March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 126

Sehwa blinked his eyes softly, looking at the large shopping bag.

Gi Taejeong placed the item at his feet and hesitated for a moment. Seeing Sehwa’s face, the most peaceful he had seen recently, kept making him think bad thoughts. Just a moment ago, he had seen Sehwa sink into himself several times, yet he shamelessly thought, Wouldn’t he get better if I kept comforting him like this…?

This shouldn’t be. Let him go.

Yes, I will let him go. But… it’s the last time, isn’t it?

Then, wouldn’t it be okay to stay together just for today?

He had heard there was accommodation a little further away where they could sleep under the stars. If he used that as an excuse and asked to hold him just for tonight, just once… the kind and gentle Lee Sehwa might allow it.

What should he do? Should he say it? The atmosphere didn’t seem bad so far…

Gi Taejeong, who was about to blurt out his desire, which had risen to the tip of his tongue, only came to his senses when he saw Sehwa’s patient gown fluttering in the breeze.

Putting on a melodrama and acting pathetic wasn’t something just anyone could do. It required qualification. A bastard like him, who prioritized his own desires even in this state, would never be allowed such a thing.

Gi Taejeong sighed, pressing his forehead, then swept his bangs back. This wouldn’t end. Where was such a thing as a good day to give up? One day would become two, two would become three, a week, a month, and then he would never be able to let go. Knowing that, he had asked Captain Oh Seonran to take Sehwa away immediately today.

If Captain Oh Seonran arrived on time like this, he would have to send Sehwa away without a proper explanation or farewell. His heart was already bursting with mountains of things he hadn’t done, and he couldn’t ruin the final goodbye.

Since being cool and affectionate was already out of the question, he hoped to at least feel normal. He wanted to say a normal goodbye, the kind people say when they part: I hope you don’t hurt anymore, and I hope you can rest happily doing what you want.

“Take it.”

“What… is this?”

Surprised, Sehwa unconsciously let out a voice that ended on an upward inflection. Gi Taejeong chuckled at the childish sound, but Sehwa was too flustered to feel embarrassed.

What Gi Taejeong took out of the shopping bag was the bag Sehwa had thrown away in the Sector 2 restaurant. He had been forced to put it in the trash to hide his appearance when going to the ship… He didn’t know why that item was now in this man’s hands.

“Surely, Brigadier General, you didn’t pick this up… and secretly keep…?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“…But…”

“I understand why you’re suspicious, but take a closer look.”

Gi Taejeong pushed the bag over, telling him to take it and examine it first. Sehwa, bewildered, took the item he offered.

As he had guaranteed, there was no need to look closely. He could tell just by running his hand over the surface and corners of the bag. The material and finish were incomparably more luxurious and elaborate than the one he had carried. It was a shame such good materials were used to make such a tacky design.

“It’s just modeled after the familiar exterior, so there might be subtle differences.”

“……”

“You cherished that worn-out one like a sacred relic, so I’ve always wanted to buy you a new, decent one…”

“I filled your room with expensive ones, but you pouted, saying you didn’t like them,” Gi Taejeong clicked his tongue softly. He wasn’t scolding him again; he seemed to be trying to lighten the mood in his own way.

“It’s a bit humiliating to end up giving you something like this, but in a way, it’s my fault you had to throw away the one you carried so well.”

“……”

“Originally, I was going to show it to you when you were discharged and came to the official residence…”

Gi Taejeong reached out and lightly tapped the drooping bag strap.

“But now I can’t, so I’ll give it to you now.”

He couldn’t? It was a statement as inexplicable as the unexpected gift.

Well, among the expensive gifts Gi Taejeong had given him so far, this was the one he liked the most, but it felt awkward to say thank you. As Gi Taejeong said, he wasn’t entirely unrelated to the reason Sehwa had to discard the bag.

Of course, the choice had been his, so he wasn’t trying to resent him for this too. But hatred was like a habit; it was hard to utter kind words readily. He knew it was a separate situation, but neither a thank you nor a refusal that he didn’t need to be taken care of anymore… literally no words came out.

That man kept hurting me. So, isn’t it okay? Young, wicked thoughts sprouted like thorns.

Sehwa continuously rubbed his dry eyes, which felt gritty from the salty wind. In truth, it wasn’t that itchy, but he was doing it to avoid his gaze, feeling pathetic for acting so childishly.

Sehwa, who had been swallowing only boiling sighs, suddenly let out a groan as something dawned on him. Come to think of it, after his discharge… he had been postponing that conversation until now.

