M 124

“What’s your intention in asking that?”

Oh Seon-ran’s expression hardened a beat late. Ki Tae-jeong’s voice was so calm that at first, he thought he had misheard.

“I want Sehwa to never hear any dirty words and to be safe in the future, even if I’m not there.”

“Setting aside safety… what do you mean by dirty words?”

“For example, the things the elders mentioned in the courtroom earlier… bringing up Sehwa’s background, or suggesting using the child as an experimental subject. I hope such things will never reach Sehwa’s ears again.”

“So, if that’s assured, you’ll let them go? Sehwa and the child?”

“Yes.”

Oh Seon-ran had already experienced what kind of expression Ki Tae-jeong usually wore when negotiating, what kind of voice he used, and what gestures he often made. In meetings or trials, he would smugly show off to the point of embarrassing onlookers, but in moments without witnesses, like when he had presented the parental rights waiver before, he would attack with a knife between his teeth. And in any situation, he didn’t bother hiding the fact that he could cut and tear you apart at any moment.

But the Ki Tae-jeong before him now was, how to put it… neither of those. He had the rawest face he had ever seen on him, and in a way, he finally looked like a young man befitting his age.

“It seems that everyone is unaware because of the trial right now, but they’ll gradually realize it. What it means that someone has appeared to continue the Oh family line, which was thought to end with my generation. Sehwa’s incorporation into 5-star status is complete, so once we resolve the child’s registration issue, at least publicly, they won’t be able to talk nonsense anymore.”

Ki Tae-jeong nodded slowly. Yes, now Sehwa was General Oh Seon-ran’s only blood relative. Even considering just the surface benefits, it was far more advantageous for him to stay by General Oh Seon-ran’s side than his.

All he could offer was endless wealth, but General Oh Seon-ran had that in abundance too. Personal safety wasn’t something a colonel like him needed to worry about… Rather, General Oh Seon-ran could crown Sehwa with the honor of being a member of a prestigious family, something unattainable for Ki Tae-jeong.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how foolish and wrong it was to try to keep Sehwa by his side blindly.

“Then I’ll wrap up the trial like this.”

“What? How?”

“I’m going to focus more on the compensation claim for the 2-Hwan fire damage rather than drug manufacturing. I’ll have a separate meeting arranged, but afterwards, I plan to support the victims, or more precisely, the pack of jackals interested in the spoils, from behind. I’ll guide it so that Colonel Kim suffers headaches for as long as possible, losing all the money he treasures like his life in the process.”

Of course, he intended to make him close his eyes in a miserable and dirty state at the end, but there seemed no need to spell out such details. General Oh Seon-ran stroked his chin lightly, lost in thought.

“What about Lieutenant Kim? Will the drug manufacturing issue be passed over without any punishment?”

“That can’t happen. If I concede one thing, I think the jurors will let me have my way with that bastard at least.”

“Concede? What?”

“I’m going to postpone my discharge.” Ki Tae-jeong responded calmly while straightening his disheveled uniform.

Oh Seon-ran was momentarily speechless, letting out a long “hmm.” After all, this whole affair was Ki Tae-jeong’s scheme to take off his uniform. Everyone knew how sick he was of being treated like a killing machine. Ki Tae-jeong was willing to do anything if it meant making fools of the military personnel, and even Oh Seon-ran, who had been abroad all this time, had heard tales of his exploits. And yet…

“You’re giving up… discharge? Because of Sehwa?”

To give up here, like this, the goal he must have desired most desperately until now? And right before it was about to be achieved? It was natural not to believe it.

“No, I’m postponing it. I have no intention of staying permanently.”

Ki Tae-jeong frowned repeatedly, rubbing his Adam’s apple as if uncomfortable. Then, as if something had pricked him, he swallowed hard and returned to his usual expressionless face before continuing.

“However, if I throw away my rank insignia right at this point, Sehwa’s position will become even more difficult.”

“…”

“What’s the use of letting him go to keep him from hearing those bastards’ nonsense, only for rumors to spread that he was just used and abandoned by me?”

“…”

“It’s better if I go to the battlefield as always, and you stay here, saying you opposed it because you couldn’t let a camp survivor meet me.”

“So,” Ki Tae-jeong drew attention, his attitude lighter than before, whether intentional or not. “First, we need to wrap up the trial… How about you mediate while I act out? The elders will have less resistance… In many ways, that would be the best-looking picture.”

Ki Tae-jeong, who had been rattling off his thoughts as smoothly as flowing water, closed his eyes very briefly only at the end before opening them again. Though brief, his picturesque eyes, tightly shut, looked as if they might wear out and break at any moment.

