DP Episode 14

Deep Pivot Episode 14

“Tea, team leader, team leader…! Team leader, team leader…”

Yeon-woo kept muttering ‘team leader’ under his breath. It was inevitable to seek someone relied on unconsciously during urgent times.

—What is it?

After being called about a dozen times, a calm reply finally came.

“Lieutenant… The bug, the bug ate the lieutenant!”

—Really, did it?

The disorganized plea thrown together in panic was buried under a hilariously weak response.

Yeon-woo had sprinted mindlessly and was now about 50 meters close. The parasite thrashed wildly.

Tzzzt, zzztztzt.

The wet noise of the quivering villi inside the mouth was chillingly loud.

Boom!

With a loud noise, the massive body fell to the ground and convulsed, vomiting something from its mouth. Unknown by-products, severed human parts, and bone-like objects came out with sticky mucus.

Crack, crunch, crackle.

The fallen parasite’s back bulged and then burst open with the sound of tearing leather. Yeon-woo watched the scene with wide eyes in shock.

—Didn’t I say I’d go see your man?

A snide voice rang in his ears.

Seo-joon, having emerged through the blister-covered leather, shook off the mucus-covered gun. He jumped down lightly and landed on the ground, frowning when he spotted Yeon-woo.

“Lieutenant!”

Finally, the two men faced each other up close.

“Are you okay?”

Yeon-woo, reaching out without realizing it, tried to grab Seo-joon’s arm, but Seo-joon stepped back and said,

“Wait a moment.”

Yeon-woo’s steps halted right there.

“Did you lose your mask?”

“…What?”

Yeon-woo suddenly became aware of his bare face. The mask was gone, and only the connected exhaust hose dangled near his shoulder. He couldn’t remember. It seemed like it might have been knocked off, or perhaps he had taken it off because it was too suffocating.

Seo-joon frowned and took off his own mask. He unplugged the connected exhaust hose and shook it in the air, causing the mucus on the mask’s surface to drop to the ground.

“You’ll scratch your pretty face.”

Seo-joon covered Yeon-woo’s face with his mask and connected the exhaust hose for him.

“What about the lieutenant?”

“There’s a medium-sized parasitic worm about to self-destruct at the back gate of Rex Town. Deploy a salamander.”

Seo-joon finally replied after radioing somewhere. He then scrutinized Yeon-woo carefully.

“Where’s your gun?”

Now that he mentioned it, both hands were empty. Yeon-woo was truly ashamed.

“I’m sorry… I think I lost it.”

Seo-joon approached with a stern face, examined Yeon-woo’s body, corrected his skewed helmet, and muttered. Fortunately, you still have your helmet on.

“I’m, …I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me.”

Seo-joon handed his own gun to Yeon-woo and suddenly let out a dry laugh.

“You ran here empty-handed like that?”

“I thought, …I thought you were eaten.”

“You thought I was eaten?”

Seo-joon’s brows furrowed slightly. His face, faintly smiling, showed disbelief.

“And what were you going to do if I was?”

“I was coming to save you…”

Yeon-woo replied in a subdued voice. Even to himself, it sounded ridiculous. He wondered how trivial and foolish his words must sound to someone who could jump into the belly of a parasite without a second thought.

When he slightly raised his gaze, he saw Seo-joon, who had already stopped smiling.

“I really appreciate the sentiment.”

He had expected at least some mockery, but the earnest response made him feel even more embarrassed.

“But don’t ever do that again. If Yeon-woo dies, who will guide me?”

Heat rushed inside the mask. The warmth spreading from his cheeks to his ears and temples was felt in real-time. Yeon-woo hoped that his flushed face was well-hidden by the mask.

“Yes, I’m sorry…”

“You don’t have to apologize to me.”

His hand, unconsciously raised to touch his cheek, bumped into the mask.

“Ah.”

Suddenly remembering something he had forgotten, Yeon-woo said,

“There’s an injured person. Some soldier was bleeding a lot…”

“A soldier?”

Seo-joon laughed. Yeon-woo couldn’t tell what was funny about his statement, but the laughter somehow made his heart flutter.

“Let’s see.”

“Over there.”

Following the direction Yeon-woo pointed, Seo-joon moved forward. A man who had been calmly sitting with his back against something where Yeon-woo had placed him sighed with visible relief upon seeing the two.

“It seems a fragment from the explosion got embedded in him.”

Seo-joon radioed the location of the injured man and then helped him press down on the wounded area.

“Hold tight until the emergency response team arrives. As long as you manage the bleeding, there shouldn’t be any major issues.”

