Black Badger

Chapter 21

The shrimp-topped cheesy tteokbokki was delicious.

In the end, I spent the night at Yoon's house. The Supreme Commander didn't come home. Ami showed me to the guest room next to the entrance and served the tteokbokki in a green bowl dotted with white patterns.

Wearing the T-shirt and jogger pants Yoon handed me—just take them, he said—I ate the tteokbokki. All the while, I missed my wrecked cabin.

Ricardo left without even touching the tteokbokki. When I apologized again before he left, he waved it off without looking back and disappeared.

The point was that he wanted to get as far away from his boss's house as possible.

"I'll buy replacements for the things that flew away."

Ami, the light and salt of my life, said that while eating her tteokbokki.

"We've got plenty of money, so don't worry about it. Look at oppa—he's picking out his next car like he's ordering takeout."

"It's out of commission for a month," Yoon grumbled, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Guess I'll have to get a different brand in the meantime." Shameless as it was, I decided to accept their offer.

I spent a heavy night. The truth verified by my seniors weighed on me. I desperately tried to recall my past.

It was a grueling process. The more I tried to remember, the hazier it became.

I kept groping at the fragments of memory that surfaced. When the butterfly approached, who was the one speaking to me in my memories? It was a different voice from the one on the rooftop. But it wasn't unfamiliar.

Would the day come when I remembered everything?

Lost in unanswered worries, I opened my eyes to find it was morning.

*

It was nearly 3 p.m. by the time I arrived at the Badgers' dormitory.

In the morning, I went shopping with Ami. She was the light and salt of the world. After picking up essentials at the outlet with her, we had lunch. Donburi topped with eel fritters.

After finishing our meal cleanly, we had coffee, then rode in Ami's car to the dormitory.

"It's the dormitory where the Badgers live," she said. I'd be rooming on the same floor as the other new recruits who, like me, hadn't been out in the field yet.

The blue car entered Zone 1. The sedan pulled up on a quiet street a bit away from headquarters, where there was hardly any sign of people.

An ivory-colored, plain building came into view.

"Old Building."

Ami said brightly as she got out and closed the car door.

"Nine floors total. Hilde, your room's on the third floor!"

"Thanks for seeing me here."

"No problem. Let's go up together."

My stuff all fit into two large duffel bags. I snatched the one Ami picked up and headed into the building.

We got off on the third floor together.

A quiet hallway stretched out. Ivory walls, worn and stained yellowish in spots.

"Here."

Ami, chattering away as she led the way, stopped in front of room 304.

"They said everything's there except a bathtub."

She flung the door open.

I followed her in and peered around the room.

A fresh scent of wind blew in through the open window.

It wasn't as cramped as I'd thought. The bathroom was right next to the entrance. A simple bed stood under the window. I kicked off my shoes to step inside and saw the sink and a small fridge. There was a dresser next to the fridge, too.

Just as Ami said, it had everything I needed.

"Oh, right. Use the laundry room next to the elevator for the washer and dryer."

"It's nice."

I set down the duffel bag and looked around the room.

"Much better than I expected. Thank you so much, as always."

"No big deal. Let's unpack."

Ami plopped down next to the duffel bag and unzipped it.

She started pulling things out one by one. I sat on the floor and unzipped the other bag. Tissue, dishes, pajamas, toiletries. I grabbed whatever came to hand.

We busily spread our stuff out on the floor.

About halfway through unpacking, I sensed a presence near the open front door.

"Um..."

Ami and I turned our heads.

A red-haired man came into view. Pale skin dotted with faint freckles. Blue eyes that gave a gentle, mild impression. Long eyelashes.

He stood cautiously at the open doorway, dressed in gray training pants and a white T-shirt.

Ami's eyes widened happily.

"Tom! Hi!"

"Senior Ami."

The man's tense expression, like he was shy, softened into a smile as he looked down at Ami like a little sister.

"Long time no see."

"Yeah. How've you been?"

Ami stood up.

"Perfect timing. I was going to introduce you later. Tom, this is Hilde. Hildebert Talev. Hilde, this is Tom Hurson. He's a new recruit like you. Tom, you heard about Hilde from Angela, right?"

"Yeah. I knew he was coming today, so..."

The man called Tom glanced at me.

I quickly stood and bowed slightly.

"Hello, senior."

"Uh, no. You don't have to call me that."

Tom sounded a bit flustered.

"Um... I heard you got your augmented body earlier than us. So you've already finished adaptation training? Technically, we'd be the juniors. But Badgers go by field deployment for seniority, so I heard we're basically in the same cohort."

If that was the case, I was way too recent...

"Exactly."

Ami cut off my inner muttering lightly.

She stood between me and Tom, sorting out the situation.

"You two are in the same cohort. So talk casually and get along. The closer you are with your cohort, the better. And Tom, Hesi lives here too, right?"

