Black Paradise Chapter 2.6

As he stared intently at that scene, he felt a hand tugging at his sleeve from below. Ilyeong lowered his gaze.

This time it wasn’t a notebook. Jeonseogu, who had subtly twisted his body so that Jamie couldn’t see, mouthed a word.

‘It’s okay.’

“The Colonel has also invited Doctor Kwon’s friend to join him.”

As Ilyeong was deciphering Jeonseogu’s mouth shape, another voice overlapped. It was the soldier who had been given some instructions by Jamie. Up close, the soldier who had approached also had many similarities to Yuto or Jeonseogu. He didn’t feel very good about having unintentionally figured out Jamie’s disgusting taste.

Regardless of that, Haoran was now on the verge of foaming at the mouth.

“Is he by any chance talking about me?”

“Yes.”

“I… am not Mr. Kwon Ilyeong’s friend. More importantly, that invitation, can I refuse it?”

The soldier remained silent with a blunt face. Haoran grabbed Ilyeong’s arm with a face paler than a midnight ghost. His hand was trembling.

“I knew this would happen. There’s nothing good about being nosy, why did I act friendly to Mr. Kwon Ilyeong…”

“That’s why I told you not to do it from the start.”

“It’s too late to say that now! Th, then bring Mr. Jun and Yuto too.”

Haoran looked around the table, but Jun had already fled a long time ago, and Yuto was sitting at a different table today for some reason.

“Those traitors, I won’t let them get away with it. If anything happens to me, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong has to protect me…”

Whenever Haoran had talked about being in the same boat or what not, it had always twisted his stomach, but strangely, it wasn’t like that now.

It was a change that came after he vaguely guessed that all the humans on this cruise might be in the same situation as him.

“Doctor Kwon, nice to see you. You still have those pretty eyes.”

“…Colonel Mohr.”

“Haha. Just Jamie is enough.”

Ilyeong and Haoran sat down opposite Jamie. Jamie’s eyes were as glazed over as when he had seen him in the casino, but his attire was neat. The properly worn suit, not a military uniform, was a little awkward.

Noticing that Ilyeong’s gaze was lingering on his clothes, Jamie glanced at the table next to them. It was the table of Seo Yoonseok and Seo Juhyeok, which was now empty.

“I find these clothes uncomfortable too, but there was an order from the Director to dress neatly when attending the evening banquet. So I went against my better judgment and changed, but I got stood up. So I’d appreciate it if Doctor Kwon would be my conversation partner.”

Jamie twirled what he was holding in his hand. A long, yellow fruit. It was a banana. The bite marks on its surface were clear.

“Don’t make that face. I didn’t plan on seeing Doctor Kwon again so soon either, but my dog went and stole some food on its own. Here, I’ll apologize on its behalf. Take this.”

Ilyeong’s brain felt as if it were on fire. The banana, with its side burst open, arrived in front of him, passed from the soldier’s hand. So, because of this banana…

Ilyeong bit his lip tightly and then lifted his head.

“He didn’t steal it. I gave it to him.”

“Huh, is that so? I had no idea. The little rascal, he should have said so. Oh right, he doesn’t have a tongue, does he? Right, I cut it off!”

Judging by his exaggerated manner, he hadn’t been unaware. Jamie chuckled and giggled, his eyes glistening like a madman’s.

“Doctor Kwon, it must be hard to see this kind of fruit in the shelter zone, why did you give such a precious thing to my dog?”

“It has no special meaning. Is that a problem?”

“Haha… No, no. I’m just curious.”

Jamie placed both arms on the table and leaned his upper body forward at an angle. As a deep shadow fell across his face, the playfulness also disappeared from his face.

“Doctor Kwon, are you by any chance interested in my dog?”

“No, I am not.”

“Then do you pity my dog?”

“That is not it either.”

“Then did my dog by any chance say anything to you?”

The last one is the real core.

「I’m from a shelter zone too.」

Ilyeong chewed on that one phrase and swallowed it. It was a sentence he had been mulling over, so his response was a little slow, as if he had been caught off guard. He naturally covered the brief pause with a sigh.

“I do not understand the Colonel’s intentions.”

“Why is a smart person like you being like this? Then I’ll tell you in advance. Doctor Kwon, you are also very much my type. No, you are so charming that you overcome my type.”

