Black Paradise Chapter 5.3

When he suddenly lifted his head and looked towards Haoran, Haoran also had a bewildered but not bad expression. It was a face that said, compared to dying, getting a mere chip implanted is nothing.

But, is this really all there is to it? Ilyeong whipped his head towards Liam.

“Anton.”

Liam, who had been watching the whole commotion like a fire across the river, finally opened his mouth. The called Anton rubbed his eyelids roughly with a face that said he was sick and tired of it. A half-sighed word was a bonus.

“Do I have to do it again?”

“Wouldn’t a bearded, older guy look more trustworthy than a young and handsome one?”

“What does age and appearance have to do with going to get beaten up, for crying out loud?”

“Go on, hurry. It is better to get the beating over with first. Isn’t that right, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong?”

It was not a question that wanted an answer, as Liam immediately gestured to the stage with his chin. Anton exhaled a long breath through his nose and got up from his seat.

“Wouldn’t it be easier for us to talk if there are no troublemakers?”

Only when the distance with Anton had widened a bit did Liam shrug and say jokingly. He seemed like a person who had no idea that this place was a minefield.

Compared to him, Anton was walking towards the stage, contorting his large body as much as possible, as if he thought the field mice would really explode like bombs if their skin touched.

Ilyeong looked back and forth between the ridiculous scene and Liam. In the meantime, Anton, who had arrived at the stage, received a microphone from a soldier who was waiting and cleared his throat, “ah, ah,” as if testing it. The restaurant fell silent again in an instant.

“Ah, this is Anton Meyer, who participated in the development of J5. I am here to give a supplementary explanation about the chip.”

It was a sullen self-introduction that was full of his temper. Anton did not stop there and turned his wrist to look at his watch, explicitly gesturing that he wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible. Liam leaned in and whispered, bringing his mouth close to his ear.

“Anton may look like that, but he is the core of our MN Pharmaceuticals. J5 would have been difficult to develop without Anton.”

“Our MN……”

Something suddenly came to mind at the excited tone, as if a doting parent was bragging about their child.

“……There is a pharmaceutical company in Paradise called MN. It is the only pharmaceutical company in the Asian base authorized by Paradise. That drug is a narcotic recently developed by MN at the special request of Chief Seo Yoonseok.”

It was the moment the fragmented clues about Liam were pieced together.

“You, are you related to MN Pharmaceuticals? Is that why you gave me White… that drug?”

“If not, how on earth would I have poured two boxes of that expensive stuff on you, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong?”

He thought he now understood why Seo Yoonseok was giving Liam so much preferential treatment, to a shocking extent.

Ilyeong replied, turning his gaze back to Anton.

“I heard that drug is something amazing. Did you get all that money from Nam Giyun?”

“Hmm. To be honest. The part about going to treat you for money was a lie.”

It is not like I need it, Liam added and smiled, looking Ilyeong up and down.

“And it is not like I am going to embezzle a soldier’s salary. I just followed because I was a little curious about who Nam Giyun was groveling to.”

“……”

“I was a little disappointed at first because it was a bit boring……. But now it is so much fun that it is a problem. Oh, of course, do not misunderstand. I am a married man.”

Liam raised his left hand and held it out in front of Ilyeong. A large-stoned ring sparkled on his fourth finger.

Ilyeong also knew the meaning of the ring worn on the left ring finger from Ju Yoonchae. It was a custom that had almost disappeared in the Evacuation Zone, but it seemed to still remain in Paradise.

“I did not misunderstand.”

“That is a relief. I do not want to be killed by Nam Giyun. I have a weaker body than you might think.”

Ilyeong, having seen through that he was continuously probing his reaction with Nam Giyun’s name, ignored him.

In the meantime, Anton raised one arm and looked around the inside of the restaurant.

“Those who have questions about J5, please raise your hands. Please understand that we cannot take all questions as there is not much time left until the start of the banquet.”

Complaints poured out from here and there once again, but Anton just watched them with a blank face. A few people quickly shot up their arms. Anton pointed to one of them.

The chosen field mouse, without being told, quickly stood up from his seat. Then he mumbled something, and realizing that it was difficult to convey his voice without a microphone, he shouted until his face turned red.

“J5, you say we have to be implanted with that to be given a way to survive? Then does that mean we should die if we refuse the implantation?”

“I am sorry that there seems to be some misunderstanding.”

Anton continued speaking without a hint of hesitation, as if it were a familiar question.

“All citizens of Paradise are fulfilling their duties as citizens. Taxes would be the most common form. You cannot be an exception. However, we are only providing one more option, the J5 implantation, taking into account that you need a period of adaptation.”

“Then does that mean that the existing citizens of Paradise have not been implanted with that chip?”

“Yes.”

Laments similar to screams burst out from all over the restaurant. He was talking about it like a benefit, but the fact that J5 was only implanted in lottery winners just sounded terrifying.

Ilyeeong looked at Liam. Their eyes met, and he grinned and raised his hand once more. ‘Is that your answer now?’ he mouthed. Anton answered curtly, as if to end the confusing atmosphere.

“You respond to Paradise’s demands, and Paradise provides you with housing and goods. Think of it simply. J5 implantation is a kind of transaction. We are not forcing you.”

On the opposite side, another field mouse quickly raised his arm. Anton granted him the right to speak.

“Then does that mean we do not have to be implanted with J5 as long as we fulfill that civic duty?”

“Yes. Of course. As long as you fulfill the same duties as other citizens.”

There is no way that is possible. There is no way the clumsy field mice of the Evacuation Zone could survive on their own in Paradise. The questioner, having seen through that as well, opened his mouth, his throat bobbing.

“……Then can the chip be removed later? For example, when we have the ability to pay taxes and no longer need to receive aid from Paradise.”

