PASSION Chapter 3 part 7

"The weather is truly awful. They said it would clear up from tonight, but 'clear up' my foot. Those weathermen should all be fired."

A grumbling voice was heard from ahead. By the voice, it seemed to be Tou. Although they were only a few meters apart, they could be distinguished by their voices.

It wasn't just because it was night. It wasn't just because there were many obstacles in the forest obstructing their view.

The fog that had started to descend in the evening had settled thoroughly in every corner of the forest. It was so thick that as they pushed through it, their collars had become damp without them realizing.

"Forget about the weathermen, I want to strip the uniforms off all the instructors who make us do a night march in this kind of weather."

The one muttering a little behind Tou was Ching. The sound of laughter next to him was Carlo.

"I can tolerate the nighttime ruck march, but I absolutely cannot forgive the way they drained all our energy with the sparring all afternoon and then immediately told us to leave without any announcement in advance."

This voice sounded unfamiliar, so it must be someone from a different team. Listening to the voice speaking while grinding his teeth, he seemed to still have plenty of energy.

Jeong Tae-ui chuckled to himself, thinking that his uncle would definitely say, 'sounds like you wumps aren’t worn out enough.’ If I heard that, even though I myself found it amusing. Maurer, who was walking right beside him, looked at Jeong Tae-ui and grumbled.

"Are you in the mood to laugh? My legs are about to give out."

"It's just one day like this, so what's the big deal?"

"It's not just one day. When we finish the march and go back, it's immediately extreme training, you idiot. There's no time to rest."

Maurer grumbled, spitting out his words as if he was annoyed. This guy also seemed energetic enough to need less rest for a while. Jeong Tae-ui chuckled unseen, but his laughter soon disappeared.

Indeed, there was no time to rest. The days were a continuous series of tension, and in the afternoons, they mostly engaged in group sparring, spending time that was almost no different from a brawl with the European branch members. Today, too, they listened to lectures in the morning as usual—though after a few days, they were even verbally sparring and engaging in metaphorical sword fights during lecture time—and spent the entire afternoon in sparring. It must have been the same for other teams as well, not just my team.

It was sparring where even if you knocked them down and knocked them down again, the next opponent would keep coming at you. If they were doing it among their own teammates, they might have rested a bit, sensing the mood, or sparred moderately easily and even lost on purpose. But if the opponent was a European branch member, like an irreconcilable enemy, that wasn't the case. Most of them thought that even if they felt like they were going to die of exhaustion, they had to throw that guy down coolly and break an arm or something.

Jeong Tae-ui didn't have a reason to hold such grudges and wanted to go easy on each other and take it easy, but it was just regrettable that the opponent didn't think the same way. It was impossible to quietly offer his arms and legs to guys who lunged at him with the intention of practically devouring Jeong Tae-ui.

The regular schedule ended, and he barely managed to finish the day. Just when he thought so, the instructors suddenly called them to a halt as they were tidying up and about to leave. And they announced. That there would be a 20-kilometer nighttime ruck march tonight, so they should go to the cafeteria right now, eat, and reassemble within 30 minutes.

At that moment, Jeong Tae-ui was probably not the only one who wanted to immediately throw the headgear in his hand at that instructor. The sense of accomplishment that they had finished another day, despite being tired, was instantly frozen into a chilling atmosphere.

20 kilometers wasn't such a deadly distance that you would make such a grim face. That distance, which would take them about half a circle around the island, was a distance we could complete the march in about five hours. Normally, we would have walked it casually, chatting and laughing, feeling like we were on a picnic.

However, they were exhausted. Even during the mere 30 minutes allotted for dinner, they couldn't properly chew and swallow their food because they were collectively condemning the correctional officers upon hearing the sudden, unannounced news of the nighttime ruck march. What was even worse was that we had to embark on the march in full gear.

Uncle. You said this wasn't the military. But what is all this? Why are we marching, and why the full military gear?

Jeong Tae-ui inwardly showered his uncle with curses, unable to count how many times he had done so since coming to this island, as he bore the entire weight of the heavy pack pressing down on his shoulders with his whole body.

"If the instructors can't take off their clothes, I'd rather take off mine and throw myself off this corner of this island."

It was just then, when someone grumbled from up ahead.

