Jeong Taeui also had to return to his room. Now, he only had today and tomorrow left to sleep comfortably, he needed to recover his exhausted strength before facing the storm ahead.
But his footsteps seemed to refuse to listen. Jeong Taeui thought for a moment and then remembered a story that had been buried like a burden in his heart for a while.
".... …."
It wasn't a very pleasant topic, but he had to say it anyway. Jeong Taeui felt the need to inform his uncle of what he knew.
He leaned against the bathroom door and stared at the ceiling for a moment before suddenly speaking.
"By the way....uncle. Since when did you get involved in weapons development?"
His voice was not very loud, but after a while, the sound of running water in the bathroom suddenly stopped. The uncle was also silent for a moment.
"Where did you hear that news?"
He asked in a low voice.
"The book dealer for Laurent Gastiye. I thought he was a used book dealer, but apparently not."
"He said everything. I guess that kid called today too?"
"No, not today. It's been a while, I forgot and haven't been able to meet you to ask. And even if I was curious, it wouldn't do any good…. Um. It was probably during the time you lived with me, right, when you were at UNHRDO."
"Jaeui had received a lot of requests before, but the official time of joining can be considered as such. Did he say anything else."
Even though he didn't mean to hide it, he still clicked his tongue. It seemed like that was news he didn't really want to tell him. That was right, it wasn't something that many people should know.
"Nothing special. But hyung still did that?"
"No, he quit now. From the beginning, he decided that he would only do that while he was at UNHRDO. Right after he left there, Jaeui received many invitations but he turned them all down."
That's right. Jeong Taeui nodded.
After he returned home after being discharged from the army, Jeong Taeui would occasionally see Jaeui receiving strange phone calls. International calls that he could tell by just listening to them that the person on the other end of the line was no ordinary person. But it didn't surprise him because Jaeui had received many such calls in the past. However, from the very first time, he wondered who those people were who were so persistent in searching for his brother, when he didn't go out much.
Jeong Taeui leaned against the wall.
That's fine. Actually, even if he continued developing weapons, Jeong Taeui wouldn't have anything to say, but since he had already quit, he didn't want to think about it anymore. If he saw him again, he would just pinch his cheeks hard. Why was such a good brain used for such things?
"Then I'll be going now. After the joint training session is over, can I come back here?"
"Of course."
He didn't even poke his head out of the pouring shower and reply. Jeong Taeui stretched out his hand and waved the book between the cracks of the bathroom door.
"Can I borrow this book, uncle?"
"Yeah, be careful with it. It'll be a pain if you want to buy it back."
"Yes yes."
"I didn't mean to throw $3,500 away like that."
Jeong Taeui replied and walked towards the door.
Riegrow
That day, the tense, bloody atmosphere had permeated everywhere since early morning.
As soon as Jeong Taeui woke up and stepped out of the room, he could feel the brutal tension in the air with every inch of his being.
After half of the members left the Asia branch for South America, the number of people suddenly decreased so much that the building felt empty. However, he did not feel any peace because of the intense tension.
Jeong Taeui felt bored when he bumped into the stiff expressions on the faces he met on the way to the bathroom.
It's not like we're sworn enemies, so why are your faces so stiff?
Jeong Taeui scratched his head as he walked into the bathroom. Tou was brushing his teeth, he probably finished breakfast. He greeted Jeong Taeui with the toothbrush still in his mouth.
"Oh my, Taeil, you're late. Are you ready?"
"Look at that foam... Please spit it out before you speak."
Jeong Taeui took half a step back and grumbled. Tou laughed loudly and continued brushing his teeth.
But he looked more relaxed than the others anyway. Jeong Taeui sighed in relief at finally seeing a face that wasn't frowning this early in the morning. He went to the sink next to Tou, turned on the warm water, and lowered his head so the water could run down his neck.
"I don't have anything to bring with me, so what should I pack? Just bring the person."
"Well, it's going to be a 15-day ordeal, so you better think carefully about what you need to bring."
Tou spoke intermittently while rinsing his mouth.
Tonight, Jeong Taeui will have to leave his room. Not only him, but all the other members will have to leave. The members in the rooms with fewer people will be temporarily transferred to other rooms and make room for the people from the European branch.
