Black Badger

Chapter 110

I spotted Ye-hyeon too.

There was a reason I hadn't noticed him right away. He was surrounded by a bunch of badgers.

And with a faint smile on his face, he was dozing off.

While holding something like a Choco Pie in his hand.

"You've got quite the fan club."

"One-third are the bootlickers who lost their minds fawning over him, one-third are the ones trying to get him blackout drunk by pouring him drinks, and the last third are just the ones who genuinely like Ye-hyeon."

A clear breakdown.

I observed Ye-hyeon, who was nodding off like a sickly chicken but still managed a faint smile whenever a subordinate spoke to him. He was handing the Choco Pie he was holding to someone who had approached him.

Then he bobbed his head and dozed off again.

"Do you fall asleep when you drink?" "He grins like an idiot and then passes out."

Well-mannered drinking habits.

"Do you drink often?"

"Not really."

My conscience stung even more.

I pressed my lips into a straight line and watched as Ye-hyeon passed a marshmallow to another subordinate. After handing it over to his boss, he closed his eyes and nodded off.

I let out a small sigh.

"Going over to apologize would be tactless, huh."

"It'd be insane. You'd just get on the bad side of all those badgers around him."

Yeah, probably.

"There are already plenty who resent you for getting special treatment."

I figured as much.

I'll apologize on the 26th then. Even if I did it now, it doesn't seem like Ye-hyeon would remember anyway. He looked busy just accepting the people around him.

I picked up a french fry and turned my gaze away.

Whoa.

Little lightbulbs were swarming around John Mullen.

"He's holding his liquor well."

I looked up at Yoon's low murmur.

I met the eyes of my mentor, who was observing me with his usual expression.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I do enjoy vodka."

"Did you grant Lee Seung-hyun's request?"

I nodded quietly.

"I nearly died, but. No joke, for real."

"I figured you'd end up back in the hospital. You've got some guts."

"The TV broke, the sofa broke, but I made it back alive."

"I thought your neck would snap."

Thud!

I whipped my head toward the massive noise.

Some unnamed seniors had face-planted on the floor. It looked like they'd collided while running across the hall. People around them stumbled over to grab and lift them up.

A breaking liquor bottle nearby. At another table, bomb shots toppled like dominoes.

The humans started to lose it.

I chewed on a sausage while checking on the people I knew. Tom, whose face had been flushed red for a while, was laughing like a maniac next to Angela. He was flailing his arms with movements much bigger than usual.

Hesi, who was drinking with the HR director and some seniors, was shattering what must have been his umpteenth glass.

"Uh, that wasn't on purpose."

Crash!

"Ah, not that either."

Smash!

I turned my head.

There was Barbie. She was across from Walker, who had a clear-headed face, cheering as she popped a cork. Ricardo and Jonathan Kudo were sitting in the corner sipping clear rice wine, with Kudo constantly dropping utensils. Ricardo was grinning and teasing him.

"Ah, why'd they only bring this crap for drinks!"

I heard the voice of the drunk Jason Tvain.

"Who does the shopping anyway? Can't they get something decent?"

"The booze came from the general affairs department."

"Who asked for your lip?"

His charming personality shone through even more.

"If you can't hold it, just stay put quietly!"

"You psycho, chill out."

Chen smirked as he pulled Tvain back.

"You gotta treat the juniors right."

Asil was cleaning up.

While he diligently gathered empty bottles and collected caps, someone started talking to a huge liquor bottle. Crouching down and mumbling to it pitifully.

He might get kicked by one of the dancing people if he's not careful.

"Drink more!"

At the table right next to us, someone who seemed like a veteran was relentlessly pouring drinks.

"Why can't you hold your liquor? Drink up!"

Elsewhere, people were wildly swinging their arms.

"Uwaaah! It's falling!"

"Grab it! Grab it!"

A collapsing pyramid of plastic bottles.

Next to the pyramid, someone was trying to balance chopsticks on top of chopsticks.

What a mess.

Yoon slowly walked through the crowd.

"Commander."

My mentor called out to Ye-hyeon in a low voice.

