Passion Novel - Volume 2 - Chapter 33

Jeong Taeui, dragged along by Ilay’s hand to give his testimony, had fallen victim to the charge of aiding and abetting, a thought he had jokingly entertained. Even though he knew the facts beforehand and could have foreseen it, pretending not to know was considered passive complicity, even if he hadn’t actively helped.

“This is unfair! I’m going to appeal!”

“To whom?”

His uncle shattered Jeong Taeui’s anger with a short word. Muttering, “I should contact the undertaker again. Demand has unexpectedly increased,” his uncle flipped through his phone book, then sighed, closed it, and patted Jeong Taeui’s shoulder. He spoke in a more serious tone than before.

“First of all, you got off on the wrong foot. You broke the first rule of not getting involved with that guy. Besides, this case is about being an eyesore, a real eyesore.”

“Huh?”

“Look. A vicious guy from the European branch came and killed four of our branch members. One of them was even an instructor. Isn’t that a huge mess? But it turns out that our side was plotting the murder, and even the instructor was involved, leaving an indelible stain. Our branch’s honor and reputation are already plummeting, and then a fellow branch member goes out and testifies. How frustrated do you think the higher-ups will be?”

Even as he said this, his uncle didn’t seem particularly frustrated. Jeong Taeui glared at his uncle.

“Even if I hadn’t testified, wouldn’t everything have come out during the investigation anyway?”

“That’s highly likely, but in the meantime, they could have gotten rid of some evidence and plunged the case into mystery. A greenhorn like you went out and shattered all that, so it’s understandable that they’d find you an eyesore.”

“If I hadn’t testified, Ilay would have killed me!”

“The higher-ups don’t care about that.”

His uncle shrugged as if it wasn’t his business either. Jeong Taeui stared at his uncle with a dumbfounded expression. What kind of organization operates like this? They say that the higher up you go in a group, the more corruption there is, but this was too much.

As soon as the conclusion that he would also be confined to the disciplinary facility for a short period was handed down to him, Jeong Taeui rushed to his uncle to strongly protest, but his uncle just calmly said that he had chosen the wrong person to protest to, and that protesting would be futile anyway.

Jeong Taeui knew that. He hadn’t come here in the first place to somehow avoid the consequences by borrowing his uncle’s power. He just wanted to vent his frustration and anger to his uncle.

“Uncle… aren’t you even a little bit sorry to me? What is this? As soon as I came to this remote island, my life has become so unlucky, it’s like I’m possessed by something.”

He lowered his head, venting his resentment – which he knew was somewhat unfair – at his uncle, asking why he had brought him here, but his uncle didn’t even snort.

“Jeong Taeui. I thought you remembered, but I was expecting you to do your job well and contribute to improving our side’s performance. As I told you, I need to get my superior promoted. But you see… if you, who are in my team, keep going to the disciplinary facility like this, wouldn’t that actually hurt my score? Your heart must ache.”

“Then who told you to bring me here!”

“Alright, alright, let’s let bygones be bygones. And you should know that you’re in a better situation. Riegrow is already being dragged down to the disciplinary facility because he’s considered a flight risk. Not that he would actually flee.”

His uncle changed the subject. Jeong Taeui still grumbled something with a dissatisfied expression, but knowing that arguing was useless, he swallowed his complaints with a sigh.

The training was suspended as soon as the accident occurred. It was still suspended. Although, it had only been a day and a half.

He had seen Ilay yesterday while being dragged around here and there, but come to think of it, he hadn’t seen him at all today. To Jeong Taeui, who finally looked like he had realized something, his uncle added that Ilay had already gone down to the disciplinary facility this morning.

Jeong Taeui sighed. It was only a day’s difference anyway. Jeong Taeui was in a position where he would have to go down to the disciplinary facility tomorrow morning. Yesterday, he hadn’t even been able to return to his room because he was being harassed by his superiors. Of course, he hadn’t slept properly either. Now, after sleeping in his own bed tonight, he would have to spend his days on the cold stone floor of a prison starting tomorrow.

“How long do I have to stay there?”

“It’s ten days for now, but you never know. You might get out sooner, or it might take longer.”