“That is correct. The J5 implantation is done voluntarily, after all. Just as the implantation is done simply through an injection, the removal is also possible through a simple procedure at a hospital.”

As if he had received the question he wanted, Anton smiled faintly for the first time. The overheated atmosphere of the restaurant finally subsided just a little. It seemed that people were starting to think that it was not so bad as long as it could be removed.

Ilyeong thought Anton’s way of speaking was very clever. He does not deny the points that people are anxious about. Instead, he sets conditions and shows that there is a possibility to overcome the situation.

This was also a long-standing tactic of Paradise. To plant a meager hope and quell immediate dissatisfaction. Was not the lottery like that too? The field mice are betting their whole lives on the lottery, not knowing that the contents, once the wrapping is removed, are as empty as this.

Ilyeong, who had been silent all along, raised his hand. Anton, whose eyes met his, twitched his eyebrow, exchanged a glance with Liam, and then gestured with his chin towards Ilyeong.

“Yes, please ask your question.”

“What are you going to do with the data collected by J5?”

“Everything is for the infinite development of Paradise……”

“No, that is not the kind of pie-in-the-sky answer I want to hear. Identity, location information, health status……. What is Paradise trying to do by collecting that? And only from the people of the Evacuation Zone at that.”

Anton twisted his lips up, but it did not look like he was smiling.

“The collected data will mostly be used for the research of MN Pharmaceuticals. The Earth is not yet completely free from the fear of viruses. Especially Jupiter, which has undergone its 5th mutation, extremely weakens the immune system once infected, making one live in pain for the rest of their life.”

At the mention of Jupiter, the inside of the restaurant froze chillingly. After the 5th mutation, the infection pattern of Jupiter had changed significantly compared to the beginning. The infectivity had decreased, but there had been no cases of a complete cure yet. Jupiter itself does not have a high mortality rate, but if complications arise, the mortality rate becomes extremely high. So, one has no choice but to suffer from anxiety until the moment of death.

People infected with Jupiter also appeared from time to time in the Evacuation Zone, and they all died shortly after receiving poor treatment at the medical center. The field mice who remembered that kept their mouths shut. This was probably the reaction Anton wanted most right now.

“MN Pharmaceuticals is always striving to develop a more perfect vaccine and treatment. Your data will be of great help. I will take the next question.”

Anton glared coldly at Ilyeong and turned his head to the opposite side. And he soon pointed to another questioner and continued to give answers similar to what he had been doing.

As he nonchalantly appealed that the implantation of J5 was not mandatory and could be removed at any time, the number of times the field mice raised their arms noticeably decreased.

“Mr. Liam.”

“Huh? Did you call me?”

Ilyeong, who felt something was not quite right while watching Anton, turned his stiff neck to look at Liam.

To Liam, this whole situation seemed like a play. His sly face was so detestable that he wanted to punch him in the jaw. Of course, Ilyeeong did not show it and opened his mouth.

“That person over there does not seem to have any intention of giving a proper answer. If I ask you, Mr. Liam, can I get an honest answer?”

“Why? Are you not satisfied with the answer Anton just gave?”

“That is not all there is to it, is it?”

Hmph, Liam laughed through his nose.

“You have good instincts, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. No, you might already know something. Which is it?”

“……Let’s just say it is both.”

“But what to do. The lottery is an important business that my family, that is, MN, has been supporting for generations. I cannot just go around revealing trade secrets.”

He had roughly guessed it, but the pharmaceutical company called MN or whatever was really Liam’s family business. Liam, who feigned regret at not being able to tell him, leaned back deep into his chair and crossed his arms.

“So, let’s talk later. Let’s take care of what needs to be done first.”

Wondering what he was talking about, he looked around, and the static from Anton’s microphone had suddenly stopped.

Ilyeong turned his eyes to the screen. He saw Anton putting down the microphone and walking quickly this way. It seemed the ridiculous and suspicious question-and-answer session was over.

At the same time, the soldiers who had been standing against the wall until now took a seat at each table. The way they placed the bags they were holding on the table and took out the tools from inside was natural. It meant that this was all a set routine.

“Mr. Kwon Ilyeong!”

His heart began to pound, thump thump. Only after seeing a soldier take out a syringe did Ilyeong look at the table of the slum.

Haoran was looking this way, fidgeting anxiously with urgent eyes. Although he was quickly restrained by the surrounding soldiers for making a loud noise, he still could not take his eyes off Ilyeong.

What do we do now? Those eyes, which blindly trusted Ilyeong, seemed to be asking that.

Ah……. A sigh escaped him. Haoran’s eyes had, at some point, come to resemble those of the field mice he had left behind in the slum. He had not realized it, but perhaps the carrier pigeon’s eyes too.

I have to live. I have to save them.

Only a one-letter difference, but the pressure those two sentences gave was on a different level.

While he was frozen in a daze, the hand he had been resting on the table was suddenly grabbed with a rough force and slammed down.

“Ugh!”

“Anton will do it specially for you, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. Anton, poke him kindly.”

Anton, who had arrived at the table at some point, opened the bag he was holding and looked down at Ilyeong coolly.

“I will try my best.”

Ilyeong hurriedly looked around. There was not a single field mouse refusing the implantation anywhere. The burden of having to survive in an unknown land, and the sense of relief that the chip could be removed at any time, the faces of those with those complicated emotions now all looked resigned.

The hand that Liam had practically pinned to the table with both of his hands was trembling. When he raised his other arm, Liam, being quick-witted, gestured with his eyes to another soldier. Ilyeong’s other arm was bound behind his back by the approaching soldier.

“The implantation… you said it was not mandatory!”

“I did. But there has never been a single case of refusal until now. I told you it is troublesome because you have good instincts, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong.”

