Black Paradise Chapter 1.3

“You probably shouldn’t go. They were making a fuss about having a celebration party in the research institute cafeteria. Well, the chances are low, but you might run into him, you know?”

Ju Yoonchae, who had followed him out of the house, added Haoran’s name to Ilyeong’s puzzled face. Ah. Ilyeong groaned and revised his plan.

“I should go home then.”

“Will you be okay?”

“I have something to give them anyway.”

Ju Yoonchae had a clearly reluctant expression, but she soon brought something out from inside the house.

“Then wear this. It’s my fiancé’s, give it back later.”

Ju Yoonchae insisted on putting the hat in Ilyeong’s hands, who was persistently refusing.

Ju Yoonchae was a wise woman. While walking home, unwanted stories flowed in relentlessly, so much so that he lamented why ears did not have lids. Most of it was about the afternoon’s lottery drawing, and all of it was about the suspicious winner, Kwon Ilyeong.

The residential area of the trash village was divided into east and west, centering on the square. Ju Yoonchae’s house was in the east, and Ilyeong’s house was in the west. That also meant he had to cross the square, the epicenter of the rumors.

“They say Captain Nam chases after that researcher’s tail like that, I knew this would happen. He definitely used some dirty tricks to get him on the winner’s list!”

“It’s unfair! Let’s protest and demand a proper investigation!”

In a corner of the square, a middle-aged woman took it upon herself to act as a ringleader and raised her voice. There was not a single soldier around. Why were Nam Giyoon and his lackeys always absent at times like this?

Ilyeong pulled the hat down deeper and swallowed the anger that was about to jump out of his throat.

After walking for almost 10 minutes at a near-run, he was finally able to arrive in front of his house. He had not planned to stop by, so he had forgotten his key. He had no choice but to retrace his memory and fumble along the window sill next to the front door with his fingertips. The key that his cousin always hid as a spare was caught in his fingertips. Ilyeong carefully poked the keyhole and opened the door.

Cobwebs and insects greeted him before any person did. Next was the voice that echoed loudly throughout the house.

“What the hell is Kwon Ilyeong doing running around?”

Ilyeong stopped for a moment at the entrance. A voice that had fiercely burst out from somewhere in the house rang through the air. It was surprising to hear such a loud voice in the house, which was always as quiet as a dead mouse, and it was also unexpected to hear his own name in the conversation, so he was momentarily flustered.

Ilyeong held his breath and looked around the house. The collapsing low ceiling, the trash rolling on the floor, and the rancid smell that stung his nose were all no different from what he remembered. Just then, a mouse popped out from a paper bag tucked in a corner and scurried behind a drawer. Its red eyes, which he caught a glimpse of, warned Ilyeong to turn around and leave even now.

What should I do. After a moment of thought, Ilyeong slowly took a step. The source of the voice was, as expected, the living room, which was the most spacious area in this hovel.

“It’s obvious. Ilyeong, that bastard, must have played some trick on the soldiers. To finally abandon us!”

“I was suspicious from the beginning. He’s the only one among us with black hair and blue eyes. We’re better off without a bad-tempered mutant like that.”

“That’s not right! Think of all the money he brings in……”

The field mice of the trash village were all gathered there. The plump-bodied field mice, who were continuing their loud debate, froze when they spotted Ilyeong standing at the entrance of the living room.

An old wall mirror hanging on the opposite wall reflected Ilyeong’s image perfectly. Black and blue eyes. Mutant. Heretic. That was his position in this house. He thought he had finally shed the skin of a field mouse by becoming a researcher, but upon entering this house, he looked like nothing more than a rat himself.

“Where have you been and what have you been doing?! Did you really hand this house over to Nam Giyoon? Did you sell us out too?”

A brown field mouse, who was on the younger side among them, lifted its head and growled. It was his cousin, Alec, whom he had last seen a few months ago.

Had there been such a rumor in the square as well? The immoral Kwon Ilyeong who sold his house and family for the lottery. A smirk leaked from the corner of his mouth. He threw the key he was holding in his hand straight at his face.

“Ack! What was that for?!”

“What is there to steal in this smelly house to sell it off. No one steals the house key even if you leave it out in the open.”

Ilyeong scanned the leeches who were barely surviving on the money he had scraped together.

“Wake up. Do you think you’re such great treasures that you can be traded for a lottery win?”

He was sick and tired of it. Of that lofty pride that did not acknowledge their pathetic reality. Of those gazes that were trying to butcher him and scrape up every last drop of his blood…….