“Considering the possibilities, the latter is more likely, right?”

“I suppose so. That’s usually how being an eyesore goes.”

He sighed again, as if the ground had caved in. But after staring at his feet for a moment, Jeong Taeui tried to think positively. Anyway, if he had to be in the disciplinary facility for ten days, that meant that by the time he got out, the joint training with the European branch would already be over. Considering how incredibly tired he had been for the past ten days, it might actually be better to rest in prison for about ten days.

“Anyway, go in and suffer a bit. In return, I’ll smooth things over regarding you coming to my room during the training period.”

His uncle spoke as if he were doing him a great favor. Jeong Taeui stared blankly at his uncle in his uncle’s room, where he was currently standing. And he asked weakly,

“Is entering a restricted area during the training period also a reason to be confined to the disciplinary facility?”

“Being an eyesore encompasses all reasons in the world. You know that.”

“I know…” Jeong Taeui sighed. When he was in the military, he and his comrades often joked that the biggest crime you could commit during your service was being an eyesore. In fact, that saying applied not only to the military but also to general society. It even applied to interpersonal relationships. Once you were marked, you would have trouble for a long time, and it wasn’t just here.

“Tomorrow morning, they’ll probably come to your room from the disciplinary facility to escort you. Say goodbye to your colleagues tonight. You won’t be seeing them for a while, so you should say your farewells in advance.”

“You’re talking as if I’m crossing a path of no return!”

“Sometimes there are people who go to the disciplinary facility and never come back.”

His uncle said with a sly smile, whether it was a joke or serious. It was exactly at times like this that he wanted to strangle his uncle.

Jeong Taeui shook his head and turned to leave. He had seen his uncle’s face, a face he didn’t even need to say goodbye to, so he figured he should just go back. Staying here any longer would only make him feel more frustrated.

“As soon as I get to my room, I’m going to burn all those damn books I borrowed from Uncle.”

“Hmm…? Ack, wait! I haven’t even finished reading those books yet! What did the books do to deserve that…!”

“Being an eyesore encompasses all reasons in the world. You know that too, Uncle.”

With a placid expression, Jeong Taeui spoke to his uncle and left the room with light steps.

Sometimes there are people who go to the disciplinary facility and never come back. He knew his uncle’s words were a joke. Unless some unforeseen situation arose, Jeong Taeui would be out again in ten days, strolling around the branch.

However, upon hearing those words, someone suddenly flashed through his mind. Someone he would sorely miss for ten days, a lovely and adorable young man.

Standing on the landing, Jeong Taeui hesitated for a moment before turning back. After all, the fact that this floor was currently an off-limits area had been disregarded a long time ago. Breaking a rule a second time was easier than flipping his palm. Besides, hadn’t his uncle said he would smooth things over?

Jeong Taeui clutched the pager in his pocket. It was as if the warmth of the message still contained within was being transmitted to his hand. Holding the pager, which had quickly warmed with his body heat, he went to the person who had sent the message. Even though it was only ten days, this was someone he definitely wanted to see before leaving.

As Xinlu’s room came into view ahead, the pager in his pocket suddenly vibrated. Jeong Taeui slowed his pace and took out the pager. He checked the text message on the screen.

‘Tae-i hyung, where are you? Please contact me, even if it’s late. I’ll be waiting.’

It was Xinlu. There was even a hint of urgency in the message, and Jeong Taeui tilted his head. What could be the matter? His steps quickened towards Xinlu’s room.

He had received a message last night as well. But he had been too busy dealing with his superiors to talk for long. And today was the same. He had been called out as soon as he opened his eyes and had been dragged around all day, writing documents and talking to people he didn’t even know, and now it was already this late. The only time left before he had to go to the disciplinary facility was tonight. That’s why he was on his way to see Xinlu.

Jeong Taeui stood in front of Xinlu’s room. Since he had contacted him just a little while ago, he probably was in his room. He knocked on the door instead of ringing the doorbell. Even though it wasn’t a loud knock, the door soon opened. Through the gap, Xinlu peered out with wide eyes.

“Taei hyung.”

“Hi. Were you worried a lot?”