As expected, it is not a problem that ends with the chip implantation. Curses were boiling up inside his mouth. As the force bending his fingers grew stronger and a groan escaped, Liam’s eyes sparkled.

“Did it hurt? But you have hurt me a lot with your words, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, so I do not particularly feel like going easy on you. I will let it go with this one time, so just bear with me.”

Heat rose to Ilyeong’s face with seething anger. At some point, the surrounding soldiers, sensing the situation, formed a tight circle around the table.

Once his vision was blocked, the soldier who was binding his arms handled Ilyeong’s body with even rougher force, as if there was nothing to hold him back.

His hair was pulled so hard that his scalp stung, and his back seemed to bend backwards, and then his upper body was completely fixed onto the table. His chin hit the table, and his lower abdomen was flattened by a strong force. He could feel the military uniform brushing against his hand as if a knee was digging into his struggling back.

“Nam… Giyun is……”

As he squeezed out the strength to move his mouth, the tablecloth crumpled under his cheek. Liam pressed down on Ilyeong’s hand, which he was holding, even more forcefully.

“Did you think I was really Nam Giyun’s lackey because I just laughed it off? Then you go and tell on me too, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. I am also curious to see how far that bastard will lose his mind. Anton. Hurry up. My hands are starting to tremble too.”

“Yes.”

When he looked up to the point where his eyeballs ached, he saw a hand wearing a black latex glove grabbing the back of his hand. Anton began to rub Ilyeong’s back of the hand with an alcohol swab without any emotion.

“It would be better to relax. It is a simple procedure that takes 30 seconds, but if you struggle like this, I might accidentally touch somewhere I am not supposed to.”

“You heard him, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. Relax if you do not want your hand to become crippled.”

The two of them, as if they were in cahoots, were well-matched in getting on people’s nerves.

His mind, which had sensed the anxiety, was in a complete mess. The headache and tinnitus, which had been quiet lately, began to run wild like a warning. The fear of the chip was even greater than the fear of losing the use of his hand.

As he struggled, he vaguely heard Liam’s voice from above saying, ‘There is no other choice.’ As if he had received some signal from those words, his neck was soon pressed down with a strong force.

“Gasp……”

A pain greater than the shock of being pierced by Seo Juhyeok’s dick followed.

I cannot, I cannot breathe. As oxygen was not delivered properly, his brain began to melt into a mush, and strength started to drain from his fingertips.

He did not know how long he endured like that. At the same time as a stinging pain on the back of his hand, Liam’s face suddenly appeared in his vision.

“Hmm. It is pretty, as expected. How nice it would be if you were always this obedient.”

Fuck off, you son of a bitch……. He did not know if he had said those words out loud. The only thing he clearly remembers is that the next moment, Liam laughed out loud, “haha.”

Ilyeong closed his eyes. It would be nice if he could at least lose consciousness, but God, as always, is merciless to him. He wants me to watch even the harsh reality with my eyes wide open. To me, a poor person with nothing but a bitter spirit, I can only resent you. So, I must wait desperately for the moment when my brain messes up my memories, and all of this becomes numb.

In his head, the son of a bitch and the winter wind were crying particularly mournfully today. It was the first moment he felt that those he had always wanted to chase away were like comrades.

*

“Doctor Kwon. Are you sulking?”

Ilyeong blankly turned his head following the cheerful voice. Even after blinking his eyes a few times, he did not really have any thoughts. Liam opened his palm and waved it back and forth in front of Ilyeong’s eyes.

“Why have you been so dazed since a while ago? Did I choke you wrong?”

Liam snapped his fingers by Ilyeong’s ear, snap, snap. The sharp sound, piercing through the muffling that felt like his ears were stuffed with cotton, made Ilyeong flinch and step back without realizing it. Only then did all the surrounding noise begin to pour into his ear canals with a rush.

The first thing he heard was elegant classical music. It was not a melody coming through a speaker, but a vivid tune being played live by an orchestra. In a corner of the lounge, elegantly dressed members were playing a piece he did not know the name of.

“A banquet……”

“Yes. It is a banquet hall. Why are you being so scary when we came here together just fine?”

Liam furrowed his brow as if he found it strange and tilted his head. The surrounding scenery, which he had not been aware of, became clear behind Liam, as if colored in.

It was the top floor of the cruise. The lounge was wide open with no visual obstructions. Several huge chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling scattered sharp light in all directions. If it were not for the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that filled one entire wall, he would have almost forgotten that it was a winter night with a short day.

Standing in the center of that light was something familiar to Ilyeong. An angel statue. The statue that had always stood alone with a lofty face in the fountain of the main hall was today standing in the center of the lounge, entwined in a thorn bush.

It was unlikely they had pulled that large thing from the fountain, so it was probably a statue of the same appearance with different decorations. From the two hands clasped together as if in prayer, red flowers flowed down instead of a stream of water. At its feet, roses carved from ice had their mouths open as if to eat those petals. He did not know what the intention was, but Ilye-ong thought, looking at the statue, that it was quite bizarre.

“It seems the shock was quite severe. Does it hurt a lot? Should I call that soldier from earlier and give him a scolding?”

His eyes reflexively narrowed at the gentle tone, like soothing a crying child. Ilyeong felt his neck once and then stared at Liam as if glaring at him.

“You should be hypocritical in moderation. Who was it that ordered me to be choked?”

“Hmm. Looks like you are coming to your senses now.”

Liam showed his teeth and smiled, then took two glasses from a passing server. And he offered one of them to Ilyeong. It was a tall glass filled with a pale-yellow liquid with popping bubbles.

“It is champagne, do you know how to drink alcohol? Do they have alcohol in the Evacuation Zone?”

“We do.”

Although it was not this pretty and sweet-smelling.

