Passion Novel - Volume 3 - Chapter 65

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue. He had never failed to complain that this guy deserved to get a taste of his own medicine whenever something happened, but now that it had actually happened, it wasn’t a good sight at all.

“Why did you ruin an innocent person’s eyes, you vile bastard? Did you dislike the eyes that looked at you so much? To me, they didn’t seem any different from anyone else’s. …Well, I guess looking at them did feel a bit unpleasant.”

Jeong Taeui recalled that unpleasant gaze that would scrutinize a person from head to toe and frowned. But even if it was unpleasant, no one would think of destroying those eyes. Indeed, this guy was too far removed from normal ways of thinking. It’s no wonder he gets stabbed or poisoned.

Jeong Taeui quietly stared at Ilay, then pulled his cheek. It was something he would never dare to do if Ilay were conscious. So he did it. When this man woke up, when would he ever be able to do something like this again?

“If you have a complaint, then wake up. …You brought this upon yourself, you idiot.”

Jeong Taeui released his hand. Today, from start to finish, had truly been a complete mess. Damn it. If bad luck was going to cling to anyone, it should have just clung to him, why drag other people into it? What rotten luck.

***

Footsteps were heard from outside. The sound, starting from the door of the adjacent room, faded as it moved towards the elevator.

In this first floor, where the population density was significantly lower than the sixth basement floor, hearing sounds made by someone other than himself was uncommon. Unless he deliberately came to meet someone, he rarely encountered anyone else.

Indeed, the people living on this floor were mostly prison guards and Gyohos. The soundproofing between rooms was good, but the wall facing the corridor seemed thin, as sounds from the corridor could be heard from quite a distance. He heard it was deliberately designed that way for security reasons.

But the people living on this floor weren’t the type to be easily overcome by an intruder, Jeong Taeui thought, then shook his head. It was because he recalled the person lying unconscious in a room inside this block.

“When even the person least likely to be harmed is lying unconscious like that, who could truly be safe?”

Jeong Taeui mumbled, lying prone on the bed. That thought tangled his mind again, and he clicked his tongue. He looked at his watch; it was just past 10 o’clock. Recently, his uncle and the instructors had seemed very busy. With a joint training exercise approaching and a valuable helping hand incapacitated, they might be even busier doing his share of the work. Thanks to that, the Gyohos also rushed around so hectically that it was intimidating to even speak to them.

“Still, if you call someone, you should keep the time, Uncle…”

He had accidentally run into his uncle that morning. As usual, busy, his uncle, who was holding a phone between his shoulder and ear and taking and returning papers offered by a captain, gestured to Jeong Taeui when he saw him and told him to stop by at night. When asked what time, his uncle carelessly replied, “Around 10 o’clock should be fine,” and then walked away with a face that screamed “swamped,” without giving Jeong Taeui a chance to ask what was going on.

The joint training was not something to be easily dismissed as simply gathering people from each branch, training them, and sending them back. In severe cases, people could die—though in reality, it was rare for four or five people to die like in the last training, usually just several injured—so it wasn’t something to be prepared for carelessly. Moreover, the cost of the training alone was an unimaginable amount for ordinary people. With just over a week left until the South American training, his uncle was increasingly buried under work outside of regular duties.

“Come to think of it, I won’t be able to come here for a while again.”

Jeong Taeui mumbled, recalling the rule that members were prohibited from entering the first floor during joint training, then looked at his watch again. It was almost 10:30. If it was this late past the agreed time, even knowing he was waiting comfortably in his room, there should have been at least one call.

He must be incredibly busy, Jeong Taeui thought, scratching the back of his neck. Just then, a light flickered on the desk, and a low, soft mechanical sound was heard. It was the phone. Jeong Taeui instinctively frowned and turned around. The sound of the phone ringing in this room habitually made him think of Ilay. Along with the white hand that appeared on the screen, he recalled the memory of Ilay shamelessly pretending to be an antique book broker and leading a smooth conversation.

“Well, he never actually said he was an antique book broker himself… anyway.”

He got off the bed and approached the desk. The phone was ringing, but the monitor wasn’t on. Now that he looked, the blinking lamp was green. It was an internal line. Perhaps his uncle was calling Jeong Taeui, who was waiting in the room.

“Yes, this is Instructor Jeong Changin’s room.”

Jeong Taeui pressed the lamp and answered the phone. Even if it wasn’t his uncle, it was someone within the branch anyway.

