By Zephyria 
“What’s this?”
Captain Kim Seon-oh, having received footage taken near the pillaged area from a subordinate, noticed something strange and adjusted his posture. He was debating whether to call the subordinate and ask when Kim Do-cheol, who had been drinking nearby, subtly edged in.
“What is it?”
“We launched a drone to film and find their base, but something odd was captured. Take a look.”
The video showed a desolate field with something round placed there. At first, he thought it was a ball someone had abandoned while playing, but upon closer inspection, it was a human head.
“Looks like they buried it.”
“Those cruel bastards. With stray dogs swarming around, burying someone is as good as sentencing them to death.”
Kim Do-cheol clicked his tongue and downed his drink in one gulp. When he made a sanctimonious remark that drinking was prohibited in the unit, Kim Do-cheol cheekily refilled his glass, asking him to overlook it as it was his last drink. He used to hide and drink, wary of Captain Kim Ha-yoon, but now he lived with a bottle in his hand at all times.
Kim Seon-oh shifted his gaze back to the screen. Then, his complexion gradually darkened. Not only that, but he also squinted and brought his face so close to the screen that it seemed he would enter it. Could it be…? He muttered lowly, and Kim Do-cheol turned around, drinking.
“What now?”
He made the enlarged screen visible to Kim Do-cheol. Kim Do-cheol, who had been wearing an indifferent expression, spat out his drink onto the screen. He hurriedly pulled out a tissue and wiped it, but he couldn’t easily find the words.
“Fucking… what is this?”
“I’m not seeing things, am I?”
Kim Do-cheol stared at the screen with his mouth open. No matter how he looked at it, the man in the video looked like Kim Ha-yoon. It could be someone who resembled Kim Ha-yoon, he thought, but something bothered him. He urgently called home. An employee who helped with household chores answered, and when he asked if Kim Ha-yoon was home, he was told that he hadn’t returned last night.
“Huh….”
“What did they say? Is he not home?”
Kim Do-cheol shook his head in denial. What kind of guy was he that he would just stand by and let something like that happen to him? Kim Seon-oh agreed with that. He was the type to bury others, not the type to be buried. Nevertheless, it was difficult to hide the creeping anxiety. The man in the video and Kim Ha-yoon looked too much alike.
“Should I request the information bureau to check the pass records?”
At Kim Seon-oh’s words, Kim Do-cheol replied to leave it alone.
“Why?”
“No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason for Kim Ha-yoon to be in that state.”
Kim Seon-oh wanted to argue with that. When he received the report that Ire had appeared, his eyes had gleamed eerily, and the corners of his lips had lifted. He had a feeling that there was a reason for all of that. His nagging premonition seemed to have come true in this way.
“What if it is Captain Kim Ha-yoon?”
“Captain, my ass. It’s been ages since he left the military. If you’re so worried, just wait until today.”
Kim Seon-oh pressed his lips shut. People thought that Kim Do-cheol was indecisive and a bit off, but Kim Seon-oh thought that there was more to him than met the eye. Frankly speaking, if the only heir, Kim Ha-yoon, disappeared, Kim Do-cheol, the closest blood relative of the Chairman, would become the heir.
He was a man, a person, so how could he not have any ambition? Kim Do-cheol’s lax lifestyle while Kim Ha-yoon was in the military could be seen as partly due to Kim Do-cheol’s influence.
“I’ll take the guys and go.”
“What if it’s not him?”
“Isn’t it better than being uneasy?”
“You… you’re so rigid. How can you accomplish anything great when you’re so inflexible?”
Kim Seon-oh didn’t respond any further to the words that seemed like a joke but had a hidden barb. Instead, he requested that a pass be issued so that he could go outside. Then, Kim Do-cheol stood up and smiled amiably.
“I’m just kidding, you idiot. Relax your face. I’ll go check it out, so you do your job. You’re busy, aren’t you?”
“I’m dying of curiosity. What’s the relationship between those two?”
“Isn’t that the guy?”
“Who?”
“You know, the guy who supposedly threw the Captain into the military.”
“That high-up?”
“Yeah. That high-up guy.”
The three who had been huddling together simultaneously turned their heads to look at Kim Ha-yoon, who was buried far away. The places where he had been hit were swollen and scabbed over, and his appearance was a mess. One could say that just surviving a day was commendable. If he was left like that, it would be difficult for him to make it through the night. He was more likely to become food for stray dogs before he became dehydrated.