Among the pale, dead faces, the only flushed face popped out and slapped Ilyeong’s cheek. His cheek caught fire.

“You bastard! Do you think you’re something?! What’s so great about that damn research institute! How great is a researcher position!”

At the merciless slap, Ilyeong staggered helplessly. He must have bitten his tongue wrong, as the fishy, metallic taste of blood quickly filled his mouth.

Ilyeong glared at Alec with a venomous face and shrieked.

“Then what are you, more than ten of you leeching off one insignificant researcher. I didn’t sell you! I didn’t sell you!”

“Is that so? Then you must have sold your body instead of us. Everyone in the square was talking about you today. They said you’ve been selling your ass to that soldier bastard all this time, right?”

All the blood in his body drained to his feet. Alec smiled arrogantly like someone who had gained the upper hand.

“Why do you have such a wronged expression. Did you think we wouldn’t know you were selling your body to a man? You filthy bastard. It’s only been a few years since my uncle died because of him, how could you even to a bastard like that……”

Ilyeong rushed at Alec. Usually, he would not have cared what kind of fit Alec threw, or how much the others turned his stomach with their scathing words, but today was an exception. His patience, which had already been poked in order by the lottery, Nam Giyoon, and the insolent doctor bastard, snapped.

Who was it that filled their stomachs with that money. Who would have been food for the flies by now if not for that! Who was it that pushed me there! Something hot surged up his throat.

“Stop it, stop!”

“Let me go!! Ack!!!”

The living room instantly became a scene of pandemonium. Ilyeong bit Alec’s right hand, which had slapped his cheek, like a dog. No matter how much the pack of field mice pulled at his hair and clothes, he stubbornly clenched his jaw. He felt the bone under the soft flesh misalign.

Alec quickly hit Ilyeong’s head hard.

“……Kwon Ilyeong!”

For a moment, his whole body swayed. As if he had been hit on the head wrong, a high-pitched ringing, beee, leaked from his ears. The sound was sharper than the echoing pain in his skull, so Ilyeong unconsciously grabbed the wall and staggered.

I’m dizzy, it’s noisy. It was so disgusting that he felt like gagging. Ilyeong did not hold back the evil that was coming out from inside him and poured it out.

“There’s a limit to delusions……. If Paradise is a place you can go to by selling your body to a mere soldier, then you guys try it! Go out and sell your bodies!”

Alec clutched his hand with the tattered flesh and sobbed. The other field mice gathered around him.

The sensation of the flesh and blood stuck between his teeth was horrible. Ilyeong spat the bloody saliva, ptooey, onto the floor. His mind was tattered as if a part of his brain had fallen out with it. Suppressing the terrible headache, he fumbled through his pockets. The wad of bills tied with a rubber band fell to the floor with a thud. The field mice’s gazes rose from the floor to him.

“This is the last time. I’m sick and tired of this anymore……”

Damn it. If he did not shut his mouth, he would keep vomiting curses, so he had to bite his lower lip hard.

Ilyeong turned around and staggered out of the house. The harsh winter wind of the trash village filled his empty brain. It was so cold that, uncharacteristically, tears welled up.

He hurriedly fumbled in his pockets. A rectangular box was caught. There was no time to consider his disappointment. He took out the medicine from inside, swallowed it without water, and ran straight to the research institute.

*

The day broke. Ilyeong opened his eyes in his sanctuary. He had spent the night thoroughly intoxicated with drugs, so he was sprawled on the floor just as he had been. His body was shivering a little. The winter wind, which had happily taken up residence in a corner of his brain yesterday, was still roaring and tormenting his eardrums.

Now, a son of a bitch and the winter wind were parasites in his brain. It was the beginning of the quietest, and shittiest, day of his twenty-five-year life.

The tin case he had lost the day before was found on the floor of the night-duty room. Knowing that Haoran and his gang had stayed at the institute yesterday, his mind went blank for a moment, but fortunately, the tin case was empty.

Did I take all the medicine? He tried to retrace his memory, then gave up on that as well. It would take a whole day and still not be enough to retrieve all his fragmented memories. He had no choice but to go through the troublesome task of breaking the pills in half anew.

Of course, he discarded the headache medicine that the annoying doctor bastard had given him. The fact that the ingredients were not written on the box made it even more bothersome. To prescribe something like this that had no effect and call it medicine. He wondered who on earth gave a doctor’s license to a bastard like that.

“The departure is in a week, right?”

“Yes, I plan to spend a lot of time with my family until then.”

“Congratulations again, honey. Um, and……”

A particularly strange current was flowing in the research institute. Everyone had a face that was wavering between whether to congratulate Haoran’s win or to doubt Ilyeong’s.