At the sudden confession of his type, a sound of someone choking came from the side. Haoran fumbled for a water cup. However, unlike what he thought, Ilyeong knew that Jamie’s words were not just a compliment.

It was a warning. And for Ilyeong, who knew that Jeonseogu was from a shelter zone, it was a statement that he could not ignore.

Son of a bitch… Ilyeong chewed on a curse in his mouth and clenched the fist he had placed on his knee. But he just nodded his head, feigning composure.

“I will take that as a compliment.”

“Doctor Kwon, you have no expression on your face, so I can’t figure you out at all. But I like that you’re quick-witted. Even if you really heard something, don’t worry about it. Let’s just focus on our deal. Okay?”

Ilyeong fixed his gaze on the spoon on the table. The monster he had seen yesterday was still pooled in it. But it wasn’t scary or uncomfortable at all. With even more grotesque monsters eagerly aiming for his neck, it was more strange to be afraid of such a piece of metal.

“Doctor Kwon, are you listening to me?”

It was when Ilyeong raised his gaze and was about to mechanically open his mouth. Something heavy was placed on his right shoulder.

“You’re having a very enjoyable dinner without me. May I join you?”

A low bass voice that made the hair on his head stand on end was driven into the crown of his head. Everyone’s gaze was drawn to one side.

Seo Juhyeok, who was in the spotlight, smiled brightly like a child on a picnic.

*

A few dozen minutes ago.

Seo Juhyeok was sitting on the sofa, savoring the scenery in front of him. The one who had summoned his son was sitting on the sofa opposite him, with one forearm resting calmly on the armrest.

The seasoned secretary knelt before Seo Yoonseok and placed a silver tray on the table. The secretary, lightly rolling the labeled medicine bottle, meticulously wiped the rubber stopper around it. Then, after pulling the plunger of the vial syringe to the exact mark to draw in air, he inserted the needle into the rubber stopper of the medicine bottle. The secretary, holding the medicine bottle and syringe upside down, now slowly pulled the plunger to the mark he had set earlier and filled it with the medicine.

Finally, the finale. The moment the syringe needle pierced the disinfected area, a satisfied moan escaped from Seo Yoonseok’s mouth.

“Mmm.”

I didn’t answer the summons to listen to this kind of sound, he’s really something else. Seo Juhyeok hid his disgust and smoothly raised the corners of his mouth.

“Are you still injecting that drug? From what I’ve heard, it’s been well over 30 years since the first injection.”

“Drugs are only effective when they are administered consistently.”

He pretended to know, but that meant he hadn’t seen any effects yet. It was so funny that he almost laughed out loud.

In the meantime, the secretary, who had finished stopping the bleeding, stood up with the tray. All the steps were carried out smoothly without hesitation. The secretary quietly exited after bowing to the father and son, Seo Yoonseok and Seo Juhyeok.

“Secretary Hwang is having a hard time.”

“Yes, he fumbled so much at first, but now he seems quite skilled.”

He wasn’t so worn out that he couldn’t even recognize sarcasm, so he must have retorted in his own way.

Seo Juhyeok watched as Seo Yoonseok lowered the sleeve of his shirt. The arm under the white shirt, with its prominent veins, was still taut with muscles that had not yet died down.

The drug that his father, whose body was as robust as a young man’s, was so obsessed with was something that could not be obtained on the market. A drug made by M&N Pharmaceuticals exclusively for Seo Yoonseok.

“Do you really believe what M&N says? A drug that maintains youth and plants control in the voice. I’ve never heard such bullshit in my life.”

If that were possible, they should have been playing God in the heavens instead of doing business as a pharmaceutical company.

He hadn’t even said what he really wanted to say, but Seo Yoonseok’s face immediately contorted. However, when Seo Juhyeok feigned ignorance and maintained an innocent smile, he couldn’t even get angry and just let out a deep sigh.

“It’s not that it’s completely ineffective. The fact that I’m sitting in this position, having beaten my brothers, is proof of that. Everyone thought that not me, but my second brother…”

He had been hearing the story of how Seo Yoonseok, the youngest of a family of five sons, had become the director, beating his siblings who were more than ten years older than him, since he was a child. Seo Juhyeok kept his ears open and pretended to go along with it.

