M 121

Sehwa unconsciously checked Ki Tae-jeong’s reaction first. It seemed unlikely he would cause trouble inside the Ministry of National Defense building, especially right before the trial… But then again, he did have a history of shooting all the House staff.

Even the soldiers standing at a distance seemed to be keenly observing the situation here, but Maejo kept babbling on as if it was none of his business.

Whore who sold his body to bring in customers, a faithless bitch like March, dirty prostitute who lost his mind trying to change his fate… After spitting out a few such phrases, he seemed to run out of variations and started repeating dull insults.

Fortunately, Ki Tae-jeong hadn’t lashed out yet. Rather, he was just looking back and forth between Lieutenant Kim and Maejo with an interested expression. Of course, that didn’t mean it was safe to relax, so Sehwa kept watching the approaching three people without lowering his guard.

Up close, Maejo’s appearance was utterly miserable. His face and neck were different colors due to the makeup caked on to hide his damaged skin. His sleeves and collar were black with grime as if he hadn’t changed clothes in a long time, and there was a strong musty smell of old mold.

While he had been startled to suddenly be called March and worried about Ki Tae-jeong’s reaction, Maejo’s presence itself wasn’t very threatening. As Sehwa looked at him with indifferent eyes, he belatedly noticed something strange and slightly furrowed his brow.

One of Maejo’s hands was gone. While his shoulder to forearm was intact, there was nothing below his left cuff as if it had been sawed off. His legs didn’t look too good either. When captured runners had their Achilles tendons cut, they would walk just like that… He must have suffered something similar.

His remaining right hand was covered in scabs. His nape was also full of small puncture-like wounds… Judging by the location and shape, it seemed he had been receiving injections until relatively recently. When someone scratches their body due to the itching sensation that follows after taking drugs, scars tend to form on their hands and legs like that.

“I apologize, Brigadier General Ki.”

Was Maejo’s drug use voluntary? Or did Colonel Kim have a hand in it? As Sehwa was lost in thought, Colonel Kim politely offered an apology. Of course, it was directed at Ki Tae-jeong, not a lower class person like him.

“He’s our witness, but being young, he tends to get worked up.”

Maejo snorted, flaring his nostrils at suddenly being treated like an idiot. The fact that he maintained such an attitude despite being surrounded by armed soldiers and officers right beside him… He was definitely not in his right mind.

This made it even more puzzling. Can a drug-addled person be used as a witness? What’s the reason for bringing Maejo here when he’s not even the boss?

“What did you say earlier?”

Ki Tae-jeong stared intently at Maejo as if Colonel Kim didn’t even exist. As the shadow of the huge man-mountain fell over him, Maejo also seemed a bit flustered and hesitantly stepped back.

“The face of a whore?”

When such a beautifully handsome person smiled smoothly while mentioning appearance, it felt embarrassing to watch, as if he was hurling a great insult without saying much. And this was just Ki Tae-jeong repeating what Maejo had said.

“People tend to use as insults the subjects they feel inferior about. If they’re not smart, they call others stupid; if they’re insecure about not having money, they choose words like ‘beggar.'”

The tall man’s long fingers gripped Maejo’s cheeks and turned them left and right. It was a careless touch, barely pinching the skin as if touching something dirty.

“I understand you’re upset that your ugly mug doesn’t match your desire to live like a whore, but it’s not right to take it out on an innocent person. Right?”

“Argh!”

Maejo was pushed back by Ki Tae-jeong and had to roll several times. His forehead where Ki Tae-jeong had pushed him would likely bruise soon, but from the immediate situation, it didn’t seem like Ki Tae-jeong had used much force, making it awkward to find fault.

And strangely, although the mockery was clearly directed at Maejo, Lieutenant Kim’s face also darkened. No, more than just darkened. He glared at Ki Tae-jeong with a trembling, sagging gray jaw as if he wanted to kill him. He seemed to be exerting all his strength, but perhaps because of the excess fat, not even a faint vein stood out on his forehead or neck.

“Indeed. I too would have been glad if the handsome Brigadier General Ki Tae-jeong had been my son.”

Colonel Kim, who had been watching the situation unfold, belatedly chimed in. He was sneering that Ki Tae-jeong had nothing but a pretty face, not even a backup. Is this better than immediately pointing a gun? He’s not sure… Colonel Kim’s way of speaking was equally draining.

