side, forced him to smile at him like before, and eventually, it was obvious he would have hurt him just like now.

That’s why Sehwa couldn’t believe his words. Because he knew too well what kind of person he was. He knew better than anyone that he was a rotten character who only realized something after facing the brink of death, after losing his memory and even his voice.

“What… is this?”

“I will explain once you are seated.”

Sehwa, who had been looking around as if confused, pulled his neck back and quickly sat on the sofa when Second Lieutenant Park displayed Captain Kim’s identification photo on the screen. Gi Taejeong just watched Sehwa, who carefully distanced himself from him so their knees wouldn’t touch, with a blank stare.

“My skeptical stance on Mr. Lee Sehwa’s attendance at the trial remains unchanged, but… since the General has ordered it, I will briefly inform you about the current situation.”

Sehwa’s hesitant movements abruptly stopped. At the same time, he felt a glance stealing a look at his side profile. He seemed to have never imagined that his request to participate in the trial would be granted.

“Ah, my skepticism is for no other reason. It’s because, as the General said, there’s a high possibility that Mr. Lee Sehwa will get hurt.”

Second Lieutenant Park briefly explained the military trial process to Sehwa, and then summarized the tricks Captain Kim’s family was trying to pull.

“Just like the doctor who approached Mr. Lee Sehwa before, and that kid gang recently… Colonel Kim, ah, Captain Kim’s father, is very adept at this kind of trickery. It may seem like a trivial, petty trick, but he has countless disposable cards, and he’s also skilled at using them for instigation.”

“So… Captain Kim wants to pin his fault on me, ahem, on me, and… separately from that, he’s trying to create public opinion that I’m already a very problematic person, right?”

“Yes, exactly. Regardless of Mr. Lee Sehwa’s charges. That’s why there was such an uproar when Commander Oh Seonran said she would adopt Mr. Lee Sehwa. I apologize for saying this, but Mr. Lee Sehwa’s background and origins were very good bait for them.”

Sehwa nodded, understanding the flow.

“It’s similar to when you want to kill a new player… who just got a new construction contract. So that all the customers leave… Whether you’re good or bad, if rumors spread that you’re unlucky, cough, unlucky… then no one will nominate you…”

Even though he had been told that the trial would focus on personal attacks against him rather than on Captain Kim’s new drug manufacturing, Sehwa didn’t bat an eye. Instead, he seemed a little dumbfounded, asking if that was the only reason they had tried to hide him from the trial.

“Anyway, we have the House and the President’s Son as evidence and witnesses, so we just need to put them forward. Captain Kim handled things more sloppily than expected. I understand he even gave President Son a simplified transaction statement.”

“Ah… yes. Captain Kim gave me the payment directly, cough, the payment… but he said he couldn’t trust it… so when I demanded it, he gave it to me. But is that all?”

“Huh?”

Sehwa tilted his head, carefully examining the screen Second Lieutenant Park had displayed.

“Didn’t you also get… a drug sample that was smuggled out of Hwan 1 back then?”

“Ah, yes. Of course, that will also be submitted as evidence. It will perfectly match the ingredients listed in the classified document, so that will also be strong corroborating evidence,”

“You said military trials are… a battle of public opinion, didn’t you?”

Sehwa waved his finger, pointing at the screen as if he didn’t understand. Warrant Officer Choi moved the page back and forth in response to his gesture.

“Then if I, if I directly make that drug, right there… showing that Captain Kim ordered me to do this work for a long time… it would be much more effective, I think.”

“No.”

Gi Taejeong firmly stopped Sehwa before he could even finish his sentence.

“Your presence at the trial, that’s enough.”

“But…”

“You just barely opened your eyes after hovering between life and death, and now you’re touching drugs?”

“I’m not… going to take them, I mean…”

“Your body isn’t fine. We’re still monitoring you for side effects.”