Ki Tae-jeong behaving somewhat sensibly was unfamiliar, but the expression he wore now was familiar. When he had decided to no longer trace Lee Jin-woo’s remnants. When he had accepted that he could never see or touch him again, Oh Seon-ran too had worn such a face. This was exactly how he had looked when he was neither dead nor alive, just stubbornly existing.

“So, for Sehwa’s sake, not mine… I would be grateful if you could help just a little.”

As he said this, Ki Tae-jeong awkwardly bowed his head. It wasn’t a reluctant salute from a subordinate, but a request made as the individual named Ki Tae-jeong. Of course, his stiff attitude suggested this was his first time doing something like this. Indeed, this was likely the first time he had ever bowed his head to make a request of someone else.

Oh Seon-ran finally realized that Ki Tae-jeong, who acted like a blockhead, wasn’t even thirty yet. Though he behaved as if he had been through everything, Ki Tae-jeong was still quite young. Having never received or learned love, he looked no different from a child, standing blankly, not knowing what to do.

“…You don’t need to worry about that part.”

After hesitating for a moment, Oh Seon-ran awkwardly patted Ki Tae-jeong’s shoulder a couple of times. Of course, he still couldn’t forgive what he had done to Sehwa. However, because he knew better than anyone the feeling of loss, of having one’s entire life torn apart after losing love due to one’s own mistake… He decided to pity Ki Tae-jeong just a little bit, at least for this moment.

***

“What? Write a separate complaint? Wouldn’t it be better to wrap everything up here at once?”

“Yeah, even at this moment, the losses I’ve suffered are continuing. Interest is accruing but there’s no income coming in, with the 2-Hwan warehouse all burned down!”

As soon as they returned to the courtroom, Ki Tae-jeong brought up the most sensitive topic first. Despite having enough money to last a lifetime and more, the old men thrashed about violently like fish that had taken the bait.

“Strictly speaking, I didn’t suffer any property damage from the fire in the 2-Hwan. I’ve just been helping you all with what you should have been doing on your own until now.”

“Hey, Ki Tae-jeong!”

“‘Hey, Ki Tae-jeong’? Did you just address me like that? Colonel Ha?”

At the fierce retort, the man who had been pointing at Ki Tae-jeong quietly curled his index finger. Usually, he didn’t care how others addressed him, but suddenly he was raising hell with fire in his eyes.

“I’m about to become a Lieutenant General, or at least a Major General, so refrain from addressing me so casually. You wouldn’t like it if I criticized you for being stubborn at your age, would you?”

“W-what? You crazy bastard…! Who said you’re getting more stars?”

“You haven’t forgotten what conditions I set when writing the complaint, have you…? Shall I recite them again?”

Colonel Kim and the other elders could only laugh in disbelief. Just for meddling with a mere lower-class citizen, Ki Tae-jeong was jumping around full of venom. The great Ki Tae-jeong, of all people.

“Brigadier General Ki Tae-jeong, the more sharply you react, the more you’re advertising to everyone that that person is your weakness.”

“You’re right, it is my only weakness. But so what?”

“‘So what’? Don’t you know what ‘weakness’ means?”

“Yes, it is a weakness, but I don’t think that element is disadvantageous to me.”

Gi Tae-jeong smiled crookedly.

“A guy who never listened to anyone finally has a weak spot. If I were you, I’d drop the lower-class citizen talk and think about treating that person well. Isn’t it a much cleaner opportunity to solidify your position than giving your precious child to someone like me from a camp? Moreover, ‘that lower-class citizen’ happens to be General Oh Seon-ran’s only adopted child. I wonder what makes you so confident to bring it up so easily.”

Seemingly just recalling General Oh Seon-ran’s earlier vehement defense of Lee Sehwa, the elders sank into thought with sour expressions.

He wasn’t wrong. Even if Ki Tae-jeong without backing could be dismissed, General Oh Seon-ran… Although his influence had weakened considerably, the Oh family was still a prestigious family that couldn’t be taken lightly.

“I don’t want to drag this out, so I’ll be direct, Colonel Kim. I’ll remove the compensation for damages from the 2-Hwan fire from my complaint, so please settle individually with those who suffered losses.”

Was this supposed to be a proposal? It was like a child’s unreasonable demand that made one want to scoff. Colonel Kim had no reason to accept it. The fire incident was clearly Kim Seok-chul’s mistake. If a separate trial were to be held and a lawsuit started in the midst of this… He would have to compensate even for the depreciation of assets neglected during the proceedings. It was best to insist that this was a trap set up by the House criminals involved in this affair.

However, Ki Tae-jeong’s subsequent proposal was not something he could simply brush off as before.

“In exchange, I’ll take Lieutenant Kim under my command.”

“…Take him under your command?”

“Exactly as I said. Strip him of his lieutenant rank and send him to me. I’ll guide him well for a while, taking him along to help him become a worthy member of the military who can pull his own weight.”