Xinlu froze as if rooted to the spot, staring intently at Jeong Taeui. His eyes were as if he were seeing something unbelievable. Then, as Jeong Taeui smiled and greeted him, his expression crumbled in an instant, and he hugged Jeong Taeui tightly.

“Hyung! I was so worried. So worried. They were saying you were going to the disciplinary facility, but I couldn’t get in touch with you—”

This time, it was Jeong Taeui who froze. Surprised by Xinlu suddenly burrowing into his arms unexpectedly, Jeong Taeui awkwardly fluttered his arms, unsure what to do with them hanging in mid-air.

Xinlu, who was tightly hugging Jeong Taeui’s waist, had buried his face in his shoulder. It almost looked like he was crying. Feeling the pleasant strength of the embrace, as if he were a child clinging tightly to someone who had taken away his mother, Jeong Taeui slowly lowered his arms and hugged Xinlu’s back. He embraced the soft body carefully, like holding fragile glass, and gently pulled it closer.

It was warm. The familiar fragrant scent of soap brushed against his nose. Jeong Taeui subtly and carefully buried his flushed face in Xinlu’s hair. It was soft and fluffy. It felt good.

How could this body be so lovable? This warm body temperature, this fluffy hair, this soft body. Jeong Taeui unknowingly lost himself and hugged the body tightly.

Then, he suddenly realized that Xinlu, who was hugging him, was completely still and unmoving, and he flinched, subtly loosening his arms. Had he hugged him too tightly? He must have felt suffocated. He subtly loosened his arms. Had he hugged him too tightly? He must have felt suffocated. Had he thought it was uncomfortable?

As he cautiously loosened his arms that had been around Xinlu, Xinlu suddenly hugged Jeong Taeui even tighter. And with his face buried in his shoulder, he whispered,

“Hyung. I had a dream about you yesterday.”

“Oh… really? That makes me happy.”

Jeong Taeui said shyly, wondering if he could hug him back again. He must have been so worried that he even dreamt about him. He felt grateful, happy, and affectionate. Jeong Taeui leaned in, waiting for Xinlu’s next words, but for some reason, Xinlu remained silent for a moment, hesitating as if something was stuck in his throat.

Had he had a bad dream? Or maybe he dreamt that I was trapped in the disciplinary facility forever…?

Jeong Taeui debated whether to preemptively say, “Dreams often mean the opposite,” but before he could open his mouth, Xinlu murmured as if he had made up his mind,

“I… I dreamt about sleeping with you, hyung.”

“Haha, really? It’s okay. Dreams often mean the opp—”

Jeong Taeui had been comforting Xinlu with a laugh as soon as Xinlu spoke in a slightly stiff voice, but as he spoke, something felt strange. It was as if there had been a slight error in the information being transmitted from his ears to his brain.

“……”

As he replayed what he had heard in his mind, Xinlu, noticing his silence, murmured in an anxious voice,

“Are you… upset? …Do you dislike it, hyung?”

His voice was anxious and pitiful, as if tears would fall at any moment. Jeong Taeui quickly replied before he could properly process what he had heard.

“What are you talking about? Of course not.”

But even that reply lacked some strength. The words Xinlu had spoken slowly reached his brain, but he wasn’t sure if their meaning was accurate. Xinlu had dreamt about sleeping with him.

Slowly, slowly, his face grew hot. He felt a warmth spreading from his heart. A warmth spreading slowly from his heart. A warmth spreading slowly from his heart. First, his face flushed red, followed by his earlobes and neck becoming equally hot. Even his confused lips felt hot.

Jeong Taeui hugged Xinlu again with the arms he had loosened. And with his lips buried in Xinlu’s hair, he only blinked. It didn’t feel real. He was losing confidence in his understanding. Nevertheless, the body in his arms was very warm and lovable.

As Jeong Taeui continued to hug Xinlu, his face flushed and unable to say anything, Xinlu asked softly,

“……Hyung. When will you get out after you go in?”

“Uh…, in ten days.”

Xinlu closed his mouth again after his stammered reply. Then, at some point, a very small, hushed voice brushed against his ear.

“Hyung, when you get out, let’s go to Hong Kong together. And there… let’s sleep together. …I’ll book us a nice place, a room. …Let’s go together.”