"If you want to take them off, take them off after the joint training. And the guy who wants to strip me of my clothes, I’m happy to oblige, so come find me anytime after the march."

This voice, lively without any sign of exhaustion, came from behind Jeong Tae-ui. A sudden, icy silence fell. Not only did the men who had been chatting in the front fall silent, but those in the back were also startled as if they would jump. They had never dreamed that an instructor was mixed in among the people around them, whom they hadn't properly observed.

Jeong Tae-ui flinched, startled by the unexpected, familiar voice coming from so close by. Even though there was no way his silent curses could have been heard, he felt subtly self-conscious for no reason.

"Uncle……, Instructor Jeong, you’re coming with us?"

"How could I possibly sit around in the instructor's office and do nothing? How would I know what kind of accident might suddenly happen and when? Besides, we'll start running into other teams within an hour or two."

His uncle mumbled as if bothered—he definitely wasn't there at the time of departure—from who knows when. As he said, they had started separately, but after wandering through the forest for this long, it was about time they started running into other teams. It wouldn't matter if it was a team from the same Asian branch, but if not, it would become troublesome.

"With the fog this thick, if we went a little deeper, you could kill someone and bury them secretly, and no one would know. I bet if you dug up this whole forest, you'd find several bodies anyway."

My uncle said it casually, like a joke, but also like the truth. Jeong Tae-ui glanced at his wrist, thinking maybe it really was the truth. About an hour had passed since they started.

"We must have come about 3 or 4 kilometers now. If it's 20 kilometers, even if we finish quickly and head back, it'll be midnight."

He scratched the back of his neck, muttering, wondering if they'd even be able to find their way back, in that dark night.

It was already pitch dark all around. Because the forest was so dense, it was already dim even during the day, but now that it was night and the fog was thick, it was even darker. It wouldn't be strange to get lost like this.

"Well, it's not that big an island anyway, so even if we get lost, it'll be somewhere around here."

To Jeong Tae-ui, who added the muttering, his uncle replied as if asking what he was talking about.

"We can't go back by midnight. We'll sleep in the forest tonight and go back tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"We'll go about 10 more kilometers and set up camp somewhere suitable. I told you to bring a sleeping bag. Didn't you bring it?"

"No, I brought the duffel bag as it was, so there's probably a sleeping bag in it, but that's not the problem. You're saying we'll sleep in the forest and go back? We're going to sleep outdoors?"

"Hmm. Sometimes a person needs to sleep outdoors a bit to train themselves. We'll also take turns standing guard and keep the campfire going."

"I heard there are poisonous snakes here, poisonous snakes!"

"That's why I said we're going to have a night watch. You should be able to trust your comrades and fall asleep."

"No, there's no way you just make people sleep in a forest where poisonous snakes come out at night!"

"Even if it's a poisonous snake, the venom isn't that strong, so even if you're bitten, if you treat it properly right away, you won't die, I think I told you that."

"That's not the problem, Uncle. There are things more dangerous than snakes rampant here—"

Jeong Tae-ui shouted as if he was about to go wild with just a few more words, but there was no reaction from the others. Only after seeing their attitude, showing no surprise as they had experienced this several times before, did Jeong Tae-ui keenly feel that this was not a joke but reality.

Jeong Tae-ui had slept outdoors countless times. I had slept under the stars, slept in the dew, and even slept in places where snakes and centipedes rustled. But those snakes weren't poisonous, and the people I would be sleeping outdoors with weren't enemies constantly aiming for my neck.

"Ah, right, you did have a reason to be on your guard. But…… I saw some unfamiliar handwriting while looking at the notebook you gave me. Whose writing is it?"

Suddenly, his uncle said with a subtle smile. Jeong Tae-ui closed his mouth. If I said, "It's that guy," and burdened that guy with the weight of ten volumes of transcriptions too, we would have less time to encounter each other. It felt a bit embarrassing to openly tell on him like this. However, just as Jeong Tae-ui was about to open his mouth to increase his own safety, his uncle spoke first.

"But you know Tae-ui. While there might be some correlation between that guy's free time and the duration of your life, didn't you consider that ultimately your life would be in greater danger due to your actions?"

Jeong Tae-ui closed his mouth again. It wasn't very surprising that my uncle had already figured out the owner of the handwriting. I’m no longer surprised by anything this uncle knew, given his ability to instantly sort and process a mountain of documents.

