March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 57

“Ah… yes, the buildings are… very extravagant.”

When he finally found something to say and blurted it out, Sergeant Major Choi nodded greatly. His face was expressionless, but satisfaction seeped from his twitching eyebrows.

“He’s a person who absolutely never lets even a minister into his official residence. Let alone a civilian’s visit… it was unimaginable until now.”

In other words, Sehwa was the first person to visit the official residence, excluding a few direct subordinates. It wasn’t a surprising story. Gi Taejeong inviting people to his home and having a good time? As Sergeant Major Choi said, it was unimaginable. It would be more credible to say he shot all visitors.

After that, Sergeant Major Choi kept talking to him. It was good that he explained various things, but the problem was that he subtly hinted at stories about Gi Taejeong. How little Gi Taejeong let people get close, how indifferent he was to previous partners… things like that. He didn’t know what his intention was for bringing up things he wasn’t curious about. Honestly, Sehwa felt a bit uncomfortable with Sergeant Major Choi. He taught him strange words like “bu-gun” and made him feel awkward.

“How much further do we have to go?”

“If you’re uncomfortable, please tell me. I can recline your seat like a bed.”

Sergeant Major Choi mumbled, looking at his wristwatch.

“Since we’re traveling by car, it will probably take quite some time.”

His watch was similar in design to the one Gi Taejeong wore, but less ornate. The face also looked a bit smaller. Was it natural since their ranks were different? Looking at the watch, he was reminded of a few days ago when he had used it to display the dictionary on the screen. Sehwa pressed his earlobes, which were unnecessarily hot, and turned his gaze away.

“Still, I think we’ll arrive earlier than the Brigadier General. Today is the day Lieutenant Kim’s complaint is filed.”

Sehwa, who had been idly looking out the car window, snapped his head around. A complaint?

“A complaint? Is that today?”

“Yes. There are drugs made by Lieutenant Kim Seokcheol piled up in the warehouse in Sector 2, aren’t there? He said he would collect all remaining items and immediately file the complaint.”

Sehwa clamped his mouth shut. The warehouse in Sector 2… he knew which one he meant. He had been there a few times.

“Then the drugs stolen from the shelter will also be revealed now. When the complaint is filed.”

“Yes. Did you hear that from the Brigadier General?”

“…No.”

A complaint. He had never heard such a thing. Of course, Gi Taejeong had no obligation to tell him his future plans or inner thoughts. Strictly speaking, Sehwa was an accomplice who helped Lieutenant Kim manufacture drugs. It would be strange for him to explain how things would proceed when his ability wasn’t specifically needed. So, it was natural that there was no prior notice, his reason told him that… but his heart squirmed on its own.

Gi Taejeong had said he would use everything, from his constitution to his parents’ story, if necessary. He might have him undergo various tests, and his personal life might be brought up during the trial. In that case… couldn’t he no longer be considered a mere accomplice?

It wasn’t as if he was asking for some grand secret. Not telling him why he killed all the odd-jobbers at the house, or even that such a thing happened, and then suddenly ordering him to clear out all his belongings from his lodging, and merely informing him that he would stay at the official residence for a few days. When he was wrapping the patch around his dick and they were tangled up, sucking on each other… telling him that today was the day Lieutenant Kim would be reported… he didn’t think it would be that difficult.

“He’ll probably come back in a bad mood tonight.”

Sergeant Major Choi seemed to not immediately understand Sehwa’s meaning, rolling his eyes for a moment, then suddenly nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh… oh, yes! Now that I think about it, he probably will. Filing a complaint against someone isn’t pleasant, after all. Especially when the opponent is Lieutenant Kim.”

A bitter smile spread across his face at Sergeant Major Choi’s expectant gaze. As expected, he wanted him to soothe his superior by sacrificing his body. Everyone would be at peace if he just let himself be fucked a few times.

“At least he’s not coming back after killing someone, so that’s a relief.”

“Pardon?”

“Brigadier General-nim was in a bad mood after killing all the people at the house, wasn’t he? That’s why Sergeant Major Choi taught me the word ‘bu-gun’.”

Only then did Sergeant Major Choi, who caught the barb in Sehwa’s words, open and close his mouth in embarrassment. From Lee Sehwa’s perspective, it seemed he had pushed him to soothe Gi Taejeong with his body.

