By Zephyria 
“It’s a different Distribution Center today.”
“The routine is the same. Load, clean, search.”
Even after the drinking session the previous day, Hwang-jae wasn’t late. He just showed up grumbling with dark circles under his eyes.
Looking at the two of them, who looked perfectly fine, he spouted some nonsense about how youth was good.
“By the way, that gathering… what exactly do you do there?”
“It’s not so much that we do anything. We’re just waiting for the right time.”
“The right time?”
“It’s about showing the will of people like us. Choi Hyung probably knows all the details, though.”
Judging by his vague and empty answer, he didn’t seem to know what they did there.
Come to think of it, even at the drinking session he joined yesterday, Hwang-jae only chimed in, but didn’t seem to have any meticulous plans.
So, that old man called Choi Hyung was really leading everything.
His skill at talking was considerable, but it made Mu-hae wonder what words he used to win them over.
“How do we show our will? And what, Central will listen if we show it?”
“When you go to a restaurant, they pay more attention to customers who seem picky than to those who just quietly eat and leave. Because they don’t want trouble.”
“The people upstairs won’t provide service if you keep making noise; they’ll send the riot police.”
“That’s why Choi Hyung is in charge. He has a way to attract attention with just one incident. Because he’s done that kind of thing before.”
No. Return flight was a group that had no intention of attracting attention at all. Why else would they encrypt each other’s titles and become a cell organization?
The more Mu-hae coaxed Hwang-jae to talk, the more absurd stories came out. No matter how he thought about it, that guy was a windbag.
The problem was that the windbag had found a way to infiltrate Central, and he even seemed to have some kind of plan.
“How do you know if that person is really from that group? It’s a group I’ve never even heard of, and you just believe him?”
He made his voice sound anxious, pretending to be cautious, and felt an intense gaze from behind.
He was sure that Joo-oh was watching him with an expression that said he was having the time of his life.
“You’re suspiciously skeptical for someone your age. Well, that’s probably why Choi Hyung thought you were useful.”
As if to show off that he was also part of that chosen group, Hwang-jae cleared his throat, which was getting tired.
Even though no one was watching, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. A small voice, as if whispering, revealed the secret clearly.
“There’s proof. Something that proves that such a group existed, and that Hyung was a member.”
“Something?”
“Yeah. It looks like just a decoration, but if Choi Hyung manipulates it, a specific shape appears.”
“A shape… like some kind of mysterious mark?”
“A sailboat. You can see a sailboat sailing the sea. Choi Hyung says that’s one of the symbols? It’s also an expensive-looking item for Hyung to have for no reason.”
If it was about sailing, Mu-hae had an idea. When you bring up the system panel in the Jaegang District underground, a beautiful sea view plays during loading.
The item that Choi had could really be from Return flight. And looking at the records of his father, who valued practicality, and the traces of Return flight, which left marks everywhere to hide data… it wouldn’t just be a simple decoration, but a stepping stone of information that Jin Mu-hae needed.
“That’s amazing. I want to see it in person.”
“He’ll show it to you guys someday. It’s a secret society, so it’s difficult right now.”
He was acting cocky, but Mu-hae couldn’t show it. Mu-hae ignored Joo-oh, who was chuckling, and showed an expectant look.
If he coaxed him well, he could create a similar situation today. Since last week, the food expenses had been surprisingly low, so he had a decent amount of money left.
“This is a shame.”
“What is?”
“I was thinking of treating you to a drink today since I was invited to a good place, but I thought two consecutive days of drinking might be a bit too much for you, considering your age.”
“Too much? For me?”
Hwang-jae flared up and widened his eyes. The man who had said he would go to Sakdal as soon as he got to work quickly accepted the invitation to drink.
After that, until the truck reached the Distribution Center, he had to listen to Hwang-jae’s nonsense, such as, ‘When I was young, I could stay up for three nights straight and still be fine,’ and ‘I’m still in good shape, even stronger than you.’
Anyway, they promised a similar meeting today. Watching the man, who had suddenly become indifferent in front of work, Mu-hae quietly thought about the Return flight item that Choi had.
“See? I’m fine.”
Hwang-jae kept saying the same thing even after he came out of the shower. It seemed that his declining physical strength as he got older was a kind of Achilles’ heel for him.
Perhaps he was being even more flamboyant because he was conscious of Mu-hae’s physique. If he was so worried, he should cut down on drinking, live a regular life, and take care of his health. He was thinner than Joo-oh and only good with his mouth.
The bar where Choi worked was dark and shabby as always. Even though the tables and various fixtures were clean, the traces of time remained intact and could not be erased.
He wondered how much he could earn working part-time in a place like this. He only lived in a formal residential area, but his life itself didn’t seem any better than Mu-hae’s.
It didn’t seem like his life had fallen apart because he was involved in Return flight. The ‘accomplices’ he had met so far had all lowered their voices and been cautious.