“Thank you, really thank you…”

Perhaps feeling guilty for his earlier rude outburst, the man kept apologizing to Yeon-woo. It had been enough time for his rationality to return after the urgent situation.

Then, suddenly, the smell of burning filled the air from behind. The corpse of the parasite was engulfed in flames. The blisters covering its body bubbled and spewed out eggs, which turned into black ash and scattered.

From within those flames, a woman walked out gracefully. From her shoulder-length curly hair braided down one side to her toes, flames rose around her body, giving her the appearance of a deity from a movie.

“Our team’s Salamander, Lieutenant Hong Young-kyo. She’s Lieutenant Jin’s partner, and her codename is Beatles. In the field, we call each other by codenames or ranks, not by names.”

Salamander refers to an Esper capable of manipulating fire. It’s a highly functional role in the field, but those below grade B often get burned by their own flames.

Yeon-woo could tell at a glance that she was grade S. An S-grade Salamander can ignite a fire from within their body that could burn down a building the size of a five-story building in an instant, and they are immune to burns.

The flames enveloping her body quickly dissipated in the wind, and not a single hair on her head was singed. The woman made a radio call and then gracefully moved out of their sight.

Seo-joon gently pulled Yeon-woo’s arm and gestured for him to follow. Yeon-woo cast a glance towards the injured man then followed Seo-joon.

“Do you know how to use the gun?”

“The team leader explained it, but… I don’t really understand.”

Yeon-woo recalled the scene where ampoules as small as fingers were ineffectively fired. He felt it was somewhat unfair to be handed such a gun and sent to face those parasites.

“This is for exterminating larvae and eggs. It’s not supposed to be used on adults. It’s not that it doesn’t have an impact, but it’s like just increasing the dose.”

Only then did he remember what the person who had handed him the gun had said. Eliminate larvae and eggs as they come, and report to a Salamander if you see an adult. He felt like a fool.

“I just remembered. The person who put me in this combat suit definitely taught me.”

“Someone dressed you in the combat suit? No wonder you were so neatly equipped.”

“Yes, a woman. She had a husky voice and half-shaved hair…”

“Ah, Lieutenant Kang Chae-won. Our team’s Berserker.”

“Yes, Lieutenant Kang Chae-won filled this for me and explained how to use it. But I was so out of it that I forgot everything…”

Seo-joon quietly laughed as he listened to Yeon-woo’s rambling. It seemed that Cheong-oh had promised to take him home but instead brought him to the scene, and it was insane to put someone with no experience in a Level 3 hazard area.

Of course, since it was mostly minor larvae and eggs, it was more of a quarantine site than a combat zone.

“Lieutenant Jin is an asshole.”

“The team leader didn’t realize I would be this useless.”

“You did well though? You even saved an injured person. Most would be frightened by such creatures, but you were composed.”

“…Actually, I was really scared. I’m still a bit scared now.”

Seo-joon knew his words were true. Cha Yeon-woo’s microphone had been left on, unintentionally broadcasting his situation live to Seo-joon.

His voice still trembled slightly, and his hand holding the gun shook weakly. Yet, even in such a terrifying situation, Cha Yeon-woo never abandoned the injured person beside him. Foolishly so.

Suddenly, Seo-joon reached out his hand. Startled, Yeon-woo stepped back as Seo-joon’s hand approached his ear.

“I was going to show you how to use the radio receiver.”

“Ah.”

Yeon-woo carefully bent his waist to match his height.

A hand under the helmet reached for the in-ear receiver in Yeon-woo’s ear.

“One touch keeps the microphone continuously open. Two touches turn it off. If you hold it long…”

Explaining while fiddling with the in-ear receiver, he noticed the ear he touched was warm.

“Yeon-woo, your body is really hot.”

“What?”

“Even through the special gloves, I can feel the heat.”

Their eyes suddenly met. His face, covered by an extra layer of mask, was noticeably red. The sound of breathing through the exhaust hose filled the sudden silence between them.

His eyes are blue.

He didn’t voice the thought that suddenly popped into his head. Seo-joon tried to get a closer look at the color of the pupils, but the eyes fluttered sideways and slowly looked down.

“…I guess it’s because it’s hot.”

As soon as Seo-joon withdrew his hand, Yeon-woo straightened his back and turned his gaze away.

“Thank you for teaching me.”

Seo-joon curled his fingertips. A ticklish warmth lingered, along with a faint afterimage before his eyes.

The pale, terrified face of Cha Yeon-woo as he had rushed to him.