M 219

Side Story 3 Episode 22

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Ki Tae-jeong felt bad seeing Lee Sehwa so dejected, as if he hadn’t been pushing Ki Tae-jeong away like a venomous stray cat just moments ago.

The handmade candy had lost its effect, and Sehwa didn’t even glance at it anymore. Only when Hae-rim offered him snacks or fruit, saying he wanted to eat with his little daddy, did Sehwa smile a little.

“How is Sehwa?”

“He slept a bit, but he still says he doesn’t know exactly what he wants to eat.”

General Oh Seon-ran also had no solution, only letting out a sigh that sounded like his heart was burning.

“It’s not that he can’t eat because he feels sick, is it?”

“No. That’s definitely not it.”

“Where the hell are they spending all that budget, the Ministry of Health?”

In this day and age, when men can also give birth, and even if they only carry the child for four or five months, there’s no problem surgically removing the baby, how can they not even manage morning sickness? General Oh Seon-ran rarely got this upset. This time, Ki Tae-jeong agreed, so he didn’t talk back sassily and just nodded silently.

“They’re too lazy to create new words, so they just keep using the old ones. ‘Mother’ or ‘Madam,’ those are all outdated expressions.”

General Oh Seon-ran’s lost anger was being fired at all government agencies, not just the health authorities. Ki Tae-jeong half-listened to General Oh Seon-ran’s words, thinking about the things Sehwa usually liked. He needed to broaden the scope of his search. He had to find the answer quickly so that Sehwa’s mental anguish would end.

Even though he was being treated like he had the whole world in his hands now, and all he had to do was ask for anything, Sehwa still didn’t seem to know how to indulge himself. He would open a few bags of snacks, taste them, and then put them away. He would poke at bread with a fork and then shake his head, as if he thought he was indulging in great luxury. He couldn’t eat properly even with so much food spread out in front of him, and he felt guilty about it, but he kept searching for something he wanted to eat, frustrated with himself. Feeling pathetic and hateful. That’s how Sehwa was enduring a strange depression that seemed to be devouring him.

Ki Tae-jeong was trying to act strong so that Sehwa could rely on him at any time, but he couldn’t help but feel upset when he kept thinking about how, when he was carrying Hae-rim, he was only worried about whether or not to put an egg in his ramen.

He didn’t deliberately try to recall the past. In the past, he used to habitually revisit and restore past events as if he were self-harming, but following the brave Lee Sehwa who was moving forward, Ki Tae-jeong also started looking to the future rather than the past. But seeing Lee Sehwa withering away while carrying his child, he couldn’t help but miss those days. Especially since that child was frighteningly similar to him.

“Lieutenant General, all the newly introduced fighter jets have completed testing.”

First Lieutenant Park woke his superior from his reverie with a cautious voice.

“The results?”

Ki Tae-jeong pressed his thumb and middle finger into his temples and stood up.

“They passed. Brigadier General Kang Hee-jin is in charge, and he is currently waiting for the Lieutenant General’s confirmation at the test site.”

“Is it the hangar in 2-Hwan?”

“Yes, it is.”

When he brought his wristwatch to the tablet, a hologram of the fighter jet floated up along with the report submitted by the person in charge. The appearance of the fighter jet, which was only smaller in size, the design drawings, and the driving graphs were neatly displayed in front of Ki Tae-jeong’s eyes.

It was fortunate, if anything, that he could handle work rationally even in this situation. His mind was full of nothing but Lee Sehwa, but perhaps because he was so sensitive, he could read even the smallest, most insignificant things at once. Of course, his subordinates were suffering because of his sharpened senses, but it wasn’t like he was picking on them for no reason. For example, like now, with the newly arrived fighter jets in the hangar….

Wait a minute, the hangar?

“I’ll connect you to the site right away.”

“…No. Wait a moment.”

Ki Tae-jeong muttered, “The hangar,” and kept stroking his chin. Yes, there is one of the fighter jet hangars in 2-Hwan. It was also the area that was engulfed in flames due to Kim Seok-cheol’s foolish actions in the past, and it was also where Sehwa took the opportunity to escape from him and hide.

“First Lieutenant Park.”

“Yes.”

“The one who used to be in 2-Hwan… what was thename?”

“Are you talking about the person in charge of the hangar?”

“Not that, uh… yeah. I think the name was Song. Find out where she is and what she’s doing now.”

Song…? Who was that? First Lieutenant Park’s thought circuits momentarily stopped at Ki Tae-jeong’s unexpected order. “Uh…” he hesitated for a moment, then his shoulders trembled as if he had been struck by lightning. Right, Song. A middle-aged woman who worked at a restaurant in 2-Hwan. The one Lee Sehwa called aunt and was very fond of, and the one who was dragged away by his superior and had a rough time…?

“I confirmed that she paid off all her debts with the lottery ticket you gave her before, and that she moved up to 4-Hwan.”

“So that was a while ago too.”

Back then, he often ate the side dishes that Song made, so he wondered if he should take that woman with him when he took Lee Sehwa. But he thought that if Sehwa saw Song being dragged to the mansion while he was in such a bad state, things would get even more complicated, so he gave up. After that, he had completely forgotten about Song’s whereabouts. The last time he thought of her was when he was dealing with the Kim family and threw her a lottery ticket that was sure to win first prize as if he were doing her a favor.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant General, but may I ask why you’re looking for Ms. Song?”

“To feed Lee Sehwa.”

“…The Madam’s meal, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

Ki Tae-jeong frowned as he was about to sign the documents. Then he started making check marks all over the graphs and drawings. It looked like he was venting his anger on the documents with his perfunctory touch, but First Lieutenant Park was inwardly shaking his head. Ki Tae-jeong’s red pen was drawing lines through parts that were so minor that even the people in charge, and even himself, hadn’t noticed, but that could cause problems someday if left unchecked.

“So, how long do you think it will take?”

First Lieutenant Park, who had been stealing glances at his superior’s profile, which was indifferent and frighteningly focused on the report, was startled and fiddled with his watch. Even so, he was an unrealistically handsome person. Even someone like him, who had seen him in all sorts of situations, was sometimes mesmerized.

“Ah… give me two minutes. It won’t take long to find her whereabouts.”

“Good. Launch the helicopter right away.”