The winters in the slum boasted a cold so harsh that it chilled to the bone. High-proof alcohol was a daily necessity for the field mice who had to go around picking up trash regardless of the season. Even if not necessarily because of the cold, it was also a means of survival to forget the harsh reality.

Ilyeong, too, would often encounter drunk people when he followed his father to the trash heap in the dead of winter as a child. Those who were half out of their minds would brandish knives as if they had nothing to fear, and it was common for them to threaten him to hand over what he had collected that day, so he always had to be on his guard.

However, his father, of all people, would always laugh heartily with a good-natured face and send them away after giving them half of what he had collected that day. When Ilyeong would fume with indignation, he would smile benevolently and say a word.

“Ilyeong. They will reap what they have sown. Do not find them pathetic, nor feel sorry for them.”

He knows what the feeling of being pathetic is. But the expression of feeling sorry does not suit them.

In Ilyeong’s eyes, his father looked just like a god who had manifested in the most humble place on earth. The promise to live like a human, which his father always said like a habit, seemed to be something that could only be practiced by having such a broad heart.

If so, then he himself, in those days when he hated them, was a sinner and nothing more than a mere field mouse.

“Father, what does it mean to live like a human?”

Hearing his pure curiosity, he answered with an inscrutable smile.

“It is to love and feed our family. Ilyeong, you can do it, right?”

The next day, as if by magic, his father retrieved the things that had been taken by the neighbors. His father, who had both forgiven the bad people and fed his family, who had not given up on anything, was Ilyeong’s hero.

Cough, the champagne that had slid down his throat burst with carbonation as if it had been waiting. He had not thought about his unwell mouth and throat. The shock was quite severe, as if he had been shot. Ilyeong handed the glass he was holding to another passing server. Liam, who saw this, frowned.

“Oh dear. Are you ignoring my sincerity to my face like this?”

The coughing would not stop, to the point where his face became flushed. Every time he exhaled, the pain in his chest grew to the point of being sharp. Thanks to that, he was properly brought to his senses.

Ilyeong briefly opened and closed his right hand. The feeling of the chip being implanted felt like a dream, and there was no foreign sensation at all.

He thumped his chest with his fist and looked around. Now that he looked, the seats were divided with the statue in the center as the boundary. The left was the territory of the field mice, and the right was the territory of Paradise. ……Seo Juhyeok was nowhere to be seen.

“Mr. Liam, you said you were not attending the banquet, so why are you here? Haoran……. There should be someone looking for me, where is he?”

“Are you asking seriously? What is this situation right now?”

Liam took a sip of champagne and tilted his head as if he did not understand. Indeed, Liam was still wearing a comfortable green knit sweater instead of a neat suit. Even with the appearance most out of place in this lounge, he was comfortable as if he were on his home ground. It was probably because of that gap that the field mice kept glancing this way.

While Ilyeong was looking for Haoran among the field mice, Liam pulled his arm.

“I am quite flustered right now. Did you really ask because you do not remember?”

“Yes.”

Hiding a memory he wanted to forget in a corner of his brain and ignoring it was something he was already accustomed to, to the point of being tired of it. It was also a necessary procedure to live for the next moment.

This was a symptom he had consistently experienced even before taking the medicine, so it was not due to withdrawal symptoms, and he knew that Liam would not believe him straight away even if he explained in detail, so he just answered roughly. More than that, the problem was that Haoran’s slick face was nowhere to be seen.

“I sent him. To get you some new clothes, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. You are my partner, after all, you cannot be standing here in such a shabby state.”

“……Partner?”

Ilyeong’s head reflexively whipped around. Partner? Liam, receiving Ilyeong’s gaze, finally smiled with satisfaction.

“Yes. Partner. I was not planning to attend because there is someone I would get tired of if I ran into them……. But we have a conversation we did not finish. What was it that you were trying to ask earlier, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong?”

Ilyeong blinked his eyes blankly. His brain was not fully awake enough to accept the long words.

A conversation we did not finish…….

While looking at Liam’s face, who was smiling wryly while sipping champagne, he chose a question.

“Do you know everything?”

“About what?”

“Let’s not play innocent when you know exactly what I mean. I am talking about the Lottery.”

“Oh my. You should probably lower your voice.”

Liam joked, deliberately murmuring in a low voice.

“It is also a matter related to my family’s business. So I suppose I know as much as I need to. But how much do you know, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong?”

There was not a trace of guilt on Liam’s face as he said this. In fact, he looked rather excited as he waited for an answer. The pure curiosity, devoid of any malice, felt even more suffocating.

Despite their completely different auras and appearances, Liam constantly reminded him of Jeon Seogu. The two were similar in that they were the most directly involved with the Lottery, but their positions were starkly different.

Jeon Seogu, who likes bananas. Jeon Seogu, who said he wanted to live by the sea.

In Ilyeong’s eyes now, Jamie and Liam looked like the same kind of person.

“Whatever it is, I know it is abnormal.”

“What part?”

“Forcibly shoving a chip into the hand of someone who said they did not want it is abnormal, for a start.”

“Doctor Kwon holds quite a grudge, I see. I was flustered back then, too. It was the first time someone had asked me a question like that so openly. But how did Mr. Kwon Ilyeong become suspicious of the Lottery? Very few of the cruise passengers know the complete truth in the first place. As far as I know…”

Liam began to fold his fingers one by one, innocently reciting the names.

“Director Seo Yoonseok, and… Colonel Jamie Moore, I believe. Which one was it? Hmm, it cannot be the former. The latter seems more likely. Am I right?”

Reading the answer in Ilyeong’s silence, Liam burst out laughing with a phuhat.

“To think you got tangled up with the absolute worst card of them all. Right, I get it now. You must have used White on the colonel. Right.”

“…Are you certain that no one else knows about the Lottery besides those two?”

Liam blinked, then repeatedly folded and unfolded his middle finger. As if he were sizing up any other human.

