March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 30

“Yeah. I said we needed evidence.”

Sehwa haltingly brought up what Gi Taejeong had told him in the office. He was so surprised he couldn’t stay calm. Memories flooded his mind, swirling like scattered puzzle pieces.

‘The key point is that Lieutenant Kim hid something useless there. The item we retrieve today will be that evidence.’

‘You just need to fill exactly five syringes. That’s all. Got it?’

“Are you perhaps trying to make it look like these people teamed up with Lieutenant Kim….”

“No, that would be a plot hole. These bastards just got information from somewhere. That Kim Seokcheol is a drug addict who makes suspicious drugs.”

That wasn’t exactly a secret. Rumors were widespread that the apology boxes offered to Lieutenant Kim contained not cash, but drugs. And that was highly likely to be true.

“Coincidentally, those guys needed a card to negotiate with the military. Their comrades were all caught and about to be executed. In the midst of that, they heard a fairly reliable rumor and forced this adventure today. To steal whatever Lieutenant Kim had hidden. With that, they could threaten Kim Seokcheol’s family. If push came to shove, they could even leak it overseas. They’re more familiar with overseas routes than domestic ones, anyway.”

So, Gi Taejeong seemed to be planning to thoroughly erase his tracks and pin it on the desperate last struggles of top criminals who were clearly going to die anyway.

“The guys who succeeded in the operation then thought about it and decided to bring the item to me first. Anyone interested in the internal affairs of the military would know that Lieutenant Kim and I don’t get along. It’s not an awkward flow.”

“Then aren’t these people in prison now? But if they’re walking around like this….”

“No. I smuggled them out.”

Gi Taejeong replied indifferently, saying he hadn’t killed them yet.

Sehwa understood the flow of how Gi Taejeong had devised this plan. Gi Taejeong had always emphasized evidence. Whatever his goal, Sehwa understood that justification was more important than anything else.

What frustrated Sehwa was the question of how this plan would be implemented. So far, all Gi Taejeong had shown him was a blueprint for breaking this case. The most important ‘how’ was missing. Even with the ‘how’ right in front of them, he was just making optimistic remarks about him being able to do it well, without telling him how to build the building. He was handing him only a few small syringes, not even a crane.

How could outsiders, and only two of them at that, infiltrate a military facility—even if it was a shelter and not a bunker—and then escape? Moreover, Sehwa was a civilian. Gi Taejeong might be accustomed to combat, but he was someone who struggled to even beat a single house datchi. So how on earth…

“Ah, damn it. This car is so crappy….”

Gi Taejeong, with an unfamiliar face, grumbled and manipulated the gear. Unlike modern cars that required no manual intervention, the old car was difficult to operate properly once it reached an unauthorized area.

Earlier, after finishing their disguise and going down to the parking lot. Lieutenant Park, usually taciturn, unusually exclaimed, “Oh,” in a welcoming tone and pointed to this car. He said it was a model used in the military 10 years ago, and he never expected to see it at this house. Even though it was old, it was quite sturdy and could carry a lot of luggage and people, making it a preferred used car outside the city walls.

“Do the bastards who sell this for money have any conscience or not?”

The car Gi Taejeong had originally intended to take was a luxury vehicle whose name Sehwa didn’t even know. It had such a sleek exterior that even Sehwa, who had no interest in cars, wanted to touch it. But Gi Taejeong seemed to be dissatisfied with that very point.

‘It’s an excessively luxurious model, impractical, and yet it looks too new.’

‘The type of car shouldn’t be a problem. Criminals tend to show off a lot.’

Lieutenant Park also suggested reconsidering driving the old car. If Sehwa had known their destination was a military facility, he would have stopped him too.

“Um, Director. Are we really going alone?”

“Lieutenant Park and the others will be hacking the surrounding facilities. We need to capture the moment these guys, with these faces, are poking around.”

In any case, entering the interior and retrieving the item had to be done by just the two of them. Moreover, Gi Taejeong didn’t seem to have any weapons with him. Sehwa glanced back at the backseat, but there was no gun, not even a club.

“We’ll get out soon.”