Seo Juhyeok’s jet-black pupils keenly scanned the room. Unbefitting of a cruise ship room, the room was surrounded on three sides by high bookshelves. Various professional books that he wondered if he could even read were packed in there.

Since books were expensive and rare materials, it was very difficult for a single individual to own them, and they were mainly owned by public institutions. To think that such things were being wasted to decorate a room where only Seo Yoonseok was staying. It seemed Chairman Han was quite desperate.

Lately, Seo Yoonseok had been hell-bent on collecting books. As if he blindly believed that the number of books signified the level of knowledge and culture. It was quite funny to see a man who was a warrior to the bone, suppressing his own nature and being cooped up in a study.

Sometimes he even wondered if that was the reason Seo Yoonseok cherished his brother, Seo Chaejun. And that was a pretty plausible guess. Because Seo Chaejun was a human who suited the pen more than the gun, and the written word more than blood.

Hmm. Seo Juhyeok wrinkled his nose and wrote down another hypothesis in his mental deduction notebook. He was already excited just thinking about his hypothesis that would be completed someday. Even Han Taeju wouldn’t be able to deny it this time.

“Do you know what tool is most often used to control the masses? It’s not the knife or the gun. It’s this voice. All the orators and leaders who have left their mark on history had special voices. The power to focus attention from the very first word, to persuade the other person…”

In the meantime, the story had entered the realm of deluded ideals. Seo Yoonseok lifted his teacup and raised his eyebrows.

“Well, it’s not like I’m coddling M&N because of this drug. M&N is already fulfilling its role in Paradise. Which means they deserve to be treated as such.”

At the lame excuse, Seo Juhyeok’s eyes sparkled and he smiled languidly.

“Is that so? I hope M&N will also do its filial duty well, just as much as you take care of them, Father.”

“You’re saying funny things. My children are only Yera, Chaejun, and you.”

In that brief moment, a cold light like a flash of lightning passed through Seo Juhyeok’s eyes. Seo Yoonseok, like this, would sometimes make someone’s existence feel even more real through their absence. Seo Juhyeok’s mother still lived half out of her mind whenever the anniversary of her dead youngest brother’s death approached.

Come to think of it, that time was almost upon them again this year.

On the day the days grew shorter and the country roads turned white with frost, the young youngest brother died, his stomach pierced by a rebel’s sickle. He was burned by their hands, and not even his corpse returned home. Seo Juhyeok was a living witness to all that history.

“My sister and brother are always working hard to meet Father’s expectations. They can certainly be called filial children.”

Seo Juhyeok, as if he had never stiffened, made a fuss and cocked one arm on the armrest. And he melted onto the sofa as if he had no bones.

Seo Yoonseok’s gaze, who had noticed nothing, finally swept up and down his loose attire.

“You…”

The light of contempt that filled his eyes was what Seo Juhyeok had expected. Seo Yoonseok clicked his tongue, “Tsk.”

“Are you still going around like that? You should be moderate with your drinking and womanizing. Before you were discharged, your gaze was quite tolerable, but now it’s just dazed. It’s not hard to give you a position, so go back to the army. That Han Taeju brat has completely ruined you. Anyway, I don’t like a single thing about his father or his son.”

“Don’t be so hard on them. They’re all working their asses off by my side and Father’s.”

“How can you have no words you can’t say even in front of me? Do you know what kind of rumors are circulating about you on this cruise?”

“I had no idea Father was so well-informed about rumors. Then it must be a story that Chairman Han let slip. I’m curious too, what is it?”

He had already gotten a hint from Han Taeju, so he had a rough idea of what the story was. Just imagining what kind of expression the old snake in front of him would make after hearing such a low-quality rumor about his son from Chairman Han made the back of his neck tingle.

Seo Juhyeok leaned forward, his eyes shining. The more he did, the more Seo Yoonseok couldn’t hide his reluctant expression. Even though he was his son, at times like this, it was as unsettling as dealing with a half-madman.

“Forget it. It’s not a good story, so why bother trying to hear it? I was just telling you to behave yourself.”

“Come on. I want to know too. I wonder what everyone has to say about me… So tell me, Father.”

Seo Juhyeok’s child-like whining finally succeeded in prying open Seo Yoonseok’s tightly sealed lips. Seo Yoonseok clicked his tongue, unable to hide his discomfort.

