Familiar faces began to appear against the white ceiling. Their faces, as they looked at him, were a mix of fear and contempt. His limbs were immobile, and a man wearing a mask and goggles appeared among the people. Kim Ha-yoon could tell it was him just by looking at his eyes.
He immediately raised a chainsaw.
“Wait, hold on! Why are you doing this to me!”
Zhiing—the saw blade spun menacingly, and it came right up to his face. Even as he witnessed blood, flesh, and bone fragments splattering everywhere, the people’s expressions were utterly serene. Ire screamed for help and thrashed about.
Then, he suddenly sat bolt upright. What appeared before him was pitch-black darkness. Realizing it had been a dream, he sighed in relief and rubbed his face. He was covered in cold sweat, a testament to how tormented he had been.
He lay back down, but sleep wouldn’t come. Listening to the occasional breaths of his comrades, the rustling, and the sleep-talking, he realized morning was approaching.
After washing up, he went outside for the morning run. After circling the training field, he moved to the cafeteria for breakfast, and then, in the morning, they had close combat training. Based on the close combat techniques they had learned so far, they had to come forward in pairs and compete, with opponents determined by lottery regardless of weight class.
Ire, confirming his opponent, let out a soft sigh. Of all people, he was paired with the biggest guy among the recruits. Everyone wanted to avoid fighting him. Usually, big guys were clumsy, but he also possessed agility.
His luck was truly awful. He had been taught to use technique rather than strength in such cases, but that technique only worked when the levels were somewhat similar.
His turn approached, and the start was smooth. However, just as he was about to apply a technique to the guy he had knocked down, the guy used his strength to get up and fling Ire away, sending him flying.
He groaned involuntarily at the feeling of his back splitting. He glared at the charging guy until he was right in front of him, then kicked off, stepped on the guy’s thigh, climbed onto his back, and wrapped his legs around his neck. At the instantaneous turn of events, a “whoa” erupted, and their center of gravity shifted, causing both of them to fall with a thud.
Ugh—the guy’s face turned red as if it would explode, and Ire also used all his strength to strangle the guy’s neck with his legs. Sensing the crisis, the guy slammed his hand on the ground, and at the same time, a whistle blew. Ire immediately released his legs and approached the coughing guy, offering his hand.
At the encouragement that he had worked hard, the guy slapped his hand away and grinned, revealing his teeth. Well done. He realized that even though he was big and had a fierce look, he wasn’t the type to hold a grudge.
As soon as he sat down after the sparring, Seo Young-jun gave him a thumbs up.
“That was insane just now. We should have recorded that.”
“Want me to do the same to you when I have time?”
“Get lost.”
As they chuckled, it became Seo Young-jun’s turn, and as he went forward, Han-gyeol quietly moved his seat and approached him.
“Hey…”
Ire leaned in so he could speak comfortably.
“Are you free after this…? I have something to tell you…”
Ire guessed it might be related to Park Mu-jin.
“Okay. See you later.”
Han-gyeol returned to his seat, and Ire momentarily met Park Mu-jin’s eyes. He still had gauze on his face. He ignored the gaze and stared straight ahead. After each training session, the Instructor diligently wrote something on the evaluation sheet.
What did he write about me? Would Kim Ha-yoon be satisfied? He caught himself naturally thinking about that man and felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Still, he had received help, so he had to give him satisfactory results. There was no such thing as a free lunch in the world.
As time passed and they finished training and lunch, the recruits began preparing to return home. Ire said goodbye to Seo Young-jun and Oh Nam-gi, promising to see them tomorrow, and headed to the place he had promised to meet Han-gyeol. It was a warehouse next to the cafeteria, a place with little traffic after Saturday lunch.
Arriving near the cafeteria, he saw Han-gyeol pacing anxiously at the end of the hallway. Muttering to himself, he was biting his nails and looked uneasy. As he approached, he flinched like a startled rabbit.
“Why did you want to meet here?”
He avoided his gaze and turned away.
“Let’s… go inside and talk.”