The badgers around Ye-hyeon turned their heads toward Yoon. I could see the people at the head table simultaneously clamping their mouths shut.

"Whoa! He's going in!"

Someone whose face was beet red simultaneously shot their arm up with a cheer.

"The boss is coming!"

"Ah, shut up, idiot!"

"Freedom!"

Next to the one trying to stop him, another leaped up cheering.

"We're free!"

Even with the boozy reactions, the head table didn't flinch.

No one spared a glance at the rowdy badgers. Yoon looked down at Ye-hyeon and murmured something so low it was inaudible.

Ye-hyeon looked up at Yoon with sleepy eyes, blinking.

Then he handed over a shark-fin-shaped jelly to the other man.

Did he pick out the shark one?

Yoon naturally placed the jelly back on the table and hoisted Ye-hyeon onto his back in one swift motion.

"Sleep well!"

A drunk badger shot to his feet and saluted Ye-hyeon.

The badger next to him sprang up too, following suit with a salute.

"Have a peaceful night!"

"Wanna play a game?"

A voice from right beside me startled me.

I turned to see some unfamiliar seniors. They reeked of booze but didn't seem totally wasted.

They were looking down at me with eyes full of anticipation.

"I heard you're good at games. Wanna team up with us?"

"Uh, sure. Sounds good. What game?"

"Pump."

"Pardon?"

The Pump I know?

"DDR."

They brought a DDR machine?

I turned my head in the direction the senior pointed, spotting the game machines in one corner of the hall. Two machines stood side by side, flashing brightly.

This was insane.

How had I not noticed them earlier?

I let out a small chuckle and slowly stood from my seat.

"That sounds perfect."

"Hey. If you break that machine, you're paying for it."

"Yes, sir."

I replied half-heartedly to the senior who spoke in an unenthusiastic tone.

No way I'd break it.

I excitedly followed the seniors to the DDR machines.

*

Yoon returned to the year-end party hall.

He had tucked in Ami and Ye-hyeon in the high command bedroom. Once again, his timing was spot on. After decades of repetition, he could instinctively sense when to return to the year-end party hall.

The people who were heading home had already left, and the ones sloshed into oblivion would be carried on their comrades' backs down to the badger lounge by now.

It was well past midnight, the quiet hush that settled over the winding-down drinking session.

Choi Yoon slowly walked toward the survivors.

"Did you collect Ami okay?"

Ska, lounging lazily in a chair with a whiskey, grinned.

Yoon nodded quietly.

Then he turned his head, scanning the hall.

"Where's Hildebert?"

The massive table in the center of the hall. The survivors looked up.

The usual crew. Ska Owen, Richard Green, William Walker, and Samuel Han, who had joined late and received an overwhelming cheer.

And Shu Diamond, who hadn't touched a drop of alcohol.

Shu was the one who answered.

"He was hitting perfects on DDR nonstop, then suddenly said he needed some air and vanished."

"What's DDR?"

Yoon replied in an exasperated tone as he pulled out a remaining chair and sat at the table.

Shu sipped her orange juice.

"Some seniors brought it in because they wanted to play DDR. He's really good at it. I didn't watch after he hit over 200 combo, though."

"Doesn't he get drunk?"

"You've gotta keep an eye on your deputy mentor."

Richard nagged at Yoon, who was muttering to himself.

The man, who always exuded a steadfast aura, slammed down his glass.

"Your deputy mentor drank for the first time, and you left him alone? Call him and drag him back right now."

"Yeah, yeah."

Yoon answered offhandedly.

He knew arguing logically wouldn't work. He lazily crossed his legs and pulled his smartphone from his pocket.

Samuel set down his fork with shrimp on it.

"Do you take good care of your kid?"

"Of course."

Yoon answered promptly.

Richard Green shot him a displeased look, and Samuel an incredulous one, but he ignored them.

The hall littered with trash everywhere.

Amid the snoring of employees sprawled on the floor, Yoon called Hildebert and switched to speakerphone. The ringing tone blared noisily through the hall.

Everyone stared blankly at the phone screen.

It didn't take long.

"Hilde."

Yoon called out to the other end once the call connected.

"Where are you?"

[Oh, were you looking for me?]