“I apologize if you found it unpleasant. However, I absolutely did not mean it that way.”

If they were merely a physical relationship, he wouldn’t have taught him such endearments as “bu-gun.” Sergeant Major Choi firmly believed that Lee Sehwa had become significant to Gi Taejeong. If anyone else had said something like “bu-gun” or “husband,” the sofa would have been soaked with blood, not alcohol. Sergeant Major Choi had an instinctive certainty that Gi Taejeong wouldn’t do that to Lee Sehwa, and indeed, his superior, whom he met the next day, seemed to be in a better mood than ever. To the extent that he even gave instructions to prepare clothes for Lee Sehwa, as he might be going out periodically in the future.

“Of course, my interference was strictly done from the Brigadier General’s side, so it must have seemed selfish to Lee Sehwa-ssi. I admit that point. However, I absolutely, absolutely did not push Lee Sehwa-ssi, hoping for pillow talk or anything of that sort.”

It was true that he hadn’t considered Lee Sehwa’s feelings, hoping that his superior could find comfort in human warmth. However, Sergeant Major Choi thought that the way to soothe Gi Taejeong didn’t necessarily have to be sex. He had nudged Lee Sehwa, believing in that possibility.

“More than anything, that day…”

Sergeant Major Choi, who was about to add that the Brigadier General had shot all the odd-jobbers because they had insulted him with outrageous words, suddenly had a thought and clamped his mouth shut again.

He had naturally assumed that Gi Taejeong would boast to Lee Sehwa about it. Saying he had put in effort to kill all the guys who were bothering him. But Lee Sehwa seemed to not know the reason for the massacre of the odd-jobbers. Perhaps the Brigadier General didn’t want Lee Sehwa to hear the truth and be hurt? If that was the case…

“…My public name is Choi Seokyoung.”

Sergeant Major Choi hesitated for a moment, then suddenly brought up a deeply buried story. He didn’t want to dig up the details of the massacre that Gi Taejeong had glossed over. That was truly beyond his authority. However, it was true that he had presumptuously urged Lee Sehwa to try acting cute, and as a result, Lee Sehwa was misunderstanding something, so he wanted to somehow rectify this part.

“And my real name on the resident registration is Choi Potan.”

Sehwa’s prime eyes instantly widened. Sergeant Major Choi chuckled awkwardly, saying it was indeed the Potan he knew.

“Lieutenant Park’s public name is Park Seong-hak, but his real name on paper is Park Yeonjung. Lieutenant Na, whom you’ll meet tomorrow, will probably introduce himself as Na Soyeon, but his real name is Na Daepo. Among ourselves, we call each other Choi Potan, Na Daepo, Park Yeonjung… comfortably like this, but when introducing ourselves to someone outside, we always use our public names.”

Ah… Sehwa tried his best not to let his expression waver. He, too, was more sensitive than anyone to how others called him, to titles. He thought he shouldn’t be surprised or curious when hearing someone else’s name. Sergeant Major Choi briefly soothed Sehwa, adding that it was natural to be surprised, then continued his explanation.

“In the camp, we were not humans but killing machines, so our names were also roughly given like code names. I belonged to the ‘Ba’ group, so I received the surname Ba. Yes, my original name was Ba Potan.”

They were divided into groups like Ga-Na-Da-Ra-Ma-Ba-Sa, or Il-Yi-Sam-Sa-Oh-Yuk-Chil, and given surnames, and then given the names of any noticeable objects. In the case of Gi Taejeong and Lieutenant Park, they took part of the operation names classified as Tae-jung-tae-se-mun-dan-se, and Sergeant Major Choi and Lieutenant Na received the names of weapons that the training instructor thought of on that day.

“Thanks to diligently accumulating military achievements under the Brigadier General, I even got a chance to change my surname, but my given name is still the same. We can’t change our names as we please.”

“Why? If you came out of there and became a soldier like this… then what happened back then…”

“Yes, the work at the camp is all finished, and all the survivors have completed their commissioning. However, there are a few restrictions on those of us from the camps.”