“Everyone says you’ve lost your mind. That you’ve been running around with even more screws loose lately.”

“Is that all? It doesn’t seem like a very surprising story.”

“…They say you constantly throw orgies but you yourself always slip away somewhere. They whisper that you might have erectile dysfunction and voyeurism.”

“Kek,” a laugh that he couldn’t hide escaped from between Seo Juhyeok’s lips. It was the sound of the tense atmosphere being broken in an instant. Seo Yoonseok’s expression crumpled. And he looked at his son, who was busy laughing, with contempt.

“I don’t know why I have to hear this story through someone else’s mouth. So stop embarrassing me and get a grip now. I called you today to talk about this.”

I knew it. He must have been unable to stand it, thinking he was insulted after hearing such a story from Chairman Han. The thought of it was so funny that he couldn’t stop laughing.

Seo Juhyeok furrowed his brow and barely held back his laughter. Though there was no way to straighten the corners of his mouth that were drawing an arc.

“Well. I can’t show you.”

“Show me what?”

“My erectile dysfunction and voyeurism. I wonder who spread such a rumor to disturb Father’s heart. It seems Father’s mind will only be at ease if I clear things up, but I can’t think of a good way.”

Seo Juhyeok leaned his bent upper body back and grimaced. Seo Yoonseok, who had seen through his insincere banter, rubbed his throbbing temples. Seo Juhyeok was always like this. He knew it, but he had been tricked again. He waved his other hand in the air.

“Go. Don’t think about anything unnecessary and just stay quiet until we arrive at Paradise.”

“Why? Didn’t you bring me on the cruise because you needed me?”

Seo Yoonseok had a strange talent for cursing with his expression without saying a word.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your business. The lottery and the winners’ matter will be handled by your brother and me.”

“I want to help with something. I feel guilty for playing and eating too much.”

“No! Don’t do anything. I’d rather hear that you’re living a life of orgies and alcohol than to hear what else you’ve done after I entrusted something to you.”

Just a moment ago he was telling me to quit everything, he’s so fickle. Seo Juhyeok laughed silently and stood up.

“What about dinner?”

“Forget it. I’ve decided to eat with Chairman Han today. You just eat separately too.”

“Hmm. I guess so.”

He was getting tired of being a spectacle in the crowded dining hall during dinner time. With every stride he took, the sound of his shoes hitting the floor echoed.

Seo Juhyeok, who was about to open the door and leave, suddenly turned around as if he had remembered something.

“Ah, I was going to thank you anyway, Father.”

What now? Seo Yoonseok frowned as if he were fed up. Seo Juhyeok continued nonchalantly.

“Thanks to White, the satisfaction of my party attendees is very high. A mild drug… None of the leaders who left their mark on history would have had such a brilliant idea.”

You’re the first, Father. Seo Juhyeok whispered, then opened the door and left. He could clearly see Seo Yoonseok staring at his back with a dumbfounded expression. Why did he have to make him a bullet shield for Seo Chaejun?

Seo Juhyeok’s face, with his back to the door, had turned cold as if he had completely washed off his playfulness. He walked down the empty hallway, flipping a coin in his hand into the air.

“The lottery and the winners’ matter will be handled by my brother and father, huh…”

The one phrase he had uniquely caught just a moment ago was sharply poking at his intuition. Musing over his thoughts, he stopped at a fork in the road. The coin, which had been doing a spectacular somersault in the air, landed on the back of his hand. It was tails.

Seo Juhyeok turned to the right without hesitation. That way was where the stairs to the dining hall were. Since both drugs and alcohol had become bland, he thought that seeing that maddeningly beautiful face would make his dreams tonight peaceful.

However, he had not expected that his plan to just see his face would go awry.

*

Seo Juhyeok, having finished his recollection, looked around at the astonished faces. His face, as he dealt with the dumbfounded people, was so bright that it could be considered thoughtless.

“My legs are starting to get tired. My offer to join you is so unwelcome… It hurts my heart.”

He didn’t forget to whine with a nonchalant face.

Ilyeong stared at that face blankly. Why is Seo Juhyeok here? Of all the worst timings, when he’s with Jamie…

His heart pounded as if it had grown gills. He was so surprised that the rational suspicion he had been weighing, the conspiracy of the lottery and the next director, Seo Juhyeok, and the correlation between the two, was almost completely volatilized.