Seo Juhyeok had said he knew nothing about the Lottery. If he had not dropped a clue, Juhyeok probably would have never even developed an interest in the Lottery. In fact, all the Paradise people he met here were like that.

That is being a bystander. Ignorance is also a sin. So it is only right to call them all sinners.

In their indifference, the winners had been delivered to Paradise every year until now. Just like products. This chip was a barcode, a shackle, and the entirety of that absurdity.

The back of his hand felt a little stiff, and his eyes grew hot. He was about to add something else before arousing unnecessary suspicion, but Liam’s mouth opened a little faster.

“There should be one more person. Have you met him, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong? There is a ‘dog’ that Colonel Jamie has been raising for a few years now. Originally, there were about three of them, you see. I think he said he broke the ankles of the other two and killed them because they tried to run away from the colonel. That is what I seem to remember.”

Ilyeong clenched his fists tightly. He could clearly feel his expression hardening. Liam passed his champagne flute to a passing server’s tray, then shrugged at Ilyeong as if to say, “See?”

“Judging by your expression, you must have met him. Then I suppose you heard about the Lottery from that ‘dog’. To think he would still blab to someone else after seeing what happened to the dog bastards who came before. That dog must have some serious nerve.”

“It is Jeon Seogu.”

“Huh? A pigeon?”

“He is not a ‘dog’.”

Liam burst out laughing and muttered, ‘A mutt or a pigeon, what is the difference.’

“Looks like he did not tell you his real name either, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong? Jeon Seogu is the name Colonel Jamie gave him. My goodness, to cut out his tongue and then name him Jeon Seogu… The colonel is no ordinary villain.”

They are all in it together, yet he talks so glibly, Ilyeong thought, but he did not reply. He ignored him and continued speaking.

“I heard that Mr. Jeon Seogu was not even able to attend the banquet held on the last day. That means he was not even given the option to be implanted with a chip.”

“That is right. He got tangled up with the wrong person. With the colonel.”

“Tangled up with the wrong person?”

Liam shrugged his shoulders dramatically.

“Does there need to be a reason? If you really have to find one, it is just that Jeon Seogu was excessively the colonel’s type. And since Colonel Jamie is Seo Yoonseok and Seo Chaejun’s loyal subordinate, everyone just turned a blind eye to it.”

Suddenly, Liam’s hand patted Ilyeong’s shoulder. Tap, tap.

“Ah, my tone just now was a bit arrogant, was it not. Let us not misunderstand. I respect the Director and the Lieutenant General. Following their line is the most stable path, after all.”

“You know you people are real pieces of trash.”

This time, the reply came out instantly, without passing through his brain. Liam’s eyes widened, and then he let out a dry laugh.

“Haha. Ah, really…”

Liam suddenly grabbed Ilyeong’s right hand. He pressed his thumb hard on the spot where the needle had pierced, and a groan almost escaped. Not necessarily because of the chip, but the entire hand throbbed from the forceful grip.

“I could never understand Nam Giyun’s taste, you know. But I will have to admit now that I want to keep messing with you, in a different sense.”

In Liam’s eyes that met his, a reddish hue beyond curiosity began to stain them. A warning sign. It was generally best to avoid humans with eyes like these. Ilyeong bit down on his tongue and shook his hand free in the air.

“Get lost. Go hang out with those who share your tastes and leave me alone.”

“Those who share tastes? You do not mean Nam Giyun, do you? You are saying something that would cause a big problem if Captain Nam heard. Did you use his name like this to the soldier you met at the restaurant earlier, too?”

“…”

He has a truly unpleasant intuition, Ilyeong thought, just as he had back in the slums. He scowled and glared at him. Liam quickly relaxed his expression and chuckled. Then, he shrugged and pointed to a deserted window on the cruise ship.

“You really are fun. To be treated like trash by someone from the slums. I was about to get a little pissed off just now, but if I am finding even this fun now, have I been blinded by love too? This is a problem. The more I see you, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, the more you have a way of captivating people.”

Liam’s hand suddenly came toward his face. The hand, which approached as if to poke Ilyeong’s eyeball, tilted diagonally and lightly brushed past the outer corner of his eye.

“Especially these eyes. The way they distrust people is so transparent that it makes me want to poke them even more. Ah, do not misunderstand. As I said before, it is not some crazy unrequited love like Captain Nam’s. It is just curiosity.”

“Get your hand off me.”

Liam shrugged and nonchalantly lowered his hand. Ilyeong, as if to make a point, roughly rubbed the corner of his eye with the back of his hand. Through his blurred vision, he could see him checking his watch.

“Alright, that is enough with the jokes. Shall we now have the question and answer session that Mr. Kwon Ilyeong really wants?”

“Are you going to answer?”

“I tend to be merciful to interesting people. I have been bored ever since I got on this cruise, and since you have made me laugh this much, it is only right that I pay the price. Let us move to a different spot before that.”

Ilyeong watched Liam’s back as he strode ahead without even waiting for a reply, and then he too slowly began to walk. He did not show it, but his fingertips were trembling faintly. Ilyeong massaged his throbbing wrist while quickly scanning his surroundings. He could not spot any familiar faces. A mix of anxiety and relief coexisted.

Jeon Seogu had said he would sneak into the banquet today. But as long as Jamie was hiding somewhere on this cruise, and as long as Liam, who knew about their relationship, was here, he must absolutely not show up here. His palms quickly began to grow damp.

It was then, while he was keenly observing the place where the field mice had gathered, that he caught a glimpse of a familiar face. Ilyeong, who was following Liam, faltered to a stop.

“…Chan?”

