March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 94

“Stupid bastard.”

Oh Taek whistled, counting the banknotes in his hand. The money the newcomer had handed him was 480,000 won. An ambiguous amount. He probably scraped together the maximum he could… Anyway, adding the money his uncle occasionally threw his way to keep an eye on the guy… he figured he could take three or four months off work without a problem.

Oh Taek, full of dreams, grinned and looked around. He had gotten angry at the pale guy earlier for giving such vague information, but in truth, these kinds of rendezvous were all done by gut feeling.

The suspicious young man’s name was Lee Sehwa, though he hadn’t been introduced to him directly. His uncle, who ran a fairly large cafeteria, had casually dropped the information, telling him to keep a close watch on the new guy.

He had come out to the intersection traffic light as Lee Sehwa had instructed, but he had no intention of fulfilling his request. His plan was to just observe the atmosphere, see who he was meeting, and then immediately go back and tell his uncle.

“If you think about it, Uncle’s funny, isn’t he? If it’s so hard and he hates it so much, he should just leave it all to me.”

Even though he was raking in money, his uncle was getting sicker and sicker. Like someone suffering from nervous exhaustion.

He said he was scared to do anything because there were so many soldiers and mercenaries guarding outside? At first, he thought it was a windfall, but not anymore. He complained, wishing the higher-ups would quickly take Sehwa or Nehwa away.

He was just being spoiled. Lee Sehwa did what he was told without complaint and didn’t go outside. Where else would you find an easier target to watch?

“…Huh?”

Oh Taek, who had been idly looking around, fixed his gaze on a large van in the distance. His vision was limited by the cheap gas mask, so he had to examine it for a long time… but the black car was definitely the one the person who had visited his uncle before had driven.

“Wow. Things are working out again.”

Oh Taek needlessly stiffened his neck. The order was a bit off, but it wouldn’t be bad to appeal to them to try him instead of his uncle this time.

He was slightly confused before crossing the road, but as he got closer to the car, the passenger-side door opened just a crack. It was clear that they, too, knew of his presence.

“Oh, it’s been a long time.”

As he stuck his face into the dark maw, indeed, the same soldier who had visited his uncle before was sitting in the driver’s seat with an expressionless face.

“Why are you here?”

“Ah, when Uncle’s away, I’m taking over ‘that work,’ aren’t I? You probably already know roughly, don’t you?”

Oh Taek plopped down in the passenger seat and took off his gas mask first. Feeling the cool air conditioning, he finally felt alive.

“Haa, I didn’t expect much to begin with, and I didn’t have high hopes, but… if you don’t even keep such basic promises…”

The soldier muttered in a stiff voice.

“…It gets very difficult. Not just for me, but for you all. Don’t you value your lives?”

As if someone hearing this would indeed be in great trouble, just as he said.

“Is there a problem?”

“The mercenaries… no, our contract was with your boss, not you.”

“No, sir. I mean, I’m not a stranger to the boss, I’m his nephew. Relatives can help each other, so why are you so serious?”

Oh Taek also felt annoyed by the other person’s scolding tone.

“And I came out because Lee Sehwa asked me to.”

“Look at this,” Oh Taek said, shaking the shirt Lee Sehwa had left with him, as if making a declaration of surrender.

“…What?”

“Lee Sehwa asked me for something, and I came out despite the hassle, you know?”

The soldier pressed his forehead, looking as if he wanted to bite his tongue.

“Huh? You don’t believe me? Look at this. Lee Sehwa,”

“Shut up! Don’t utter that name!”

“No, sir, you’re really strange. Then if I don’t call Lee Sehwa, Lee Sehwa, what do I call him…?”

At the same time, an unusual vibration, “Wooong,” was felt from the back.

“What is it?”

He instinctively turned his head, and a blind-like barrier was smoothly retracting. He had thought it was just a strange design because it was a car driven by a soldier, but it seemed there was a high-ranking official in the back seat.

“Wh-who was there? Who did you bring…?”

He poked the person sitting next to him in a panic, but he received no reply. The man was simply taking deep breaths, already preparing his words. His expression was utterly screwed, and Oh Taek also hunched his neck.

“Goddamn it, what the hell is it…?”

“…Please just shut up if you want to live.”

Oh Taek couldn’t fully turn his head, nor could he focus on the rearview mirror, only gulping. His heart pounded every time the person next to him clenched and unclenched his fist, unable to bear the anxiety.

“…Brigadier General.”

Brigadier General? Oh Taek startled and looked back at the driver’s muttered words. A Second Lieutenant was already an impressive rank, but a Brigadier General…?