Just then, Seo Juhyeok’s gaze slid across Ilyeong’s face. His taut yet loose gaze was as inscrutable now as it was then.

The hand that had been resting on his shoulder as if by chance had at some point moved and was now on the back of Ilyeong’s chair. The hard fingers, touching through the fabric, seemed ready to crawl up his back and wrap around his Adam’s apple at any moment. His scalp began to feel damp.

If he were to even pretend to know him in this place, it was as clear as day how everyone here would react. Haoran, with his mouth lighter than a feather, would pry into the situation, and Jamie would light up his eyes to find a weakness somehow.

Do not stand out. The lesson he had learned so painfully from getting entangled with Nam Kiyoon in the garbage village was now imprinted on his brain like a fear.

“Lieutenant Colonel Seo Juhyeok.”

As Ilyeong’s cheek trembled slightly, Jamie spoke first.

“I thought you weren’t attending dinner tonight.”

“It’s been a while, Colonel Mohr. My father has other business, and I’m free. I was just about to die of boredom, so I came for a meal. By the way, I’m no longer a soldier, so the title of Lieutenant Colonel doesn’t suit me anymore.”

“Then…”

“Just call me by my name comfortably. That will be enough.”

Jamie closed his mouth. It was because he was at a loss for words. The son of the director, and he tells him to call him by his name comfortably. He thought he was so carefree to say such a thing. Before that, the number of times they had met face to face could be counted on ten fingers, so what’s with the friendly act? It was even unsettling.

Seo Juhyeok was the number one person whose intentions were completely unknown. After achieving the feat of subjugating the rebels in Zone 23, he suddenly left the army without any lingering attachment, and after that, he devoted himself to wasting his life like a prodigal son. Just looking at how he left the messy rumors about him circulating on the cruise in the last few days, it was clear how carefree he was living.

I don’t know what he was like in the past, but the current Seo Juhyeok was a gangster, a psycho who used his good looks and physique as a weapon to create scandals wherever he went. The ignorant privates admired him, but all the officers thought of him as unsettling. Jamie was no exception.

“Sorry, but as you can see, I have a prior engagement with other people today. Let’s join tables next time.”

“Then I have to eat alone.”

“…”

In the stories the soldiers told like heroic tales, he was said to crush his opponents with the spirit of a volcano, but I don’t know how they could wrap up such a child-like side of him like that. It seems the rumor that his head went spinning after he was discharged wasn’t for nothing. Jamie raised his eyebrows.

Seo Juhyeok, as if he had no intention of getting permission from the beginning, sat down in an empty seat at the round table. And while waiting for the staff to serve the food, he picked up the set knife and spun it in his hand. Like a child who knew nothing about table manners, all his movements were extremely distracting.

“So, what kind of connection brought the people here together?”

The tip of the knife traced each person at the round table. Seo Juhyeok, like that, pierced through the core that everyone had been avoiding in a single breath. Of course, everyone had a reason not to be honest.

In the cool atmosphere where no one could easily open their mouths, Jamie took the lead.

“They are guests I invited. You would know. This is Doctor Kwon Ilyeong from the 5th Shelter Zone, and the one next to him is… probably Doctor Kwon Ilyeong’s friend.”

“Not a friend, an old colleague. I’m a researcher too. My name is Haoran.”

Even in a moment like this, Haoran’s pride held his head high. After impulsively chiming in, Haoran flinched and cowered when Jamie’s sharp gaze landed on him.

Ilyeong lowered his head and just bit his lip. There was only one thought in his mind. Lieutenant Colonel Seo Juhyeok. It wasn’t completely unexpected, but… to think he was a real soldier. He shuddered at his own complacency for having been bewitched by the very person he should have been most wary of.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Doctor Kwon Ilyeong.”

“…Yes. Nice to meet you.”

A large hand was suddenly extended from the seat next to him. For someone who had just the day before been sloppily using lewd language, telling him to suck his tongue, it was a very neat greeting.

Could it be that Seo Juhyeok was drunk and didn’t remember anything? He lifted his head with that hope, but the moment their eyes met, he realized that wasn’t the case. Though he was armed with shamelessness, his eyes clearly knew Ilyeong. The awl-like gaze licked every corner of Ilyeong’s features before returning to Jamie.

