Black Badger

Chapter 255: Rehabilitation (3)

Yehyeon’s eyes widened.

“What are you doing at this hour?”

“I should be asking you that.... Did you go to the convenience store?”

As I approached, I saw a plastic bag in Yehyeon’s hand.

The tip of his nose and ears were red from the cold dawn wind.

The kid nodded and held out an ice cream cone to me.

“Do you want one?”

“Your nose is red from the cold.”

“I’m going to eat it inside.... Come in. Nobody’s here.”

Right, Ami said she was going to sleep over in Yun’s hospital room.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk.”

...You couldn’t sleep?

Still stunned, I followed after Yehyeon.

I sat on the sofa I’d become fairly accustomed to. High ceilings, always tidy, warm heating melting the cold that had crept into my bones.

Yehyeon dropped down next to me and began unwrapping his ice cream cone.

I unwrapped mine too, staring at his side profile with unease. This kid, whose average sleep time is five hours, saying he couldn’t sleep. Just how twisted up must he be inside?

Vanilla cone sprinkled with almonds and chocolate.

For a while, Yehyeon just ate quietly.

Then, only after I’d finished my cone, he spoke.

“If the tactician opens his mouth, will we be able to hear more details about Reconnaissance Orders?”

He suddenly brought up work.

I had been sitting loosely, and jolted upright in surprise.

“Yes. He knows far more than I do. He was the tactician appointed directly by the Emperor.”

“What about the spatial-transfer teams?”

“The same. The tactician was the one agonizing over those tools. I was closer to an operations captain who simply carried out the orders they settled on.”

“Can you force him to spit out that knowledge as fast as possible?”

“I’ll try. If it really doesn’t work, I’m thinking of contacting the Personnel Director.”

“Ju?”

“Yes.”

I’ve lived two centuries, and I’ve never seen anyone as gifted in personnel matters as Kang Ju.

Sometimes I even wondered if he’d been born with an ability to read people’s hearts.

“Good idea.”

Yehyeon answered flatly and stayed silent until he finished his ice cream.

Once the cone disappeared from his hand, he stared blankly ahead.

His gaze was unfocused, as if he were tracing back memories he didn’t particularly want to revisit.

“If he had acted consistently like a dog, I would’ve cut him off.”

I’d been quietly keeping him company when, after a long while, the kid murmured.

“If he had used violence every time, or never given me a single cent. If he had been like that, I could have cut ties peacefully. Just like Yun wanted. Of course, if he had been like that, I would’ve died before I turned six.”

“You don’t need to forgive Seunghyun.”

There was more than enough to resent. Cold neglect and abandonment were abuse by themselves.

Still staring ahead, Yehyeon continued.

“It’s not like I was ever lacking money. I was just too scared to ask.... Even when I wanted something, I didn’t have the courage to ask. And the reason I didn’t have courage wasn’t anything complicated. His cold gaze... scared me. On the rare times I worked up the nerve to speak to him, if he didn’t answer, I’d lock myself in my room and cry.”

“Yehyeon. Even the soldiers who trained with Seunghyun feared him. Even though Seunghyun didn’t lay hands on them. If trained soldiers were like that, how terrified must you have been as a child?”

“But sometimes.... he’d give me something like praise. If I brought home good grades, the next day a few bills would be on the dining table.”

So that bastard never praised with his mouth, huh. It was a miracle Yehyeon grew up this decent.

I barely held back the urge to click my tongue.

I could understand Yun’s feelings a bit....

“I was so happy about that I always studied hard. I wanted to meet his expectations somehow. Sometimes... when he made this face like, ‘Why am I eating dinner with this brat?’ I’d rethink my test scores or whether I’d cleaned the house right. And when I got first place on the next exam and put the report card down, I’d see the money he left and think, ‘He must have gotten over his anger now,’ and feel relieved.”

“The more I hear, the more I want to beat the hell out of Lee Seunghyun.”

“Well, being the top student ended when I entered the same high school as Yun.”

