Passion Novel - Volume 3 - Chapter 60

Jeong Taeui looked at him with a strange expression. Ilay rarely laughed like this. He often saw him let out a snicker, a laugh whose meaning was unclear, perhaps mockery. He occasionally heard him laugh out loud. But this predominantly cheerful and refreshing laughter unexpectedly made him look like an innocent boy, and Jeong Taeui stared intently. Fine, I don’t know what’s so funny, but laugh if you want to. The way his eyes crinkled slightly when he laughed was quite pleasing. Even knowing his true nature, one could be fooled into thinking it was a soft and warm laugh. If he always laughed like that, the hundred knives that would normally fly his way would surely be reduced to ninety-nine. Yes, this guy’s personality is truly abominable, but his looks are inversely proportional to his character.

Jeong Taeui gazed at Ilay. As his laughter subsided, Ilay, with eyes still crinkling with amusement, gestured to Jeong Taeui. “Then how about me?”

“Huh?” Jeong Taeui, about to ask “What about what?” flinched as he recalled the context of their recent conversation. If he were asked to immediately list this man’s hateful traits, he could name at least a dozen. As for likable traits, he’d have to think throughout the entire process of listing those dozen hateful ones, and even then, he might barely come up with one.

“…Do I really have to say?” Jeong Taeui asked seriously. He knew his own face was becoming solemn and grim, no matter how hard he tried to sound casual. He didn’t want to lie about something like this, but if he spoke his mind, it wouldn’t end well. This time, Ilay didn’t laugh as cheerfully as before, but he chuckled softly, as if amused.

“Alright. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll ask again next time. —Shall we go then?”

Jeong Taeui stared blankly up at Ilay, who readily stood up. “Where?” he mumbled, and Ilay shrugged, gesturing with his head.

“A suit. I said I’d buy you one. I know a good place in Kowloon, but unfortunately, I have another appointment right after this, so there’s no time to go that far. I’ll get you something decent at Pacific Place. Or do you have a preferred place?”

To Ilay’s question, Jeong Taeui, still with a blank expression, just blinked and shook his head, saying, “No, not really.” Suddenly, a suit? In his bewilderment, Jeong Taeui missed his chance to refuse.

***

He must have been in a deep sleep. Jeong Taeui only managed to open his eyes when he felt a hand shaking his shoulder. He blinked, and saw his uncle, dressed in a bathrobe, wiping his wet hair, looking down at him.

“You must be tired. You didn’t wake up even when I came in and showered.”

“I wasn’t that tired… I just lay down for a moment, and I guess I fell into a deep sleep. …What time is it?”

“It’s a little past 10. …Wow. Your face is quite colorful. Did something happen again?”

As Jeong Taeui exhaled tiredly and sat up disheveled, his uncle, who had been on a business trip all week and seemed to have just returned, as a suitcase lay abandoned in a corner of the room, frowned upon seeing him.

“It’s always like this, isn’t it? When your boss is someone who deserves to be stabbed a hundred times, this is what happens. But this is after I’ve received some treatment, you know.”

Jeong Taeui carefully rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, muttering. After getting beaten up, he immediately received medicine and gauze from Gyoho at the infirmary and treated himself. And incredibly, Ilay even gave Jeong Taeui some medicine. When they parted ways at Pacific Place, Ilay had said, “I have an evening appointment, so I have to go. It would be nice if we could go back together, but it’s a shame,” and had gone to a pharmacy to buy medicine specifically for Jeong Taeui. There’s a proverb in our country that perfectly fits this situation, Jeong Taeui thought to himself, quietly accepting Ilay’s touch as he squeezed ointment onto his torn lip and dabbed it gently. Ilay, with an uncharacteristically serious expression, rubbed Jeong Taeui’s mouth, then finally, seemingly satisfied, lightly raised his hand and walked away.

That guy is truly unfathomable. In any case, he gave him the illness but also the cure, so he couldn’t completely blame him. In this situation, he could only blame the person who created it. Jeong Taeui rubbed his cheek, glaring intently at the person who could be considered the root of all this trouble.

“Uncle. This debt is huge. I’ll remember it clearly for the next 20 years.”

“Don’t tell me, tell the guys who hit you. Good heavens, those childish fools. You should mark them and smash them once in a while.”

Jeong Taeui sighed faintly. His uncle was saying something similar to someone else. The difference was that the “someone else” was completely sincere, while his uncle was only half sincere. Jeong Taeui stretched stiffly and mumbled, “Whether it’s strength or skill, if I fought with the guys here, wouldn’t I be the one getting smashed?” He quickly changed the subject, as it wasn’t a topic he particularly liked.