However, what his uncle said was something Jeong Tae-ui had slightly considered himself. When the slight help that Reigrow had given Jeong Tae-ui turned into poison for him, he wondered if it might actually have a counterproductive effect.

"Think wisely and give me your answer by the time we return to the branch tomorrow."

His uncle said with a smile. Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue bitterly. At this rate, I could either have to insist it was my own handwriting to the end, or quietly accept the burden of writing ten more volumes.

The forest grew denser and denser. The sound of his colleagues ahead repeatedly breaking off twigs and saying, "Ugh, I wish we could just burn all these damn trees," could be heard. It seemed that branches and such kept scratching their faces every time they stepped into a place where there wasn't a proper path.

Thinking it was at least good that he was walking behind, Jeong Tae-ui, who had been walking silently, suddenly asked quietly.

"But that man, they say he even killed an instructor."

Just then, his uncle, who was walking right behind Jeong Tae-ui, replied casually.

"Hmm. He did that early the year before last. That instructor made a foolish mistake. That instructor's younger sibling was also a member at the same branch, and ended up bedridden for life by Rick's hand. It happened during training, so there was no particular basis for punishment and it was overlooked, but that instructor felt it wasn't enough. Well, of course, that instructor probably wasn't trying to kill Rick, but the result was—"

His uncle stopped speaking at a point where it could be guessed without hearing the end. Jeong Tae-ui grimaced. I knew that laws and rules were originally designed to be flawed enough to have loopholes, but I felt that in that man's case, the degree was severe.

However, at the same time, he recalled the attitude of the European branch members towards Reigrow.

That wasn't the attitude one would have towards a close colleague. Awe, fear, and anxiety were much more prevalent. Considering the man's personality and the kind of stories circulating about him, it seemed quite likely that Riegrow had many internal enemies.

Nevertheless, remembering the man who freely wielded his abilities to kill and operated without a care, Jeong Tae-ui unconsciously stiffened his face.

"He must have a really serious backstory……"

As Jeong Tae-ui muttered to himself, unable to understand, and tilted his head, the column suddenly stopped. From the front of the halted column, as if an obstacle had appeared, short, unpleasant shouts erupted almost simultaneously. The shouts quickly doubled, then tripled.

"Oh no. I expected this, but I did  hope we could avoid this kind of situation."

His uncle muttered from behind Jeong Tae-ui and stepped forward. Even without hearing my uncle's words, the rough noises from the front were enough to make it abundantly clear. They had encountered another team on the march, specifically a team from the European branch.

There had been one rule from the start: teams that encountered each other along the way would march together. Because of this, everyone hoped that if they did meet a team, it would be one from their own branch. There were even people who openly declared that if they marched with those guys from the European branch, four or five heads would roll overnight.

Jeong Tae-ui, sensing that they would be staying in that spot for a while, leaned against a nearby tree. He rested his bag against the tree and lowered his body slightly to relieve the weight of his luggage. His shoulders felt a little lighter.

After a moment, the commotion from the front died down. At the unnatural and sudden decrease in noise, Jeong Tae-ui turned his head in that direction. The fog was still thick, and there were many obstacles blocking my view, so I couldn't see what was happening in front, but I had a feeling that something might have occurred.

However, even after waiting a little longer, no more ominous sounds were heard. Instead, there were sporadic grumbles, quieter than before but still rough.

"What's wrong? Did someone get into a brawl up ahead or something?"

When Jeong Tae-ui asked Ching, who had been standing in front of him, the latter, who had gone ahead and then returned with a heavily creased face, opening his water bottle, shook his head.

"That guy's there."

"Huh?"

"That bastard who deserves to be torn to death. We have to march with the team that has that guy in it. Damn it, are they crazy? What kind of horrible sight are we supposed to see in the middle of the night with that lunatic bastard……."

At Ching's words, Jeong Tae-ui's face crumpled. Amidst the murmurs about how they wouldn't get any sleep tonight and that one night watch wouldn't be enough, Jeong Tae-ui looked ahead with his face still creased. It seemed the situation upfront had been somewhat sorted out, as they were showing signs of starting off again. And unfamiliar faces walked towards the back, mingling here and there among the groups. Of course, their faces were equally grim, as if they had bitten into a bug.

"It would be better to enter a snake pit than to run into these bastards……."