Jeong Taeui couldn’t say anything. Words were stuck in his throat. His lips stiffened, and his tongue froze. He could only stare helplessly at his hands that were around Xinlu’s back.

This was strange. Why was he so shy and ticklish? He now understood what Xinlu was saying. But his chest felt incredibly ticklish. It wasn’t the first time he had been intimate with someone, and it wasn’t a big deal, yet his heart felt like it was fluttering and throbbing.

“Uh…, yeah….”

Only after speaking did he realize how foolish he sounded. He could have said something much cooler, but he gave such a naive and clumsy answer.

Even as Jeong Taeui blamed himself, his stiff tongue still wouldn’t loosen, and he only hugged Xinlu’s back tighter. Xinlu also buried his face in Jeong Taeui’s shoulder and tightened his arms around his waist. Thump-thump, the sensation of their hearts beating from their overlapping chests rose through their skin. But he couldn’t tell whose heart was beating. Probably both of theirs.

They remained like that for a long time, unable to move or say a word, just holding each other, until the sound of a door opening and closing somewhere down the hallway made them flinch and step back. Turning the corner, he couldn’t see anyone else. The sound of footsteps faded away in the opposite direction.

The two of them took a half-step back and stared blankly at each other’s feet. Jeong Taeui stared at Xinlu’s feet for a while, then suddenly let out a small chuckle. This had happened before. Times when they were awkward and shy and couldn’t even look at each other. Even now, his chest still felt ticklish when he was in front of him.

Jeong Taeui slowly raised his head. Xinlu also raised his head and looked at him. As their gazes met after a silent moment, Xinlu’s face flushed, and then he smiled brightly. Jeong Taeui couldn’t help but smile back.

“I wonder if… my pager will work properly even in the disciplinary facility.”

He hoped he could receive messages even in there.

Even if he couldn’t send a reply, it would be so nice if Xinlu just sent him a short greeting. As if Xinlu had the same thought, he murmured, “I wonder.”

Ticklish, ticklish.

His anxiety flew away, his lament flew away, and even before going in, he was already eagerly waiting for the day he would get out of the disciplinary facility.

『Disciplinary Facility』

Thud.

The first sensation he felt upon entering was auditory.

The faint sound of dripping water echoed from a distance.

It was a small sound that he wouldn’t normally have noticed, but with his vision blocked, his hearing became the most sensitive sense. And with that, his sense of touch also became more sensitive.

He reached out and slowly waved his hand in front of him. His fingertips, which had been grasping at empty air, suddenly touched something hard and damp. The thing to his right was a wall. Probably a stone wall. Covered in moss.

“……Ugh……. This is too much. What era is this that the prison is in this state…….”

Before he could finish speaking, a thudding sound and a flash of fire erupted at the back of his head.

“What disciplinary facility? If you’re a criminal who’s been locked up, shut your mouth and follow me.”

The elderly instructor standing beside Jeong Taeui spoke displeasingly and yanked on the chains. Dragged along by the chains linked to his handcuffs, Jeong Taeui had to shout urgently, “Wait a minute, please slow down, I can’t see, I can’t see ahead!”

This old man, the oldest among all the instructors and wardens within the branch, was someone who received elder treatment from them despite the fact that UNHRDO was by no means an organization that ran on seniority. Jeong Taeui remembered his uncle once saying about this old man, “When I first joined UNHRDO as a member, that old geezer already had a prominent position.”

Hearing that, it seemed he wasn’t staying in the instructor position due to a lack of ability, but rather because he didn’t want a promotion. He was a peculiar old man who wouldn’t accept the promotions offered to him and would only oversee the disciplinary facility and occasionally appear for lectures.

Jeong Taeui had to shout “Ack, ack!” repeatedly as he was dragged by the instructor. It wasn’t a joke or an exaggeration; he genuinely couldn’t see ahead. Of course, there were small yellow lights dotted on the walls, but coming from a bright place with a clear view into this pitch-black darkness with only dim lights sparsely placed, his eyes went black, and the lights were as good as nonexistent.