“What is the criterion for being invited to this table?”

“Just curiosity. You know as well. How many rumors have been circulating about this fourth winner… Well, to cut to the chase, it’s also a place created for the purpose of self-reflection.”

“Self-reflection?”

At Jamie’s brilliant tongue-lashing, Seo Juhyeok put down his knife as if he were amused. His large upper body leaned forward, and his two arms were placed on the table like a coiled snake. The shirt was tautly wrapped around his upper arm.

Jamie watched him and suddenly let out a “pik,” a laugh that sounded like a carbonated drink popping.

“Yes. It’s already been almost ten years since I started this work. But I feel like I’ve been too indifferent to the shelter zones all this time. I was just about to hear from Doctor Kwon about the situation in the shelter zones.”

At a good timing, an employee came with a cart full of food. The strange power struggle was, as if by agreement, called to a truce with the appearance of a stranger.

Ilyeong was truly glad that they had that much common sense. The employee, with a very tense expression, finished a brief explanation of the food and disappeared as if running away. Even after all the food was set, no one moved.

Hmm. Seo Juhyeok raised his eyebrows and lifted his spoon first. And, like a knife, he cut through the silence with its edge, and took a spoonful of the soup in front of him. With a light gesture as if tasting it, Jamie also lifted his spoon.

“Come to think of it, it seems you’ve been in charge of handling the lottery-related work all this time, Colonel.”

“To be precise, your brother is the one in charge. I’m just assisting him on the side.”

His brother, Seo Chaejun, was a nuisance who occupied the position of Lieutenant General for the sole reason that he was the son of the director, despite being weak in both body and mind. So that means Seo Chaejun is the brain in the lottery work, and Jamie is the body. That combination smelled of something sinister.

Seo Juhyeok adjusted his tone of voice so that his words didn’t seem too curious.

“Exactly, what kind of work do you do?”

Jamie also responded with an inscrutable smile.

“I go around the shelter zones, put the lottery winners on the ship, and return to Paradise. That’s all. It’s simple, but it’s a very rewarding job since I’m guiding the winners to a new world. Don’t you think?”

Jamie made a show of it, drawing the sign of the cross on his chest as if imitating a holy saint. Jeonseogu, behind him, trembled with pale blue lips. His white face was like a light bulb that changed from blue to red every moment.

“Are there any difficulties?”

“Not really. The Director has always been very accommodating for me. By the way, Lieutenant Colonel Seo, you seem to be very interested in the lottery too. Am I right?”

After the saint, it was the act of a swindler. Jamie was as triumphant as a hunter who had set a trap. Seo Juhyeok willingly took the bait and gave him the answer he wanted to hear.

“I’m not just interested. I’m very interested.”

Jamie’s eyebrows shot up as if to say, “I told you so.” Seo Juhyeok whispered conspiratorially, like a naive child sharing a secret.

“Actually, I’m coveting this cruise. I’m thinking of begging my father to let me do the lottery work.”

Jamie clicked his tongue with a “tsk” and a look that said, “I knew it.” It seemed to be an unconscious action, but unfortunately, the sound was loud enough for Ilyeong and Haoran to hear. The others held their breath and stiffened like wooden blocks, but Seo Juhyeok himself was as calm as a deaf person.

“Give it up. It’s not like we get to ride such a nice ship every time. It was specially prepared this year because the Director was coming.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Why don’t you look for another job? The Director has been taking you to many official events lately. He must have a lot he wants to teach you. There are many officers who are already wondering if they should line up with you.”

“I didn’t know I would hear such a thing directly. Are you not interested, Colonel?”

“Haha. Are you openly telling me to line up with you now? Sorry, but I have no ambition for promotion.”

Jamie grinned and took out a pack of cigarettes from his bosom.

“I have nothing more to wish for if I can just continue this lottery work.”

He lightly sucked on the lit cigarette. The smell of food and the acrid smell quickly mixed and disgustingly stimulated his sense of smell. Naturally, no one reprimanded him.

Seo Juhyeok lightly shrugged his shoulders and lifted his spoon again.

“It seems everyone has smeared honey on the lottery. Seeing how my father, my brother, and the Colonel are all hell-bent on excluding me…”

Seo Juhyeok crunched the spoon with the randomly scooped soup with his molars. His gaze was still fixed on Jamie. His gaze had a somewhat disrespectful and ominous air to it.