"Hmph. If we go with guys tougher than snakes, the snakes won't come."

Conversations laced with hostility were exchanged here and there. With the European branch members interspersed among them with savage looks, Jeong Tae-ui pulled his hat down low. He also raised his neck high and lowered his head.

The crowd began to move forward again. Glancing back while walking towards the rear, he could see a chilling back of a head in the distance, barely visible through the fog. The moment he saw that head, which was a head taller than others, it felt utterly menacing, and he knew instantly.

Further and further away, Jeong Tae-ui fell back until he was at the very rear of the crowd. Though mixed, the front and middle of the crowd were mostly filled with members from the Asia branch, while groups of men from the European branch walked from the middle to the back.

Jeong Tae-ui realized that most of the men walking around him were from the European branch, but he had no desire to move forward and just kept walking. In any case, hardly anyone paid attention to me, walking alone and practically hiding my face.

At this distance, it was quite a ways off, and the location where that chilling head had been was obscured by the fog, no longer visible. Seeing it appear and disappear in the fog only intensified the eerie feeling.

Thinking about it, wasn't this situation a perfect opportunity for that man?

The fog was thick. They were deep in a forest. They were even going to spend the night here. Moreover, it wasn't a situation where they were completely surrounded by enemies. In other words, if I put my mind to it, it was a situation where I could kill someone without a trace, bury them in the forest, and pretend not to know anything.

"Damn it. We got stuck with the Asia guys. We have to spend the night with those filthy bastards?"

"Don't joke around. Anyway, we have to divide the area and make sleeping arrangements. How can we sleep mixed in with those bastards? It's already nauseating just walking a few meters away like this."

"Just our luck. There's really nothing useful that's happened since I came to this damn Asia branch."

He could hear the muttering of the European branch men walking nearby. Jeong Tae-ui couldn't help but let out a small laugh. I had already heard the exact same words, just with "Asia" replaced by "Europe," from the other side. It seemed everyone was equally uncreative when it came to cursing.

"But I'm more worried about Simon than the Asian guys……. Is that guy really okay?"

One of them suddenly muttered. His voice held a hint of unease and worry.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't even see him. Where did he go?"

"He went ahead earlier. Right behind Rick. Is it really okay to leave him like that? I'm really uneasy."

"Hmm……. Still, surely not. That guy knows of the consequences, so what could he possibly do?"

"You never know. What can't a person do when they suddenly snap? If he loses his mind at some point and just stabs him in the back, the game's over."

"Nah. Even if he tried a surprise attack, Rick wouldn't be easily stabbed. It would be something if he even grazed him."

"Even if he were stabbed, would the blade even go in? I doubt a single drop of blood would come out. Has anyone here seen Rick's blood?"

"You'd have to bleed to see it. That guy definitely doesn't have blood flowing in his body."

Even as they spoke like it was a joke, they didn't laugh. At most, they twisted their lips into a bitter smile. They were cautious and uneasy, as if just talking about it could bring bad luck.

Walking a few steps away and listening to their words, the same anxiety and subtle restlessness that they felt spread within Jeong Tae-ui's chest.

I knew immediately who they were talking about. It was that man who inspired awe and unease not only in people from other branches but also in those from his own branch. Riegrow, also known as Rick.

"Ah, damn it. I don't care if Simon tried to kill Rick or not, but I just hope it doesn't happen while the Asian guys are around. What good is there in showing those bastards our internal issues?"

"That's true. But if I were Simon, I would have wanted to kill Rick too."

"Even if I weren't Simon, I don't particularly like that bastard. Why are we even on the same team as a guy like that? All we see are unpleasant things day after day. Ah, damn it, can't we switch teams?"

"Ever since I got on the same team as that guy, chunks of meat don't look ordinary to me anymore. I swear I'm going to become a vegetarian against my will."

"Honestly, we should be thankful that we're at least in the same branch and the same team. Just imagine if we had to face him as an opponent in sparring or as an enemy in joint training."

Jeong Tae-ui felt a subtle bitterness at their grumbling words. I felt as though I had starkly realized what kind of person Riegrow was. He was a man who couldn't blend in even within his own team, sticking out and drifting alone. Everyone felt a sense of relief and simultaneously an uneasy fear at the fact that he was on their team. He was someone you absolutely did not want to get close to, but also someone you couldn't afford to have as an enemy.