"Yeah. He went into the city to see family."

"I see. When he gets back, want to introduce him to Hilde?"

Tom nodded at Ami with a smile.

Then, as he looked up and our eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze.

He seemed really shy. I watched the curly redhead stare at the floor and rubbed my neck. Starting to speak casually first felt awkward. But being too formal might make him uncomfortable.

We stood there awkwardly, with Ami in the middle.

Ami looked back and forth between us, our embarrassed faces.

Then she looked at me.

"Hilde."

"Yes."

"Say, 'Take care of me, Tom.'"

Like this?

I forced a subtle smile and mumbled.

"Take care of me, Tom."

"Uh? Oh, yeah... Me too."

"Handshake!"

Ami reached out, grabbing my hand and Tom's right one.

She pulled them together, urging a handshake.

"Shake hands!"

"Handshake."

"...Nice to meet you."

I smiled faintly and offered my hand with a "handshake," and Tom gripped it. We shook hands like elementary school kids under Ami's direction.

We sat in the room for a while, chatting amid the scattered belongings. We talked about the outlet we'd gone to that morning and nearby eateries. Places near headquarters, cafes, shops around the dormitory.

Ami left once our conversation started flowing a bit easier.

*

Tom, still a little shy, showed me around the dormitory.

"This is the vending machine and ATM. The ATM's open 24/7, but the fees are a bit high."

"Ah."

"Third floor's just us, so use the washer and dryer whenever."

I nodded to show I got it.

My cohort at the vending machine turned to look at me. Tom met my yellow eyes with his blue ones, then murmured, "Um, I think that's the basics."

I smiled faintly and thanked him.

"Which room are you in?"

I asked to break the awkwardness.

"Room 307."

Tom answered readily.

"Close by. Um... Hesi, the other cohort member, lives on this floor too?"

"Yeah. Hesi's in room 301. He should be back soon..."

He glanced up at the clock above the vending machine.

It was just past 6 p.m.

"I told him to order pizza and eat together."

"With me?"

I raised my voice a bit at the end, questioning.

Why would he say that? I hadn't even met this Hesi guy.

Seeing my confusion, Tom added an explanation.

"We all knew you were coming today from our mentors."

"Ah. Right, yeah."

"Hesi's super friendly... He said let's order pizza and get to know each other. He said he'd be here around 6, so if he doesn't show soon, I'll call him."

"Okay."

I nodded as Tom pulled out his phone.

"Maybe wait till 20 minutes and call then?"

Tom nodded.

Then, like clockwork, an awkward silence settled in.

How did I fill this silence? I racked my brain for something to say. Yoon's silences never felt uncomfortable, but this one, born of awkwardness, was stifling.

Maybe check my phone? I pulled out my own.

Huh? A text.

Who from? Not Ami—we had just parted. I couldn't imagine it was the Supreme Commander... My mentor? He said he'd leave weekends alone.

Tensing up, I tapped the message icon.

The text appeared on screen.

From an unknown number.

[Welcome back! It's my birthday today :D]

What the hell?

I stared down at my phone, standing there.

A weird feeling hit me suddenly. Some emotion I couldn't pinpoint the reason or source of.

Who sent this? Spam? Wrong number?

Probably the latter.

I looked at the smiling emoticon and replied.

[Think you sent this to the wrong person.]

[Won't you at least wish me happy birthday?]

What kind of person...

Exasperated, I stared at the screen and typed.

[Happy birthday. Whoever you are.]

[Let's meet the day after Christmas.]

An incomprehensible reply came back.

[Planning a big birthday party then!]

Birthday's today, though.

Christmas was still far off. Crazy person. I felt stupid replying to an unknown text, so I closed the window.

At the same time, Tom's voice rang out.

"Hesi!"

"Tom."

I turned to see a short brown-haired man with a soldierly vibe.

He closed the distance with long strides.

"Sorry I'm late. This the famous Hildebert?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, nice to meet you. Hildebert Talev."

"Speak casually. I'm Hesi Lyle."

The man stuck out a firm hand in greeting.

"We're the few in our cohort—let's get along."

What a friendly guy.

I gripped his callused hand and nodded. We exchanged simple greetings, shaking off thoughts of the weird text. When he suggested ordering pizza in my room, I nodded and followed.

*

"Why'd you join the Badgers?"

Hesi asked suddenly while eating pizza.

I'd just pulled up a long string of cheese when I looked up, caught off guard.

"Huh?"

Truth was, I hadn't applied to the Badgers.

I had no choice. Plus, I was grappling with my identity. The Commander said I'd do fine in the end, but with all these elements that could burden others, could I really?

Anyway, I couldn't ramble on with the truth.

"Just, you know..."

I racked my brain and stretched the words.

"I've always lived an unstable life. Then I happened to learn about recruitment..."

But how did Black Badger recruit people normally?