“…”

No voice was heard from the phone. Jeong Taeui tilted his head slightly, but thinking there might be a problem with the phone line or he hadn’t heard correctly, he repeated the same words. However, it was only after a brief pause that a voice was heard.

“Instructor Jeong hasn’t come in yet?”

Jeong Taeui immediately recognized the owner of the voice, which was not familiar but recognizable. It was Instructor Crimson.

Jeong Taeui was silent for a moment, then replied, “No, he hasn’t come in yet.” He wondered what this person wanted. Moreover, he would often encounter him if he had to work non-stop these days, but was he working separately? Well, if they served different subordinates, it wouldn’t be strange for them to work separately in this competitive system. Although he doubted they would work so inefficiently.

Crimson hung up without another word. Jeong Taeui stared at the receiver for a moment before putting it down. Crimson. He attended his lectures every week. Although it wasn’t personal, they’d spoken a few times. He couldn’t quite get a read on him. It was impossible to know anything about someone after only a few brief encounters. Still, he hadn’t heard any particularly bad rumors, and Jeong Taeui had no bad memories of him. But somehow… he seemed like someone it would be hard to get close to.

Thinking that, Jeong Taeui chuckled. Where would he find someone among the guards here that he could be truly close to? Even his uncle, whom Jeong Taeui had known since childhood as a relative, was only treated this way because of their history. If he had met him as a stranger when he was an adult, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to get close to him. It wasn’t that the person was bad, but Jeong Taeui simply didn’t like people whose true intentions were unknown.

“Uncle is someone you can’t let your guard down around either.”

“What did I do?”

No sooner had Jeong Taeui finished speaking than a reply came back. He turned to see his uncle opening the door and entering. Jeong Taeui said with a blank expression,

“You scared me. Of all times, why did you have to come back when I was talking bad about you?”

“You’re the kind of guy who’d know everything from my footsteps the moment I got out of the elevator.”

“I heard footsteps approaching, but who would have known it was you, Uncle?”

“Who wouldn’t know you deliberately started talking the moment my footsteps stopped in front of the door?”

“What are you talking about? You’re mistaken, Uncle.”

Jeong Taeui, who had answered politely with a very serious and earnest face, relaxed his expression as he watched his uncle take off his jacket, looking tired.

“You must be really busy with work. Your face has, to exaggerate, halved.”

“That’s all because some guy got stabbed at the wrong time and collapsed when things were busy. Ah, you must have waited a long time.”

“For what? Thirty minutes is just enough time to nap and play around.”

As always, as soon as his uncle took off his jacket, he went to the refrigerator to get water and offered Jeong Taeui a can of beer. Jeong Taeui waved his hand, pointing to the two empty beer cans already on the side table. His uncle nodded and took out only his own water.

“Oh. You had a call.”

“Call? Who?”

“Instructor Crimson.”

His uncle paused his hand, which was tilting a cup. Then he subtly raised an eyebrow and asked again,

“Crimson?”

“Yes… now that I think about it, I didn’t say the name. It might have been someone else. But it was an internal call, and that voice sounded like him.”

“Hmm. Right.”

His uncle nodded and mumbled. He seemed to be thinking about something for a moment with a blank expression, then suddenly turned his head as if something had just occurred to him.

“Rick, is he feeling better?”

Jeong Taeui was silent for a moment, then nodded ambiguously. There was nothing to get better from. Ilay was still unconscious, as if asleep, and hadn’t woken up. He hadn’t seen him awake for over a full day. Whenever he had a chance—he’d gone six or seven times just today—he was still the same. His uncle mumbled, “Right,” and then threw himself onto the single-seater couch.

“Speaking of which, I just got a call from that guy’s brother earlier.”

“Ah, the family must have been contacted too. Were they very worried?”

Someone with Ilay’s personality would be very far from the word ‘worry,’ but he seemed to recall hearing that Ilay’s brother was a normal, humane person.

“Hmm, no, he called for something else, and then Rick’s story came up, and he laughed.”

“…”

Jeong Taeui stared at his uncle with a dumbfounded expression. What kind of person laughs when their sibling is at death’s door? Seeing that meaning in his gaze, his uncle, understanding Jeong Taeui’s thoughts, waved his hand, defending his friend.

“No, not in that way. He confirmed his life and death first, and then he laughed. Saying he’d seen all sorts of strange things.”