I couldn't understand why I felt sad. It was probably something Riegrow himself wouldn't care about in the slightest, yet it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Well, it would be even stranger if they weren't afraid of such a crazy bastard.

Jeong Tae-ui didn't want to hear their conversations anymore and quickened his pace. As he put some distance between himself and the rear, he could see Riegrow's figure some distance ahead again. There were few people around him, as if a barrier had been erected.

A wry smile appeared on his face at the sight. Indeed, for a man who had earned so much grudges to the point that enemies who went after his neck were scattered even within the same branch, it would be even funnier if people gathered around him as if nothing were wrong.

If someone were to try and kill that man right now, I wouldn't even help him. This was even more true when I thought of the cold yet overflowing gaze of desire that he had directed at Xinlu.

Dangerous. Threatening. Overpowering. He was a man one could never be around with a comfortable heart. Even more so if he coveted or belittled something precious to me.

It was then. Suddenly, it seemed like Riegrow slowed his steps. Jeong Tae-ui, who had been watching his back, also inadvertently paused his steps. He looked back. Jeong Tae-ui instinctively lowered his head slightly to avoid his gaze. It seemed like nothing significant, as he said a few words to the person coming behind him and then turned his head forward again.

Sighing, Jeong Tae-ui pressed down and bent the brim of his hat, pulling it even further down.

They stopped after walking for another three or four hours. Judging by the faint sound of the sea, the ocean seemed not far away. Hearing the sound of the sea naturally reminded Jeong Tae-ui of Xinlu, and he unconsciously relaxed his expression.

"The fog is so thick here and with the sound of the water too, it's just amazing."

"Does 'amazing' mean amazingly good, or amazingly bad?"

Following the instructors' words, the men who had stopped walking knew that this was where they would spend the night and began to clear the ground appropriately. There was a not-so-wide clearing in the middle of the forest. Even calling it a clearing was a stretch; there were bushes and rocks here and there where trees didn't grow, so clearing the ground took quite a while.

The instructors also seemed reluctant to cross the dangerous bridge unnecessarily, so the men from the other team moved to a clearing a little further away, with a few trees in between. Even so, if you just turned your head, you could see each other immediately, but in terms of location, we were all separated.

"I'll take the very corner spot……, yeah, that spot below the rock looks good."

Jeong Tae-ui quickly went to the place furthest from the European branch, a spot where a large rock cast a shadow, and settled down. The rock blocked the view.

"Snakes and bugs tend to crawl into a spot like that."

Tou, who was clearing bushes, saw Jeong Tae-ui and advised him, but Jeong Tae-ui shook his head. There was someone over there I wanted to be further away from more than snakes and bugs. As if understanding his feelings, Tou didn't say anything more.

Having chased away a lizard crawling in the rock's shade and settled down, Jeong Tae-ui listened to the distant sound of the sea. The water sound, faintly heard amidst the hazy darkness created by the fog, felt a bit strange.

While Jeong Tae-ui was lost in the sound of the water, his comrades gathered dry branches and other things and built a bonfire in the center of the clearing. Seven or eight men formed a circle around the fire, decided on the order for the night watch, and, despite being tired from the whole day and able to fall asleep, they were instead murmuring and chatting.

The other group across the grove was the same. They didn't seem to be chatting harmoniously, but they too seemed to have found their spots and were sitting around their bonfire.

There was a sense of caution, wondering if a fight might break out during the night or if something nasty might happen under the cover of darkness, but neither side seemed to have any intention of being the first to ignite the spark of trouble. Even with the detestable and tiresome group right next to them, their own physical fatigue and exhaustion came first.

In fact, Jeong Tae-ui wondered what the point of a night watch was, but knowing it would be useless to say anything, he didn't bring it up at all. I knew that if I did, I would clearly just hear something like, 'Can't you see those hostile enemies right next to you, eyes wide open, watching for an opportunity?' It was better to just not get yelled at and spend mh turn on guard duty resting appropriately when it came.

Suddenly, Jeong Tae-ui felt a gaze and raised his head. His uncle was sitting on the rock where Jeong Tae-ui had taken his spot in the shade. Sitting on the rock, which looked uncomfortable due to its uneven surface, his uncle slowly looked around and then finally directed his gaze towards Jeong Tae-ui.

