By Zephyria 
Ha-jin, who had been speechless for a while after that, slowly detached himself and turned his gaze to the ground where Jun-seok was sleeping. He bent his knees and gently stroked the brownish-brown mound of dirt.
So that longing would not become the entirety of his life, so that his life would not be consumed by anger and resentment, and so that he could remember Jun-seok only with love…. He repeated the wish he had made every night since settling here once again by Jun-seok’s side.
Ha-jin did not cry and greeted his Hyung bravely. And he stayed by Jun-seok’s side for a long time, sharing the stories he had not been able to tell. As the sun rose a little higher and the visitors began to leave one by one, Ha-jin also rose from his seat.
Eden, who was standing some distance away and talking on the phone with someone, noticed Ha-jin trying to leave and hung up.
“Is it the company?”
Eden touched Ha-jin’s reddened left cheek with his index finger and replied.
“There’s one more person I want to introduce you to. He’s coming this way with Jeffrey.”
Ha-jin tilted his head at the sudden name.
“Jeffrey? Why all of a sudden… Didn’t Jeffrey go to work either?”
“Look behind you.”
Eden said that and gestured with his chin behind Ha-jin. Ha-jin, blinking in bewilderment at his lover’s ambiguous reply, slowly turned around as if possessed. In the middle of the wide-open park, a man and a woman were walking towards them.
Judging from the vague silhouette, the man was definitely Jeffrey. Ha-jin, narrowing his eyes and watching him approach, turned his gaze to the woman next to him this time.
The woman had her slightly dark brown hair tied up high and was carrying a worn-out messenger bag on her shoulder. As the distance gradually narrowed, the lines of her face, which had been blurry, began to become clearer.
Double eyelids, big eyes, a high and narrow nose, and the corners of her mouth that stretched wide when she smiled….
It was an overly familiar face.
Ha-jin’s lips slowly parted as he recognized her.
“…Yun Mi-so?”
He, who had been standing in place like a nail, slowly took a step. When he came to his senses, he found himself running quickly towards Mi-so.
❖ ❖ ❖
@Public Funds
Eden glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror. Ha-jin was sitting in the back seat with Mi-so as if it were natural, and he was not letting go of her two hands. He was trying hard to suppress his jealousy, not wanting to ruin the touching moment of reunion, but he couldn’t stop his gaze from constantly turning to the rearview mirror.
Meanwhile, Ha-jin had just heard the story that Mi-so had arrived with Jun-seok early this morning. And he also learned the new fact that Jeffrey had come back to Korean soil for her return. The faces of the two, who had shed tears in the emotion of the reunion, were swollen like steamed buns.
“Jeffrey went to save you?”
Ha-jin looked at the passenger seat with surprised eyes, and Jeffrey shrugged as if it were nothing.
“Mi-so, of course, I save.”
Everyone burst into a short laugh at the awkward Korean that appeared after a long time. Ha-jin belatedly thought of something and asked Eden and Jeffrey.
“But how did you meet Mi-so? There was no way to contact her.”
Mi-so, who quietly raised her head, met Eden’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Mi-so recalled the conversation she had with him in the hardware store on the day she was separated from the group.
‘Yun Mi-so. I will take Do Ha-jin and go to America, no matter what.’
Eden’s eyes were unwavering as he said that. He told Mi-so that if she couldn’t meet her family, he would send a Transport plane, so she should go to the temple where she had stayed before.
‘Is the reason you’re helping me for Ha-jin’s sake?’
‘I won’t deny it, but I sincerely hope to see Yun Mi-so again. Aren’t you my colleague now?’
The time when the rescue helicopter was sent was two months later, at 10 a.m. every Monday in Korean time. In that way, Mi-so was barely able to seize the last of the four opportunities.
“I made an appointment with Jeong Tae-geon in advance. If I’m left alone, I decided to go to America.”
Ha-jin stared blankly at Mi-so, who was speaking bravely, and lowered his head gloomily. Thinking of her, who had lost her family and fought hard for survival alone, his heart seemed to break for a moment.
Mi-so, staring at his darkened face, vigorously patted Ha-jin’s back.
“It’s okay, Do Ha-jin. You must have had a hard time because of Jun-seok, and I….”
The words were not continued, but Ha-jin could fully understand her heart as well. He hugged Mi-so, who had become even skinnier in the meantime, and let out a sigh of pity.
Eden dropped Ha-jin and Mi-so off in front of their house and headed straight to Blue Works headquarters. Jeffrey, who was exhausted from the long flight, followed him without complaint. Jeffrey, who had been lost in thought, opened his mouth only after getting closer to the company.
[Are you… really going to listen to those old geezers? I heard that Oahu Island is also in a state of annihilation, so going there is no different from committing suicide.]
[You went to Korea to pick up Yun Mi-so too.]
[Is going to save people the same as moving supplies? They’re bringing a whopping 100 jets and all the shells. It’s easy to say, but if you’re unlucky, it’ll take months.]