The name they first received cannot be tampered with easily. This is to prevent the stigma of being from the camp from being easily erased. Naturally, they cannot be discharged by their own will. If they want to change their surname and given name, or if they want to expedite their discharge, they must achieve accomplishments recognized by everyone. They could only submit an application after performing a dangerous mission where it was a miracle to survive.

“On the other hand, if you have the ability, you can rise through the ranks to become an officer even without attending a military academy. Like Brigadier General Gi Taejeong.”

Sergeant Major Choi sighed dramatically, saying he was still a long way off. He seemed to be trying his best not to let the atmosphere get too heavy. It was evident how much effort and sincerity he was putting into his story, given his normally expressionless face, so Sehwa also decided to abandon his previously aloof attitude.

“For a killing machine from a camp, in a military tightly bound by connections, to earn a star solely through his ability… everything Brigadier General Gi Taejeong did to achieve that… ordinary people wouldn’t even be able to imagine. The Brigadier General, from the camp…”

“Yes, I roughly understand the situation. You don’t need to say more.”

Sehwa gently stopped Sergeant Major Choi’s words.

“It’s not that I don’t want to hear it, but it seems like a story that shouldn’t be heard from someone’s mouth.”

“Ah… yes, that’s true. Anyway, the reason I brought up such an uncomfortable past was to let you know that the Brigadier General’s personality is a bit, well… there’s a reason he became this way. I also didn’t expect Lee Sehwa-ssi to soothe the Brigadier General with his body. I judged that the Brigadier General would feel much better just by seeing Lee Sehwa-ssi’s face.”

Regardless, it was presumptuous interference, and Sergeant Major Choi bowed his head, apologizing. Sehwa hesitated for a long time about how to respond, then just nodded ambiguously. It would be strange to affirm it here. Answering with “I’ll try” or “I understand” would be even more ridiculous.

“I’m sorry for taking it out on Sergeant Major Choi too.”

“No, it’s my fault. I won’t interfere unnecessarily again.”

Lee Sehwa fiddled with his earlobe and turned his gaze away. In fact, he wanted to grab Sergeant Major Choi and ask him. What did Gi Taejeong usually say about him? Did he say anything extra when he brought him meals or entertainment? Did he treat him differently from others, to the point where a mere subordinate could be so sure that his mood would lighten just by looking at his face? But these were questions that would be meaningless unless he heard them directly from Gi Taejeong.

“…Would he perhaps dislike it?”

A question that he would normally have swallowed popped out. He only realized he had spoken after hearing his own voice; the words had come out before he even thought them.

“Pardon? What are you referring to?”

“Ah, I mean… if I ask him various things.”

“What… Ah, perhaps to the Brigadier General? Oh no, absolutely not. He won’t dislike it.”

Sergeant Major Choi waved his hands wildly. There was no change in his expression, but his gestures were so enthusiastic that it felt genuine.

“If any problem arises for Lee Sehwa-ssi because of this, I will take full responsibility. Whether I get beaten instead, or die, Lee Sehwa-ssi will absolutely not get hurt, so don’t worry and ask whatever you’re curious about.”

Sehwa looked out the window without responding. His earlobe felt hot, perhaps from being touched so much.

As if to tell him to take in all the scenery, the limousine moved forward at a moderate speed. The sky just before sunset was pink, and clouds hung low over the unusually tall buildings he had never seen before. It was a sight that felt utterly unreal.

“You idiots! What are you doing! Aren’t you going to light it?”

“But Lieutenant…”

A few soldiers hesitated and looked back at Kim Seokcheol. The warehouse wasn’t large, but it was filled with unidentified harmful substances. Even simple medicines weren’t burned to dispose of them, let alone setting the warehouse on fire.

“If it burns down completely, things could get really big.”

“You stupid bastard, the biggest thing that can happen here right now is Gi Taejeong showing up!”

Kim Seokcheol kicked the hesitant man and snatched the flamethrower. He hadn’t slept a wink since hearing that the shelter had been raided. It was practically a given that Gi Taejeong was behind it, and his family elders and investors were hounding Kim Seokcheol every minute.

“Fuck, that whore Lee Sehwa…”

He had treated him so nicely, saying he was pretty, but he clearly sold information to Gi Taejeong without any gratitude.