It was a food storage warehouse, a place restricted to authorized personnel. Before he could refuse, Han-gyeol opened the warehouse door and disappeared. The scale of the warehouse, which he entered without thinking, was much larger than expected. It was overflowing with grains, vegetables, and fruits that could not be seen in District B. Some of them were even starting to rot because they couldn’t use them all.
Recently, District B had been suffering from a severe food shortage. Prices were soaring day by day, and people rummaging through trash cans were appearing everywhere. Even if he tried not to compare, he couldn’t help but compare, and he felt a sense of despair.
Whether he knew his feelings or not, Han-gyeol fidgeted with his clasped hands and lowered his gaze.
“What’s the story that you’re being so hesitant about?”
“Um… you saw it last time, right?”
“Huh?”
“Me and Park Mu-jin… doing that…”
Ire moved his lips. He wondered how to say it without offending the other person.
“Yeah… I was wondering… if it’s not your will, I wanted to help…”
“You want to help? Really…?”
Ire nodded.
“If you want.”
“Thank you… you’re a really good guy.”
Han-gyeol smiled with a face that looked like he was about to cry. “Here. I want to give this to you.” He reached out his hand, and Ire accepted it without any suspicion. The round, black object was something he had never seen before. Just as he was about to ask what it was, electricity surged up from his fingertips.
It happened so quickly that his legs buckled, and he collapsed. As electricity continued to spark from the round object he had dropped on the floor, someone grabbed the nape of Ire’s neck, who was lying on the ground.
“Wow, he’s tough. I heard one shot of this would knock you out, but he’s holding on until the end.”
The voice buzzed in his ear. His limbs trembled, and his vision blurred. He barely managed to lift his head, and something pricked his neck. As his mind flickered, the voice continued.
“Is, is it done now?”
“You can go now.”
“What are you going to do…?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
“You said you were just going to knock him out!”
“Damn it! Mind your own business and get out. Or I’ll play the video of you panting under me to the entire unit.”
The voice gradually faded, and his consciousness blurred along with it. He knew his body was being dragged and moved, but he couldn’t put any strength into his limbs. Then, they threw him somewhere. A chilling voice mixed with giggling laughter was heard.
“You son of a bitch. You should have kept a low profile.”
Bang. The sound of the door closing was heard, and Ire barely opened and closed his eyes. But that didn’t last long, and he completely lost consciousness.
Ha-yoon checked the time and looked out the heavily clouded window. The time he had arranged to meet Ire had long passed, but there was no news. He had ordered a subordinate to bring him, but he only heard that he was not in the dormitory. Since there was no record of him leaving the unit, it was clear that he was inside.
Was he hiding?
Suddenly, with a strange hunch, he instructed the staff below to find out Ire’s movements after training. After a while, Lieutenant Park appeared with a knock.
“Did you find him?”
“He was captured walking towards the cafeteria, but his whereabouts after that are unclear.”
“Alone?”
“No. He was with a roommate who uses the same room. The roommate was captured returning 10 minutes later. So I’m going to look for him now.”
The cafeteria… why? He wouldn’t have gone to steal food because he was hungry. Ha-yoon’s brow furrowed beautifully as he pondered.
Could it be…?
Tsk, after clicking his tongue, he walked towards the door, and Lieutenant Park hurriedly followed.
“I’ll go, so go home. It’s a golden weekend.”
Then he headed to the basement. The cafeteria was empty and locked. The food storage warehouse inside came into his sight. It was written that unauthorized personnel were prohibited from entering, but there was no special locking device. Because there was no one living in poverty enough to steal food from here.
As soon as he entered the food storage warehouse, the lights turned on automatically. Kim Ha-yoon walked straight to the freezer without hesitation. When he turned the large lump of iron, the door opened with a creaking friction sound. As he opened the door, a cold chill rushed out.
Kim Ha-yoon’s face distorted as he stepped inside.
“God damn it.”
Inside the warehouse where the meat was hanging, there was Ire, hardening white. He immediately approached Ire and placed the back of his hand on his pale cheek. As he took off his jacket and wrapped it around him, he instinctively snuggled into his arms as if feeling the warm warmth. Cold… His voice trembled, and his faint breath seemed to be on the verge of breaking.