He could understand that feeling. Jeong Taeui himself might have laughed, asking how such a thing could happen, if he were somewhere else and Ilay had been stabbed and fallen into a coma. It was only because he saw the unconscious man in front of him that he didn’t feel that way.

“That brother of his seems to know his sibling very well. Well, that’s natural, I suppose.”

Jeong Taeui sighed and mumbled. Somehow, he felt a little relieved. Such laughter meant that he was confident his brother wouldn’t die. Right, there was no way that tough, tenacious guy would be that badly off. Jeong Taeui patted the heavy area near his heart. His uncle stared at Jeong Taeui, lost in thought. It was as if he were scrutinizing something.

“? Why?”

“Oh, nothing in particular. Just thinking about Riegrow’s inhuman side, it’s a bit strange.”

“I also find Ilay’s inhuman side strange. Before I came here, I never thought such a person would exist in reality.”

His uncle laughed out loud. Jeong Taeui thought he had said something obvious, but his uncle acted as if he had heard something incredibly funny. As Jeong Taeui looked at his uncle suspiciously, his uncle laughed softly for a while before shaking his head.

“That’s true, but he’s been unusually good to you in his own way.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course.”

“Didn’t you once say not to go near him and to run away immediately if he even entered my sight?”

“That’s a separate issue. Besides, on that matter, you’re already too late.”

“…That’s not very pleasant.”

Jeong Taeui mumbled gloomily. His uncle’s words weren’t wrong. Objectively, Jeong Taeui also felt that monster seemed to back off a step for him compared to others. However, he didn’t know how much he had to be cautious and deliberate with every word and action to achieve that. Even if he backed off a step, Jeong Taeui knew that this man would not hesitate to snap his neck if he deviated even an inch.

“How are things with Shin-ru these days? Ah. Well, Shin-ru must be busy too, so you probably haven’t had much time together.”

Jeong Taeui grew even gloomier at the new topic his uncle brought up, asking about his well-being. He hadn’t seen Shin-ru properly since that day. Sometimes they’d pass each other in the hallway, but he hadn’t received any calls. Jeong Taeui also thought about calling but always put the phone down. It was a total mess, with nothing going right. It was as if he was under a triple curse.

Jeong Taeui inwardly sighed as if the ground would swallow him whole and shook his head vigorously.

“So, why did you call me, Uncle?”

He thought it was better to change the subject. Dwelling on things that were already complicated and he didn’t want to think about would only wear him down mentally. His uncle sat with his hands clasped over his knees, looking intently at Jeong Taeui, then smiled calmly, saying, “Well, that’s good.”

“The joint training with the South American branch is coming up soon, you know.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You stay here.”

His uncle spoke concisely. Jeong Taeui quietly stared at his uncle. Even if his uncle hadn’t said anything, Jeong Taeui was very likely to remain at the Asian branch here. No, it was practically a certainty he would stay here. As an adjutant attached to an instructor, if the instructor remained at this branch, Jeong Taeui would follow.

“Yes, I will.”

Jeong Taeui answered readily and nodded. Then his uncle spoke again.

“And please help McKin a bit.”

This time, Jeong Taeui remained silent for quite a while. McKin was an instructor who worked under Rudolph Gentil, along with his uncle. So he understood the desire for him to help, but he couldn’t understand how he was supposed to help at all. Joint training was a mix of team and individual play, but it wasn’t something where you specifically helped someone. Moreover, an instructor didn’t participate in the training in the same position as a subordinate; if anything, he would receive help, not give it. His uncle burst into laughter at Jeong Taeui’s puzzled gaze.

“Don’t make such a difficult face. Just, if McKin asks for your help, then help him.”

“Well, will he ever ask me for help?”

Jeong Taeui mumbled in an unenthusiastic tone, recalling McKin’s blunt face. Furthermore, if he needed help from someone, he would have his own adjutant, so it was unclear why he would ask Jeong Taeui. Jeong Taeui stared intently at his uncle for a long time, but his uncle seemed to have no intention of saying more, only offering an awkward smile.

“No comment?”

“No comment.”

Jeong Taeui sighed lightly and nodded.

“I’ll do that. If it’s something I can do, and it doesn’t involve killing someone or personally harming them.”

“Ahaha, it won’t be like that. Good, thank you for agreeing to help.”

“You’re welcome,” Jeong Taeui said, shrugging his shoulders.

