Passion Novel - Volume 1 - Chapter 20

His uncle was entering. Behind him, his uncle’s former driver, who held the rank of Ensign, followed. The moment Jeong Taeui saw his uncle’s face, he muttered, “Ugh,” involuntarily.

His uncle, who entered with a blank expression, briefly surveyed the surroundings and, as if grasping the situation, approached them directly with unarmed hands. He frowned when he saw Jeong Taeui holding the Colt.

“Personal possession of weapons within the branch is prohibited. Didn’t you know that, Jeong Taeui?”

“…I know.”

“Whose is it?”

“…….Mine.”

“Yours, is it? Well, if you say so, let’s assume that’s the case. Come up to the training office right now.”

His uncle’s words had fallen, but Jeong Taeui hesitated for a moment. Riegrow was still standing in front of him, the gun muzzle pressed tightly against his cervical vertebrae. The moment he moved that muzzle even slightly, it felt like this man would tear out his throat.

This man was not one to restrain his actions just because others were watching.

His uncle turned his gaze to the man still held by Riegrow.

“Louisin. Were you trying to kill him?”

“—-Yes! This bastard deserves to die!”

“Alright, you’re going to the confinement facility. Go cool your head there for about half a year.”

Having spoken concisely to that man as well, his uncle then looked at Riegrow. The look on his uncle’s face clouded with a sigh. He clearly looked troubled.

“Riegrow.”

When he met his uncle’s eyes, Riegrow frowned slightly as if in trouble, then smiled with a troubled yet awkward expression. He shrugged his shoulders slightly and pleaded with a wronged look.

“I didn’t do anything. He suddenly pointed a .50 caliber revolver at me. What was I supposed to do? Just let myself get shot and die? I had no choice if I wanted to live.”

Riegrow’s excuse, spoken with a mix of formal and informal language, was theoretically very reasonable. Even though the arm of the man he held was twisted at an unnatural angle and swollen blue, and anyone could see that Riegrow was overwhelmingly stronger.

His uncle clicked his tongue a couple of times, looking annoyed. Then, he glanced at Jeong Taeui, who still had the gun pointed at Riegrow’s neck, and said to him,

“Release Louisin and take two steps forward. My poor subordinate is trembling behind you.”

“Are you talking about that poor subordinate who’s been poking my neck with a gun muzzle?”

Riegrow muttered with a wronged tone. “That’s too much, Instructor.” Even while grumbling, Riegrow released Louisin. Before letting go, he pressed down once more on the twisted forearm. Then, he lightly slapped the back of the screaming man’s head with his palm. Even though it was called ‘lightly,’ it made a loud thwack sound, and the man’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

Seeing the revolver on the ground, his uncle turned around and nodded. The Ensign standing a step behind him stepped forward and picked it up. His uncle, receiving it, weighed the heavy weapon in his hand and clicked his tongue. He tapped the incredibly heavy weapon, perfect for destroying large objects beyond just killing people, and then suddenly struck Louisin with the barrel.

“You crazy bastard, who’s stupid enough to aim something like this at a person? You’re going to retake the weapons engineering course from the beginning when you get out of confinement.”

His uncle, clicking his tongue, tossed the revolver back to the Ensign. Then, he kicked Louisin, who had collapsed without even a scream, with the tip of his shoe and rolled him out of the way.

With his path cleared, Riegrow straightened up with a subtle smile. It was clear that pressing his neck against the gun muzzle had been intentional. Riegrow chuckled and took a slow step forward. And then another.

Jeong Taeui, his gaze fixed on him, slowly lowered the gun without hurrying. His uncle, who had approached him, extended his hand, and Jeong Taeui placed the Colt on it.

Riegrow, having taken two steps back as his uncle had instructed, turned around. Jeong Taeui, who had been staring intently at him, met his eyes. Riegrow was looking at him with a faint smile. Jeong Taeui’s eyes caught the sight of Riegrow’s hand clenching and unclenching, as if regretting something.

Just now, what would have happened if his uncle had arrived even a little later? He couldn’t know how this man would have acted. However, the dark, instinctive fear that had surged through him at that moment still clearly chilled his spine. He realized anew how truly dangerous it had been. …No, perhaps the truly dangerous part was yet to come. Indeed, he now understood the reason why this man always wore those gloves, saying it was because he disliked getting blood on his hands.