Ilyeong mercifully decided to reduce their options by one. He left the office and headed to the rooftop alone. It was blatant truancy, but no one would say anything. They would just bless Haoran with peace of mind.

When he stood with his arms on the rooftop railing, the entire gray scenery of the trash village was visible. In a week, it would be goodbye to this tiresome scenery as well.

Nam Giyoon had said that in Paradise there were many researchers who were incomparably more excellent than him. Jo had said that there were wide oceans and delicious food there. They were all attractive things that were hard to dream of here. And yet, if he was not excited at all, was he the abnormal one?

“Welcome to Paradise.”

“Ugh……”

Suddenly, the headache intensified and rang. A low voice that made all his hair stand on end came with it. The winter wind roared along as if resonating with the voice. The headache barked loudly as if it could not lose.

It was a headache. Ever since he had that strange dream yesterday, Seo Juhyeok’s voice had been coming to him like an auditory hallucination at any time.

Why did I have such a dream? Where did Seo Juhyeok suddenly come from? There was, as expected, only one possible answer. From the first time he saw the promotional video, he had been hiding in his head without anyone knowing, and when he was weakened, he had taken the opportunity to set up a base there.

Yes, thinking about it like this, there were a total of three guests gathered in his brain. The son of a bitch, the winter wind, Seo Juhyeok…….

The more he thought about it, the more intense the dream was. The fleeting moment when Seo Juhyeok, wearing the mask of the grim reaper, opened his arms and embraced him was vivid. As was the sensation of him pressing his mouth to his ear, as if whispering sweet nothings to a lover.

Most of all, the voice that enveloped his eardrums like a cradle was ecstatic. Ever since he started taking the medicine, he had never been so intensely captivated by anything, but when he focused on Seo Juhyeok’s voice, the son of a bitch and the winter wind also quieted down a bit.

Ilyeong, who was inwardly pleased with the unwelcome auditory hallucination, suddenly frowned. If he let more guests into his head like that, his brain might just burst open.

“I’m sure I told you to take just one pill only when you feel like you can’t bear it.”

A voice from somewhere stopped the hand that was habitually emptying the tin case.

……What was I doing?

The number of pills on his palm was five. Paired up, that was two and a half. It was by no means a small amount. If he had swallowed all of this, he would have laughed, saying it was fine to fall down there and have his head smashed.

Was I really going to take all of this? ……No, what was I just thinking?

His head turned blankly to the rooftop door.

“Don’t tell me you already took it?”

Bright brown hair fluttered in the air. The man who strode over suddenly grabbed Ilyeong’s chin and pulled it down. His mouth was forced open in an instant. The man’s eyes, which were examining the inside of his mouth, suddenly spotted something else and became even more hostile.

“This doesn’t seem to be the medicine I gave you.”

His mind cleared up at that sarcastic voice. The man’s face, which he had not been able to distinguish, was also properly imprinted in his memory. It was that annoying doctor bastard he had seen yesterday. The man’s gaze scanned the pills on his palm eerily.

“Get your hands off me.”

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Your eyes are not in their right mind right now.”

Ilyeong roughly shook off the hand that was holding his chin. He also swept all the pills from his palm back into the tin case.

As if the man’s words were not a lie, his whole body fluttered like a piece of paper with that one movement.

It seemed that the effect of the medicine he had swallowed more than usual yesterday had not yet worn off. Ilyeong gritted his teeth and barely managed to stand up straight, leaning on the railing.

“What is that suspicious medicine? Is that the medicine Nam Giyoon was talking about? He said it was just a painkiller, but I’ve never seen it before? Let me see.”

“I told you to get your hands off me.”

“Ha…. Where did you put the medicine I gave you?”

“It didn’t have much of an effect. So I put it where it belongs.”

“Don’t tell me you threw it away? Do you know how much that costs…!”

What do I care. It would already be swimming freely in the water past the toilet in the second-floor bathroom of the research institute. Maybe it would even melt and reach the sea of Paradise. Returning. Like a school of salmon.

What was surprising was the man’s reaction. No matter how much it was Nam Giyoon’s request, he had thought he had no interest in his condition, but it seemed he had given him quite an expensive medicine, as his face turned a little pale. The man rubbed his eyes roughly as if he were tired.

“It doesn’t make sense that the medicine didn’t have much of an effect. It’s a new drug currently under development in Paradise. It’s much stronger than the medicine used in the evacuation zone’s infirmary.”