Sehwa craned his neck and looked around. It was true that it was an abandoned facility; there were no strict guards like at a typical checkpoint. Still, as the rattling sound of the car approaching grew louder, a few soldiers walked out from inside. It was a huge relief that they didn’t immediately open fire, perhaps because it wasn’t an unfamiliar car model… but the situation could change in an instant.

For residents outside the city walls like Sehwa, there was a line they could never cross in their lives. The most terrifying of these was the checkpoint. The moment you accidentally stepped on the line, the soldiers guarding it would crush your head. But to walk into a military facility like this, on his own two feet, and even disguised as criminals who would be shot on sight…

“When I give the signal, get out and run.”

Gi Taejeong turned off the engine and looked outside. The soldiers, sensing something suspicious, exchanged hand signals among themselves. Touching their ears suggested they were checking their radios. They would surely load their weapons and aim at them very soon.

Sehwa squeezed his eyes shut. He knew he had to get out, following Gi Taejeong’s orders, and he knew that if he didn’t, he might die by Gi Taejeong’s hand before being shot by the soldiers… but his body simply wouldn’t move.

“You’re ridiculously obsessed with handsome faces.”

“……Huh?”

Whose hand would be better to die by? He was standing at a crossroads of life and death, no, death and death, seriously contemplating, when Gi Taejeong suddenly said something absurd. He lifted his head at the sudden accusation, and Gi Taejeong tilted his head, scrutinizing Sehwa. Even though the skin he was wearing was that of a complete stranger, he could clearly imagine the expression Gi Taejeong was making underneath.

“With this face, you haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said since earlier, have you?”

“What do you mean….”

“Should I fuck you once before we go? Will that make you realize it’s me?”

“Ah, no!”

If it were anyone else, maybe, but it was Gi Taejeong. He was the kind of person who could absolutely do such a thing even in this situation.

“It’s simple. Just follow behind me. And just get the drugs. How many did I tell you to fill?”

“Five….”

“Good. I’ll save you no matter what crazy things I have to do, so just do as I say. Got it?”

He felt the will that if he argued one more time, Gi Taejeong would just kill him right here. Sehwa clenched his fists tightly. A strange cosmetic smell wafted from his tightly bitten lips. For some reason, he felt like crying. He didn’t cry this much, but ever since he got involved with Gi Taejeong, every day has been a tear-filled storm.

Gi Taejeong put a walkie-talkie in one ear and tapped it as if checking the volume. The datchi also wore similar devices, but Gi Taejeong’s seemed to be shaped a little differently. No, perhaps it was his own wish, hoping that there was some device even in the receiver.

“D-director!”

Feeling as if Gi Taejeong was about to bolt, Sehwa unwittingly called out to him. Gi Taejeong, who was about to pull something out of his pocket, only turned his eyes to look at Sehwa. He knew he would get scolded, but he still wanted to confirm just one more time. Then, perhaps, his fear would lessen… just a little.

“…You’ll save me, right?”

“……”

“You’ll take me to the end, right?”

In truth, what he wanted to say most to Gi Taejeong was, Please don’t abandon me.

A gaze of unknown intent pierced Sehwa. His unfamiliar face was reflected in Gi Taejeong’s eyes, whose inherent color had even changed due to the colored lenses. Gi Taejeong, too, seemed to see his own reflection in Sehwa’s eyes.

His fingertips twitched involuntarily in the dense silence. Sehwa barely endured the urge to grab onto something, to scream.

“…Yes.”

Gi Taejeong’s lips opened after their bodies somehow leaned towards each other. He instantly widened the subtly narrowed distance from before and opened the driver’s side door. The old car creaked loudly with just that much movement.

As the car door opened, the previously faint sounds from outside rushed into Sehwa’s ears as if amplified by a megaphone. Piercing sirens, warning alarms, the rhythmic thud of running footsteps… Sehwa recalled the scene at the checkpoint he had visited three times in his life. He could feel the smell of death he had smelled then, even here. As he thought of that, his heart began to sink again, but then,

“I’ll save you.”

Gi Taejeong whispered. The man least trustworthy here, cutting through all the world’s noise, patted Sehwa.

“I’ll take you to the end, you.”

Whatever his true intentions, it was the affirmation Sehwa had so desperately longed for.