Jeong Taeui felt utterly depressed.

The military’s emphasis on camaraderie must still be ingrained in him. What did it matter if some guy he had no connection to died? His body had moved reflexively.

Suddenly feeling a gaze upon him, Jeong Taeui turned his eyes away gloomily, only to find his uncle looking at him. His uncle made a clicking sound with his tongue, looking at him with a face that said, You idiot. His uncle had given him valuable advice, yet he couldn’t have done anything more guaranteed to get him in trouble.

“Jeong Taeui. What in the world were you planning to do with a gun that didn’t even have a magazine?”

His uncle said with a look of utter exasperation. The Colt jingled lightly in his uncle’s hand, feeling very light.

Jeong Taeui didn’t say anything, his face sullen. He had known its weight since he took it from Moro’s chest pocket. But to stop that man, he had no choice but to take such a gamble.

Riegrow, who had been watching Jeong Taeui from a short distance, paused briefly. His expression became strange. Then, he let out a disbelieving “Ha,” and laughed. As if the more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed, his low, intermittent laughter continued for a while.

Then, that laughter suddenly stopped.

Riegrow stared straight at Jeong Taeui and murmured as if engraving the words,

“Taei, Jeong Taei, you say.”

It was the most accurate pronunciation he had heard recently. Hearing that whisper, as if Riegrow was rolling his name around in his mouth, Jeong Taeui became even more depressed. A troubled future was already unfolding in that voice.

Uncle, could I go to the confinement facility instead of Louisin? I don’t mind being locked up for half a year, so please isolate me.

When he went up to the training office, he would have to grab onto his uncle’s trouser leg and beg.

***

He had begged, only to be thoroughly cursed out.

His uncle, grabbing Jeong Taeui’s cheeks and pulling them mercilessly, repeated several times, “Oh, you idiot, oh, you blockhead, how could you be in this state on the first morning of joint training?” And each time, Jeong Taeui dutifully replied, “I know, I know.”

What saved Jeong Taeui, whose cheeks felt like they had stretched a meter, was the person who happened to enter the training office.

“Correctional Officer Jeong Changin. Are you busy? …You look busy. May I interrupt for a moment?”

The person who spoke calmly with a smile was his uncle’s direct superior, Vice Minister Rudolf Jantil.

As soon as he entered, his uncle released Jeong Taeui as if nothing had happened and shook his head.

“Interrupt? Not at all, it’s all finished. …You can go now.”

Seeing his uncle, who had the stern face of a strict instructor and spoke with feigned severity, made Jeong Taeui’s stomach churn slightly, but he wisely stepped back without a word, giving a slight bow. As he turned to leave, he encountered the Vice Minister and bowed again. He was about to leave with a silent nod when the Vice Minister’s gaze fell upon him.

“Ah, yes, this young man is your nephew, isn’t he?”

He was speaking to his uncle, but his gaze remained fixed on Jeong Taeui. Jeong Taeui, who had been about to leave, hesitated. Now that he was being talked about, it was awkward to pretend not to notice and just leave. His uncle smiled smoothly and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm. So this young man is the brother of Researcher Jeong Jaei.”

“Yes, Jaei is the older brother, and this one is the younger. They’re twins, so there’s no age difference, though.”

“Hmm. I see. This young man…”

The Vice Minister’s gaze turned towards Jeong Taeui with renewed interest. He had briefly greeted him like a registration when he first came here, but at that time, this man had been busy and hadn’t had a proper conversation with him. Jeong Taeui had taken it in stride, assuming that greetings with high-ranking officials were usually like that anyway.

Feeling the Vice Minister’s gaze scrutinizing him from head to toe, Jeong Taeui sighed inwardly.

His brother must be very famous. It was something he was already used to, but being stared at so openly was rare since he had become an adult.

“But if you’re here, what about your brother?”

The Vice Minister suddenly asked. It took Jeong Taeui a few seconds to realize that the question was directed at him, and he stammered for a moment.

“My brother will be fine even without me.”