“It seems there was a slight leak when the mercenaries entrusted with surveillance repeatedly shared their work. I will immediately confirm and hold them strictly accountable.”

He was clearly called Brigadier General… but the person in the back was a young man. He leaned languidly against the leather seat, only his eyes looking this way. Oh Taek wondered if he had misheard ‘Brigadier General’ for ‘Warrant Officer,’ but the dazzling insignia on the man’s chest confirmed it. A one-star, that was indeed a Brigadier General.

Oh Taek shrank indefinitely. The intimidation of the rank was immense… but more than that, that face. Beautiful, perfect… all the adjectives he knew were useless, it was a type of person he had never seen before, so he had no idea how to react.

“Huh, huhh!”

Suddenly, the handsome face seemed to come closer, and something cold touched Oh Taek’s forehead. It was… a gun. Not a toy, but a real weapon.

“Hee-eek! Something like this… no, why are you doing this?!”

The man wrapped one arm around the headrest and held the gun in the other hand, staring intently at Oh Taek.

“Did you just say Lee Sehwa?”

When did he get so close? No… when did he take out the gun, he didn’t even hear a sound…

“Indeed. This is Lee Sehwa’s shirt, isn’t it?”

His tone was light, but his low voice, resonating from deep within him, carried an indescribable chill.

“Alright, Mr. Boss’s nephew. I’m in a very bad mood these days. So don’t be tiresome, let’s finish this quickly.”

“I really don’t know anything…”

“Why wouldn’t you know?”

The man tapped his temple, reciting Oh Taek’s earlier words.

“You know Lee Sehwa’s name, you’re holding Lee Sehwa’s clothes, and you even received a request from Lee Sehwa.”

“Th-that… that was really nothing… no, it was absurd. He just asked me to deliver a message…”

“What message?”

“That he would stay in Sector 2…”

Oh Taek braced his stomach, feeling like he was about to wet himself. If he did something like that in front of this man, his head would surely be smashed on the spot.

“That’s really all, he didn’t even tell me who he was supposed to meet. He just said I’d know when I went out, and if I didn’t get a feeling about anyone, I could just leave. He said to wait for 10 minutes, and if no one came, I could leave…”

“10 minutes… Didn’t the fence say that too?”

“Yes, Brigadier General.”

The man hummed, looking back at Oh Taek. He seemed to be contemplating how to dispose of a used consumable, now that he had confirmed everything he wanted to know.

“And then, Lee Sehwa immediately left with Ms. Song, the old woman…!”

Oh Taek, covered in tears and snot, frantically blurted out everything he knew. He truly felt like he was going to die.

“…Who?”

“Ms. Song, the old woman… she’s a staff member at our restaurant, she’s worked there for a long time… and she’s a great cook. Lee Sehwa even took more food than usual on days Ms. Song was in charge of the staff meals…”

“…Alright, but they left together?”

The gun, which seemed to have moved away for a moment, poked his forehead again. Oh Taek squeezed his eyes shut and offered a prayer that had lost its object and purpose. “Damn it, if I get out of here alive today, I’ll donate all the money I earned thanks to Lee Sehwa to charity, give it to the church, and get rid of it.”

“W-well. The old woman asked me to carry some things, so… I guess they went shopping together, ugh!”

A tremendous dull pain, and stars flashed behind his eyelids. A trickle of blood dripped down his nose.

“You have her contact info, right? Call her.”

“Wh-who… Ms. Song, the old woman?”

“Yes.”

Oh Taek pulled out his phone with trembling hands and pressed the button. Fortunately, it connected quickly.

• Oh Taek, you brat, there’s a mountain of ingredients to move, where are you?!

“A-Auntie… I’m… um, out on an errand for Uncle. Auntie… uh, where are you?”

• Where else, the restaurant. Gotta prepare lunchboxes for tomorrow morning. You hurry up and come in too.

“Then that… pale guy?”

• Why him again, young man? Trying to extort money again?

“I-I never did that! Anyway… let me talk to him. Um… Uncle wanted me to confirm something…”

• Huh? Really? The boss was here earlier and left. And the young man isn’t here anymore.

“Not here? What do you mean, not here? Where did he go?”

• Well… a few days ago, that young man asked me if I could help him find another job. So, I decided to hand over the work my acquaintance was doing to the young man. Simply put, we decided to swap jobs.

“What?! Are you crazy, Auntie, why did you decide that on your own?!”

• What do you mean, on my own? The young man asked me to. Anyway, when your uncle heard that earlier, his face turned as black as someone who hadn’t been to the bathroom for three days and nights…

Oh, damn it. What should I do? Oh Taek just chewed on his lips. He had seen her talking to Ms. Song a few times, but he hadn’t thought much of it. But to think she had made such a request behind his back.