He was too far away to be sure, but he felt like he had definitely seen a face that resembled Chan. He rubbed his eyelids roughly again. Looking again, he thought it might have been Yuto. Yuto, Chan, and Jeon Seogu all gave off a similar impression, as if tailored to Colonel Jamie’s awful taste. Since it was obvious where Yuto would be, he hastily tried to find Ji Taeun’s face, but the people he was looking for were nowhere to be seen.

“What are you doing standing there? Are you looking for someone again?”

Liam, who had gone ahead, asked in a loud voice. Ilyeong quickly composed his expression. He approached Liam nonchalantly as if nothing had happened, but his attention was entirely focused behind him. He felt as if his frustration would only be relieved if he could turn around right now and find someone, whether it was Chan or Yuto.

Was it a ghost, or a hallucination? His entire scalp burned as if grabbed by the hair from an inexplicable nausea.

“It is a beautiful night.”

Liam had stopped in front of a glass window and was murmuring as he looked outside. His voice was emotionless for such a sentimental opinion.

Ilyeong also anxiously bit his lip and turned his gaze outside. The dark blue seawater lapped below. Coincidentally, it was a spot with a clear view of the deck where he had first exchanged words with Seo Juhyeok. Tilting his head a little more, he could also faintly see the outdoor swimming pool he had seen from the restaurant one day. I definitely picked the wrong spot, Ilyeong sighed and tore his gaze away.

Liam seemed to be admiring the view, but at some point, he had also started to stare intently at him.

“Just telling you is no fun. If you tell me the identity of that medicine you are taking, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, I will answer your question too.”

Sly bastard. Ilyeong tried not to be conscious of the shoulder carrying the duffel bag.

“I do not know what you are talking about. I have never taken such a medicine, so I have no secrets to exchange.”

“If I knew you would feign ignorance like this, I should have just forcibly taken it on the research lab’s rooftop back then.”

It is hard to meet Liam’s gaze head on. So Ilyeong maintained his composure and turned his expressionless face back towards the window at an angle. Although he realized immediately that it was a futile act.

Liam’s reflection in the glass window stood there like a twin. Though he acted nonchalant, Ilyeong’s palms were already damp with cold sweat.

Liam would, of course, know about Black. He had even seen his medicine in the slums. Perhaps he was already half convinced that the medicine was Black. That is why he kept prodding him, to confirm the truth.

Liam waited for an answer, then made a gesture as if to say, “whatever.”

“But I am not the type for such crude methods. It is a shame, but I will aim for the next opportunity.”

“…”

“However, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. If I may give you one piece of advice, there is no one on Paradise as gentlemanly as I am. So if my guess about the identity of that medicine is correct…”

Liam leaned in close and whispered secretly into Ilyeong’s ear.

“…Mr. Kwon Ilyeong will soon be chewed up and swallowed whole by those who are after that medicine. So keep acting as brazen as you are now and guard your secret well.”

A curse rose to the very tip of his tongue. With this, it became an established fact that Liam suspected his medicine was Black.

The reason why Liam knew yet let it slide was easy to guess. It was probably because of that damned ‘fun’ of his. In other words, the moment he lost interest in him, he was prepared to hand this secret over to the enemy at any time. Ilyeong smiled faintly, careful not to bite his tongue.

“Thank you for the advice, but I still do not know what you are talking about.”

“Hmm. How wise.”

“So may I ask my question now?”

Ilyeong looked at Liam’s detestable face, which was smiling back at him, and quickly continued.

“You said the information collected by this chip is used for MN Pharmaceutical’s research.”

“That is correct.”

“What kind of research?”

“Straight to the point. But I think I answered that sufficiently earlier. Think about it. Our MN is striving to develop a treatment for the fifth mutation of Jupiter, you know?”

Irritation soared at Liam’s attitude of trying to lead him to the answer, but then in an instant, his mind went blank as if a fuse had blown. Clunk. Words dismantled themselves randomly and created a ringing in his ears. Beeep—. The shrill sound felt just like a declaration of death.

“…You cannot be experimenting on people, are you?”

“Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, back when you were working at the research lab in the shelter zone. Did you not receive corpses delivered from Paradise every month? As far as I know, when you enter the lab, you even have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, or something of that sort.”

“What in the world are you…”

…talking about?

The rest of the words were swallowed as if someone had sliced out his vocal cords. In that moment, Ilyeong heard all the noise in the world. The murmuring of people, the cackling laughter interspersed intermittently within it, the sharp shattering sound of a glass breaking somewhere, the round sound of liquid dripping irregularly. Drip, drop.

The scenery before his eyes melted into noise and dug into his eardrums. It was as if all the sounds he had been blocking out his whole life were pouring in at once. Gush. Piercing through the clamorous noise, like a monsoon rain, Liam delivered the final confirmation.

“By the way, what kind of stories do you think led those corpses to the research lab?”

Ilyeong could not hold it in any longer and bent over, starting to dry heave.

Gag, wretch… Nothing came up since he had not eaten anything, but the shock was so great it felt as if his insides were turning over. The fingertips covering his mouth trembled violently as if in a convulsion.

The black truck that came to the lab every month was loaded with all sorts of things. It was not just human corpses. The corpses of all kinds of animals, such as monkeys, pigs, sheep, and horses, were also loaded on it. They were all life forms that had fallen victim to the Jupiter virus. Since the fifth mutation of Jupiter itself did not have a very high fatality rate, most cases were those who had suffered from complications and quickly reached death. It was the research lab’s job to compile the information from those cases to create a treatment.

Suddenly, the words of the truck driver who used to procure his drugs came to mind.

“That is not something you, who sticks needles into corpses, should be saying.”

It was a vulgar remark, close to harassment, but it was now piercing his very essence. What if those corpses were people from the shelter zone who had been sacrificed by the Lottery? And what about me, who had simply treated those corpses as experimental data? If ignorance is also a sin, then I am a sinner as well. Questions accompanied by self-loathing crawled up from his stomach like caterpillars.