He still threw out informal words as if he were talking to himself. Ilyeong ignored the man’s gaze that was fiercely fixed on the tin case. And he hid it completely in his pocket.

“There are usually two cases where this medicine doesn’t work. Either you’re addicted to a stronger drug, or your symptoms are so severe that they overcome the drug’s effect. Shall I guess which one is Mr. Kwon Ilyeong’s case?”

“Let’s stop. I’m tired.”

The man, who had been staring as if to pierce through his pocket, moved his gaze and stared intently at Ilyeong.

“Both, ……I think it might be. Am I wrong?”

He barely resisted the urge to snap at him that he would be better off as a fortune teller than a doctor. His mind and body were already stretched thin like taffy, and now some strange bastard was sticking to him.

Ilyeong sighed loud enough for him to hear and walked past him. He left no evidence to support the man’s hasty guess.

The man stubbornly followed behind Ilyeong and whispered.

“Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, please answer me. I have a lot of questions for you.”

“Get lost.”

“Your mouth is as foul as I’ve heard. The whole trash village is buzzing with stories about you. Do you know that?”

The man who confirmed a fact he already knew in this way was unpleasant. As he quickened his pace while gnawing on his lips, his arm was finally caught. Ilyeong swung his arm wide.

“Ugh!”

As if he had not expected him to resist, the man was defenselessly hit in the jaw by Ilyeong’s swinging elbow. He must have been hit quite hard, as his eyes were tightly squinted. In the midst of this, he was checking his complexion as if waiting for an apology, but Ilyeong instead hardened his eyes and glared at him.

“Stop faking it. Even if you pretend to be weak, I won’t answer your questions.”

The man laughed with a dumbfounded face and lowered the hand that was cupping his jaw. His lower lip was a little red at the edge, perhaps from being scraped by his teeth when he was hit. His red tongue flicked out and licked the area before disappearing back into his mouth.

“I’m bleeding. If you hit someone, you should apologize. It seems people in the evacuation zone have no manners.”

“Then are all the people in Paradise as insolent as you?”

“What are you trusting in to be so defiant? I didn’t expect to receive this kind of shabby treatment after coming all the way here.”

“Why not. Did you expect a welcome with that insolence? I’m barely holding back from wanting to kick you, so if you don’t want to see anything worse, get lost.”

“I can’t do that. I’ve already taken something.”

The man smiled sardonically and made a gesture of waving his hand by forming a circle with his thumb and index finger. Ha, fuck……. Ilyeong stopped and glared at him with flashing eyes.

“It’s Nam Giyoon again.”

“Are you on such informal terms with Nam Giyoon that you speak informally to each other? Then is that rumor true?”

It felt like his head was finally exploding from the barrage of rude questions.

“What rumor. You speak informally to Nam Giyoon too, so does that mean you two suck each other’s dicks?”

“When did I ever go that far……”

“You speak informally, so what’s the reason I can’t. Because you’re a great person from Paradise, and I’m an insignificant person from the trash village?”

“……”

“The reason I speak informally is just because he’s a piece of trash that doesn’t need to be respected. There’s no other reason.”

The man’s expression became strange. It seemed as if he had hit a nerve, and also as if he was a person who had been pointed out on a part he had not thought of. So for a moment, it seemed he did not notice that he himself had become someone who was being spoken to informally alongside Nam Giyoon.

Ilyeong shut his mouth for a moment and caught his breath. It was not something to get this worked up about, but his head was heated. It seemed that the number of uninvited guests inside had suddenly increased, causing an overload.

“Doctor whose name I don’t know.”

“It’s Liam Olsen. Just call me Liam.”

Ilyeong frowned for a moment before continuing.

“Mr. Liam, since it’s awkward for both of us to see each other’s faces, let’s stop here. I don’t know what Nam Giyoon told you to do while giving you money, but……”

“What else is there to ask a doctor to do? Of course, it’s treatment.”

“……Nam Giyoon asked you to treat me, even giving you money?”

“That’s right. Nam Giyoon would cry if he knew he was being suspected like this even after doing a good deed.”

As if to render his efforts to calm down futile, Liam once again brandished the three-character name like a weapon. The name that Ilyeong could never just let slide.

“Nam Giyoon, Nam Giyoon, at the end of every sentence……. Nam Giyoon would be moved to tears by your lackey-like loyalty.”

“Lackey?”

It was at that moment that laughter burst from Liam’s mouth. The facial muscles that had been hardened and stiff as if angry relaxed softly. He bent over and just laughed for a long time as if he was genuinely amused. It seemed that the man himself was the one who needed his head treated.