He didn’t have a good feeling about it. He regretted agreeing the moment the words left his mouth. After all, the reason he came here was for his uncle’s convenience, so there was no reason to refuse his uncle’s wishes at this point, with not much time left until his departure. So, although he wasn’t keen, he nodded, but something about it felt unsettling.

Uncle is quite the sly one, isn’t he?

If he hadn’t trusted that his uncle wouldn’t harm him, he would have refused.

“Then I’ll get going now. Do you need anything else?”

“No, no. Then get some good rest.”

“Yes. …Ah. By the way, during the training period, if an instructor falls ill, what does the adjutant do?”

Jeong Taeui, who had stood up and was heading for the door, suddenly remembered and asked. His uncle subtly raised an eyebrow, then seemed to ponder for a moment, mumbling “Hmm.” It seemed his uncle didn’t know exactly either.

“Well, I’ve never heard of such a case. However, in matters not related to the instructor, he’s exactly like the other members, so he’ll probably participate in the training as usual. …But I don’t think that guy won’t wake up until the joint training begins.”

“I agree. I was just curious.”

Jeong Taeui shrugged and turned to leave. He was about to step out the door after saying “Good night,” when his uncle, who had been frowning and lost in thought, suddenly called out,

“Taeui.”

Jeong Taeui looked back at his uncle. His uncle was silent for a moment longer after calling him, then said ambiguously,

“I think you need to be a little more diligent.”

“Me? …Am I very lazy?”

Jeong Taeui pointed to himself and asked again. He considered himself reasonably diligent. Of course, he indulged in laziness on holidays and during breaks, napping whenever he had a chance and subtly skipping boring lectures if he could get away with it, but he didn’t think he was lazy enough to be called so. As Jeong Taeui tried to pinpoint what parts of him were so lazy, his uncle said something cryptic.

“You have good intuition and judgment, but you lack a bit in action. Or rather, your judgment goes astray sometimes. Especially when people are involved. If someone pokes your side, you pretend to avoid it for a bit, but then you just get annoyed and tell them to do whatever they want, settling down.”

“Am I like that?”

Jeong Taeui tilted his head. It was an unexpected remark. He pondered if he had been like that, but nothing came to mind. Most importantly, no one had ever ‘poked his side.’ If he had to say, it would be that damned Lieutenant Kim, but he had retaliated then. His uncle seemed about to say more as Jeong Taeui’s eyes rolled around, but then he shrugged and closed his mouth.

“Well, there’s no limit to dissecting someone’s true intentions. You’ll be fine. Even if you unfortunately get entangled with someone incredibly difficult and troublesome, you’ll….”

“What do you mean, Uncle?”

“That you’re very sociable.”

“I don’t think so. Why are you saying things that sound like they’re bringing dark clouds to my future, so ominously?”

As Jeong Taeui feigned a frown, his uncle waved his hand.

“No, no, I’m just a bit oversensitive. As one gets older, worries just increase.”

His uncle lamented, “Look at my gray hair, it was healthy black until last year, but now white hairs are starting to sprout one by one.” Jeong Taeui sighed.

“Next time you go out, buy some hair dye. You’re not young anymore, Uncle.”

Comforting his uncle, who saddened saying, “My heart is still young, but my body doesn’t follow, which is also a truly sad thing,” Jeong Taeui left the room.

***

He knew his friend would laugh like that. “Haha,” he’d probably say, gently and pleasantly. And on the other end of the phone, he was probably shaking his head.

‘As long as he’s breathing, that’s all that matters. If he was the type to die that easily, he’d have died ages ago. But living means you see all sorts of strange things. …Hahaha.’

“Hey, hey, even if that’s true, you shouldn’t laugh like that when your brother’s dying.”

But Jeong Changin, who said that, was also muttering in an unconcerned tone.

‘He won’t die, he won’t die.’

Jeong Changin firmly believed his friend’s obvious words, but it was human nature to want to prod him when he said it so nonchalantly.

“Is your brother some kind of immortal, not dying even after being stabbed with a germ-ridden knife?”

‘That guy is strong against bad luck. He’s in a different league than Jeong Jaei, but he’s also incredibly lucky. If he was the type to die from that, he’d have died hundreds of times already.’

“That’s true. …Is there any news about Jaeui?”

Suddenly, his friend’s voice became somber. The regretful voice clicking his tongue and answering “No” was heartbreaking.