Irresponsibility Chapter 1.1

‘Who did you pass the bag to?’

‘Where did you get that bag?’

I lost it. It is a bag I bought a long time ago. It is true.

“I do…”

I do not know. I really do not know.

Joo Yeoun, whose lips had been parting and closing, shot his eyes open.

“Gasp…! Hah, hah, ugh…”

Is this a dream? Did I have a nightmare?

It was a dream that was too realistic. On the way into his studio apartment, someone called his name, and the moment he turned around, he was dragged away just like that. And then…

“Ugh…”

Memories distorted by horror, fear, and pain surfaced haphazardly.

He had thought he was dying… yes, a large, dark hand had approached. So, did he die?

Captivated by the contents of his dream, Joo Yeoun did not even recognize his unfamiliar surroundings yet. The same went for his own half-dead body. It was a dream, what a relief, it was a dream like a movie, he was only able to offer his thoughts on the dream.

Then, he suddenly felt a chilling pain near his side. He tried to touch it without thinking, but somehow, the sensation felt strange.

His gaze fell upon his right hand, which felt heavy. From his fingers to below his elbow, it was covered in bandages.

“Huh…?”

Yeoun bewilderedly raised both his arms. His right hand was in a cast, and a thick bandage was wrapped around the pinky finger of his left hand.

What is this? As he blinked blankly, a voice flashed through his mind.

‘Are you right-handed? Then the right hand first.’

CRACK.

Startled by the sound that seemed to ring right by his ear, Yeoun clamped his hands over both ears. Feeling the hard texture of the cast, not his own hand, his eyes darted around in confusion.

The ceiling, the walls, the blanket, the bed, the clock. His gaze, frantically roaming, turned to the unfamiliar shape of the door.

And then, he belatedly discovered the large figure standing in front of the door.

“……”

It was that man.

The one whose voice was low and whose gaze was cold. Even though he had not seen him for long, his memory retrieved a vivid image. His breathing grew increasingly rapid.

The man, who had been looking this way with a blank expression, raised his hand. A large hand with thick knuckles and bulging veins. It was the hand that had tried to kill him.

“Ahhhhh!”

Letting out a terrified scream, Joo Yeoun fainted dead away.

“……”

The large hand, which had paused in mid-air for a moment, moved belatedly. Knock, knock. The sound of a knock on the door echoed in the silence.

When he opened his eyes again, Joo Yeoun accepted it. Everything was real.

“Huuuh…”

Yeoun let out a sob-like groan and looked around. Neat wallpaper, flooring commonly used in homes, a small nightstand next to the bed, the large bed he was lying on, a door that seemed to be a bathroom in the far corner of the room.

There was nothing threatening, but Joo Yeoun flinched every time something came into his view. If it were not for the pain all over his body, he would have surely curled up into a ball.

After cautiously surveying his surroundings, his gaze moved to his own body. As he had seen before, his right arm was in a cast, and a brace was fastened around his rib cage. It seemed there was a problem with his ribs as well.

THUD—!

A dull sound, a kick, suffocating pain. A frightening memory suddenly surfaced, and Joo Yeoun squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them.

After that, with a trembling left hand, he felt his face. Something sticky that seemed to be ointment was applied to his skin, and there was gauze on his forehead and near his chin.

Did I get out of that place? Did the police save me?

The hopeful thought was fleeting. That man was here. He had not laid a hand on him directly, but he was the one in charge. Yeoun stared at the door with terrified eyes.

It was then. There was a light knock. Although he was startled, he did not faint this time.

“It is the doctor.”

He was unknowingly relieved by the words that followed. The person who opened the door and entered was wearing a white coat and holding a tray with bandages and medicine. He really looked like a doctor.

“How is your body? Are you not dizzy?”

“……”

“It is okay. I am a doctor. I am here to treat you, Mr. Joo Yeoun.”

The doctor with glasses consistently spoke in a gentle voice. When reapplying the ointment and even when checking the wound, he added an explanation for each action, saying, “I am applying ointment,” “These are scissors to cut the gauze,” “It is a little dirty, so I will change it for you.”

Although Joo Yeoun flinched and trembled, he received the treatment quietly. It was because he was too scared to move, but it was a fortunate thing for the doctor. “It is a painkiller.” He skillfully inserted a needle into the back of Joo Yeoun’s hand and made eye contact with him.

“It does not hurt much, does it?”

Tell me if your hand feels numb or cold. Joo Yeoun’s tension gradually eased at the moderately kind and professional words.

“Hh…”

“Yes?”

When he moved his dry lips, the doctor leaned his ear closer. The startled Yeoun flinched and backed away. He wanted to run far away, but he could not move much while lying on the bed. Fortunately, the doctor said he was sorry and quickly created some distance.

“Where… is this…”

At the words he barely managed to utter, the doctor nodded, saying, “Ah.”

“This is a safe place.”