“How was South America? Did things go well?”

“It’s internal work for the same organization, so what’s there to go well or not? I just went because I was sent from above.”

“Hmm. Promotions or advancements for the director general are all connected to other branches, right?”

“That’s about right.”

Then your answer about internal organizational work not having anything to ‘go well or not’ doesn’t hold up, Uncle, Jeong Taeui conveyed with his eyes. His uncle received the gaze completely, yet merely smiled without answering. He seemed to have no intention of responding.

After all, Jeong Taeui was an outsider. Even though he was currently part of this organization, he didn’t quite understand its intentions, nor could he feel a sense of belonging. It was because he hadn’t chosen to join.

“Well, it’s your work, Uncle, so I’m sure you’ll handle it well.”

Jeong Taeui said indifferently, scratching his head. Unlike his lucky brother, this uncle wasn’t someone he worried about, no matter where he was thrown. Besides, what did it matter if the UNHRDO director general changed or the US president changed? It wasn’t like the world was turning upside down. Though he did have a strong desire for the current instructor to change.

“You said you went out this weekend. Was there anything interesting?”

“Oh, Hong Kong? I went out yesterday and came right back yesterday. What could have been interesting?”

“Why? You might have stumbled upon a splendid old bookstore in an alley after getting lost. Or you might have accidentally met a familiar face on the street. Even if that face wasn’t particularly welcome.”

Jeong Taeui stopped the hand scratching his head. His uncle, who had been casually shaking his head, smiled when their eyes met. Jeong Taeui, still with a sleepy expression, looked sullenly at his uncle and clicked his tongue in displeasure.

“Wow, news travels fast. Did a rumor with no legs fly all the way to South America?”

“I took the incoming ship with Riegrow.”

His uncle opened the refrigerator, took out water, and asked Jeong Taeui, “Want a beer?” As Jeong Taeui nodded and held out his hand, he tossed him a can. Jeong Taeui carefully opened the pull tab, making sure the foam didn’t overflow. It didn’t gush out grandly, but as he slurped the bubbling foam, he casually mumbled.

“He definitely seemed to be born with a silver spoon, or rather, a diamond spoon.”

“Ah? That guy? Yes, indeed. A very high-quality diamond.”

“…Well… I wonder about that.”

When judging a person, wealth and family background are undeniably important factors from a practical standpoint, but that man possessed a personality that could negate all those advantages and more. Jeong Taeui quietly watched his uncle as he gulped down his beer. His uncle, who seemed too lazy to brew tea today and was simply drinking water from a cup, felt his gaze and met it. Jeong Taeui casually spoke to his uncle, who looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Certainly, T&R is a company that can’t be ignored in this industry. Both in terms of scale and substance.”

“That’s right. There’s no one involved in this field who doesn’t know that name. The person currently managing it has excellent business acumen.”

“Ah, you mean your friend?”

“Exactly. He’s also Riegrow’s older brother.”

“Hmm. Indeed, to do business, you need good acumen in many areas. You need a wide network, and that industry is particularly sensitive to the system, so you’d always have to pay attention to politics, and lobbying activities would be extraordinary. In that industry, political-economic collusion is practically unavoidable.”

Jeong Taeui nodded, but then took his mouth from the beer, looked up at the ceiling for a moment, and tilted his head. “But that family seems to be very good at lobbying. If UNHRDO, an international organization, is willing to give them that much convenience, then… I wondered what the reason was for specifically moving Ilay to the Asian branch.”

“…”

His uncle looked at Jeong Taeui without answering. His gaze, which had been watching Jeong Taeui casually sip beer as if he knew nothing, then softened gently. Clink, his uncle put down his water glass and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

“When you’re in the arms business, you can’t not have lobbying ability. As for Riegrow coming to this branch, it’s a bit different from what you think.”

“…”

“Well, that’s a sensitive issue, so let’s talk about it if an opportunity arises later… There are some minor issues within the branch, but since Rick is managing both branch work and company work properly, it doesn’t matter, does it?”

No, it matters greatly, Uncle. The ‘minor issues’ within the branch are by no means minor, especially when you say that looking at my face right now.

Jeong Taeui stared blankly at his uncle. Perhaps feeling a pang of guilt at his resentful gaze, his uncle laughed awkwardly, “Hmm.” Seeing his bruised and torn face with gauze patches, he must have felt sorry. Seeing that hint, Jeong Taeui felt much better and let out a small laugh.

