Rainbow City Chapter 7

Clear. After whispering, he untied the string wrapped around the end of the flashlight and hung it where the light had been. Although it wasn’t as bright as the fluorescent lights, the surroundings became brighter.

Seokhwa walked to Dr. Oh’s bookshelf and began to run his hands through it, looking for something. Kwak Soohwan sat down at the desk and held up the picture frame that had been placed crookedly.

There was an old man smiling brightly, a woman who appeared to be his wife next to him, and a man who looked to be a high school student in front of them. It looked like a very old photo.

He soon lost interest and turned his gaze to Seokhwa. For some reason, Seokhwa, who was usually slow, seemed quick. He was stuffing several thin books and what appeared to be research materials into his backpack. As if the inside of the bag was too full to fit, he took out his blanket, wrapped it around his shoulder, and carried out his materials.

“Major Kwak Soohwan.”

The sight of Seokhwa getting up carrying his backpack looked difficult. Soohwan thought that if he pushed him, he would fall backwards under the weight of his backpack.

“Done?”

“Get up from there.”

He was petrified and he started pushing the large desk. Kwak Soohwan, who couldn’t bear to see what was happening, pushed the desk instead.

“Ha, did he dig a tunnel in his house?”

There was a handle on the bottom that was hidden by the desk. As Seokhwa tried to lift it again with difficulty, he looked back at Kwak Soohwan, who was crossing his arms.

“Thank you.”

“What?”

Seokhwa stepped away from the spot as if asking him to open it and grabbed the strap of the backpack with both hands.

“What kind of situation is it where I receive your thanks even though I haven’t done it yet?”

Just then he grabbed the handle and lifted the door from the floor.

Creak!

Something started running up the stairs. Kwak Soohwan quickly grabbed Seokhwa by the collar, pushed him back, and lifted the attacking creature by the scruff of its neck. The guy, who was screaming with Adam’s signature scream, was struggling to get out of Kwak Soohwan’s hands.

“…Sunbae?”

Seokhwa, who had fallen to the floor, muttered absently. The frantically convulsing body of the creature stopped as if at a standstill. The guy slowly blinked and grabbed Kwak Soohwan’s wrist with both hands.

“…Seo…hwa…?”

An unclear pronunciation came out of his mouth, but Kwak Soohwan clearly heard it. Seokhwa called the guy his Sunbae, and the guy uttered Dr. Seok’s name.

“Sun, Sunbae?”

Seokhwa barely got up from his feet on the floor. He also thought it was an usual Adam attacking him. However, the person who rushed in was none other than Dr.Oh’s son and his Sunbae, Oh Cheongun.

“…Hwa…”

Sunbae stretched out his hand and called anxiously.

“…I…can’t…breath…Seok…hwa…”

Should I tell him to let go? Is this really his Sunbae? Seokhwa was confused.

“Dr. Seok, bring a flashlight.”

Hearing his clear voice, Seokhwa handed over the flashlight hanging from the lamp to him. When he looked at him while holding down the nape of his neck, he saw that all the blood vessels in his eyes had burst, and his lips were also covered in dried blood.

“From now on, you have to answer properly to what I say.”

“Yes.”

Seokhwa took a step back and took out the pistol again.

“No, put that gun away. Talk with me, judge whether you think you can shoot this guy.”

Still, he didn’t put it back this time because he thought it was better than not holding it at all.

“Looking at this guy’s condition right now, do you think he’s Adam?”

“On the outside, it looks like it.”

“But could Adam talk like us? Has there ever been such results from research?”

“…They didn’t until I went to Jeju Island. I haven’t heard anything like that from other researchers yet.”

Oh Cheongun, who was being held by the neck, only made an unknown animal sound like “Ugh” and then repeated that he was suffocating. He was so thin that he looked like a mummy. But, the pronunciation was gradually becoming more accurate than at first. Kwak Soohwan, who sensed something was strange, took out the walkie talkie from inside his uniform and put it to his mouth.

“Code number 3121, this is Major Kwak Soohwan. Red Zone 13 , a person believed to be Adam was found at the home of Dr. Oh. I don’t know if he’s mutating or something, but he seems to be able to talk. I request that the Adam recovery support team arrive immediately.”

[Copy That.]

An immediate confirmation came back from the other end of the radio.

“If you keep strangling me like that, I might die…”

Seokhwa was still confused. Is it a person? Is it Adam? Could it be that after Dr. Oh died, his son went crazy with grief?

Ah! Ugh… Ack…Ugh

Kwak Soohwan went crazy again and pushed the person who was trying to attack into the wall. This thing that was trying to bite a person with its bloodsoaked teeth could no longer be called a person. He was just Adam, his eyes shining at Seokhwa behind him. Kwak Soohwan, without any hesitation, took out a knife from his back pocket and tried to stab Adam in the eyeball. He paused for a moment and twirled the knife in his hand. He looked back at Seokhwa for a moment.

“You said he was someone you knew, right?”

Seokhwa nodded his head slowly.

“Tell me, is this Adam?”