On Saturday morning, all the members who came to the South American branch went to the airport, now only those who stayed behind remained.
Today was Sunday. Normally, they would have enjoyed a leisurely day off, but right now, no one was in the mood for that. In a few hours, people who were no different from their sworn enemies would be pouring in.
Jeong Taeui was assigned to share a room with Tou, one of his roommates who went to South America, so he would take that bed instead.
After grumbling, 'Damn it, why do I have to give up my room to those bastards', the members who had to change rooms would pack up their basic belongings and leave. Among them, there were even members who cleaned out their belongings as if they were moving house, not wanting those bastards to touch their things even a little bit.
Jeong Taeui shrugged as he looked at Tou's reflection in the mirror.
"If you need anything else in the future, just stop by the room and get it."
"I know. But if you run into a European in that room, nothing good will come of it."
"Why? It's my room anyway."
"That makes no sense. It's a nuisance. That would cause more serious conflict than trespassing."
"...Really."
Jeong Taeui muttered the phrase, 'I really….' over and over again, not understanding this complicated relationship between them.
The second hand of the clock on the statue rotated slowly. It was mid-morning.
Jeong Taeui took out a dry towel from the shelf and wiped his face. The reflection in the mirror didn't look good. Although he had forgotten it immediately after waking up, it seemed like he had some confusing dreams.
The members of the European branch were, according to his colleagues, unlucky and evil. Even though they themselves didn't realize it, they all seemed quite worried. Jeong Taeui had thought that he wasn't the type to worry about such things, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
The thing that had passed through his dream was a pair of black gloves. Wherever the gloves touched, they were dyed a deep red. The hand that had fallen from the man's neck as he fell to his knees with his eyes closed was still vivid in his mind. It left a bloody red trail.
"..."
I don't know if it was because the hot water left on the back of my neck had cooled down early, but suddenly my spine felt cold.
"What's wrong? Why are you standing there like that?"
Beside him, Tou suddenly patted Jeong Taeui's back with a strange look. Jeong Taeui was wiping half of his face with a dry towel, he turned to look at Tou and asked curiously.
"He must be here soon."
"Who?"
"Rick."
Tou pursed his lips and stared at Jeong Taeui without saying a word, as if he was now infected by the tense atmosphere outside. After a while, he clicked his tongue and shrugged his shoulders in disappointment.
"Well, it's hard to say. Because sometimes even after the final list is confirmed, the list can still change in some special cases, so there's no way to know in advance. But if that guy comes… the next two weeks will be gloomy. You'll probably see a lot of things you've never seen before in your life."
Tou muttered something with a face that looked like it was being bitten by insects. Well, this guy had also been present at the joint training with the European branch last time, so he must have experienced all the situations from that time. Even if he hadn't experienced it himself, the bloody rumors at that time must have spread throughout the branches.
"I said there are some people ready to slit his throat if he comes here this time."
Jeong Taeui muttered as he recalled what some men from other teams nearby were talking about in the break room and cafeteria. Tou's face became more serious again.
"Well, if I could cut it, I would. There's no one among us who wouldn't want to cut off that madman's head and hang it on a pole. But…"
Tou didn't say anything more, but Jeong Taeui could guess. It was extremely difficult, or if it was possible, it would require more sacrifices than expected. He understood this as soon as he saw the data video. Don't try to defeat that man, if possible, try to stay away from him.
"But the thing that bastard is best at is fighting, so if you mess with him, you'll immediately regret it."
Tou clicked his tongue bitterly. Jeong Taeui looked at him suspiciously and then used a towel to wipe the drops of water from his hair and down his chin. Tou looked into the mirror with a clearly annoyed expression.
"That bastard, I heard that even men, he has made all the beautiful young ones unable to walk. After training with the European branch, there is not a single beautiful young one who is still intact."
"What….?"
Jeong Taeui suddenly doubted his own ears for a moment at those unpredictable words. After confirming that he really didn't mishear, he doubted his own ability to understand. Could it be that those words weren't what he thought they were? But looking at Tou's expression, he must have understood correctly.