“……”

The doctor looked down at Joo Yeoun’s face, whose lips were sealed. His face, completely covered in bruises, was so swollen that it was difficult to recognize his features.

“After you receive treatment and recover, I will make it so you can see your family.”

The doctor’s voice became a little more gentle. Just as Yeoun, who was looking up at him with reddening eyes, was about to open his mouth again.

“Then…”

Click—!

At the sound of the door opening, Yeoun was startled and turned his head. His eyes, welled up with tears, grew as wide as saucers, and then a scream erupted.

“Uwaaah!”

“Mr. Joo Yeoun, it is okay. It is okay.”

The doctor grabbed Yeoun’s shoulders to calm him as he twisted his body and tried to flee backward, but Yeoun screamed even more frantically.

“Aack! Aah!”

Because he was flailing his arms and legs, the IV needle inserted in the back of his hand was pulled out. The doctor barely managed to catch Yeoun, who had almost fallen off the bed.

“Mr. Joo Yeoun?”

Looking at Yeoun, who was in a complete state of panic as if he could not even hear his voice, the doctor furrowed his brow. In the end, he had no choice but to administer a sedative and forcefully put him to sleep.

“Hah, hah…”

Joo Yeoun’s eyes, which had been heaving with short breaths, slowly closed. The doctor, after laying the limp body down properly, let out a sigh. Then he stared at the doorway with annoyed eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“Sorry. I forgot.”

The very person who had made the patient faint for the second time knocked on the door belatedly. Knock, knock. Looking at the menacing fist knocking on the door, the doctor sighed once more. The man standing at the door approached without a care.

“Did you talk with him a bit?”

When he stood beside the bed with his arms crossed, the body lying on the bed looked even smaller and thinner.

The doctor looked at the wet tear tracks on Joo Yeoun’s cheek and pushed up his glasses. To think he went to the trouble of finding and wearing his glasses just to reassure him.

“No. It was ruined thanks to someone.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Ack!”

The doctor staggered forward and grabbed the back of his head. It was a light push, but because it was a hand as big as a cauldron lid, even that hurt. He rubbed the back of his head for all to see, then straightened his posture when the gaze returned to him.

“I tried my best to calm him down, but he seems to be very frightened.”

“Yeah,” the man answered lowly and gazed down at Joo Yeoun. The small, tear-soaked face, the bruises here and there, the bandages…. His slowly moving gaze settled on the pale back of the hand where the veins were visible.

A trickle of blood was flowing from the back of the hand where the needle had been forcefully pulled out during the commotion. Following the stream of blood dripping down the slender fingers, the man recalled the events of a few days ago.

That blood-soaked appearance he had encountered so unexpectedly.

Baek Geonhyuk was a former soldier who now belonged to a private organization. The organization he belonged to had a separate name, but it was generally just called ‘the company’. This naturally came to be due to the nature of the organization, which could not be exposed to the outside world.

The company had an ambiguous but clear identity. It moves in secret under the orders of the state and protects the majority of people.

The work itself had many similarities to the operations he had carried out in the special forces. However, the name of his homeland was absent from the company’s work.

The company carries out tasks that cannot be done in the name of the Republic of Korea. If necessary, it even steps beyond the boundaries of the law. The organization he was a part of was one that moved independently amidst complex interests entangled with corporations or other countries.

There is no honor. Even if one dies during a mission, one is not a fallen soldier, and it is a separate organization that has no connection to the Republic of Korea, neither superficially nor legally.

In other words, it was the nation’s most useful card and its most easily discarded card.

Nevertheless, Baek Geonhyuk did not have many complaints. It was a job he had chosen himself, and after all, society was better than the military.

He often considered himself a patriotic mercenary of sorts. It was substance over honor.

The company was recently tracking a drug cartel. It was because of a certain item they possessed, but in truth, it was difficult to see Joo Yeoun as being connected to that item.

It was just that Joo Yeoun’s figure had been captured on a certain CCTV that was checked while tracking the cartel’s movements.

The fact that Joo Yeoun, who had been holding a bag, did not have that bag when he appeared on another CCTV a few hours later, the fact that the bag was discovered at a location where traces of the cartel remained, the fact that a small amount of the drugs the cartel distributes was found inside the bag. That was the reason Joo Yeoun was brought in.

Whether Joo Yeoun had transported the drugs or not was not their concern. The important thing was the whereabouts of the cartel. Things like where he received the bag, and from whom.

It was unlikely that a pale-faced university student would have key information, but even trivial information can sometimes become an important clue. Even though he had been kidnapped and sat down in an interrogation room, he was, in a way, a witness.

‘Who, who are you?’

Joo Yeoun, 23 years old, university student. No criminal record.

It was obvious. The circumstances under which kids like that end up transporting drugs are usually narrowed down to a few possibilities. They either made the delivery without knowing what they were delivering, were forced to deliver through threats, or did it knowingly to earn some pocket money.

Whatever the case, he would not have been deeply involved with the cartel.

‘Hello?’