M 35
by Sorai“What could this mean?”
Sehwa suddenly came to his senses when he heard Ki Tae-jeong’s voice. Sehwa clenched and unclenched his fists, driving away random thoughts. He promised himself that he would understand the matter thoroughly, but then he found himself thinking nonsense again. He had no idea because he had never rested before, but he realized he wasn’t the type of person who could relax.
When he had a break, foolish thoughts kept coming. Memories of difficult times in the past or the current unchanged situation. Despite having confidence in being tough, there were moments when the disregard and contempt of others affected him… Those thoughts that kept making him feel shabby crept up and made Sehwa depressed.
Focus on the topic, focus on the topic. Sehwa eagerly rolled his tongue inside his mouth. Having indulged in a few days of leisure, it seemed like all of his sanity had slipped away. It stung that he didn’t acknowledge the pain in his injured foot. And it wasn’t just anyone; it was about that man.
“Do these patterns have meaning? Like the double junk from before.”
He was pointing at the badges covered in white dust. There was no bag containing drugs on the shelf in Area 9-2 where Z2 was taken out. Instead, it was full of unfamiliar objects to Sehwa. A miniaturized cannon, frightening firearms with unknown names, an old commendation, worn-out documents, and an album… Sehwa couldn’t guess what the rest were because it was his first time seeing them. Since it was a military facility, he just assumed it must be something used by the military.
“It is not a pattern used in Hwatu. It doesn’t even seem like poker.”
“Hmm…”
Ki Tae-jeong held his chin with his thumb while tapping the tip of his nose with his index finger. The mouth that was pressed gently by the middle finger became crooked. His real face, which Sehwa knew, was overlaid on top of the unfamiliar mask. The yellow lights, red warning lights buzzing like crazy, and the moderately dark secret room gave Ki Tae-jeong’s face a sense of depth. Beautiful and somber. Sehwa had the same thought when he saw this man for the first time. He was a man suited to the evening glow better than the rising sun.
“Should I take it with me just in case?”
It was an order with only a question format to take care of it. Without saying anything, Sehwa opened the crossbag he was wearing like a belly band. He filled the badge by opening the empty pocket on the front, avoiding the side where the syringe had been put.
“But Director, this…”
At that moment, the sound of something crashing was heard from the ceiling. Sehwa, who was about to ask about the badge as he closed the zipper, froze. Was the sound of zipping up always so terrifying? The timing was so perfect that Sehwa had that strange thought in his head. In fact, he wanted to ignore the rising ominousness, and even though he felt like he knew what it was, he also wanted to deny it.
No way. Probably not. Nothing will happen. However, as if mocking Sehwa, stone dust fell on the shoulders of the two. He craned his neck and glanced at the ceiling… there was a crack resembling a seam. Every time he blinked, the seam turned into a thick line, growing into a larger crack.
“What the f*ck…!”
Ki Tae-jeong quickly grabbed Sehwa’s wrist. The ceiling was cracking, its mouth wide open like a snake. The horrifying sound of something breaking and breaking as if it were being eaten echoed through the hallway.
”It’s not me, I didn’t mean to do that…!”
Something happened just as he was zipping up, so Sehwa made an excuse first. It was a habit. First, deny it, say you didn’t know, and apologize.
“I just wanted to put this in my bag…”
Sehwa who had been shaking his head, abruptly came to a stop.
”What nonsense. What does it have to do with you zipping up?”
Iron bars rained down on the spot where Sehwa was standing just moments ago.
“What does that have to do with these things falling?”
Unlike the solid firewall from before, it was iron bars tightly fitted together. If Sehwa had stayed there, he would have been trapped without a chance to move. No, he might have died from the iron bars falling on his head.
“… What the hell is that…”
-A, a, don’t move. You are surrounded.
The siren sound died down, and a voice came out crackling. Though it should come as a surprise that there were still living enemies… rather, it was comforting for Sehwa. Someone activated the system. Perhaps, due to experiencing various events lately, Sehwa had imagined that this badge might have some kind of button.
-Reinforcements are on their way. We know you are first-class criminals. Our army will not forgive you, and…
This was likely the first time this person issued a warning, as he stuttered and occasionally lost his voice. It seemed like he was scared too. Only then did Sehwa feel like the tension had subsided a little, and he relaxed his stiff shoulders.