Ah. Yeah.

There was nothing to say to that.

That one was Yun’s fault.

“But I’d already been acting out before that.”

He’d said he started rebelling around ninth grade.

Feeling heavy, I studied the kid’s side profile. He’d lowered his eyes, staring somewhere on the floor.

He sank back into a long silence, then slowly declared:

“I’m going on a business trip for a week.”

I blinked.

“Because Seunghyun makes you uncomfortable?”

“That’s part of it. I’ve also been stuck in the Center Core too long. Do you know where the second-largest Core is?”

“Core 2.”

“Yes. The one Sukhoi controls completely. It’s about time I visited. To express gratitude, too.”

“His injuries aren’t going to splash over onto you, right?”

“He’s not the type to do that.”

Thank god. Whether that was the truth or a white lie to make me feel better, I couldn’t tell.

Yehyeon looked at me and gave a faint smile.

“Do you know Sukhoi’s background?”

“No.”

“She was a journalist in Russia. Specialized in exposing oligarch corruption.”

Unexpected. I’d guessed she might be Russian, but never imagined she had been a journalist.

I’d thought she might be an oligarch herself.

I mean, right now she’s standing at the top with Colton, isn’t she? A tyrant who hides behind the stage and grips the world.

Her sharp eyes and the ambition she doesn’t bother to hide.

There was no mistaking any of it.

“But her series of exposés didn’t work. During her investigations she survived assassination attempts, and people around her were kidnapped and vanished. She didn’t break, but nothing changed.”

“Can you still find those articles now?”

“Yes. They’re still up. She fought well. Her opponent was just too colossal.”

“How did she end up like... that?”

“After writing her fifth article, she suddenly changed. And began eating the oligarchs she’d been investigating one by one.”

To others, this story might sound like “a good person who turned.”

But I was skeptical. The ambition that flickered in her eyes was no less than Colton’s. Didn’t Kairos say so too? That she reminded him of Bingje. Bingje was also a human whose ambition burned bright.

She’d clearly been waiting for the right moment.

Waiting to devour a big fish and rise.

As if reading my thoughts, Yehyeon let out a long laugh.

“I also think everything she did was preparation before stepping onto the battlefield.”

“Maybe we’re overthinking it.”

“She met my father when she was still a journalist.”

Their connection was longer than expected.

“When she came to Korea for a business trip, she exposed corruption in an orphanage, and took my parents out of that place.”

“Ah.”

“To be exact, my mother.... I don’t know the details. Only that it says Sukhoi took the only Russian child there.”

I got the picture.

So Seunghyun’s absolute loyalty toward Sukhoi goes back to Sasha.

“I brought those past articles to my father and got beaten half to death.”

That insane bastard.

What face is he planning to show Sasha when he dies?

I interlaced my fingers and closed my eyes to hold back boiling anger.

Hold it. Hitting him won’t change him, and Yehyeon wouldn’t like it anyway.

Hold it....

“I was gritting my teeth thinking this time I would beat that miserable old man, but he thrashed me instead. That was when I was his aide-de-camp.”

“Should I go beat him for you now?”

Yehyeon beamed.

The kid smiled cleanly, like someone who just saw something pleasant, and shook his head.

“Thank you for listening. I feel a bit better.”

Good. I didn’t.

I decided that when Yehyeon got back from his trip—meaning a week from now, when Seunghyun’s wounds had healed somewhat—I’d scold him thoroughly.

He wouldn’t change right away, but.... I could at least water that grain of affection buried inside him, even if he didn’t recognize it himself.

The rest depended on him.

Yehyeon thanked me for listening to his complaints at dawn and got ready for bed.

“By the way, why did you leave Blackjack’s house?”

“The kids kicked me out.”

I briefly explained what had happened, and Yehyeon quietly laughed.

“They must not have wanted to part with their tactician. Good subordinates.”

I gave a faint smile of agreement.

After shoving the droopy-eyed kid into his bedroom, I headed to the columbarium.

***

The next day.

