Ire was sitting in the drawing room connected to Kim Ha-yoon’s bedroom. A staff member had brought him tea and told him to wait there until the conversation was over. As soon as Kim Ha-yoon’s father asked who Ire was, Kim Ha-yoon had brought him here and closed the door.
Just in case, he put his ear to the door and listened, but there were no raised voices. He had a feeling that he had come to the wrong place, and he wanted to run away, even through the window if he could. But if he jumped from this height, he would break his limbs and never wake up again.
He returned to his seat and put his nose to the tea the staff member had given him. It smelled as fragrant as the flowers Kim Ha-yoon had brought during the day. He took a sip and put it down. The taste was more bland than he had expected. Time passed, but the tightly closed door did not open, and boredom slowly began to creep in.
Realizing that there were no staff members around, he got up from his seat. He had stayed in the guest room every time he came here, but this was the first time he had entered Kim Ha-yoon’s personal space. Walking along the hallway, he found a study at the end. He looked at the books on the bookshelf one by one and found a notebook on the desk.
Amidst the unknown words, the words “reproduction,” “gene extraction,” and “artificial cultivation” caught his eye. What kind of experiment was this for? He was staring intently at the notebook when a cool scent wafted over him. The moment he turned around, the notebook slipped out of his hand.
Kim Ha-yoon, who had approached unnoticed, smiled kindly at him.
“Your senses have gotten better. You didn’t even know I was right in front of you before.”
“I knew because of the smell…”
“Have we been that close?”
He frowned. He should have asked if they had been close, not if they had been intimate. He sometimes spouted strange things as if his brain was broken. As he was wondering what to answer, Kim Ha-yoon put his arm around his shoulder.
“If you’ve seen everything, let’s go upstairs.”
“What about Captain’s father?”
“How did you know that Old man is my father?”
“You look alike.”
“No, I look like my mother.”
Mother, my ass. His mean-looking eyes are definitely his father’s. He wanted to say that, but he held back. Kim Ha-yoon took him somewhere, and there was a staircase leading up. At the end of the stairs, he scanned his fingerprint, and the door opened, revealing a rooftop with open sides.
Walking to the edge of the rooftop, he could see the vast city at a glance. What surprised him was what came next. There was a swimming pool on one side, and something was moving in the water. A mushroom-shaped transparent body with long tentacles.
It swam gracefully in the water as if it were dancing.
He was mesmerized without realizing it, and Kim Ha-yoon approached him.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
“What is this…?”
“Jellyfish. Do you want to go in and touch them?”
“No…”
Kim Ha-yoon put his hand in the water, and they flocked around it. Hesitantly, he put his hand in as well, and a slippery tentacle wrapped around his hand. Just as he was about to pull it out because it felt strange, the tentacle quickly climbed up to his wrist and pulled him. He was so surprised that he braced himself and fell on his butt, and Kim Ha-yoon laughed out loud.
“Don’t be scared. It’s just playing.”
The transparent color instantly turned yellow. That meant it was in a good mood, he said. He wanted to see more because it was fascinating, but he was afraid that if he put his face close, it would wrap around his neck and pull him into the water this time.
He watched from a distance, and they changed color from moment to moment.
Judging by how friendly they were to Kim Ha-yoon, they seemed to recognize their owner.
“Where do these guys originally live?”
They came from the sea, he said. They had been genetically engineered to make them easier to raise, and they could even recognize their owner through communication.
“What does the sea look like?”
“Are you curious?”
Then, a heavy sound approached from somewhere. Ire, who was following the direction of the sound with his eyes, witnessed an unbelievable sight. A helicopter was approaching this place.
Was it trying to attack Kim Ha-yoon? Before he could take him and escape, the helicopter came right over their heads and slowly descended. It was smaller than a military helicopter and made less noise. Kim Ha-yoon grabbed his wrist and tried to take him there, and Ire took a step back with a bad feeling.
“Why… why?”
“Come on. I’ll show you something amazing.”
“No. Seeing the jellyfish is enough.”
“Are you going to be like this? Do you think I called you here just to see jellyfish?”
“You go alone. I’m leaving.”
He tried to run away, but he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and dragged to the back seat of the helicopter. In the front were the pilot and Lieutenant Park next to him. As soon as the door closed, the helicopter took off into the air, and Ire squeezed his eyes shut.
How long had it been?
“Open your eyes.”