“If he says surrendering peacefully will spare our lives, whether you believe it or not, that guy is talking about immediate disposal once captured.”
Ki Tae-jeong sneered bitterly and reached for the shelf.
“These days, the military discipline is no joke.”
He had chosen an enormous bazooka that defied understanding how he held it with just one hand.
“Babe. If I carry you on my back this time, are you confident you won’t let go of this?”
Ki Tae-jeong held out the Z2 he was holding in his other hand to Sehwa.
“Me, me?”
“Yes. But if you happen to let go, it’ll explode instantly.”
Then you and I will be blown to bits on the spot, nicely. After hearing those words, Sehwa thought about it and prepared for the violent act, expecting that Ki Tae-jeong would resort to that.
“Then there is nothing we can do. I have no choice but to try our luck in a different direction.”
Ki Tae-jeong hit the shelf with the bazooka. The thick iron collapsed and bent after just a few hits. Sehwa couldn’t determine whether it was because of the bazooka’s weight or Ki Tae-jeong’s strength. Ki Tae-jeong grabbed the bent part like a handle and turned the heavy shelf halfway, leaving only a slight gap to block the opposite corridor.
“Director…”
Sehwa didn’t know what it meant, but it didn’t seem like a good sign. When he stammered and called out to him, Ki Tae-jeong grabbed Sehwa’s neck like handling a disobedient young animal instead of answering.
“Run away as far as you can.”
And then he shoved Sehwa a few steps away.
“I’m going to take care of this.”
Ki Tae-jeong glanced at the Z2 in his hand. Sehwa squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them. A wave of dizziness nearly knocked him off his feet. The things he wanted to say to him came out sporadically. There were so many words and screams hanging on the tip of his tongue that he felt like his throat was burning, despite the fact that he couldn’t say anything to Ki Tae-jeong.
“I’ve done a lot of training similar to this, so it’s okay.”
“I haven’t done it!”
The voice shouted in fear was high-pitched, almost like a scream.
”I think you’d better get the hell away from here before you say something like that.”
Ki Tae-jeong pointed to the back, seemingly irritated
“If my feet were in that condition, I’d do the same.”
Ah… Sehwa couldn’t say anything. His foot was severely injured, it was bleeding profusely… He knew it. Ki Tae-jeong knew everything but pretended not to know until now.
Actually, Ki Tae-jeong was the one who found and shot all the soldiers who were hiding behind and trying to attack him. There was no way he didn’t know. There was no reason for him to care or pay attention since he wouldn’t be taking care of it. Since they weren’t having sex right now, no, even if they were having sex, it seemed like Ki Tae-jeong would have thrust his d*ck without even caring about the bleeding on the soles of Sehwa’s feet. Because there was no problem with his h*le.
Sehwa ran limping with his cross bag. Fortunately, he didn’t burst into tears. He just…, felt a bit uncomfortable as if another stigma had been added to his situation. To Ki Tae-jeong, as long as Sehwa’s h*le wasn’t damaged, he was the type of person who was fine if nothing went wrong during sex.
Maybe Ki Tae-jeong was telling him to drop all arrogance in front of him? Although Ki Tae-jeong and Sehwa didn’t really have any affection for each other… If God was telling him to not harbor even the slightest lingering attachment in this world before he was torn apart by a bomb and died, then God was very cruel to him.
“Uh, ugh…”
Even though Sehwa tried to rush his broken body, the exit was very far away. Still, he thought that he might be able to run slowly now that he caught his breath a bit, but Sehwa’s exhausted body didn’t listen. It was completely overburdened.
A rumbling sound echoed from above like thunder. Even though it was a shelter, Sehwa wondered if it would collapse. However, considering it was a place that had been neglected to the point where Lieutenant Kim could hide drugs, it didn’t feel entirely safe. Perhaps it was because the building’s systems, which had most likely never been used in the past, began to operate again…
Now, instead of stone dust, fist-sized concrete debris was falling from the ceiling. The old building twisted and shrieked. Sehwa’s tightly closed lips trembled mercilessly in fear.