The voice from the phone sounded fine.

The remaining people let out sighs of relief.

As the gazes clustered on the phone dispersed, the badgers relaxed their momentarily tensed muscles.

Until Hilde continued.

[I'm on the rooftop.]

Yoon reacted first.

He sprang from his seat. He didn't ask the person on the call anything else, nor say a word to those around him.

The man clutched his phone and bolted toward the stairs in huge strides.

The others reacted a beat later.

"I told you to keep an eye on him!"

Richard roared as he chased after Yoon.

"You can't let your guard down just because he seems fine!"

"Shu! Grab the hoverboard!"

Ska shouted the order to Shu as he ran after Richard.

Shu nodded quickly and dashed to the opposite stairs. Samuel spewed a torrent of curses as he headed for the elevator. Walker tossed aside his chicken leg and went for the stairs.

Naturally, Yoon arrived first.

The rooftop with railings that weren't too high. Yoon kicked open the door and strode toward Hilde, who stood at the edge looking down.

Then he grabbed Hilde by the nape and roughly yanked him back.

"Urk."

The rookie let out a choked sound as he was dragged over, his eyes widening round.

Then, at a loss for words, he looked up at his mentor's cold eyes. A dazed face that hadn't grasped the situation.

His striking golden eyes spotted the seniors following behind and widened even more.

"Why is everyone... here...."

Hilde slowly straightened his body.

He stared blankly at the panting seniors and muttered.

"No way you were worried about me?"

His voice dripped with bewilderment and surprise.

No one answered. They all halted in place, breathing heavily as they stared at Hilde. His fluttering white hair and vivid golden eyes. His refined features made him stand out even in the darkness.

The one whose name had crossed every badger's lips at least once.

"Sorry. I wasn't that drunk...."

Hilde rubbed his neck as he spoke.

"I just had something I wanted to recall...."

Smack!

A sharp friction sound shook the dawn air.

Hilde, eyes wide like a rabbit's, clutched the back of his head and looked at Yoon.

Yoon shoved the hand he'd used to smack the back of Hilde's head into his pocket.

"Wanna fall to your death?"

His voice mixed anger and chill.

Surprise filled Hilde's eyes. He blinked in silence, speechless.

The seniors kept quiet until the kind junior found his voice again.

"I'm sorry."

The eventual apology breaking the silence carried sincerity.

"I'll be more careful from now on. Really sorry."

"You should be!"

Richard exploded in anger.

"What were you thinking, getting drunk and climbing to the rooftop?!"

"I'm sorry."

"You wanna go down as the rookie who fell to his death before even taking the promotion exam?!"

"No. I'm sorry."

"Get your head straight!"

"Yes, sir."

"You too, Choi Yoon! You should've kept eyes on your deputy mentor the first time he drank!"

"Why'd you come up here?"

Ska gently blocked Richard's fury.

The aide kept his eyes on Hilde, smiling wryly.

"Was there some memory you had to recall up on the rooftop?"

The rookie shut his mouth.

Silence returned. The one at the center of all the gazes, reluctant to open his mouth easily. Even as Samuel huffed onto the rooftop cursing up a storm, the silence held. Even when the pale Shu flew in on the hoverboard, Hilde said nothing.

"Now that I've recalled it, I'm fine."

He only spoke after Shu landed on the rooftop.

"I won't do this again."

"You weren't thinking anything weird, right."

"Ah, yes. Not at all. No need to worry."

At Ska's question, the rookie replied in a hoarse voice.

"Really, I have zero intention of doing something so irresponsible."

The seniors added nothing more.

His response was rock solid. No point pressing further; the tone left no room for other answers.

But they didn't lighten the mood easily. Through battle-hardened experience, innate sharpness, quiet observation, the badgers caught a peculiar unease. It wasn't something easily named. Not the sharp precariousness felt from badgers with PTSD, but an anxiety heightened by his composed, matter-of-fact demeanor.

A bearing that made one mistake it for long-carried heavy sorrow.

"Uh, I'll go down and clean up."

The seniors watched him silently until the rookie bowed his head and took a step.

Without taking their eyes off Hildebert Talev.