Giving the most innocuous answer, Jeong Taeui glanced at his uncle. It wasn’t like siblings were a married couple or a patient and a caregiver, and there was no reason why being apart would cause any trouble, yet he had to listen to all sorts of things.

His uncle, who had been watching silently, finally interjected when he met Jeong Taeui’s eyes.

“It’s not like twin brothers are always together. Well, even if they’re apart, the bond between brothers always endures.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

The Vice Minister nodded, all the while carefully observing Jeong Taeui.

Is this man also trying to find the differences between me and Jeong Jaeui? Jeong Taeui swallowed a sigh.

It was his fate to have a famous brother, so there was nothing he could do, but his brother seemed particularly famous within this organization. It was getting tiresome to hear about Jeong Jaeui everywhere he went.

His uncle gestured for him to leave, saying, “Speaking of which, there was a call from the Second Military Affairs Division of the headquarters…” and turned his attention to the Vice Minister, who immediately listened intently.

Jeong Taeui bowed and left the training office.

It was already the start of the regular morning schedule when Jeong Taeui, who had been called to the training office right after the morning commotion and had been thoroughly scolded, came out. The situation was probably known by everyone in the branch, so even if Jeong Taeui was a bit late for the schedule, he wouldn’t be reprimanded by the instructor. However, skipping it entirely would surely result in double the punishment.

Ah… he didn’t want to go in. Thinking about it, the regular schedule he had to attend now was weapons engineering. The news about him possessing a firearm must have spread far and wide by now, so without a doubt, that strict weapons engineering instructor would give him a harsh lecture. He might even get hit with a Colt.

Jeong Taeui looked out the window with a heavy heart. The training office was on the ground floor, so he could see outside from the hallway. The weather was exceptionally nice. That made him even more depressed.

He walked slowly towards the elevator and passed by the administration office. Jeong Taeui slowed his pace.

It would be strange to stick his head into the administration office for no reason. Still, he wished he could see Xinlu for a moment and wash away his gloomy mood. But he had no reason to go there.

However, it seemed someone was taking pity on Jeong Taeui’s depressed mood today.

Jeong Taeui, passing by the administration office as slowly as an ant, saw a familiar face turning the corner of the hallway straight ahead. Xinlu, who was walking back with a handkerchief he had just used to dry his hands tucked into his pocket, probably on his way back from the restroom, saw Jeong Taeui and widened his eyes. He immediately smiled warmly.

“Taei hyung. What are you doing here at this hour? Aren’t you in class?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m about to go. I had some business at the training office for a bit. …The weather’s really nice today.”

He liked being with him, but they always lacked topics of conversation. Since they didn’t know much about each other, they had no common ground, nothing to talk about. So, all they could bring up was the weather.

“Yes. But according to the weather forecast, it’s supposed to get cloudy from the evening. It’s going to rain tomorrow and the day after. Then it’s supposed to clear up the day after that.”

“Yeah. When it clears up, it would be nice to go for a walk by the sea again.”

“Would it?”

Xinlu readily nodded at Jeong Taeui’s casually dropped words. Jeong Taeui inwardly cheered and from that moment on, eagerly began to wait for the day it would clear up.

Xinlu looked at the training office Jeong Taeui had just come out of and tilted his head slightly.

“But what suddenly happened at the training office…? Ah.”

Suddenly, his face clouded over.

“Come to think of it, I heard there was a big incident this morning. Hyung, are you alright? Is that why you were called in?”

It was something that had spread throughout the entire branch, so there was no way Xinlu wouldn’t know about it in this small building.

Seeing Xinlu approaching him with a worried tone made him look even more endearing and lovable, and Jeong Taeui stared at him, mesmerized.

Seeing that bright and beautiful face brought considerable comfort to his heart. His chest warmed and eased.

“Um, just a little. It wasn’t a big deal. Were you alright?”

Come to think of it, Kyoho had a different living area than the other members, but they used the same place for only one thing: the cafeteria. Usually, he wouldn’t meet Kyoho unless he had business at the administration office, but they often ran into each other at the cafeteria during mealtimes.

Suddenly, his heart sank belatedly.

What if Xinlu had been in the cafeteria at that time? What if he had gotten caught up in that dangerous brawl? What if he had been injured by flying stone fragments or pieces of wood?