Liam stood shielding Ilyeong at an angle before the attention of others could be drawn. Because he stood with his back to the brilliant light of the chandelier, his expression could not be seen. A golden light spread brilliantly along Liam’s silhouette like a halo. His white, firm hand patted Ilyeong’s back and shoulder as if it were about to offer salvation. It was a magnificent scene, like the first moment a god descends to earth. The only problem was that the man before him was a fallen god.

Face reality. Ilyeong blinked his eyes rapidly several times. He still could not see his face, but he could faintly tell that the corners of Liam’s mouth were drawing an arc. Like the Pied Piper, Liam intended to drive the pack of field mice and plunge them into the abyss. There is no salvation. As always.

“Get a grip. It hurts my feelings when you look at me like I am a villain and react like this. Did I order it? Did I force you?”

The hand that had been patting his back now grabbed Ilyeong’s shoulder and pulled him upright. Thud. Pushed by a rather rough force, his back hit the glass window. Liam, as if conscious of the gazes around them, pretended to brush off Ilyeong’s clothes and muttered as if he were a ventriloquist.

“Let’s think positively. At least if you become a citizen, you get supplies to cover your food, clothing, and shelter, and you can enter the enclosure called Paradise, so that is a cheap price to pay. As I said before, participating in the experiment is voluntary. Not everyone gets the virus, you just get it if you are unlucky. I am not forcing you.”

“Lies. You said the same thing about the J5 implant.”

“That was for your sake, Doctor Kwon. You would have starved to death immediately if you did not get the chip implant. Is it not crazy not to do it? Everyone else agreed, except for you, Doctor Kwon, did they not?”

“How is it not coercion when you do not even give any other options in the first place?”

A hollow laugh escaped. Paradise is only pretending to provide a way to live while driving the field mice to walk into death on their own. That lofty Paradise never dirtied their own hands until the very end.

“If that is the problem, shall I give you another option, Doctor Kwon? When we arrive at Paradise, come work at our research lab.”

Liam blatantly looked at Ilyeong’s duffel bag and continued.

“As it happens, I have a job that is perfect for Mr. Kwon Ilyeong. I will promise you a salary high enough that you will not have to dangerously volunteer for experiments.”

“…”

Ilyeong did not answer. It was a silence that considered neither acceptance nor refusal. Liam’s words reminded him of the offer he had received from Seo Juhyeok on the 8th floor just a little while ago. Of course, Seo Juhyeok’s and Liam’s intentions would be completely different.

Seo Juhyeok, to genuinely save him.

Liam, to keep him by his side and observe him.

A long, long time ago, he had had a conversation like that with Joo Yoonchae. The topic of that day’s debate was which was more important, the intention or the result. They were not the type to have constructive conversations on a regular basis, but he remembered that day, as if possessed, both Joo Yoonchae and he had fought hard to make their respective arguments, with the veins on their necks bulging.

Joo Yoonchae had said that intention was important. He had said that even if the derived value was a bad result, if the purpose was good, the actor had done their best. From that perspective, Seo Juhyeok would be a good person, and Liam a bad one.

However, in that day’s debate, Ilyeong’s argument was the opposite.

“Do not act benevolent. You are just a disgusting hypocrite. Did you think I would be so happy I would shed tears if you saved me alone as if giving alms?”

Understanding and forgiveness are also privileges of the haves. If a bad result is a problem directly related to one’s own life, there is even less room to consider the intention.

Seo Juhyeok and Liam both presented the option of saving one person. They were the type of people who would not care about this Lottery or anyone else’s life as long as Ilyeong alone survived. In exchange for saving one person, they would forget all the injustice of the Lottery and brush it all off.

He hates that. The easy mindset of being able to shake off guilt so readily makes him uncomfortable, and the sense of debt that would pile up on him for surviving alone is a burden.

Since he had refused Seo Juhyeok’s offer, refusing Liam’s offer was even easier. Despite Ilyeong’s scathing refusal, Liam still responded with a gentlemanly smile.

“If anything, Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, you are the hypocrite. It is not like you have these eyes because you particularly want to save everyone, is it? Be honest. You just have a few people who have caught your eye, that is all. That funny kid named Haoran or whatever, and… if I were to name one more, it would be Colonel Jamie Moore’s dog. Am I right?”

“…”

“I do not know when you made such comrades, but if it were not for those people, you would not have refused my offer just now.”

Ilyeong clicked his tongue imperceptibly. Then he opened his mouth calmly.

“That might be true. That is why I did not want to grow attached to anyone on this cruise.”

“Does that mean you ended up losing out because you gave your affection?”

“Yes.”

Whether the other party was Haoran and Jeon Seogu, or… Seo Juhyeok.

Liam relaxed the cheek muscles he had artificially stiffened and burst out laughing. Keuk keuk.

“Ah, I take back what I said about you being a hypocrite, Doctor Kwon. You may be self-centered, but at least you seem honest. So Doctor Kwon only takes care of his own people, is that it? But hearing the word ‘affection’ from your mouth, Doctor Kwon, is a little funny. If you put it that way, Captain Nam is… hmm.”

Liam pointedly pressed his lips together as if swallowing many words. But Liam does not know. He does not know that because he gave too much affection to Nam Giyun when they were young, he has already experienced a deep and desperate regret.

Ilyeong locked away the long, long words deep inside his mind. The history of hatred coiled within it like a snake. In the center of the coil, he hid away memories he did not want to recall. Just like Pandora’s Box.

It is a hatred, a memory, that will not awaken unless provoked. Too much time has passed to be angry now, and it is terribly painful to recall.

Liam let out a long breath through his nose and took a step back, patting his shoulder. Pat, pat. And this time, with precise pronunciation, he recited clearly.

