Black Badger

Chapter 105

Ska chuckled lowly.

"Now satisfied?"

Instead of answering, Yoon raised one eyebrow.

The tall aide kindly asked for more details.

"Seeing Hilde get sliced up—has that satisfied your curiosity?"

"I couldn't confirm what I wanted to confirm."

"He'll definitely leave a dying message before he dies."

I muttered while staring vacantly at the ceiling.

"The culprit. Choi Yoon."

"Yoon. Don't cross the line." Ska pointed out.

I was deeply moved by his cool-headed instruction. He was truly a good boss. He was the kind of person who needed to remain my mentor for a thousand years.

It was something that could just be dismissed as a joke.

Of course, my mentor was an expert at letting nagging go in one ear and out the other.

"I'll be careful."

The lie flowed smoothly.

"It's late, so you should head in. The surgery went fine."

The seniors didn't go in right away.

After getting a detailed explanation from Yoon, they poured out all sorts of information to me before leaving. I was grateful for their thoughtful consideration. Thanks to them, I learned that Barbie had already been discharged and gone home, and Asil would be discharged in two days.

But they didn't need to watch me cough so closely before leaving.

It got to the point where I had to plead that I was going to sleep now, so please go back.

"I'm getting another painkiller shot and going to sleep now!"

"Yeah~. Alright~.... Who's stopping you from sleeping~?"

"You should go get some rest too, senior.... Please, I beg you."

"Don't mash that painkiller button like an idiot."

My mentor nagged in his deadpan way.

"You'll see hell tomorrow if you do, you know."

I was hospitalized for a week.

It was a painful time of having to cough to expand my shrunken lungs. As the days grew shorter, mornings became increasingly hard to wake up for. I shuffled slowly through the hospital wing, forcing coughs, ironing out my lungs amid the pain and phlegm, and swallowing all the numerous pills I had to take on time.

During that time, various people came and went for hospital visits.

The first to visit were my cohort members.

"You okay?"

"You alright?"

Tom and Hesi came into the room with their eyes wide open.

This situation was starting to feel a bit embarrassing now. It was a relief that they didn't see me as the pitiful cohort member who ended up hospitalized after every mission.

Both of them had straightforward personalities by nature.

Moreover, what could I say—they each had such distinct values that they didn't really care what others thought.

"But you'll be discharged soon, right?"

"Yeah. Even if it's the long way, they say within a week."

"You'll be able to drink at the year-end party, then?"

While answering Hesi's question, Tom asked in a worried voice.

I blinked dumbly.

"Year-end party?"

"Oh. You haven't heard yet."

Tom explained as he set down the apricot cream jam he'd brought as a get-well gift.

The story wasn't long. There was just a year-end party—a gathering for the badgers working near headquarters.

It was a large banquet that even the high command would attend.

"Late December, when?"

"This year it's the 23rd."

"You'll be fully recovered by then."

Hesi spoke cheerfully and grinned.

"And trainees get the 24th and 25th off."

Christmas, huh.

That meant Ye-hyeon's birthday wasn't far off. Jae-yeon's ominous message and thoughts of Lee Seung-hyun came to mind at the same time. Was that talk of a grand party on the 26th still valid?

And Lee Seung-hyun.... What was his phone number?

It was Hesi who snapped me out of my thoughts.

My cohort called my name in a hesitant voice.

The cohort who was obsessed with collecting Jordan sneakers and half-mad about basketball asked, stuttering in a way that didn't suit him.

"But you, uh, what are you doing for Christmas?"

I closed and opened my eyes while looking into Hesi's hazel eyes.

"Thinking of playing games."

"...Alone?"

"Probably."

What was the intent behind the question?

And why was he asking so awkwardly? Seeing Hesi Lyle—the guy like a runaway train with a "Justice Action" sign—stammer made me feel really strange. He was the type ready to throw a justice-filled haymaker punch whether it was a 3rd cohort senior or a 20th cohort senior if something seemed wrong.

Fortunately, the answer came quickly.

"Then, want to come to my place on the 24th?"

It was funny how he rubbed his neck and avoided my gaze.

"Planning to crack open some liquor with my dad and little brother. Our house isn't far from headquarters. Um. There's an empty guest room, the area's quiet, which is nice. And dinner will be pretty good."

A smile spread across his face.

He must have been worried about me spending Christmas alone without family.

It was a grateful invitation.

Honestly, holing up in the cabin playing games all day wouldn't feel lonely at all.

Still, I didn't want to turn down the invitation he'd mustered the courage to make. I was actually curious about his little brother. I wanted to thank the guy who'd sold me that scooter cheap.

I nodded, keeping my smile.

"Sure. If it's not a bother."

"What bother! Great. Then I'll go tell my brother right now."

Hesi's face lit up as he jumped to his feet.

Tom and I watched him dash out of the room.

Thud! The door slammed from his poor control of his strength, followed by ensuing silence.

