“You’ve worked hard, Michael.”
His voice was as gentle as ever. The tension melted away like snow at the touch of his hand embracing me and patting my back. I had been worried about going against his wishes. Matteo was alive, and my siblings had a comfortable home. I had unexpectedly become a soldier, but I thought it was much better than helping bad guys and getting paid.
“How are you feeling? Are you okay?”
I choked up at the question. He must have heard about the house burning down. I couldn’t bring myself to say that someone had set it on fire. Matteo didn’t ask any further questions and just patted my back.
“Let’s go inside. I was preparing dinner.”
As soon as he opened the door, the smell of food wafted out.
I went to the kitchen because it was noisy, and Anna was making food with the children.
“You’re here? Go wash up. We’ll prepare the food.”
“No, I’ll…”
I was about to speak, but I was a mess. I hadn’t been able to wash last night and had been rolling around in a tent, so it was only natural. Kim Ha-yoon had embraced this body of mine. I didn’t know if he had a strong stomach or if he just hated the cold that much.
“I’ll go wash up quickly.”
Anna gave me a change of clothes, and as I took it and went to the bathroom, I could hear the children laughing in groups of three or five everywhere. As I went into the bathroom and washed, I told myself countless times that it was a good choice for everyone.
Matteo also seemed to be accepting it more positively than at first.
After showering, I came out and the food was all set. The table was bigger than the old one, which always lacked space. After a long time, a friendly meal began with Matteo’s prayer. After the meal, everyone pitched in to clean up.
While doing so, John, who was carrying a plate, suddenly said something out of the blue.
“Brother, can you shoot a gun when you become a soldier?”
“Of course.”
“Bring it later. I want to see it too!”
I smiled at his cute request, and John pretended to shoot a gun. I was wondering if I should correct his posture, but I decided against it, thinking it was useless to do that to a young child. This time, Luca, the youngest, chimed in.
“But where’s the person who came with you yesterday?”
“Who?”
“The handsome man.”
Angelo, who had been silent, stepped up to argue.
“Hey… that person isn’t a man, he’s a brother…”
“He’s a brother? He looked older than Michael?”
“Still, he’s a brother…”
Angelo, who had received money yesterday, insisted that Kim Ha-yoon was a brother until the end.
This kid already knows the taste of money.
“Michael. Tell us about the military. Have you made any friends?”
“Are you stupid? Do you think the military is a school?”
Ire, who had been listening to the children’s stories, laughed.
“It’s not a school, but I’ve made good friends.”
He thought of Seo Young-jun and Oh Nam-gi and said he would introduce them next time, and everyone was happy. After cleaning up, the children went back to their rooms to do their own things.
Matteo called Ire aside.
“Let’s go out for a bit.”
Anna handed Matteo a cardigan knitted with thick yarn. “Wear this. It’s still chilly in the evening.” Ire stared at her for a moment, then turned and left the house first. Soon after, Matteo followed, looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath.
“It feels so good to breathe freely. Thank you. It’s all thanks to you.”
Even as he said thank you, Matteo looked sad. He seemed to feel that Ire had made that decision because of him, and that his illness had become a shackle.
“I don’t regret it. I chose it myself. So don’t worry about anything.”
Matteo came to his side and ruffled his hair.
“You’ve grown up so much. You were only the size of a fist.”
“I wasn’t only the size of a fist, no matter how small I was.”
“Yes. You were bigger than a fist. Your eyes sparkled like jewels even when you were just born, and I was amazed.”
What about our mother? What was our mother like? When I asked such questions as a child, Matteo would answer that she was very beautiful, that he thought an angel had come down from heaven. But at some point, I stopped asking about my mother. It was after I realized that I was different from others.
Then my gaze went to Matteo’s hand. The back of his hand was distorted by burns, and the traces on his fingers were difficult to distinguish.
“…Are you listening?”
Ire, who had been lost in thought, turned his head and looked at Matteo. The sun had completely set behind him, turning into darkness. For a moment, Ire had the illusion that Matteo was trapped in darkness. Matteo grabbed Ire’s shoulder when his expression distorted.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry… I was thinking about something else. What did you say just now?”
Then Matteo said something unexpected.
“I said I’d like to invite Captain Kim Ha-yoon if I get the chance. I have to thank him.”
Seo Young-jun, who was putting food on his plate, clicked his tongue at Ire’s plate, which was piled high with meat. He took his food to his seat, and Oh Nam-gi joined him belatedly. He had a small gauze pad on his forehead where it had been slightly cut during training.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“How did you hit your head there? Were you running with your eyes closed?”