Ilyeong ignored him and just walked past. Liam giggled and laughed for a long time behind his back, then blocked Ilyeong again just before he opened the rooftop door.

Bang. An arm that stretched out coolly closed the jaws of the iron door.

“You can’t. I told you. I’ve already taken something, so I can’t just let you go like this.”

“It’ll be fine as long as Nam Giyoon doesn’t find out.”

“Now I know why Nam Giyoon looks at you so fondly.”

There it was again, that maddening talk. Ju Yoonchae and this man, he was sick of hearing about how Nam Giyoon’s eyes were.

“Is that so? I’m not curious at all, so keep it to yourself and get lost.”

“Don’t be so cold. Aren’t you worried? About the state Nam Giyoon is in because of you.”

Ilyeong’s steps stopped as if bound. Why Nam Giyoon? What state was he in? And why was it because of me?

Ilyeong poured out countless questions with his eyes. Liam closed the distance between them.

“It’s a problem if you have a face that says you don’t know anything. The reason Captain Nam shot his gun like a crazy person yesterday, it was because of you, wasn’t it.”

As always, Ilyeong completely erased Nam Giyoon’s weak expression from his memory. It was easier to hate him by leaving only the most toxic and ugly things. He lifted his chin more defiantly.

“With what conviction?”

“Because I was there at that time. I was getting annoyed because he had been bothering me since the morning, and I got to see a rare sight. Now I get it……. It seems the reason he had been trying to bring me to this trash village for the past few months was also because of Mr. Kwon Ilyeong.”

Now he really felt like his head was going to break. Who cares about Nam Giyoon or whatever. All these incomprehensible stories were buzzing in his ears.

Liam, who had been staring at Ilyeong for a moment, took something else out of his pocket and put it in his hand. It was a new medicine box.

“Don’t throw it away. I’m telling you. I’m sure of it, that one pill is more expensive than your one-year living expenses.”

“I told you I don’t need it.”

“Just take it without another word. There will be a time when it will be helpful.”

When he stared intently as if to ask what he was talking about, Liam shrugged his shoulders.

“When you go to Paradise, if you run into any trouble, show that to the soldiers around you. Most problems will be solved.”

What use is a mere medicine against a soldier with a gun. Ilyeong, deliberately being spiteful, clenched his fist tightly and crushed the medicine box. Liam’s eyes twitched slightly, but he pretended not to notice.

“‘Give it to me if I run into trouble.’ You seem so certain that something like that will happen to me.”

“Do I? You’re sharp. Just take it as if you’re being tricked.”

“If what you’re saying is true, why are you telling me that? The price Nam Giyoon paid was only for my treatment.”

“Hmm. That’s certainly true. Let’s just say it’s a service I’m giving because I feel a little sorry for Captain Nam. Well, maybe I’ve also started to like Mr. Kwon Ilyeong a little?”

Ilyeong frowned. It seemed that a strange smell that only attracted trash was coming from him.

Liam scanned Ilyeong’s face with curious eyes, then straightened the wrinkled collar of his coat.

“One more thing. Stop taking that suspicious medicine from earlier right away. It seems to be killing you.”

Ridiculous. He couldn’t last a day without it, and he was saying the medicine was killing him.

In his head, the son of a bitch and the winter wind rose up fiercely as if in protest. He glared to keep the persistent headache and angry tinnitus from being noticed.

“Because of Nam Giyoon, I’ve gotten busy too, so this will be the last time we see each other in the trash village.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Haha……. Well, alright. My congratulations are late. Congratulations on winning the lottery. Let’s meet again someday.”

Liam lightly patted Ilyeong’s shoulder and walked past him. Soon, the sound of the iron door slamming shut came from behind the door.

The act of leaving for Paradise suddenly became trivial. If all the people living there were as annoying as that doctor, his head would probably explode before long. Into smithereens. The winter wind howled as if in agreement with that statement.

A week passed by idly and quickly. Time was like a bullet that had left the muzzle. Once the target was set, it moved forward without giving him a moment’s rest. In contrast, Ilyeong’s mind repeatedly twisted and turned.

He decided to invest his last week in the trash village in bidding farewell to his sanctuary, which he would never see again. Ilyeong practically lived there the entire time. It was all about getting high on drugs and collapsing on the floor to sleep, but for Ilyeong, it was a solemn ritual that would never happen again.

The day of the decisive battle finally dawned. Ilyeong silently packed his belongings. In fact, it was more accurate to say he was organizing rather than packing. He washed all the instruments he had used to make medicine for the last time. He smashed all the small flasks and instruments and packed them neatly in the disposal box. In any case, he was the only one who could enter and leave this abandoned room, but it was still better to handle things properly.