There were a few topics he had put aside while constantly going in circles with Gi Taejeong, and one of them was his residence after discharge.

Gi Taejeong had assumed he would naturally move into the official residence and was even decorating a room for the baby, but Sehwa had no such intention. In fact, he had clearly stated his wishes several times, but Gi Taejeong pretended not to hear anything, so no progress was being made.

He also knew that to properly resolve the issue of his whereabouts, there were things that absolutely had to be settled beforehand.

The issue of the child’s parental rights, and the redefinition of his relationship with Gi Taejeong…

He knew, but he hadn’t taken a firm stance, using the impending trial as an excuse. These days, he was swaying like a buoy, not even knowing why he was alive, and he had no energy or courage to fight and get hurt by Gi Taejeong again, or to win anything. At that time, Sehwa’s best effort had been to desperately plead for him to keep his promise.

However, if that problematic trial was now more or less settled… he couldn’t pretend not to know anymore. Should he take this opportunity to ask him to keep his promise?

Sehwa, who had been idly fiddling with the bag strap, finally opened his mouth hesitantly, as if he had made up his mind.

“Brigadier General.”

“I know.”

“…I am,”

“I know what you want to say.”

“……”

“You want to say that since the trial is over, we should really end it, and that you have no intention of living with me, don’t you?”

Caught off guard and unable to respond, Gi Taejeong chuckled, saying, “I always wonder how you managed to become a section chief.”

“Take out what’s inside.”

What was inside? He subtly shook the bag, feeling something roll around. Sehwa hesitantly unzipped it. Inside the bag was a palm-sized, state-of-the-art tablet.

“I don’t need something like this…”

“You don’t have to keep it, just look at it and sign it.”

“Sign… it?”

It seemed unlocked, as the screen activated with just a slight touch of his finger. And there, it was…

“Brigadier… General.”

Sehwa had to mouth the large words that appeared several times before he could fully comprehend them.

Parental Rights Waiver.

If his eyes weren’t deceiving him, that’s what it clearly said.

“I’ve already signed and submitted it, so all you have to do is agree.”

“……”

“Sign in the blank space and press the submit button, and it’ll all be over.”

Applicant’s name: Gi Taejeong, Occupation: Soldier, Special Notes: Officer… This document was undoubtedly written by the man in front of him. Sehwa awkwardly touched the tablet screen with a bewildered expression. He couldn’t verify its authenticity by doing so, but he was unconsciously doing it out of habit, like feeling for cards.

“As you well know, I didn’t want to keep that promise, the one about the three-point game. You know my personality.”

“……”

“Your condition seemed to be improving compared to before, and you said psychological counseling would start soon… so I tried to pretend not to know until the end, thinking things would change, and you would eventually accept me. But…”

Gi Taejeong averted his gaze from Sehwa’s face, looking anywhere. In the peacefully settled darkness, orange sparks from the bonfire, mingling with the lights, crackled softly. Various emotions flared like flames across the man’s face, which was undeniably beautiful no matter when he looked at it.

“But if I erase all my rights and my existence, if I cleanly give up on you and the child… you two will become Captain Oh Seonran’s only blood relatives.”

“……”

“Then there will be no discussion of the child being an experimental subject, nor will people talk about you being from the lower class. I have nothing but the insignia on my chest, but turning Captain Oh Seonran, a prestigious family with a long history, into an enemy would be unpalatable.”

“……”

“Right now, everyone’s out of their minds and spouting nonsense… but they’ll realize soon enough, just as Captain Oh Seonran said.”

Gi Taejeong, who had been stubbornly staring at the bonfire, finally looked back.

“So, there won’t be anything for you to worry about in the future.”

Sehwa’s hand, holding the tablet, instinctively tightened. So now, was Gi Taejeong really… giving up his parental rights? And was it to prevent the child from possibly becoming an experimental subject, or to stop similar talk from arising? Was this man truly backing down for that reason?

“If you… give up all parental rights, then, Brigadier General.”

“……”

“I will have… no reason… to cling to you.”

“……”

“Like now, staying by your side… like this, the reason… to endure… will disappear.”

“……”

“You knew all that, and… did you still do it?”

He had stubbornly stayed by Gi Taejeong’s side because he couldn’t even change the child’s surname as he wished. He worried that he might do something malicious to the child if he acted spitefully, and often found himself lost in thought, wondering what kind of relationship he and this person had, what this kind of relationship was called…

But now, there was no need for that. Haerim’s parental rights were solely his, and he had gained a good shield as Oh Seonran’s adopted son, so Gi Taejeong could no longer force him in any way.