"Aren't you uncomfortable sitting there?"

"As the leader, I should at least sit where everyone can see me."

His uncle said, smiling, half in jest, half in earnest. A captain attached to his uncle was also visible standing a few steps away. Jeong Tae-ui chuckled lightly and got into his sleeping bag and lay down. His turn for the night watch was the third.

Thinking he would wake up vaguely around one or two in the morning, stay awake for about an hour, and then fall vaguely back asleep, Jeong Tae-ui closed his eyes with a quiet sigh. Not falling asleep right away, he either listened to or let pass the distant sound of the water and the low murmuring voices of his comrades.

"I wonder where the other teams are. And which team they met."

The languid voice was Carlo's. He had likely spoken to the uncle, who muttered "Well..." from the rock and then laughed.

"They'll all be pretty similar. As if anywhere could have met opponents worse than ours."

As the uncle made a joke, quiet laughter rose from here and there. Perhaps because it was a tiring night, the laughter was somewhat subdued. Jeong Tae-ui, who was starting to feel sleepy, also let out a soft chuckle.

"I saw recently that Instructor Crimson's team was doing quite well. It seemed their sparring results were pretty good throughout this week."

Someone else asked. His uncle replied, "This week's results were like that. But you never know, there's still one more week left." Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head with his eyes closed.

Results, huh? It seems they are scoring which team gets better results even during the joint training. Now that they mention it, I thought I might have heard something like that before.

"Last time the joint training prize was a week's vacation for the whole team, right? I wonder what they'll give this time."

"The time before that, the team bonus was $30,000. They'll probably keep it around that level."

"I'd prefer vacation over money. The way I feel right now, I'd like to quit everything, just collapse, and rest for exactly three days."

'But you only get that if your performance is the best, do they give it to just anyone? ……Ah, let's work hard next week.'

They talked in voices that weren't particularly loud. Jeong Tae-ui nodded, thinking, 'Yeah, I'd prefer vacation over money too.' Judging by the context of the conversation, it seemed that after the joint training ended, they would evaluate the results and reward the best team.

"I'm not hoping for first place, but I do have a wish for us to get better results than Instructor Crimson's team, at least."

When his uncle muttered this, pretending to let out a deep sigh, a short burst of laughter followed.

"Well, yeah, recently Instructor Crimson and others seem to be under some tension……. Isn't his promotion evaluation date approaching, by any chance?"

Carlo said this with a laugh, as if joking. His uncle also laughed and replied, "When you say it, it doesn't sound like a joke."

Promotion, huh? Come to think of it, I had almost forgotten, but the six-month period was ultimately about that.

How are things going? His uncle's superior was Rudolf Gentil. The talk was about pushing that man up to the position of chief. I wondered if things were going well.

However, upon reflection, Jeong Tae-ui couldn't understand why he was specifically dragged to this place. Even if I was considered someone who would be lucky enough to survive till the end, from what I had heard since arriving, the atmosphere didn't seem so harsh that everyone was dying off. Rather, it seemed more like only an unlucky few were getting caught up in accidents and dying…… Uncle, you didn't have that many people around.

However, thinking differently, the person my uncle had initially wanted to bring was my Hyung. If my lucky Hyung had been with him, that luck might have helped my uncle as well. And then, he was called over as a chicken instead of a pheasant.

.......

But what difference does it make? In the flow of events, I am merely waiting for time to pass. If my uncle asks me for help with something, I will help, and if I don't say anything, whether it ends up helping him without my knowledge or the opposite, I can only deal with the tasks placed in front of me.

Jeong Tae-ui let out a deep breath. The smell of damp grass and soil mixed together to fill his lungs. Along with that, a subtle saltiness. This is the smell of the sea. The sound of the sea. The smell of the sea. The smell of grass and soil. The quiet rustling sound of insects somewhere. The crisp sound of leaves hitting each other in the breeze. These things evoked a strange longing and a melancholic comfort.

The sound of the wind, sometimes quiet, then suddenly breaking through. The scent of the night, sometimes calm, then suddenly penetrating his nostrils. These things tense the right side of his heart and relax the left.

A time just lonely and quiet enough to be bearable.

Breaking that time, someone quietly grasped his shoulder and shook it. Jeong Tae-ui opened his eyes. Ching was tapping and pointing at his wrist watch in front of him.