“Then we’ll see each other inside. I hope we reach a conclusion today.”

Colonel Kim lightly slapped the back of Lieutenant Kim, who was seething with anger, and headed towards the courtroom.

“Ah, right.” Just as he was passing by Sehwa, Colonel Kim slightly turned as if suddenly remembering something. “I heard you had a son?”

A snake-like gaze fixed on Sehwa. Though brief, it was an intense look that couldn’t be mistaken. Ki Tae-jeong must have known him as well, as he immediately blocked Sehwa’s view.

Sehwa nervously crumpled the ends of his cardigan sleeves in his fists. Though he knew it was said deliberately to upset him, he couldn’t help his heart pounding when he suddenly brought up the child. It was also embarrassing to have unintentionally ended up hiding behind Ki Tae-jeong…

“Belated congratulations. I heard it was premature, but I hope the child is healthy.”

Just like when he had signaled to the soldiers outside earlier, Sehwa couldn’t see what expression Ki Tae-jeong was making as he stood with his back to him. However, his hand, which had discreetly reached back, firmly grasped his wrist before letting go, and somehow that warm temperature felt like it was telling him to be at ease.

“It’s not too late yet.”

“…”

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to rest at the hospital?” Ki Tae-jeong asked quietly while watching the three people walk away. “Since you’re already wearing a patient gown, it wouldn’t be unnatural to use the excuse that your condition has worsened.”

Ki Tae-jeong’s face, as he turned towards him, held a forced calmness. It seemed he wanted to lash out but was trying to hold back for his sake.

“I wasn’t… particularly surprised.”

Of course, encountering unexpected faces was startling, but he didn’t take Maejo’s words to heart. Colonel Kim’s cryptic comments were irritating, but… thinking it was bound to happen eventually, it actually strengthened his resolve. If they didn’t settle things cleanly in today’s trial, he’d have to live worrying about when he might encounter such unsettling people again. He disliked that more.

Sehwa pressed the tablet’s button as if nothing was wrong. He quickly selected the de facto marriage relationship and returned the device to a waiting soldier at an appropriate distance. He received the tablet without comment, as if he hadn’t seen anything, saluted Ki Tae-jeong, and stepped back.

It was fortunate that the sudden appearance of Colonel Kim’s group had cut off his distracting thoughts. Whether it was a de facto marriage or separation, what did it matter in the current situation? It was all a staged game anyway, so it was foolish to be overly conscious of it alone.

“You can say that because we haven’t even set foot in the courtroom yet. Inside, it’s full of old men with even less common sense than that.”

“I’ve heard, cough, much worse than that.”

Sehwa replied nonchalantly, but then startled as he gathered his gaze. Turning his eyes, he saw Ki Tae-jeong looking at him with an unfamiliar expression. He was trying not to appear threatening, but his stiffened lips were unable to fully conceal it… a very awkward and clumsy expression.

Ah, could he have thought that the subject of “much worse” was Ki Tae-jeong himself, not the House clients?

“…That’s true.”

He nodded slightly, having drawn his own conclusion. There was no time to correct him that that wasn’t what he meant.

“Compared to what I’ve said to you… that’s nothing.”

“…”

“What’s this, why are you the one looking more upset?”

Ki Tae-jeong tapped the tip of Sehwa’s nose with his index finger. He seemed to be acting playfully on purpose, but his fingertips kept twitching as if holding other meanings. As if he wanted to rest his hand on his shoulder, or embrace his waist, or… hold his hand.

“Let’s go for now.”

However, he stepped back without doing anything. Finding his flustered appearance amusing, a languid laugh spread over his crown, and that was all.

Ki Tae-jeong didn’t bring up his choice of de facto marriage to embarrass Sehwa, nor did he go on about how he would deal with those three people later. He simply walked one step ahead of Sehwa. As if he didn’t want to show him his scary face anymore. Or as if telling him not to look at the filthy spectacle, but just hide behind him…

He was truly a strange person. It was none other than himself who had thrown him into hell, and he had even tied a rope around his neck telling him  not to dare leave his side and be free alone… Now he was eager to pick him up, saying he shouldn’t walk on thorny paths.