He sorted the remaining powdered medicine and pills by type into tin cases. Then he wrapped each one in clothes and packed them neatly into a duffel bag. His five years at the research institute ended so emptily with that one duffel bag.

It would be nice if he could settle the other 20 years as well, but the place he once called home had long since degenerated into a den of field mice. He would never go back there. I will live as a human. At least as a human…….

Paradise is a place where people live, but it might be an even more vile enemy territory than a den of field mice. If those cunning humans found out he had drugs, they might do who knows what.

At least with the thought of not giving away his weakness from the start, he did not take a single pill last night. The dog and the winter wind, who had not eaten on time, staged a protest in his head all night long. This time, there was nothing he could do, so he faced them with wide-open eyes. No matter how much they barked, the two of them finally understood that there was nothing to eat and quieted down in the morning.

Will I be able to make drugs in Paradise? I hope so. To feed the uninvited guests in my head, I need to make even stronger drugs, in even larger quantities. He didn’t know when they might turn into field mice again and try to tear his brain apart. His role was to put them to sleep quietly. Just as he had always done.

He didn’t know how he got to the port. When he got out of the car that the military had sent to the research institute, it was the pier. Before he had a chance to look around, he was surrounded by soldiers and entered the building.

“The sea isn’t as great as I thought.”

The moment he entered the waiting room, he heard a familiar voice. He saw Haoran’s group nearby. Haoran, like Ilyeong, was quite a bit taller than the average man, so he stood out wherever he was. The person who had just mentioned the sea was Jo, standing next to him.

“I can only see water……”

“That’s because you’re looking from too far away. It’ll be different when you see it from the boat. And how can the sea in the trash village and the sea in Paradise be the same? The water there is probably emerald-colored.”

Haoran snapped back at Jo’s disappointed voice in a patronizing manner. It seemed their incomprehensible war of nerves was not over yet. It was a little funny that they were still at it until the very end.

Ilyeong slowly moved his feet. In various places in the waiting room, other winners were also sharing their final hugs and kisses with their families, lovers, and friends.

Normally, the port and pier of the evacuation zone are strictly off-limits to the public. Only those who have submitted documents and applications in advance to prove their relationship with the lottery winner and received permission can set foot here, even for a short time.

So, this place would only be this crowded once every three years, on the day the three winners leave for Paradise. Although this year, it had become four instead of three.

The controversial fourth winner, Kwon Ilyeong, slowly approached the window sill and stood in a corner. Then he scanned the inside of the waiting room with his eyes. A group of soldiers was gathered at the entrance to the gangway. On the opposite side, there were no field mice.

His mouth tasted bitter, but it was not because of disappointment. It was because the hope that remained like a crumb in a corner of his heart was pathetic and pitiful. So a self-deprecating laugh escaped.

It was at that moment that a voice was heard from behind him.

“Ilyeong.”

At the quiet call, Ilyeong turned around. It was Ju Yoonchae. It seemed she had arrived here first, before Ilyeong came.

Ju Yoonchae, who had lightly raised her hand, came closer and stood facing him at the window sill. She was dressed more loosely and comfortably than at the research institute. As she leaned her head against the glass window, the midday sunlight poured over her red hair. It was a color as intense as if it were burning.

He suddenly remembered the first time he saw Ju Yoonchae. He couldn’t remember when it was, but Ju Yoonchae hadn’t changed at all from then to now. As far as Ilyeong remembered, Ju Yoonchae was always a consistent person.

However, the mischievous, imp-like expression that was always on the lookout for a chance to play a prank could not be found now. Moreover, the fierce atmosphere, like a yaksha ready to bite its opponent at any moment, was also gone.

The bright sunlight seemed to have dried up Ju Yoonchae’s sharp temper. He, who was second to none in terms of bad temper, was no exception. He felt somewhat reverent and looked down at Ju Yoonchae quietly.

“Why do you have such a serious face on a happy day?”

The one who spoke first was Ju Yoonchae. As her eyebrows twitched slightly, she now looked a bit like the usual playful Ju Yoonchae. Ilyeong also let out a smirk and retorted.

“Who was the one who set the mood first.”

“I didn’t get a wink of sleep, so I’m a bit dazed. Why am I the one who’s all nervous when you’re the one leaving. Ah……”

“When did you get here?”

“About 10 minutes ago? A car came to the front of my house. Thanks to you, I get to see something good. I never dreamed I’d be able to see the sea in my lifetime.”