“Hey, you guys over there. Don’t just stare, come here.”
He seemed to have forgotten his situation, as his tone was arrogant. Gilsu chuckled in disbelief and grabbed his gun. When did that bastard ever see him to speak to him so casually? He strode over with the gun in his hand. He pointed the gun at his forehead and cocked it, but he didn’t even blink. If it were a normal guy, he would have been begging for his life, but there wasn’t a trace of wavering in his eyes.
Gilsu was momentarily intimidated by that spirit, but he tried to deny it and raised his voice.
“Who do you think you’re ordering around! You son of a bitch.”
He pretended to shoot him, but he was met with laughter. He didn’t know why he had come here or what his relationship with Ire was, but it was clear that he was the type to piss people off the more they looked at him. He huffed and put his finger on the trigger, but Jang-cheon came and stopped him. Baek Seol also came to his side and grabbed his arm. Stop it. Don’t get involved. He’s going to die anyway if we leave him like this.
“Call your boss. I have something to say.”
“This guy’s still going!”
Gilsu, who was about to kick him, flinched at the man’s fiercely shining eyes. With that much confidence, he might be a higher-up than he thought. No matter how much they strutted around here, they wouldn’t be able to handle it if the forces of district a moved. Even now, they were constantly checking the sky for fear that unmanned reconnaissance aircraft would be flying around.
Ah, shit. He kicked a nearby rock for no reason and told Jang-cheon to go back. There was no point in staying here. The three of them got into a truck that was nearby and disappeared, and Kim Ha-yoon, who was left alone, tilted his head back and looked up at the sky.
The surroundings were darkening, and the sun was setting, and his lips were becoming increasingly parched from thirst. He could feel a slight taste of blood whenever he moved his tongue, as if the inside of his mouth had burst. Then, he chuckled at his own state.
He had only expected to be cursed and yelled at, but he had never imagined that he would be hit out of the blue. He hadn’t fought back on purpose because he had committed a sin, and he had thought that it would end with one hit. That was what Ire he knew was like.
A weak guy who couldn’t be cruel at the decisive moment and would come back and hold his hand.
As time passed and the sun completely set, darkness descended. As he raised his head to look at the sky, he saw a sparkling light. It was an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft that circled the sky every hour. If someone in the military received a report of this sight, Kim Do-cheol would be the most likely candidate at the moment, and if that were the case, there was a high probability that he wouldn’t come to rescue him.
Then, he sensed someone’s presence somewhere. When he turned around, he saw two lights flickering in the distance. Anyone who wasn’t an idiot could tell that they were the eyes of an animal, not a person.
“Fucking….”
He tried to untie his hands, which were tied behind his back, but it was no use. As if they really intended to kill him, the bastards had tied his hands and feet securely and buried him.
Grrr―
A sigh escaped at the low growl of the beast. The creature, which had narrowed the distance and approached, stared intently at Kim Ha-yoon and bared its teeth. He wasn’t close to animals, but he was well aware that it was about to attack.
“Even if you’re going to eat me, let me leave a last will.”
Grrr―
“Can you tell that kid I’m sorry?”
What the hell was he doing, talking to a dog? He laughed, finding it absurd even to himself. At that moment, a light soared into the sky and fell to the ground. After the flare fell, he saw a dozen or so dogs hesitating and retreating.
He was speechless at the unexpectedly large number.
At that rate, he could die even if he wasn’t buried in a pit, couldn’t he?
Then, the sound of a car engine was heard, and the clever dogs recognized what it was and ran away in the opposite direction. The car stopped nearby, and the headlights shone brightly. He frowned, and then he heard footsteps above his head.
“Did you come to see if I’m dead?”
As he grinned slyly, Ire squatted down on the ground. However, Kim Ha-yoon immediately frowned at the sight of him holding a cigarette.
“You smoke? What kind of bastard lets a kid,”
“Why? Are you worried because you have to experiment on my body?”
At the blatant criticism, Kim Ha-yoon’s eyebrows drooped.
“Don’t talk like that. It hurts my feelings.”
“You hypocritical bastard.”
Ire gave a signal to the back, and several people appeared with shovels. Then, they began to dig up the soil around Kim Ha-yoon. His body was gradually revealed, and Kim Ha-yoon moved his tied hands. He was trying to break the rope with force when Ire pulled out a gun and aimed it at his head.
“Don’t try anything funny. Gilsu might not, but I can shoot you.”