“Well, it’s fine. You should have the experience of suffering like hell for a few months in life, right? They say even iron gets stronger when it’s hammered. …Of course, I don’t need a steel-like life; I’d be happy to live like wrought iron.”

Jeong Taeui, who had slightly trailed off at the mention of “hammered,” quickly added the latter part. Words become deeds, and he refused a life where he had to endure a string of hardships to become strong. He planned to return to his peaceful home country and live a simple, gentle life once he left this place.

“Wrought iron… Well, if possible, that would be good. In reality, I wanted to live a life like water, anyway. Flowing freely without getting stuck or clashing with the world.”

But it doesn’t turn out that way, so you try your best too, Jeong Taeui frowned, feeling the unspoken words. Those aren’t very welcome words, you know, Jeong Taeui grumbled to himself, and his uncle laughed aloud.

“But Ilay said before that he was just helping his brother a little, and if he’s doing work every weekend, you can’t just call it ‘helping a little.’ Well, it is the family business, so I guess it’s natural.”

“Hmm—they might have their own circumstances too, right?”

His uncle shrugged and tilted his head. Jeong Taeui instantly understood: this topic is now over. It was best to gracefully cut off topics his uncle didn’t want to dwell on.

“Oh, right. Your birthday is coming soon. Have you heard from Jaeui?”

“If something like that had happened, Uncle, you, who hears all the street news in Hong Kong even from the South American branch, wouldn’t be unaware.”

Jeong Taeui waved his hand. Come to think of it, his birthday was indeed soon. If Jeong Taeui had the intention of calling, it was about time a call came. He had tried calling home just this morning when he had some free time, but no one answered. Perhaps that house would remain neglected until Jeong Taeui returned. There was nothing to worry about, but he was curious where they were holed up.

“I don’t know what they’re doing. …If they contact me, I’ll tell them to call you too, Uncle.”

So many people asked about his brother’s well-being that if he told Jae-ui to call each and every one of them, Jae-ui’s phone bill wouldn’t be able to handle it. Though they would gladly accept a collect call. As he drained the last few sips of beer, his uncle nodded and then said something unexpected.

“What do you want for your birthday present?”

“Huh?”

Jeong Taeui swallowed the beer in his mouth and blinked. It had been a long time since he had heard words like that. He wasn’t the type to celebrate birthdays, and sometimes he and his siblings would buy each other things, but there was never any talk of “birthday presents.” Moreover, his uncle wasn’t someone who annually celebrated his birthday, and someone he hadn’t properly seen for years until recently was suddenly asking about a birthday present? Jeong Taeui chuckled and waved his hand.

“It’s fine. What’s with the sudden present?”

“You should take it when you can get it. After today, when will you ever receive a birthday present from me again?”

“Hmm… Then, can I go home now?”

“Dismissed.”

Before Jeong Taeui’s words, offered after serious deliberation, could even fully fall, his uncle firmly shook his head. Tch, Jeong Taeui muttered, scratching his head.

“I really don’t need anything. I don’t want anything. …Ah. Is that why?”

Jeong Taeui suddenly stopped scratching his head and blurted out. His uncle tilted his head, saying, “Hm?” as he had no way of understanding those words just by hearing them. Jeong Taeui shrugged.

“Oh, it’s nothing big. It’s just that yesterday, Ilay suddenly dragged me to a clothes shop, saying he’d buy me a suit. I wondered why, but I guess it was a birthday present of sorts. I didn’t think he was the type to bother with such things.”

“…I didn’t think he was the type to bother with such things either.”

His uncle stared at Jeong Taeui with a face that seemed to have heard something extremely bizarre. At his suspicious gaze, Jeong Taeui became needlessly flustered and waved his hands, as if to say it wasn’t a lie.

“No, I thought it was strange too. I wondered why he suddenly wanted to buy me clothes.”

It was enough to make me think of Hercules’s death, Jeong Taeui added gloomily. His uncle tilted his head as if finding it odd, then chuckled faintly and spoke in an amused tone.

“Indeed. What kind of clothes are they?”

“Ah—it’s a custom suit, so I have to go back for a fitting. I only got measured. What was it? The shop manager gave me a business card.”

Jeong Taeui rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled business card. His uncle took the card and asked, “Ah, you got a custom one?”

“Yes. He said he didn’t have time and just told me to go to any random place, so I thought it would be off-the-rack, but it was custom.”

It felt incredibly burdensome, but thinking of it as a birthday present lightens the load just a little. But then, do I have to get him something in return? Jeong Taeui muttered to himself, while his uncle merely stared at the business card. He flipped it over once, then stared at it intently again.