Ju Yoonchae looked beyond the transparent window with strangely sparkling eyes. Ilyeong’s gaze also turned. The view of the pier and the sea under the sunlight was quite dazzling. However, what really caught Ilyeong’s eye were the black trucks lined up in a row a little away from the pier. Ju Yoonchae didn’t notice and continued to speak, still looking at the sea as if dreaming.

“I was always curious. It seems that all the food, supplies, and test subjects distributed from Paradise come through here.”

Could it be that the food procured from Paradise was also transported in those black trucks? At a time that should have been poignant, he felt a little nauseous. He had clearly seen the dead lumps of flesh going in and out of the bellies of those trucks. Ugh.

Ilyeong felt nauseous and looked away. He was just so fixated on that thought that he didn’t even look at anything else. He agreed with Jo’s opinion that the sea was nothing more than water.

“I’ll miss you.”

Ju Yoonchae, who had been staring blankly at the window with her arms crossed, lifted her head and said. Ilyeong quickly composed his expression. Ju Yoonchae glanced at the soldiers near the gangway out of the corner of her eye.

“By the way, when is the boat coming? To be honest, I don’t know what else to say. I think I’ll think of something when I see you get on the boat.”

“Then what’s the use. Try harder. Wouldn’t it help if you imagined me dying in a few hours?”

“Hmm…. That doesn’t really resonate with me either. Now that you’re gone, I guess I’ll have to live cautiously at the research institute, just that much?”

It was a very honest and dry comment, but it didn’t feel so bad. Ilyeong fumbled with the tin case in his pocket and opened his mouth.

“I gave you a bouquet of flowers back then. I said it was a lucky charm……”

“You did.”

“To be honest, I was just saying it back then, but you never know. You should come later with your fiancé after winning. I’ll go first and save a spot for you. Then we can eat delicious food together, and also……”

He didn’t know what Paradise was like, so there was a limit to his description. He just gave up, shrugged his shoulders, and gestured toward the window with his chin.

“Let’s go see the emerald sea.”

Had Ju Yoonchae also heard what Haoran had said earlier? She chuckled and laughed for a long time as if she had heard a funny joke. Perhaps because she laughed so much, the corners of her eyes were a little red and moist.

The final goodbye ended with a single hug.

An announcement was made. It was to inform those other than the winners to leave now.

Naturally, the only person who came to say goodbye to Ilyeong until the very end was Ju Yoonchae. As the people lingered and then left, the winners picked up their respective luggage and stood in a line under the command of the soldiers.

Only then did Ilyeong confirm the faces of the other two winners besides Haoran. There was a fat middle-aged man and a skinny boy with a pale impression. He thought he might have seen them briefly at the square on the day of the lottery drawing.

“Nice to meet you. Feel free to call me Jun.”

“I-it’s Yuuto. Kawatsuki Yuuto. Please just call me Yuuto….”

“I’m Haoran.”

The three of them introduced themselves in turn and shook hands. Quite predictably, the last turn was Ilyeong. Ilyeong pretended not to see the three pairs of eyes looking at him as if by agreement.

Haoran clicked his tongue and explained to the other two.

“That person is always like that. Just ignore him.”

It seemed he no longer had the energy to talk behind his back. Good. He was more comfortable with that too.

Unlike Jun, who seemed to just agree, Yuuto kept glancing at Ilyeong and stood a little closer to him. There was a scent of wildflowers from somewhere.

Just then, a large boat blew its horn long and approached the pier. When it first appeared from a distance, he thought it was just a dot, but seeing it up close to the pier, it was so huge that it took his breath away. It was on a scale that made him wonder if it would be like that if you took apart an average building and laid it down horizontally.

Paradise-Ho.

The stylish cursive written in white letters on a navy-blue background poked at Ilyeong’s solar plexus. The winter wind let out a cry of admiration. He pressed his palms firmly against his ear holes to calm it down.

“Alright, line up and enter in order.”

Following the soldier’s urging, Ilyeong walked as if being sucked into the gangway. Since all four sides were made of glass, it felt like walking on the sea. He regretted looking down. Rocks covered in moss, seaweed, and oil stains shattered any illusion of the sea.

“It’s a cruise ship. U-usually, such a luxurious ship doesn’t come……”

Yuuto chirped, sticking close to his side. But no one responded.

How did this timid boy know that? He was curious for a moment, but he was not about to get saddled with an unwanted hanger-on just by asking that one question. Perhaps the others felt similarly. Yuuto, with his already timid shoulders slumped even further, walked in silence.