If their judgment of the situation was delayed by even one second, they would be the ones to become Adam.

‘Do not show any mercy to anything you suspect is Adam. Kill them immediately. Even if they are your parents, they are no longer people.’

I learned countless times at the education center. However, humanity was almost wiped out because emotions made it difficult to make such easy decisions.

“Dr. Seok.”

He nodded her head once more, albeit unsurely. It was embarrassing to even be able to talk like this in front of Adam going on a rampage. I could clearly understand why the military could not easily let go of Major Kwak, who was out of control, and why Lieutenant Colonel Jang was protecting him to such an extent that it felt cruel. He not only protected others from Adam, who rushed at him in an instant, but also defeated them in one go. If it weren’t for him, he might have lost his life to Sunbae a long time ago.

“Dr. Seok, don’t blame me. Originally, all of these people were all someone’s acquaintances, neighbors, and family.”

Suddenly, Kwak Soohwan took Adam’s breath. He precisely stopped the movement of his body.

***

[Adam 7th Mutation Report: It seems that Adam has gained intelligence.]

They were on their way back to the Yeouido Shelter.

Seokhwa checked the research paper that Dr. Oh had personally written. He took another chocolate bar out of his backpack, bit it, and then chewed a pill. A bucketful of bottled water was now running out.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“No, I’m not tired.”

“I’m tired, though.”

It was when they entered the green area. Kwak Soohwan stopped his car and got out. Seokhwa turned his attention to the report again.

[It seems that Adam is finally starting to speak the language. …They started saying words.]

Could it be that he couldn’t even write down his name?

Seokhwa easily guessed who Adam was as he began to read. He was the son of Dr. Oh, and would have been his Sunbae.

[Amazing facts about the Garden of Eden. The higher-ups don’t want it.]

He had no idea what this meant. He moved to the back page, but there was no further mention of him.

Kwak Soohwan, who opened the car door and got in, was wiping his hands with a wet tissue. Seokhwa was usually expressionless, but this time he blinked quickly two or three times.

A man doing his business anywhere without washing his hands…

As he was staring blankly, he saw the Adam recovery team vehicle passing by in the opposite lane. Kwak Soohwan’s smooth face was shadowed by the light from their headlights.

“It seems like the injection Dr. Seok studied has side effects.”

The researchers all said that although he had a temperamental personality, he was good looking. Seokhwa also suddenly thought that he knew why. Kwak Soohwan, lightly holding the steering wheel, spoke to Seokhwa.

“I keep getting an erection.”

Seokhwa drooped his shoulders as if he was relieved for today. I guess that is it for today.

“Major Kwak Soohwan.”

He closed his eyes and forced out his voice.

“My mouth…Don’t use it.”

He placed both hands on his backpack and quickly fell asleep again with his mouth open. Kwak Soohwan, who was looking at Seokhwa with his arm on the steering wheel, chuckled.

Cars had various fuel efficiencies. There were many cars that looked nice on the outside but had poor fuel efficiency, and there were many models that saved fuel costs even though they didn’t look fancy. The jeep that Kwak Soohwan rode was issued for military use and was very fuel efficient. It was a time when people were extremely conscientious about oil and electricity, but there were no major inconveniences. At least that was the case for those who resided in the green zone.

“In that respect, Dr. Seok’s gas mileage is shit.”

It eats up a lot of gas, but what you end up with is a car that is eye-catching.

Even when Kwak Soohwan arrived at the shelter parking lot, he did not turn off the engine. He admired Seokhwa, who was leaning his arm on the steering wheel and quietly closing his eyes. The Jeep did not have an air conditioning function that consumed oil, but the heater worked without any problems. The window gradually became foggy due to the cold temperature of the underground parking lot, the heat inside the car, and the exhaled breath of the two people.

His gaze gradually lowered and soon reached Seokhwa’s thighs. He thought he only liked rocks, but he was holding the report as if it was as precious. That was not a research report taken from Dr. Oh’s study, but a document found in the basement where Adam had popped out.

***

“Are you going to go down?”

Kwak Soohwan checked once again whether Adam’s body had completely stopped. He stabbed the other eye with a knife, and after spinning around, he swung the knife away. He could feel Seokhwa’s face becoming noticeably pale, but this was how the scene was supposed to be.

“Dr. Seok?”

Seokhwa, who looked like he would faint any minute, approached Kwak Soohwan by walking along the walls. As if he wanted to stay away from Adam, he didn’t even look at his lying body.

“Let’s go…down.”

Kwak Soohwan grabbed the flashlight again and shined a light on the basement stairs that Adam had jumped up from. If there were others, they would have already rushed in, but Kwak Soohwan started going down the stairs first to make sure it was safe. The musty smell of rotting corpses filled the basement, so Seokhwa, who followed him down, could only breathe through his mouth.

When illuminated with a flashlight, the basement floor was splattered here and there with discolored blood, and a broken chain could also be seen at the end. The desk with the stand turned off had a pen and paper on it, as if someone had just recently occupied it. However, the ink from the open pen had already dried like blood on the floor for a long time.