“I guess I’ll have to beg my father more earnestly. I absolutely hate being excluded.”

Seo Juhyeok let out a long sigh through his nose and put down his spoon. “Thud.” For a sound that signaled the end of a fight, it was a cheerful one.

Jamie, as if realizing his mistake, stopped running his mouth. He was trying hard to maintain a smile with his lips trembling, but his jaw muscles were so stiff that it was noticeable at a glance.

“It’s not as easy a job as you’re making it out to be. Honey? Don’t be ridiculous. It’s a rewarding job, but it’s also that much more arduous, and a lot of unexpected accidents happen, so I get a lot of stress.”

“Then isn’t that even better? I’ll help you.”

“No, why is the conversation going in that direction…”

Jamie clenched his teeth and suppressed his anger. It seemed he had finally realized that the longer the conversation went on, the more disadvantageous it was for him.

Seo Juhyeok, as if to say, “I told you so,” nodded his head and stood up. “Screech,” the chair rudely pushed against the floor and cried out with a strange sound.

“You’re saying ‘no’ in such a long and refined way. I’m so sad I don’t even have an appetite. I’ll be leaving now.”

Instead of the untouched food, Seo Juhyeok chewed on each and every letter. Of course, his expression was just nonchalant, without a hint of sadness.

Jamie’s face, who had received the torn-up sentences, was as stiff as a victim who had fallen for Medusa’s trick. Just looking at his expression, it was clear how angry Jamie was. Jamie crushed the half-smoked cigarette on the table. The smell of the burning fabric permeated his nose. From his rock-like face, only his green eyes burned like fire.

We’re doomed… Haoran muttered, as if he were a ventriloquist, so that only Ilyeong could hear. This time, Ilyeong agreed. His mind was already going blank, wondering how he would handle that anger.

The freeloaders in his head came up with various brilliant ideas. Let’s run, let’s hide… All of them were unhelpful.

Ilyeong, with an expressionless face, mixed all sorts of thoughts in a pot.

It was then. Suddenly, something pushed in under Ilyeong’s armpit.

“Excuse me. The air here is so thick, I’m getting dizzy. Could you please support me, Doctor Kwon?”

Seo Juhyeok skillfully snatched Ilyeong and crossed the dining hall with a straighter gait than anyone else.

Ilyeong’s body, which had been starving for days, was helplessly dragged along, staggering, with only his bag barely in his grasp. It was a composition where it was impossible to tell who had asked whom for support.

There was no hesitation in Seo Juhyeok’s movements, so it seemed as if he had been waiting for this moment from the very beginning.

Next to Seo Juhyeok’s side was Ilyeong, and next to his side was Haoran, clinging on for dear life, in a line.

Bewilderment was written on the faces of those who watched the bizarre procession. Only Jamie’s face, the last thing he saw, was extremely ferocious, like a yaksha.

The scenery quickly passed by in front of his eyes. Seo Juhyeok crossed the hallway and dragged Ilyeong to a place where no one was. The sound of the emergency exit door closing made him snap to his senses.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Ilyeong shook off Seo Juhyeok’s arm. On the contrary, he almost fell from the rebound. As he staggered from a dizzy spell, Haoran quickly supported him.

Only then did Seo Juhyeok stop walking.

“That’s what I want to ask. How did you get involved with Colonel Jamie Mohr?”

Ilyeong, who was caressing his wrist that had been abused by the strong grip, flinched and lifted his head. It was a rough voice he had never heard before.

The smiling face he had maintained in front of Jamie had also dried up and disappeared. The languid yet polite demeanor he had shown Ilyeong last time was also gone.

His face, stripped of its layers of laughter, was that of a soldier. His temples and jaw muscles were bulging stiffly as if he had been holding in his anger for a long time, and his eyes were shooting fire. It seemed like he would immediately press a blade to his Adam’s apple and threaten him to confess everything about the drug.

Even though he knew that the last part was just an imagination created by his anxiety, his spine felt cold. Ilyeong clenched his fists, his veins popping.

“What business is it of yours, Lieutenant Colonel Seo Juhyeok?”

Seo Juhyeok frowned as if to refute the title of Lieutenant Colonel, then retorted.