By the time the passage ended and he was sure he had finally boarded the ship, a few soldiers approached. Unlike the uniforms of the soldiers from the evacuation zone, theirs had different-colored insignia attached. That was a trophy that proved they were born and raised in Paradise. Even among the same soldiers, a clear class existed depending on their origin.

The shoulders of the four people standing in a line were tightly bunched with tension. The soldiers checked the winners’ identities and then moved their heavy luggage onto the baggage conveyor belt one by one.

Finally, it was Ilyeong’s turn.

“Do you have any luggage other than that bag?”

“No.”

“What’s in it?”

“A few clothes and……”

His lips became dry and numb. He barely managed to nudge his nerves and complete the sentence alertly.

“……headache medicine.”

“Take it out.”

Ilyeong opened the mouth of the duffel bag in front of the soldier and rummaged through it. Then he held out a box. The soldier, with a dubious expression, examined the surface of the box, on which nothing was written. Then he took out the contents and his eyes widened.

“Where did you get this?”

“I received it from a doctor who came from Paradise a few days ago.”

“My goodness.”

The soldier turned the medicine box over and over, observing it meticulously. Then he soon called over another soldier who was inspecting Haoran’s luggage in a loud voice. Then they whispered among themselves.

His mouth was bone dry. The soldier who returned had a rather kind face. He did not ask any more questions and let Ilyeong pass, then moved on to Yuuto’s turn. His back was damp.

Even if a situation had arisen where he had to show his ‘real’ medicine, there would have been no problem. Because that was a drug sold only to high-ranking officials in Paradise. He had been confident from the time he packed that a mere soldier would not recognize it.

Nevertheless, the reason he had shown the medicine Liam gave him first was for any unforeseen circumstances. He was an annoying person, but he had nothing to lose, so he had just brought it along; he swore he had not expected this result. What on earth was the identity of this medicine.

“Now, let’s hurry. Let’s take a shortcut. Lunch is in full swing, so everyone will be waiting.”

The soldier’s tone had also changed to be polite. It was the first moment he regretted flushing all the medicine down the toilet.

They took an elevator and walked for a long time down a corridor. He had said it was a shortcut, and it seemed to be a passage used by the staff, a monotonous and narrow path. Haoran grumbled loudly.

“I don’t need a shortcut, can’t you just let me see the inside of the cruise ship?”

The soldiers’ faces crumpled. Ilyeong wondered if Haoran had a hole in his head somewhere and had temporarily lost his sense of fear. Jun and Yuuto had similar expressions. It seemed he thought winning the lottery was a promotion in status, but such stupid bastards usually have short lifelines.

After turning several corners and pushing open a door, they finally met the luxurious interior decorated with wine-colored carpets and gold. It was just a corridor, but Haoran clapped, and the others could not hold back their admiration.

“You can go in and sit at your designated table.”

The soldier was still being friendly only to Ilyeong. The three who were treated as if they were invisible stared blankly at Ilyeong’s cheek. But that was also brief; when the soldiers glared, their expressions turned tense again. The large door, trimmed with gold leaf, opened only after a full four soldiers hung onto it.

Light poured into the dark corridor. It was a sacred moment, like the first time one emerges from the mother’s amniotic sac. The four of them staggered helplessly in the new world they were about to face.

“The last of the winners have all arrived.”

It was a large banquet hall. A chandelier hanging from the ceiling cast a brilliant light. Only after blinking their eyes repeatedly in the brightened vision could they see the full view. Twenty-three beige circular tables were arranged in the most beautiful proportions in the world.

The numerous eyes in front of them pierced through the trash village chicks who had just hatched from their eggs. Among them, the most mature eyes abruptly changed their height.

“Welcome. Everyone from the 5th Evacuation Zone.”

An incongruous voice, like a thick wick wrapped in soft paper. The person who had just stood up from his seat was Seo Yoonseok. Even the fearless Haoran gasped, “Huk,” and held his breath.

Ilyeong’s once-quiet mind began to run wild. The son of a bitch barked and the winter wind sharpened its edges and roared, as if wary of the stranger.

However, the voice that had lived in Ilyeong’s head for nearly a week remained silent.

He thought he knew why. Ilyeong slowly parted his lips.

“Seo Juhyeok……”

A fake cannot stand up to the real thing. It was a very obvious statement. The auditory hallucination of Seo Juhyeok that had been tormenting his head for days lay flat on the bottom of his skull.

As if worshiping the real thing, or perhaps being wary of it…….

Seo Juhyeok, who had been sitting languidly next to Seo Yoonseok the whole time as if bored, lifted his head at that moment.

Their eyes met.