Oh Nam-gi gave a sly smile at Seo Young-jun’s criticism. He was out of his mind thinking about the stunning beauty he had met on his day off. He said that every man stared at her the moment she left the club, she was so beautiful. I don’t know how many times he had told the same story last night and this morning.
Ire nonchalantly picked up a piece of meat, dipped it, and shoved it into Oh Nam-gi’s mouth.
“Shut up and eat this.”
“Are you going to be like this too, Ire? Ire, why are you like this? Huh?”
Seo Young-jun clicked his tongue, saying that the bastard had finally gone crazy at the ridiculous joke. I agreed. After finishing the meal, they were about to return to the dormitory when Park Mu-jin blocked their way in the hallway.
“Hybrid. I need to talk to you.”
Then Seo Young-jun stepped forward boldly.
“Ha, if you have something to say, say it here! Don’t use dirty tricks!”
Park Mu-jin laughed as if he was dumbfounded, then strode forward. His 190 cm height and muscular body were threatening enough just to look at.
“Do you want to die? Have you lost your sense of it because it’s been so long since you were beaten?”
Ire stepped in between them and pushed Park Mu-jin’s shoulder away.
“Don’t pick a fight for no reason. What do you want to talk about?”
Park Mu-jin dusted off the shoulder where Ire’s hand had touched.
“Not here, let’s go talk over there. Just the two of us.”
Seo Young-jun gave him a look that said not to go, but he was the type of guy who would harass people over and over again if he didn’t. More than half of his gang had left the training camp, so they didn’t hang out as much as before, but he was still a dominant presence among the trainees.
After sending Seo Young-jun and Oh Nam-gi away, Ire went into a nearby lecture room with Park Mu-jin. The lecture room, which had no theory classes, was empty and desolate.
“You, why didn’t you come?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I told you I’d tell you something you’d be interested in.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“Really?”
“If you’re going to keep talking about that, I’m leaving.”
Park Mu-jin grabbed his shoulder as he turned around. His eyes were fierce.
“Damn it, I’m not done talking yet.”
Ire didn’t back down either.
“Let go. Unless you want to die.”
For a moment, their eyes met and sparks flew. Surprisingly, Park Mu-jin was the first to back down. He let go of his hand and twisted the corners of his mouth slyly. Then he took out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and held it out. Ire didn’t take it and just stared at it.
“Take a look for yourself.”
He reluctantly took it and unfolded it, revealing printed letters.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Look closely. See whose name is written there.”
Looking closely, he saw Matteo’s name, Lee Seon-jae, written there. The name of the doctor in charge was also someone he had seen at the hospital. He had always been so kind and explained everything to him whenever they met. Other than that, it was all incomprehensible letters.
But why does this bastard have this? He glared at him with his eyes wide open, and Park Mu-jin took a step forward. He took the paper and pointed exactly next to Matteo’s name.
“This is your adoptive father’s medical record.”
“So?”
“My cousin is a doctor there, and he was in your father’s operating room that day.”
“So.”
Park Mu-jin came closer and lowered his voice. The smile had now disappeared from his face.
“He saw it clearly. They only opened his chest in the operating room and then sewed it right back up.”
I wanted to ask him what nonsense he was talking about. They only opened his chest and sewed it back up? Seeing him spouting such ridiculous nonsense, I didn’t even feel like hitting him.
“So you’re saying they only opened his chest, but our adoptive father lived?”
“That’s right. That’s it.”
“Then how did he get better?”
Park Mu-jin frowned.
“I don’t know about that.”
Looking at his expression, he really didn’t know. Ire sighed and passed him. As he opened the door and came out, Park Mu-jin followed, complaining that he didn’t believe him. I was wondering if I should punch him, but then the Instructors appeared in the distance. Then Park Mu-jin urgently grabbed Ire’s shoulder.
“You, don’t tell anyone about this, or you’ll really be fucked.”
Ire looked at Park Mu-jin with a pathetic look. Do you even know that you’re doing something stupid?
At that moment, the Instructor spotted the two of them and shouted.
“You two! Separate! I told you not to be together!”
Park Mu-jin bowed his head, saying he was sorry, then looked at Ire, pretended to zip up his mouth, and left. Ire looked at Park Mu-jin pathetically and shook his head. He vowed that he would accidentally shoot that bastard in the leg when he went into real combat someday.