“It seems there really is something going on. Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, do you have a lack of safety awareness? Why do you rush in like a moth to a flame, regardless of whether it’s dangerous or not? Do you even know what kind of person Colonel Jamie Mohr is?”

“I’m not a child, I know how to distinguish such things. If Mr. Seo Juhyeok hadn’t dragged me out like that, the situation wouldn’t have gotten this bad.”

“Then you shouldn’t have been sitting there with that kind of expression.”

“What kind of expression?”

“An expression that looked like you wanted to set the dining hall on fire just to get out.”

It was absurd. When did I ever make such an expression? Instead of protesting, Ilyeong turned away. Thud, his shoulder was grabbed and he was spun around. His vision swam.

“Where are you going?”

“To clean up the mess. The Colonel has eyes, so he must have seen that I didn’t walk out of my own will. No matter how much you’ve stirred up the Colonel’s temper like a hornet’s nest, he’s not going to kill me, is he?”

Seo Juhyeok let out a hollow laugh at the scathing words.

“You seem to know more about the Colonel’s temper than I expected. Then it’s even harder to understand why you’d go back to the dining hall. Did he get a hold of your weakness or something?”

“The Colonel and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”

“Then let’s not go.”

“It’s not that simple of a problem, so if you don’t know, just stay out of it. Your support is over.”

Jamie, Jeonseogu, the banana… His mind was a jumbled mess.

Ilyeong bit his lip tightly without showing it and turned away. No, he was about to. He was spun around once again.

Seo Juhyeok cornered Ilyeong and stood in front of him like a wall, blocking his way. The sentence that poured out like a sigh from his stiff lips tickled his ear.

“I didn’t know you were such a stubborn person back then. You’ve also become quite foul-mouthed since I last saw you…”

Seo Juhyeok licked his lower lip and pierced Ilyeong’s features with his bleak eyes.

He was saying something so obvious. That day, both Seo Juhyeok and he were very drunk on the night and the sea, and the sinkhole created by the drug was useless in the face of this thrilling reality.

In the span of a day, he had seen and heard too much to dream of Paradise, lost in that ecstatic moment. Ilyeong glared at him with a stiff gaze.

“Why. Are you also offended, Mr. Seo Juhyeok, because a mere nobody from the shelter zone is being rude?”

He had forgotten for a moment. How insufferable the people from Paradise and the soldiers all were. How they treated the people from the shelter zones not as humans, but as large pests.

Seo Juhyeok, even with an angry look in his eyes, smiled bitterly.

“No. I think I’m hard again.”

And then he added some incomprehensible words.

“I guess Mr. Kwon Ilyeong will have to confirm the rumor. I’d be grateful if you could be a witness.”

“What is that…!”

Suddenly, Seo Juhyeok bent his waist and lowered his eye level. Before he could even grasp the situation, his vision was suddenly turned upside down.

Ilyeong held his breath and froze stiffly. Seo Juhyeok had effortlessly slung him over his shoulder like a piece of luggage. A shock as if someone had hit him on the back of the head followed. After becoming an adult, no, even as a child, he had never been held up like this by someone.

As his body was turned upside down, nausea and bile rose up. Ilyeong held back the urge to vomit and randomly pounded on the broad back in front of him. It was a moment that made him regret not hiding a weapon in his sleeve instead of his pants pocket. Fuck, fuck, it was so unfair that his face was burning.

“Let go!! Are you crazy?!”

Seo Juhyeok didn’t budge and stood firm on his two sturdy legs. And he asked the uninvited guest, who had not said a word until now.

“We’re going to go suck each other off now, are you interested too?”

Haoran had been busy racking his brain, holding his breath, trying to figure out if Seo Juhyeok was a villain or not, and how the two of them knew each other. But for some reason, he seemed to know the answer to the current question.

Seo Juhyeok’s brilliant eyes forced a certain answer. It was a bleak gaze that seemed as if he would kill him without anyone knowing if he gave the wrong answer.

Naturally intimidated, Haoran was swept away by the atmosphere and opened his mouth.

“N, no.”

“Oh. Then it’s a shame we’ll have to enjoy it by ourselves. Let’s go, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong.”

With an expression that didn’t look a bit regretful, Seo Juhyeok twitched an eyebrow. He paid no heed and strode up the stairs, disappearing leisurely.