He stealthily opened his eyes and looked outside, and the night view spread out like jewels beneath him. He clenched his fists tightly with a mixture of wonder and fear, and Kim Ha-yoon took something out from behind him.
“Here, take this.”
It was goggles that he held out. He took them and sat there blankly, and he put them on him himself. When he tried to take them off because they were stuffy, his hand was grabbed first.
“What is it? Don’t do this, it’s ominous.”
The helicopter was gradually gaining altitude, and now the city felt like a small toy. Kim Ha-yoon also put on goggles like him, put on a harness, and carried what appeared to be a parachute on his back. He had learned about high-altitude parachuting separately during class, but it was only in theory. In the event of aerial warfare, drones and unmanned combat aircraft were mainly used.
“If I had known this would happen, I would never have come!”
“You’re quick to catch on. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I thought you might run away.”
Ha, as soon as he frowned, the helicopter began to hover in the air. An ominous feeling covered his whole body, and his hair stood on end. He almost grabbed Kim Ha-yoon by the collar in front of Lieutenant Park.
“Okay, give me the parachute. I’ll jump! I’ll jump!”
He seemed to want to test his courage, but he was willing to play along to this extent. Okay, you cured Matteo’s illness, bought me a house, bought me a fancy knife, and… Anyway, you’ve done so much for me, so I can play this much… Huh?
At that moment, Kim Ha-yoon’s lips moved slowly. Farewell.
With just those two words, the helicopter tilted to the side, and the door opened in an instant. Before he could grab anything in surprise, Kim Ha-yoon pushed him. He was definitely wearing a seat belt… His tilted body was thrown out of the helicopter at will, and he began to plummet downwards at a rapid speed.
The wind hit his eardrums, his heart pounded, and his head turned white.
“You, you crazy! Kim Ha-yoon!!! You son of a bitch!!! Fuck!!!”
He shouted all kinds of curses into the air and flailed his arms and legs in an attempt to survive, but instead his body spun around at will. Why are you doing this to me! You psycho! Tears welled up and his breathing became rapid. But even that fear didn’t last long.
When he thought he was going to die, he felt strangely at ease. He couldn’t hear anything because of the wind, and the same was true of other complicated things. Is this the end? Well, it’s not bad. Dying is not a big deal after all.
Lord. Please forgive me because this is not a death I chose myself.
I was murdered.
In the meantime, someone snatched him up. He caught him. His body swayed once, and suddenly the falling speed slowed down and he became stable. When he barely turned his head, he could see Kim Ha-yoon’s face hazily. A face that was smiling like a madman even as he fell.
He belatedly returned to reality. He gritted his teeth as he looked at the firm arm wrapped around his waist. He wanted to smash Kim Ha-yoon’s face with his elbow if he could, but he was afraid that he would fall endlessly again if he did. As he hung limply and went down, the ground gradually came closer.
After landing completely and rolling on the ground, the parachute covered his head. Kim Ha-yoon separated the parachute and then held out his hand to Ire.
“How was it? I told you it would be amazing.”
Ire gasped for breath and threw the goggles he was wearing on the ground.
“Fuck!! Are you crazy!”
Kim Ha-yoon looked wronged.
“I thought you’d like it?”
“There’s a limit to how much you can joke around! Do you know how surprised I was!”
“So, you didn’t like it?”
“…”
To be honest, he didn’t hate it completely. When he came down halfway, he felt rather relieved. Why was that? He had never thought about death before. No, it was a word he shouldn’t think about. But why….
He tried to get up from his seat, but his legs gave way and he couldn’t muster any strength. As he slumped down, Kim Ha-yoon turned his back and squatted down. “Want a piggyback ride?” He was embarrassed and struggled to get up, and finally stood on the ground.
In the distance, the helicopter was lowering its altitude on a flat ground.
Looking at it, Ire turned resolutely in the opposite direction.
“Goodbye!”
Kim Ha-yoon strode up to him and matched his pace.
“There’s my hideout nearby. Let’s go see it.”
“No. Get lost.”
“Is that how you talk to your superior?”
“You told me to speak comfortably.”
“Don’t do that, let’s go. It’s an amazing place.”
“Captain, you can go as much as you want. I’m going home.”
He took a step, but it was quiet. When he turned around, Kim Ha-yoon was standing far away. He ignored him and went his own way, but the forest was so dark that he couldn’t tell where he was. In the end, he couldn’t go for even 10 minutes and returned to his original spot, and Kim Ha-yoon was still standing there without moving.