This was the disciplinary facility, which he had only heard was on the seventh basement level. A place where people supposedly came out emaciated after serving their time. When he had asked his uncle if it was a prison, his uncle had frowned and replied, “A prison? It’s not such a dreadful place.” So Jeong Taeui had thought of the disciplinary facility as something like a detention cell or a simple confinement facility for isolation. A small single room like a studio apartment of a few square meters. That was the disciplinary facility Jeong Taeui had imagined.

But bull.

This was a prison. A dungeon at that. Moreover, a dungeon with atrocious facilities that seemed unlikely to exist in this day and age, something that human rights organizations would immediately protest against if they saw it.

While being dragged by the instructor, bumping into things here and there and groaning, Jeong Taeui’s eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. He could see his surroundings reasonably well even in the dim light. And when he looked around with his somewhat adjusted vision, Jeong Taeui revised his earlier thoughts.

A dungeon with atrocious facilities that human rights organizations would protest against. That was too mild a description.

Could this be what it was like in the underground torture chambers where people were dragged and thrown during the medieval witch hunts? It might have been less severe, but probably not worse.

Just as he had felt with his fingertips when he first entered, the walls on all sides were stone. Boulders that looked like they had been there for thousands of years and would never wear down. And on top of that, moss that also seemed thousands of years old covered them damply.

“Seriously, when was this branch building even built? It’s not hundreds of years old, is it?”

Jeong Taeui muttered incredulously, and the instructor, who was dragging him along with the clanging chains, snorted.

“The Asian branch is the most recently established branch of UNHRDO. It’s not even 30 years old, and the branch building gets renovated every year with all the latest equipment. Are you, someone who’s been living here, saying such things?”

“No, but how can there be such an old and decaying basement? And if you renovate every year, what’s with all this blue moss?!”

“Moss growing here suits it better. We put a lot of effort into renovating it every year. It’s my masterpiece.”

“……”

Jeong Taeui stared at the instructor with a dumbfounded expression.

“Were you perhaps here, sir, from the very beginning when this branch was first established?”

“I designed it, so of course.”

So it was this old man.

Jeong Taeui nodded deeply, staring intently at the instructor even in the darkness. The shock he had felt when he first saw the branch building upon arriving on this island vividly resurfaced.

The exterior of this branch building, which seemed to have cost a fortune to make the latest facilities look even older. Unlike the magnificent and impressive appearance of the headquarters and other branches he had seen in promotional photos, the reason why only this place looked like an old, collapsing abandoned house was all thanks to this old man.

Looking up, water droplets occasionally fell from the tips of stalactite-like stone icicles hanging from the high ceiling. Puddles of water were pooled here and there on the damp brick floor.

Along a narrow path that ran straight in a single line, rooms with iron bars spaced wide enough for a person not to pass through stood in a row, appearing half-open. Still, each room was quite spacious, probably around six to eight square meters.

It was dim and hard to see clearly, but fortunately, the inside of the barred rooms didn’t seem too atrocious. The floor didn’t show any wet patches, and there seemed to be one or two basic sets of drawers or a small table. However, the only light source was a small, dim bulb as tiny as a Christmas light on the ceiling, so it didn’t seem like one could read a book or do anything inside.

It was a relief that it was only ten days. If he had to be confined in a place like this for months, he would probably go crazy from boredom.

Jeong Taeui, now able to distinguish his surroundings reasonably well, skillfully avoided the protruding stones in the middle of the walls as he was dragged by the instructor.

It didn’t seem like they had gone very far, but they reached a dead end. Considering that even on other floors, the corridor wouldn’t end until they had gone four or five times the distance they had covered so far, it seemed that the basic structure here was completely different from the other floors as well.

“There aren’t many rooms. This floor seems much narrower than the others.”

“Why would this place need to be as wide as the other floors? If a branch has so many guys to lock up, they should just quit the whole human resource development thing.”

“Ah, yes…….”

Jeong Taeui shut his mouth without making a peep. Judging by the instructor’s words, there didn’t seem to be any more space on the other side. Well, if this entire floor was the disciplinary facility, there wouldn’t be much use in it being that wide anyway. There probably weren’t that many people to be confined in the disciplinary facility. Most of the rooms he had passed by were empty.