I got punched by You when he woke up.

It didn’t hurt much.

“You’re still weak.”

Smiling softly, I looked down at the tactician.

“Feel a little better?”

“Get your damn face away.”

“Let’s talk. How have you been living, You?”

Spit.

His firing range had improved.

I accepted the tissue Kairos held out with a wry smile. Igor grumbled behind me.

After tossing the tissue into the trash can, I nagged him.

“You still need to eat. I’ll make food, so eat it. If you need the bathroom, come downstairs.”

You didn’t answer.

I studied his black hair falling to his shoulder blades, then rose from my seat.

“If you had only laid hands on me, I would’ve made you kneel and apologize.”

You turned his head toward the window.

“You know the kids aren’t at fault, right? Let’s go apologize later. They’ll listen.”

After finishing the talk, I went down to the first floor and ate a late breakfast-lunch with my kin.

No one was picky, so the meal was simple. Milk, toast, jam, sausages. Shriveled bacon and sandwiches ordered nearby.

After swallowing a sandwich, Deltei scolded me.

“You should’ve talked about that after you softened his heart.”

“Sorry.”

I grabbed my iced americano cup between five fingers.

“But wrong is wrong. I’m not going to gloss over that.”

“What if the tactician refuses to apologize to the end?”

Igor asked around a big bite of sausage.

I drank my americano in one long pull and set the disposable cup down.

“Then I’ll break his knee and make him kneel.”

“The ones who were really hurt are that female senior you mentioned, and one of the Commander’s guards, right? Two in total?”

“Yeah.”

“And that soldier said he’d stop by tonight?”

After answering Deltei’s question, Kairos lifted his head and asked another.

I placed a new toast on top of the toast slathered with butter and strawberry jam, then took a big bite.

Chewing, I nodded.

“Tomorrow too.”

“You’re not planning to sleep at my place tonight?”

“Why are you trying to kick me out again?”

I grumbled lightly, though I understood his intentions.

And I wasn’t ungrateful. But I had no intention of simply accepting it all the time. So I skimmed past the subject and cleaned up.

Kairos was dragged off by Ami’s summons, and Deltei settled into a beanbag to edit videos.

I trained with Igor for the first time in ages.

Decades since our last match.

“Hey. What are you going to do if you can’t beat me as I am now?”

“Shut up, Commander.”

Igor sat down grumpily and flexed his fingers.

“It’s been years since I’ve had proper training too.”

His irritated look was so funny I laughed for a long time.

He used to react like that too. He tiredlessly requested sparring sessions, and whenever he got crushed, he’d sit down just like this, sulking and self-reflecting.

Then and now, a good knight.

Some things didn’t change.

And I resolved not to take those unchanged things for granted.

***

Late evening, only those doing overtime remained in the lab.

Among the scientists drinking americanos with extra shots, a few caught a strange glow.

A corner of the enormous lab.

Below a window with old blinds pulled down.

“Hm?”

Hiroshi blinked his dark-circled eyes.

“What’s that?”

Those who heard his mumble turned their heads.

Hollow eyes spotted the same thing.

Multiple pairs of eyes narrowed.

“Who left a hologram running on the floor?”

“Hologram?”

“Isn’t it? It wasn’t here a few hours ago.”

“It’s really bright.”

Hiroshi took one step toward it.

“I feel like I’ve seen that shape somewhere....”

In that moment, it bloomed.

Spatial-transfer array, bursting open in bright light.

It grew in size and opened its mouth.

From that gaping mouth poured living creatures.

“Uwaaagh!”

Hiroshi hurled his americano at ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the Creature.

“What—! What the hell!!”

“A portal opened!”

Eardrum-ripping alarms screamed.

Cries of terror.

Desperate footsteps.

Creatures flooded into the Black Badger Headquarters Science Wing.

***

“Fuck.”

Sensing the Creatures, I spat a single curse.

“Stay here.”

There was no time to wait for Seunghyun’s answer.

I kicked back my chair and sprinted toward the science wing.