“You received a Caraceni suit?”

“It sounded something like that… Ah, so Uncle knows the shop too.”

“…Well… Personally, I don’t. I’ve never had clothes made there.”

His uncle mumbled, flapping the business card. Then he blinked and tilted his head.

“? Why are you like that?”

“No… I’m just wondering why Rick would give you a suit. He has a very different concept of money from ordinary people, but he doesn’t just throw money at anyone.”

Does he owe you something? No, he’s not the type to care about such things, his uncle muttered, shaking his head as if completely bewildered. Jeong Taeui glanced at the business card he’d received from his uncle. The burden that had slightly lessened suddenly felt heavy again.

“Uncle… Please don’t tell me this is expensive. I’m a poor commoner with no savings to repay what I’ve received. …Well, if push comes to shove, I’ll just return it as is, I guess.”

“Hmm… What’s with the sudden barrage of gifts?”

“Right? …Who knows? Maybe he secretly fell for me at first sight.”

Jeong Taeui scratched his head and muttered nonchalantly, finding the thought tiresome and getting no answers. “No, I don’t see him as that kind of human,” his uncle said seriously, and Jeong Taeui, fed up, waved his hand. He had meant it as a joke, but why was his perceptive uncle taking it seriously?

Jeong Taeui tossed the empty beer can into the trash and stood up lightly. It was getting late, so it was time to head back to his room. If he went down to the 6th floor, every face he met in the hallway would probably still frown at him, but he had grown used to it by now. It must be the sin of having the wrong superior. He only hoped to get through this without further trouble until the day he left this place.

Thinking that, Jeong Taeui suddenly recalled something that made him worry about another wave of turmoil. He subtly frowned and looked back at his uncle.

“Speaking of which, there will be joint training with the South American branch soon, won’t there?”

“That’s right. Among the things we discussed when I went, that was one of them. The selection of instructors to lead them to another region, for example.”

“If half of them come from South America, where do we go from here?”

“Australia.”

“Will you be staying here for this training, Uncle, or going to Australia?”

“I stayed last time, so I’ll probably go this time.”

“Hmm… Australia and South America… Is this branch on good terms with those branches?”

Jeong Taeui asked seriously, his brow furrowed, and his uncle laughed aloud. He waved his hand as if to reassure him.

“There’s no such thing as a branch that’s on good terms. But there’s no relationship quite like that between the Asian and European branches, so there’s not much to worry about. Well, rest assured. At least there aren’t assassins in other branches who are notorious throughout the entire organization.”

“No, I think having that assassin in our branch is also a problem, actually.”

Jeong Taeui muttered gloomily. Hadn’t he keenly felt it before? The fact that he couldn’t consider Ilay a reliable ally just because they were on the same side. Moreover, he had heard that during joint training, incidents of violence stemming from grudges within the same branch were not uncommon. If it was about grudges within the same branch, could there be any place more dangerous than this Asian branch right now? Thinking about it made him even more depressed.

“Uncle. Will Ilay be going to Australia?”

“Probably not. It’s not typical to send an instructor who has just transferred here to another region.”

“Then I definitely want to go to Australia.”

“You can’t. An instructor is inevitably accompanied by a junior officer. If you want to go to Australia, pray that Riegrow goes.”

“What I want isn’t Australia; it’s the opposite direction of Ilay!”

“Then try praying for him to fall ill or something.”

His uncle offered unhelpful advice. Jeong Taeui, feeling like he was stranded alone on a deserted island with no one to rely on, glumly left the room.

In any human society, human relationships are inevitable. Even a three- or four-year-old child raised only at home is entangled in human relationships, however simple. Jeong Taeui sipped the beer he’d brought from his uncle’s room, then crouched by the building’s entrance and stared blankly up at the sky. With just a cigarette in his hand, he’d look perfectly decadent.

“Have I ever worried about human relationships?… No, I don’t think so.”

He’d certainly felt his insides burn with anger because of individual people with accumulated grudges, but he’d never suffered internally from the complex web of human relationships like this. He wished he could just laugh it off as someone else’s problem, but he couldn’t even do that.

The saying about a rough stone getting hit perfectly described it. Indeed, a rough stone as formidable as Ilay Riegrow was rare. He knew that irrational people were scattered everywhere in the world, but he never imagined such a person could exist. The fact that falling next to him wasn’t his choice at least allowed him to blame others, but thinking about it, he was truly a strange—and terrible—person.