Without realizing it, Jeong Taeui reached out and firmly grasped both of Xinlu’s shoulders. Xinlu tilted his head, looking up at Jeong Taeui with a puzzled expression.

“Hyung…?”

“Hey, listen. You don’t really run into the other members unless there’s a specific reason, right? Besides the cafeteria?”

“Huh? Y-yes, that’s right. As for the cafeteria, I tend to finish my meals early, so I go when it’s less crowded. For lunch and dinner too, I go eat before the other members finish their regular schedule, so… I don’t really run into other members even in the cafeteria.”

Hearing those words, Jeong Taeui realized that he certainly hadn’t seen Xinlu in the cafeteria before.

Xinlu, though clueless, readily answered. Jeong Taeui let out a sigh of relief for now and said seriously, “Listen. The European branch members are here now. But among them, there are some people you shouldn’t associate with, you know? Very dangerous people. So—”

Jeong Taeui explained in a low voice, not going into excessive detail but providing enough information for Xinlu to understand. Xinlu soon seemed to grasp what Jeong Taeui was trying to say and nodded.

“I probably won’t run into the European branch members anyway, but I’ll be careful. Thank you for your concern, hyung.”

Xinlu smiled brightly. Seeing that flower-like smile, Jeong Taeui suddenly felt embarrassed and quietly let go of Xinlu’s shoulder. He felt a slight pang of regret at the loss of the soft touch.

“It’s nothing. Of course, I’m worried. You are…”

Jeong Taeui stopped mid-sentence. He couldn’t bring himself to finish. Whatever he said next would likely be mortifyingly embarrassing.

A moment of silence flowed between them. It was a somewhat awkward and shy silence, but now, he didn’t dislike this kind of silence.

Xinlu, who had been looking down at his feet, suddenly glanced up and caught Jeong Taeui’s eye, then shyly reached out and took Jeong Taeui’s hand. Jeong Taeui startled and instinctively flinched. In that movement, delicate fingers slipped into his palm.

“…E-eheheh…”

Xinlu, his gaze lowered, smiled awkwardly with a bright red face. Jeong Taeui, with a similar expression, echoed, “Eheheh.” The white fingers held in his hand were warm, which felt nice. If they had been cold, that too would have been nice in its own way.

Standing face to face with flushed cheeks, awkwardly holding each other’s hands, they remained like that in silence for a long while, until Jeong Taeui, sensing a gaze, lifted his head and they finally separated.

His uncle, who was opening the door to the training office, was staring at them intently.

Jeong Taeui’s eyes met his uncle’s, who was silently watching them from over Xinlu’s shoulder.

“…”

“…”

When their eyes met, his uncle slowly blinked a couple of times. Slowly. Slowly, a subtle smile bloomed on his expressionless face. Was it just his imagination, or did it look like he was thinking, Well, aren’t you two having fun…?

Jeong Taeui stubbornly wanted to hold Xinlu’s hand tighter and stay there longer, but he felt like if he stayed any longer, the words, “Aren’t you going to your morning schedule? How long are you going to stay there?” would come flying out—and it seemed like the Vice Minister would be coming out soon too—so he reluctantly let go of Xinlu’s hand.

Fortunately, Xinlu, still unaware of the subtle smile behind him, hesitated and mumbled with a flushed face.

“Then, hyung, when the weather gets better…”

“Yeah. The rain should stop by the weekend, and the weather will be nice. Let’s see each other then. We can take a leisurely walk.”

Xinlu looked a little strange for a moment at Jeong Taeui’s words. Then, he tilted his head, muttered to himself, “Did I misunderstand something?” and then smiled brightly.

“Yes, hyung. Then I’ll see you on the weekend.”

“Yeah. Okay. …If we can see each other before then, let’s. Anyway, take care.”

Xinlu gave a lovely farewell, saying, “You don’t have to worry about me, hyung. You be careful not to get hurt too,” and as Xinlu turned around, his uncle subtly slipped back into the training office.

After Xinlu went into the administration office, his uncle came out of the training office again. He saw Jeong Taeui standing blankly in the hallway and waved his hand dismissively.