• Hello? Oh Taek?

The man, who had been listening silently, reached out and pressed the end call button. The gun barrel was still in his hand, a terribly dangerous posture. If he accidentally dropped the gun, or slipped and pulled the trigger…

“Lieutenant Park, cancel all evening appointments and immediately apprehend Ms. Song from the restaurant. “

“Yes, Brigadier General. I’ve checked the transmission location, and Ms. Song is indeed in the restaurant.”

The man in the driver’s seat replied politely, turning off the machine. Oh Taek glanced at him; beads of cold sweat had formed on his forehead too. Oh Taek prayed inwardly again. Please, I don’t need money, just let me live.

“Is there a usable helicopter in the Sector 2 hangar right now?”

A helicopter? Oh Taek unconsciously glanced through the opaque window. Even the sunlight couldn’t penetrate those dreadful things, so how could they launch a helicopter…?

The soldier in the driver’s seat seemed to be thinking the same thing as Oh Taek, quickly glancing outside.

“…I will prepare it.”

However, as if there was no question, the soldier’s voice, responding that he would obey the command, was exceedingly polite. As if launching a helicopter into the dusty sky was better than displeasing the man in this situation.

“Well then… on the way, I’d like to continue our conversation with your nephew.”

“…Yes? I-I don’t know anything else now…”

“Really? I have a lot I want to ask. For example, how did you steal Lee Sehwa’s clothes and money?”

“Huh? N-no, I didn’t…! Lee Sehwa asked me to wear the clothes when I went out, and the money… Lee Sehwa gave me the money on his own, saying it was for an errand. I even gave it back right away, considering Lee Sehwa’s situation…”

“Lee Sehwa, Lee Sehwa…”

The man, who had been quietly chewing on the pale guy’s name, grabbed Oh Taek’s hair with a smile. It was a fierce grip that felt like it would tear his scalp off.

“Aargh!”

His eyeballs felt like they would burst from the pressure. Oh Taek stomped his feet in frustration. No, what did I do wrong?!

“Why, why are you doing this?!”

As he cried and pleaded, not understanding, the man just laughed, looking down at Oh Taek.

“Who told you to mention his name on your own?”

“H-here is…”

Ms. Song, who had been preparing ingredients for tomorrow morning and was dragged along, pulled up her pants and smoothed her disheveled hair.

The helicopter, which had been flying dazzlingly, landed on the massive cargo ship where she had dropped off the young man just a moment ago. Of course, it was clear that this hadn’t been agreed upon with the ship owner beforehand, and as a result, a considerable amount of equipment on the deck was damaged, but even to Ms. Song, who knew nothing, there was no suitable place to land a helicopter other than here.

“But… is the young man that unwell?”

“Well, he’s not a young man, but… yes. His congenital constitution, and now that he’s pregnant, even more so.”

“Oh dear. I didn’t even know that… Pregnant, you say? If I had known that, I would never have introduced him to a job on a ship…”

Ms. Song fidgeted, not knowing what to do. The shock of the soldiers suddenly barging into the restaurant was brief, and when she heard that the young man was actually pregnant and the father was urgently seeking help, she hesitantly followed them.

She had never seen his face because he wore a gas mask, but even just looking at his exposed neck and hands, he was clearly someone with a story. But to think he was eloping for love. Although the young man had run away alone, if that was the underlying reason, then it was indeed an elopement for love.

“It seems the young man felt burdened by the significant difference in social status in their marriage.”

“…Ah, yes. Well, that can be resolved by persuasion, but I’m worried about his health right now. So, I apologize, but I urgently brought you here, ma’am.”

“Oh, ma’am, please. Just call me Ms. Song.”

This handsome young man who had flown her here was, incredibly, a Brigadier General. He introduced himself as the legal guardian of the gentle young man who was like a son to him, and presented all sorts of documents, a prenatal care booklet, and examination papers with wildly fluctuating graphs, making it impossible to believe he was lying.

The boss standing next to him confirmed that the young man’s name was indeed Lee Sehwa, but honestly, there was no way to know if that was true or false.

However… Ms. Song herself had been a well-known businesswoman in Sector 4 in her heyday. She knew very well that it was uncommon for someone of a Brigadier General’s rank to personally act as a protector for a pregnant person. It would be impossible unless they were deeply in love. That’s why she trusted this man and boarded the helicopter.

“So, what exactly do you need me to do?”

The man, who introduced himself as Gi Taejeong, smiled brightly and extended his hand to Ms. Song.

“You can relax here, and when I give you the signal, please call that person for me.”