Jeffrey was talking about the ‘Oahu Island business trip’ that Eden had been offered from above. Blue Works had an emergency military supply warehouse on Oahu Island, Hawaii, the gateway to the United States, storing more than 100 fighters and various weapons.
Currently, the supply of weapons and aircraft delivered to various parts of the world is not keeping up with the demand, so they had to raid the armory stored on Oahu Island, and Eden was selected as the general leader of the project by unanimous agreement of the major directors.
‘To be honest, who in this company would be in charge of such a big project? Eden, you are the only one who is a weapons expert, has combat experience, knows how to take care of himself, and has the power and leadership to control subordinates.’
Eden recalled the face of the President, who had grabbed his hand a few days ago and frowned in pity, and let out a small chuckle.
Jeffrey looked at the face of his friend, who was laughing nonchalantly, and raised his voice.
[Honestly, I think you can refuse. You’ve contributed that much to growing the company, and I don’t understand why you have to risk your life to listen to those old men!]
[Do you think the Immigration Bureau temporarily accepted Do Ha-jin and Yun Mi-so’s Special Refugee status just by looking at me? Do you think it’s all thanks to my name value that they allowed the transfer of a tomb of a person who is not even a citizen to American soil?]
Jeffrey’s face hardened at Eden’s sudden question. Eden continued.
[Blue Works is behind it. No matter how much money I have, I’m just a nouveau riche unless I’m the CTO of Blue Works. What’s the reason why the company dispatched the already insufficient large passenger planes and Transport planes twice?]
[…….]
[Blue Works was going to use me anyway. It’s right to move according to their taste at least once.]
[…Ha. What if they catch your weakness again and make unreasonable demands on you like this?]
[Once I come back from this business trip, I don’t have to be tied to the company anymore anyway. The final Special Refugee screening is exactly one month away.]
Jeffrey, who had lost his words for a moment, buried his head in the window and let out a heavy sigh. No wonder he accepted the business trip proposal so readily….
[Crazy bastard.]
As soon as he spat out the curse, Eden tapped his shoulder with his fist as if to calm him down.
❖ ❖ ❖
In the dim dawn, Ha-jin, who woke up from sleep, dragged his exhausted body, which had been exhausted by the persistent lovemaking, out of the room. He finished showering in the guest bathroom so that Eden, who had a light sleep, would not wake up, and came out to dry his hair when he heard a faint noise from somewhere.
As soon as he came out to the central living room, he saw Mi-so’s back as she was watching the news with Pie.
“You woke up early?”
Mi-so waved her hand roughly at Ha-jin’s question and patted the seat next to her with her palm. As he went and sat next to her, she turned down the volume of the remote control and met his eyes.
“I heard that some Zombies have been caught on Sakhalin Island in Russia, but there’s still no news from Korea.”
It wasn’t surprising news, so Ha-jin shrugged and picked up the water bottle on the living room table. No sooner had he quenched his thirst and put the bottle down than Mi-so grabbed Ha-jin’s wrist.
“Hey….”
He was instantly nervous because she was looking at him seriously and lowering her voice. Could it be that there was a kiss mark left on his neck like last time? He had washed up in a daze, so he hadn’t properly checked what he looked like in the mirror.
Just as Ha-jin’s face was blushing with embarrassment, Mi-so lowered her eyebrows and handed over a piece of paper that was on the table.
“I’ve been thinking about it all night, but no matter how I look at it, the proposal seems a little short. Let’s revise it together later. In my opinion, it might be a good idea to divide the Magic program into adult and children’s versions?”
However, contrary to expectations, Mi-so brought up work. On the paper she handed over, the title ‘Magic Healing Program for Patients’ was written.
Mi-so was in the midst of planning an art program related to Magic based on the announcements arranged by the mental care program center. Unlike Ha-jin, who had taken more than a month to adapt to this place, she began to take the initiative to start working not long after arriving in the United States.
Ha-jin scanned the paper he received and let out a silent sigh.
“Why did you suffer alone again when I said I’d do it with you?”
“It’s okay. I can’t sleep well because I’m still not used to the time difference.”
Mi-so kissed the head of Pie, who was licking her ankle, and suddenly turned her head towards the second floor.
“By the way, is Jeong Tae-geon really… leaving tomorrow? To Oahu Island or something.”
At her question, Ha-jin’s face became noticeably gloomy.
“Yeah, it’s a business trip.”
“What kind of company sends you on a business trip to a Zombie den? Does he have to go?”
“I guess so. I don’t want to send him if possible, but it’s work, so I can’t help it.”
“…….”
“But he said he only has to go once, and after that, he won’t have to go anywhere.”
Mi-so, blinking as if she felt sorry, patted Ha-jin’s bent shoulder. Ha-jin tried hard to turn his gaze to the paper to erase the rushing negative thoughts.