“What are you doing, not going? If you play hooky, you’ll be rolling around in the training office all afternoon this time. Besides, wasn’t weapons engineering what you were supposed to be in now? Weapons engineering means Instructor Mackin. If you get on his bad side, you’ll have trouble for a long time.”

Hearing his uncle add, “Riegrow, who’s only staying for two weeks, is nothing to worry about,” Jeong Taeui muttered inwardly, Will I even be alive by then? But still, he wanted to live until the weekend to go for a walk with Xinlu.

“By the way… Xinlu…”

His uncle murmured to himself as if thinking of something else, and then fell silent for a moment. The nuance of his words was somehow strangely meaningful, and Jeong Taeui slightly frowned and tilted his head. His uncle just looked up at the ceiling for a moment, lost in thought, and then finally waved his hand without saying anything more.

“Go on, I said. This kid, when someone gives him advice out of kindness, he never listens. Among the instructors, getting on Instructor Mackin’s bad side is the worst. No matter if you only have two weeks left to live, you shouldn’t neglect planting tomorrow’s apple tree.”

“…”

When Jeong Taeui looked at his uncle resentfully, his uncle suddenly gave a deep laugh.

“You’re going for a walk with Xinlu on the weekend? I hope the weather is nice.”

“…If the weather isn’t good, I’ll wear a raincoat and go for a walk in the rain.”

Jeong Taeui grumbled sullenly and turned to walk towards the elevator. He heard his uncle, who was chuckling softly and thinking about something again, speak kindly to his back.

“I’ll definitely burn your books with you, so don’t be too upset.”

***

As soon as he saw Jeong Taeui, Moro grabbed his collar and wailed.

“My precious! How are you going to take responsibility for my sweet darling, you bastard!!”

The Colt he had snatched from Moro had, of course, been confiscated by his uncle and was now sitting quietly in the confiscated items storage. He was only told that he would be able to get it back someday when he left this branch.

His uncle, perhaps guessing who the Colt belonged to, smiled meaningfully and said slowly, “Give my regards to the guy you share a room with.” Jeong Taeui felt a bit sorry for the colleagues who had such a person as their superior.

“Losing just one Colt for saving someone’s life is a light price to pay, what are you complaining about?”

“Ah, so that was Moro’s? No wonder. It was strange for Taei, who doesn’t even own a speck of luggage, to have something like that.”

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ll get you a new one as soon as I go to Hong Kong. I know a reliable fence. Colts are easy to get, probably?”

Colleagues next to Moro each chimed in with a word. Jeong Taeui, looking somewhat embarrassed at Moro’s lamentations that it was all useless, scratched his head and muttered,

“I don’t know any fences… Right, how about a one-year subscription to a puzzle magazine?”

At that, Moro seemed to explode in anger and lunged at him. Jeong Taeui slowly retreated behind his colleagues.

Even though it was an urgent situation, he had no excuse for arbitrarily snatching someone else’s belongings, using them, and then losing them. Another gloomy thing to look forward to for the next two weeks.

Entering the weapons engineering lecture late, and then being immediately called out by the instructor after the lecture to receive a barrage of harsh and bitter words, it was well past the halfway point of the lunch break when Jeong Taeui was finally released.

Not even half the day had passed, but Jeong Taeui, feeling physically and mentally exhausted as if thousands of years had gone by, trudged to the cafeteria, only to find the door firmly closed. Seeing the red letters on the door that read, “Temporarily out of use due to an accident,” Jeong Taeui felt inexplicably guilty even though it wasn’t his fault. He quickly left the area after seeing the small addition below that read, “The Third Autonomous Study Room will be temporarily used as the cafeteria until repairs are completed.”

When he went to the autonomous study room, his colleagues, who had already finished eating and were chatting there, greeted Jeong Taeui. Of course, there were European branch members present too, so the atmosphere was still ominous, not much different from the morning. However, since they had wrecked the cafeteria in the morning, neither side seemed to have any intention of causing more trouble during lunch.

As soon as he entered the autonomous study room, Jeong Taeui reflexively looked around quickly. He hoped he wouldn’t run into any faces he didn’t want to see. Since they would inevitably encounter each other during the joint training, he planned to avoid them as much as possible.