The very act of flaunting the Return flight item was proof that he had not received any serious punishment. His life would have been like this from the start.
“There are a few more drinking buddies today. Is that okay?”
After waiting for several hours and finally reaching the outskirts of Jumyeong District, Choi belatedly informed them of the presence of additional attendees.
Now that they had come this far, they couldn’t refuse, so it was more of a notification than asking for their opinion.
“Don’t worry. They’re all people like us.”
Choi smiled gently, as if to reassure them, and opened the door. Judging by the unpleasant feeling, it wouldn’t be a simple drinking session.
If he was trying to introduce Mu-hae to his group, he must have made a good impression yesterday.
The round table, which had been empty the day before, was already noisy with four people. Mu-hae quickly scanned them all, from their hairstyles and clothes to their apparent health and hygiene.
One had unkempt hair, two had terrible clothes, and the remaining one had a bad complexion and long, dirty fingernails.
They were all people who didn’t seem to be living successful lives. It meant that their self-management was poor, apart from their jobs or simple poverty.
Of course, their circumstances didn’t look very good either. It was amazing how he had gathered only guys like Hwang-jae.
“A mercenary who does cleaning work with Hwang Ajusshi?”
“There must have been a lot less mercenary work for a while. Requests will start pouring in as the weather outside gets better.”
“Is the one next to you family? They don’t look alike.”
The conversation about Mu-hae’s job subtly turned to Joo-oh.
That was because he had been staring at the food on the table without saying a word since earlier. With his striking appearance, he was spacing out, so attention was bound to be drawn to him.
Thump. When he kicked his shin with his foot, his red eyes barely moved towards Mu-hae. He had fed him at the bar earlier, but he was still hungry, and he swallowed his saliva.
“I’m Joo-oh.”
“He’s a partner. He’s a bit slow, but he has good instincts and is strong.”
“If I work, Jin Mu-hae feeds me and lets me sleep. He sometimes gives me pocket money too.”
It was embarrassing that Joo-oh was talking about pocket money when he had introduced him as a partner.
“He eats a lot.”
He quickly added an excuse, but they didn’t know the food expenses of this glutton. It was true that he took a significant portion of the earnings, but a considerable amount also flowed to Joo-oh.
Feeling like he had become a bad guy for some reason, Mu-hae kicked his leg again. Joo-oh tilted his head without even showing any pain.
“It’s because I’m learning how to work.”
Still, he came up with a pretty good excuse without being told in advance. If he had said something like, ‘He sometimes touches me if I do well,’ like he did a few months ago, it would have been creepy and fortunate.
“Well, it’s a dangerous job.”
“People often die on lucrative jobs. That lame guy in Sakdal, too, said that everyone he went with on a mercenary job died, and he was the only one who survived.”
“Some people spend money to work comfortably, and others risk their lives for a few pennies. We should just overturn everything.”
They had overcome the crisis, but it wasn’t a very pleasant gathering even with several people. All they did was drink and talk, and every story ended in lamentation.
It was ridiculous to have a misfortune battle to see whose life was more twisted, but it was also a problem that Choi kept interjecting with a word at the end.
After that guy spoke, even simply tripping over a stone became a problem of Goryeo City.
Their shabby self-pity suddenly became the fighting spirit of a secret society, and the opinions gathered by fanning the flames turned into support for Choi.
Mu-hae didn’t care who they were cursing among themselves. It wasn’t like Mu-hae had gladly accepted the unfair system he had been born with.
However, the fact that the excuse that bound them together was Return flight bothered him. There was no good reason for a group that had been holding its breath and waiting for an opportunity for over twenty years to come to the surface like this.
‘Joo-oh.’
It was time to test the waters. When Mu-hae signaled with his eyes, Joo-oh, who had been sitting blankly, left the room on the pretext of going to the bathroom.
Soon after, they heard something crashing and Joo-oh appeared soaking wet.
“It’s broken.”
“…What is?”
“The sink.”
Choi, who had been awkwardly standing up at the unexpected disaster, jumped up and left the room. His hurried footsteps seemed to sense a major accident.
The sound of him following behind and talking to him could be heard faintly.
“It’s not my fault. I just turned on the water and suddenly, kwaaa….”
With the person who had been controlling the situation all along gone, Mu-hae emptied his glass with a large gesture, gathering the chaotic atmosphere to himself.
“So, what can we do? We’ll have the same routine tomorrow as we do today anyway.”
At the gloomy question, the man with the unkempt hair raised his head sharply.
“We’re going to show them. That there’s a group somewhere that can’t be ignored.”
“How? By gathering together and protesting?”
Thump! The man glanced in the direction where Choi had disappeared, slammed the table, and finally opened his mouth despite Hwang-jae’s dissuasion.
“It has to be more intense than that. To be remembered for a long, long time.”
In front of his confident face, he cupped his hands together and then spread them wide. It was a gesture as if something was exploding.