He quietly dusted off the black ashes, saying what if his feet get hurt by sulfur fire, and swung his sword and gun recklessly, saying there’s no need to listen to others’ hurtful words. Pretending to be a kind villain, he whispered several times as if confessing that he would show him a changed hell from now on.

Ki Tae-jeong was truly… an incomprehensible man.

***

The courtroom was solemn. Of course, only the exterior of the building was, while the behavior of the people inside was utterly vulgar. At least they made a show of awkwardly standing up when the national anthem played, but afterwards, they just plopped down carelessly and went on saying whatever they wanted.

Anyway, according to the people’s murmurs, Lieutenant Kim’s guilty verdict seemed to be taken for granted. Whether he would be the first in his family to be dishonorably discharged, how much the Kim family would compensate for the property damage caused by their son’s arson, and whether Brigadier General Ki Tae-jeong would succeed in getting a special promotion and be recognized as an elder… These seemed to be the main issues of the trial.

Ki Tae-jeong had told him several times not to think of it as a normal trial, but Sehwa didn’t know proper legal procedures anyway. It felt rather familiar, similar to when House people gathered in one place to deal with players or dealers who caused trouble.

“It seems there will be quite a few witnesses today…”

The elderly man sitting in the chief seat scratched the side of his head as if annoyed. Beside him sat General Oh Seon-ran, dressed splendidly in his uniform.

General Oh Seon-ran made eye contact with Sehwa and winked knowingly. He mouthed something as if he wanted to say something, but when it didn’t seem to get across, he spread all five fingers wide and smiled contentedly before giving a thumbs up.

What is it, what does it mean… Sehwa felt uneasy and looked around. It would be a big problem if people started whispering that it wasn’t fair, exchanging suspicious signals with a high-ranking person. But… to the point of making his previous nervousness seem futile, no one was interested in him. Ah, no. Everyone except Ki Tae-jeong was indifferent to General Oh Seon-ran’s gestures.

“I told you. This place doesn’t follow any common sense. Don’t worry, they won’t nitpick over things like that.” Ki Tae-jeong whispered without moving his lips, as if performing ventriloquism. “Look at how things are going. It’s not much different from a gambling den in the House.”

“Before we hear from the witnesses, there’s something I’d like to confirm first.”

He was about to tell him something more, but Colonel Kim on the opposite side raised his hand, drawing everyone’s attention. His round, flat face, coated with grease, shone under the lights.

“This matter escalated because of suspicions that Lieutenant Kim Seok-cheol had independently developed a new drug from the ‘Harvest’ project, not just a simple narcotic. But thinking about it, we can’t really know whether it was due to that new drug or his own constitution that caused that lower class… Ah, Brigadier General Ki Tae-jeong. I’m sorry. Yes, we can’t know whether it was the drug that caused Mr. Lee Sehwa to become pregnant, can we?”

Ki Tae-jeong snorted and ridiculed Lieutenant Kim for spouting such nonsense to Sehwa. He agreed as well. After all, it was true that Kim Seok-cheol had made the drug exactly according to the formula in the confidential documents. He was only a little concerned about whether it was okay to be whispering so closely with Ki Tae-jeong like this. However,

“So, how about we examine the child in question?”

At Colonel Kim’s following words, Sehwa froze, stopping his attempt to slowly push Ki Tae-jeong away.

What did he just say…?

“Think about it. There’s no more accurate proof than that, is there?”

‘The child? My child? Hae-rim? Why…? I’m the one who took the drug, I’m the one with the strange constitution, so why are they saying to bring the child for examination?’

“If we directly check what kind of influence that drug, which Lieutenant Kim claims to have made, had, or if any components remain in the child’s body, couldn’t we end this right away without troubling many people? And the results would be the most accurate.”

Ah… now he understood. Colonel Kim’s use of ordinary people like hospital doctors or little kids to spout nonsense wasn’t just a low-quality trick or instigation to unsettle him. He was gauging how sincere he was towards the child, and how sincere Ki Tae-jeong was towards him.

Regardless of whether it could actually be done, he wanted to see if just mentioning the possibility of taking the child away would make Ki Tae-jeong take a step back, if he and the child were really such valuable hostages to Ki Tae-jeong… 

That’s what Colonel Kim wanted to confirm.