It was naturally hard to believe. Although he had urged him to keep his promise by mentioning the bet, deep down he hadn’t had high expectations. He had only intended to express his will to this extent, and then think about finding another way after the trial… He had been having such thoughts.

Was it really over with this person, like this…?

“I’m an incorrigible idiot, so Captain Oh Seonran insisted that she would never hand over her precious child, and I had no choice but to back down. That’s the story we’ve agreed on.”

“……”

“For a while, if people bother you asking what happened between us, just let it go. Well, I doubt any crazy bastards would dare to talk to you rudely, but…”

Sehwa just held onto the parental rights waiver, which he couldn’t properly see. The sudden, advertisement-like beach before his eyes, and Gi Taejeong, who spoke casually about letting him go as if it were nothing… everything felt utterly unreal.

“Captain Oh Seonran will arrive soon.”

Gi Taejeong checked his watch, then rummaged inside the shopping bag again and pulled out a pair of shoes. If his memory served him right, they were… the exact same design as the baby shoes he had thrown away while crying.

“You’ll have to stay in the recovery room for a while, but I’ll be away for a long time anyway, so don’t worry about running into me and just rest comfortably.”

“Away for a long time…?”

“I’ve rested enough, so now I have to go back to what I was doing.”

But he was an Air Force officer. The Ministry of National Defense building and his official residence were both in the 5-star zone… How could he be so confident about being away for a long time?

Something… was strange. There was nothing explicitly contradictory in his words, but he couldn’t shake off a nagging feeling, as if something was gnawing at him. Sehwa nervously darted his eyes around, then cautiously called out to Gi Taejeong.

“Brigadier General, perhaps… that ‘work’ you mentioned,”

“I’ve earned another star.”

Gi Taejeong cut him off, as if he hadn’t heard, and bent down to remove the hospital slippers Sehwa was wearing. Then, without a word, he knelt on one knee.

“Brigadier General…?”

Ignoring Sehwa’s call, mixed with bewilderment and surprise, Gi Taejeong gently placed Sehwa’s sand-covered foot on his knee.

“I’m not a brigadier general anymore, I’m a major general.”

“……”

“I’m going to be a lieutenant general in a year. So I have a lot to do.”

Gi Taejeong brushed away all the sparkling grains of sand clinging to his foot, then put on the shoes he had prepared. He was so intensely focused on this simple task, as if preparing for a battle, that it was difficult to even speak to him.

“Why. Do you want to keep seeing my face?”

The shoes fit his feet perfectly, as if custom-made. It wasn’t just about the size; he felt he wouldn’t be able to find such comfortable, snug-fitting shoes anywhere else.

“You’ll see me even if you don’t want to, because I’ll be on the news often.”

“……”

“So you won’t forget my face, I’m going to diligently show my face everywhere from now on, even if it’s annoying and shitty.”

Strange. This is, definitely, something… strange.

Sehwa, not knowing what to do, clutched his chest tightly. In a way, it was the moment he had been waiting for. But his chest ached as if he had been hit by a jagged stone. He couldn’t breathe properly, and his shoulders involuntarily heaved. He definitely didn’t still like him, but he felt hollow and bitter, as if a hole had been punched through him.

“Yes, it’s absurd, isn’t it?”

“……”

“I know well that you loved a bastard like me, who can only think such things even in this situation, with all your heart.”

Gi Taejeong, who had been staring at his own feet for a long time, finally lifted his head. It felt like the first time he had seen Gi Taejeong looking up at him like this…

“I want to ask you to forgive me just once, saying I won’t say or do bad things again…”

“……”

“But I think it’s already too late for that…”

Gi Taejeong gently massaged the tip of the shoe a few times, then slowly stood up. Sand poured from the knee that had been kneeling. The particles were so fine that they flowed down without leaving a trace on his clothes.

Gi Taejeong looked at him with a lingering gaze. He stood there for a long time, without blinking, as if to preserve him on his retina forever.

Sehwa, receiving that intense gaze, suddenly recalled a past moment he thought had turned to ashes. On the escalator at the department store, standing side by side in the same section, Gi Taejeong’s eyes had shimmered just like this when he whispered that they would go see that sea together someday…

“Brigadier… General…”

“I’m sorry, Sehwa.”

“……”

“Very much.”

The large hand, which had once been Sehwa’s world, gently smoothed his uncontrollably fluttering hair.