To the battlefield, and by none other than Ki Tae-jeong himself. It was tantamount to saying he’d play with him to his heart’s content in dangerous situations before killing him. Moreover, Kim Seok-chul was in the Army. Even though he hadn’t been doing much originally, there was no way he could keep up with the completely different tasks of the Air Force.

“At the very least, he’ll be able to earn back his lieutenant rank by his own efforts before he closes his eyes. If nothing else, I’m confident in accumulating military merits, so trust me on this.”

“What are you going on about?”

Lieutenant Kim, who had been grumbling in the corner, finally couldn’t hold back and burst out. Slapping the back of the head of his pathetic son who was just muttering pitiful curses, Colonel Kim calmly examined the scales in his mind.

So Ki Tae-jeong was giving him a chance to choose between money and honor. In exchange for handling the 2-Hwan fire incident on their own, he would minimize Kim Seok-chul’s punishment… Compared to the demand for a death sentence earlier, this was certainly a step back, and above all, following this proposal would avoid the disgrace of being the first from a prestigious family to be dishonorably discharged or imprisoned in a camp.

“…Let’s discuss this in more detail.”

“Father!”

When Colonel Kim showed a positive response, Kim Seok-cheol screamed with bloodshot eyes.

“How, how could you…!”

“Shut up! Who caused this mess in the first place!”

“You believe that bastard? Who do you think will be next if I die? Our entire family will be ruined! We’ll lose all our money and everyone will die…!”

Colonel Kim pressed his temples as if he had a headache. He subtly nodded to the instructors standing behind him. They were the ones who had beaten Maejo to death just moments ago.

Watching him coldly order a beating for his own son, Ki Tae-jeong guessed that the trial, or rather the negotiation, would conclude here.

Even if one loses all their wealth and becomes penniless, there are ways to make a comeback. But once branded with dishonor, no amount of money can restore it. He thought these men, intoxicated by their family’s power, would naturally accept his proposal. Of course, he had calculated that he could later use Sehwa to propose a different deal to either himself or General Oh Seon-ran….

“No matter what, is it right to beat up your son, who’s a lieutenant, in front of everyone? Let’s do this moderately… So what was Brigadier General Ki Tae-jeong’s initial demand? Was it a special promotion and guaranteed position as an elder?”

As General Oh Seon-ran interjected, people started clamoring again. They no longer cared about any rewards for Ki Tae-jeong. They had hoped to just watch and reap the benefits, but now they found themselves in a position where they had to directly confront the Kim family to secure their own interests.

And Ki Tae-jeong stood in the middle of that commotion like a buoy.

From the day he first observed a military trial after his commission, all the moments of gradually rising in rank and moving towards the center of the seats flashed by quickly, as if played at several times the normal speed.

“…Crazy bastard.”

Even in this situation, Ki Tae-jeong coldly laughed at himself for thinking he wanted to hold Sehwa just one more time.

Now it was truly over. This operation, which had started with occupying the house—or rather, this incident that couldn’t even be called an operation—had ultimately progressed not much differently from Ki Tae-jeong’s initial plan. Though ambiguous, a reward was also becoming certain.

He was on the verge of obtaining everything he had longed for. A special promotion, a better official residence, more adjutants and subordinates, the privileges of an elder after retirement…. No one would have expected a human weapon from the camp to reach this position. It was gratifying. So he should be overjoyed.

Although he hadn’t taken off his uniform yet, it wouldn’t be long until his discharge date…. Since things had come to this, he might as well create elder positions for the rest of them who insisted on being his camp comrades. He would slowly drive the Colonel Kim and his son to their deaths while keeping their limbs intact, and then….

“…Ah.”

Ki Tae-jeong stared at his empty hands and squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly, the tie of his dress uniform felt unbearably heavy around his neck.

He had finally achieved it, but he felt no joy at all.

In these hands that were clutching so much of what he had long desired, at this moment when he had grasped all the glory that everyone would envy… Sehwa wasn’t there.

Only Sehwa was missing.

***

When he came to his senses, he found himself on a familiar bed. Sehwa blinked his eyes, which were slightly misty, a couple of times and struggled to sit up. More precisely, as soon as he tried to get up, he was able to sit up easily thanks to a large hand that cradled the back of his head and back.

There was no need to look or ask who it was.

“I heard you were asleep while being transferred from the infirmary to the hospital.”

It was Ki Tae-jeong, who had been waiting by his side all along for him to open his eyes.

“Get another brain scan when you come back. I told you, didn’t I? Your body is like a time bomb right now.”

The man’s finger, curved like a hook, lightly tapped his forehead and the bridge of his nose.

“Where… are we going?”

“Ah,” Ki Tae-jeong said as he stood up from the stool. “Let’s go see the ocean.”

The look on his face as he turned around seemed particularly refreshed.