"Come to our place next time."

It was Tom who broke the quiet.

"The sunset views are pretty."

Sometimes Hesi and I couldn't keep up with Tom's sentimentality and got flustered.

This time, I was the only one left flustered, but anyway, I accepted this invitation too.

It was so typical of my cohort members. They'd take turns inviting the one who had to spend Christmas alone because he had no family.

It was sweet, cute, and thankful.

Coming face-to-face with the jaded elder's message made the comparison even clearer.

*

[Heard you had a rough time.]

This bastard Colton had a talent for pissing people off with just one line.

[The game center's completed.]

And a talent for making people feel good with just one line.

Thanks, old friends are the best, let's keep in touch—my frantic reply was, of course, ignored. The follow-up "Got all the latest games?" got no response either.

But I didn't mind.

In fact, it was good.

I didn't want to exchange trivial texts with a psychopath anyway. There wasn't anything special to say. Though he was at fault for the arena disaster, as far as that incident went, his only culpability was negligence in managing Jae-yeon.

Knowing that well, he'd sent such a simple message.

I read it as an indirect way of saying, "I'll let this matter drop."

There were no special contacts from Spitfire or Guardian.

Instead, a message came from Ye-hyeon.

[Can you keep the 26th open?]

Probably because of Jae-yeon's message.

I replied that of course I could. And once again, I pondered ways to find out Lee Seung-hyun's phone number.

I absolutely couldn't ask Ye-hyeon directly....

Ami was in C Zone outside the core, only coming back on December 20th.

I couldn't easily ask Yekaterina either. It was best not to owe even small favors to the elders.

So in the end, only one answer remained for me.

The answer I'd been trying hard to avoid.

"Respected mentor."

The evening before my discharge, a day early, I called out to the man who was carefully reading my progress report.

Yoon slowly rolled his eyes.

"I have a favor to ask."

"What is it."

The man in the sky-blue shirt was as still as ever today.

"Whatever you messed up, just confess quickly."

"...I didn't mess anything up."

"Just a favor?"

Yoon turned his head to look straight at me.

"You? What for?"

I swallowed hard.

And cautiously examined my mentor's face.

I knew that this favor wouldn't be accepted easily. Truth be told, there was no reason I needed to know Lee Seung-hyun's phone number right now. Lee Seung-hyun and I hadn't been close in the past. I hadn't even remembered his name the moment I saw his face.

Moreover, my mentor despised Lee Seung-hyun.

So my questioning voice lacked confidence.

"Could you give me Lee Seung-hyun's number?"

Yoon's brow furrowed.

An uneasy silence settled in immediately.

I waited for his response with a smile twitching on my lips.

The answer came slowly.

"Why."

"I need to contact him for a favor."

"What's that."

I didn't really want to say.

It was something with no guarantee of success, and I didn't know how Yoon would take my plan.

Of course, knowing my mentor hated waiting, I didn't agonize long.

"Can you promise not to tell anyone?"

"I'll hear it first."

"...Then at least not to the Supreme Commander...."

"Isn't it something you have to tell him even if you don't tell others?"

It was a reasonable point.

But for this matter, things were different. I let out a short sigh.

My lungs had expanded a lot now, so it wasn't as painful as before. Right after surgery, it had been tough enough to mash the painkiller button repeatedly.

Anyway, while sighing, I made my decision.

I told my mentor my plan.

"Huh?"

That was my mentor's reaction to hearing my plan.

"You think that bastard will grant a favor like that?"

"No harm in trying, right?"

He probably wouldn't comply easily, but I still wanted to try. If not this time, then next.

It was probably worth that much.

Yoon didn't deny it, and I waited again for his reaction.

The first step of my plan required the help of only one person—Yoon. He, who had been pondering with his hand in his pocket, gave a low-voiced answer.

"Give it a shot, then."

"Thank you!"

I knew he'd agree in the end!

I clenched my fist in joy, but the following words left me a bit stunned.

"The price?"

"Pardon?"

"The price for me giving you Lee Seung-hyun's number and keeping it from Ye-hyeon the whole time."

Demanding a price for something like this?

I wanted to retort, but I lacked the courage and money.

Of course, I had no intention of readily giving the answer he wanted, "I'll get on the experimental table."

"I'll ask Asil Fisher tomorrow why he grabbed that guy by the collar back then and find out."

"Not curious about that crap."

"Ah, then how about we call it even for not telling me about the promotion exam?"

I was still a bit mad about that.

But seeing Yoon blink in confusion, it seemed he had zero awareness of having done wrong.

He was probably thinking why make a fuss when there were still six months left. Hesi and Tom had known for a while, but since my entry was special, there was no good timing to tell me....

He'd definitely say telling me three months ahead was plenty....

But no.

All my predictions were wrong, and Yoon spat out an answer I hadn't even imagined.

An answer I couldn't comprehend right away.

"You study for the exam and pass it?"

You bastard.