“A saint and a hypocrite, be thoroughly one or the other. Do not be awkwardly caught in the middle.”

Although I have no desire to choose either side.

Ilyeong pulled his shoulder back to avoid Liam’s hand. Liam chuckled. Pfft.

“Think about my offer again, too.”

“That will not happen. I know you are acting on Nam Giyun’s orders, so what can I trust to accept that offer?”

“Doctor Kwon, watch your choice of words. It was a request, not an order.”

It is the same thing. He had muttered it softly, but somehow Liam heard it and chuckled.

“To be a little more specific, I offered you the research lab job just because I thought it would be fun. Nam Giyun’s request was not that.”

“What was it?”

“Hold on to Kwon Ilyeong so he cannot run away anymore, even if you have to break his ankles.”

It was coming through Liam’s voice, but that was unmistakably Nam Giyun’s way of speaking. Ilyeong was genuinely flabbergasted and let out a snort. Ha.

“Well, even if Captain Nam speaks so harshly, he probably does not mean it.”

Nam Giyun is a man who does what he says. Even if the target is me. How does his lackey not know that yet? Ilyeong clicked his tongue inwardly.

“Why are you defending Nam Giyun like that? There is no need, since my opinion of him cannot fall any lower.”

“I just feel a little sorry for him.”

“Nam Giyun?”

“Yes. It was by chance, but I heard everything. But you said you have a problem with your memory. That you have forgotten everything.”

…What? The smile faded from Ilyeong’s lips. The coiled snake inside his head twitched as if about to awaken.

Fortunately, Liam did not seem to notice and quickly changed the subject.

“And even if it was not for that, he looked rather pitiful saying those things with his face beaten to a pulp.”

Ilyeong pressed his lips into a straight line. This time, he knew the story. The hideous scar that ran across Nam Giyun’s face instantly came to mind.

Nam Giyun, the brute of the slums, always had a face as pale and dead as a corpse in front of his father. No one would have ever imagined it. That the person who created the scar on his face was Nam Giyun’s own father. The scar grew longer and deeper with each passing year.

That was a secret only Ilyeong knew. The other person who knew that secret, Ilyeong’s father, was shot and killed by Nam Giyun. Perhaps the reason Nam Giyun is so obsessed with him is because he knows that secret.

“Getting swept up by you, Doctor Kwon, is making me feel like I am actually Captain Nam’s lackey, which is unpleasant, so let’s drop this subject.”

Liam took another glass from a passing server’s tray. The server, who had been glancing over as if to check the situation, made eye contact with Ilyeong and then kept stealing glances at his face with an uncomfortable expression. It was clear he was anxious about the escalating voices. When Ilyeong showed no reaction, the server scurried away with quick, short steps.

Liam took a leisurely sip of his drink and gestured with his chin to one side.

“And above all, your real enemy is not Captain Nam or me, but that person over there, is it not?”

The entrance to the lounge was bustling. A group of people was entering, escorted by soldiers. Even without the soldiers, their presence was so intimidatingly large that people’s attention was immediately drawn to them. Ilyeong, too, stared at the spot as if mesmerized.

The person at the very front was Seo Yoonseok. Wearing a benevolent smile as if conscious of the gazes upon him, he exuded a skill and composure born from his years of experience as he surveyed the lounge.

Then he stopped in his tracks and fixed his gaze in the direction where Ilyeong was standing. No, to be precise, at Liam who was standing next to Ilyeong. His eyes were wide as if in surprise, but they were clearly showing delight. Liam simply responded with a slight bow of his head.

“Everything for the infinite progress of Paradise.”

Liam’s muttered words, like a spell, brushed past his ear like the wind. Seo Yoonseok’s favorable gaze soured the moment it reached Ilyeong. He did not hide his discomfort and immediately turned and started walking away.

The soldiers who had stopped with Seo Yoonseok followed behind him. It was a natural and expected flow, as if they all felt a gravitational pull towards the existence that was Seo Yoonseok.

Ilyeong stood rooted to the spot, watching the one being who stood alone, defying that principle.

Seo Juhyeok, from the moment he had entered this lounge, had spotted Ilyeong at a glance and had not moved an inch the entire time. His upright posture was unwavering, and his expression was calm.

This was the man who would spot him with uncanny accuracy and chase him down, no matter how far apart they were. But now, Seo Juhyeok chose to stop at this great distance and maintain it. Ilyeong did not think of closing that distance either.

The moments they had faced each other stood between them. They had shared miserable memories that they did not want to show anyone, had tasted each other’s thirst for revenge, and had dragged each other’s pride down to the very bottom. That was their relationship. His and Seo Juhyeok’s.

Seo Juhyeok, who had statically defied the procession of soldiers, finally turned his body slowly. And he took one slow step at a time. There was not a hint of hesitation in his steps. However, even after rejoining the ranks, he still stood out at a glance.

He understood now. Seo Juhyeok was a man who could not belong anywhere. Because no one had ever been on his side.

The tree was lonely even within its forest. Even after making everyone into trees like himself, he was clearly alone. Even as he acted as if he would let anyone into the forest, he never actually gave them the right to take root beside him. That must be why he had always dreamed of someone similar to himself, and waited for someone who would be on his side.

“Mr. Kwon Ilyeong, surely you do not… know the person who was standing next to the Director?”

Liam, who had noticed the strange exchange of gazes, asked from the side, aghast. Ilyeong answered quietly.

“…Of course not.”

He had no confidence that he could become a forest to embrace him with a half-baked heart. Seo Juhyeok would not want that either.

Maybe we are better off now, having left only scars on each other.

Ilyeong also turned around. He pressed down firmly on his tumultuous chest. Unable to bear the emotion that was difficult to define as any one thing, he closed his eyes. The pitch-black vision swayed for a long time, like the dark blue sea he had seen from the deck that day.