Blinking his eyes in confusion, Jeong Tae-ui sat up and discovered the scene where everyone else was asleep and only the bonfire was crackling and burning. He turned his head but couldn't see his uncle, who had been sitting on the rock talking in a quiet voice.

I thought I had just closed his eyes for a moment, but it seems I had unknowingly fallen into a deep sleep.

"Time has already gotten this late. I thought I had just dozed off for a bit. Ow, my back……." 

Muttering about his back and rubbing his shoulder, Jeong Tae-ui got up and shivered in the cold night air. Ching, who had been on guard duty before Jeong Tae-ui, crawled into his sleeping bag with heavily sleepy eyes.

"Keep watch for an hour. I'll go to sleep now. See you in the morning." 

Ching pulled the zipper of his sleeping bag up to his nose, wiggled a few fingers out from his head end to signal, and then slowly burrowed completely into the sleeping bag. Jeong Tae-ui, saying "Okay, sleep well," rubbed his cool forearms and leaned against the rock where his uncle had been sitting earlier.

It was quiet. The only things moving were the flames of the bonfire, the bushes and leaves swayed by the wind, or occasionally small animals scurrying away in the distance. Everything else was embraced by the night's silence.

Jeong Tae-ui suddenly turned his head. The group from the European branch was visible beyond the grove of trees. They too were quietly paused in the night forest. The young man standing watch over there was so sleepy he kept rubbing his eyes and yawning. Then, when his eyes met Jeong Tae-ui's, he stiffened his posture with a stern face. Jeong Tae-ui, who had considered waving, thinking it was fate they met like this, just smiled when he saw him.

Jeong Tae-ui looked up at the sky. It was hard to see the sky, hidden by dense leaves. However, the sky visible here and there between the leaves was hazy and reddish. Hong Kong's night view was erasing the color of the sky. Thinking about it, it felt strange that such a quiet natural place existed so close to a sleepless metropolis.

He looked at his watch. The night was deep. I looked around, examining each sleeping person. Even if their faces were hidden by sleeping bags and couldn't be confirmed, I could tell who was who by their gear. That's Ching, that's Carlo, that's Yeon Ho…….

Just then, the sound of the sea was heard in the distance. Swaaa, a low sound that awakened a faint unease.

Come to think of it, I had traveled to the night sea a long time ago. On the completely dark night sea where nothing was visible, only several squid fishing boats shone with brilliant lights floating on the horizon, and the waves that rolled onto the beach, hitting rocks and pebbles, sparkled faintly like sprinkled powder before disappearing.

Is it like that now?

Jeong Tae-ui looked towards the direction from which the sound of the sea came. My sleepiness is completely gone. When he turned his head, the other sentry beyond the grove was sitting leaning against a tree stump, nodding off.

"Maybe I'll go for a short walk?"

He chuckled softly. If someone were to wake up during this, they would yell about why I wasn't on night watch and where I went, and if I intended to put them all in danger, but in reality, there was no danger. I could stake my neck on the fact that there was no way the group sleeping beside them would suddenly draw their swords, gather together, and stab each person sleeping here.

Jeong Tae-ui quietly said 'Good night' to his already sleeping comrades and moved on.

The path to the sea was not properly maintained. Just like the journey there, he had to push through, avoiding or stepping on rough grass, branches, and sharp stones embedded in the ground.

In fact, I had no idea which direction to take. Fortunately, my sense of direction was excellent, so returning the way I came was easy, but since there was no proper path, I didn't know which way would lead more easily to the sea. I could only rely on the fact that the sound of the sea was getting closer.

Rustle.

Jeong Tae-ui flinched. I thought I heard a presence somewhere. Stopping, Jeong Tae-ui silently turned back towards the direction where he thought he heard the sound. There was nothing there but the dark forest.

"......"

The sea was already close ahead. Just a few dozen more steps and the forest would open up and the sea would appear. But within this still dark forest, he felt someone's presence. He held his breath and waited, but even after a long time passed, no more sounds were heard.

Then, something seemed to move a few steps away. It was close by.

Jeong Tae-ui instinctively reached into his pocket and turned towards it. The moment his fingertips grasped the knife warmed by his body heat was almost simultaneous with his eyes recognizing the object.

It was a snake.

Power instantly drained from Jeong Tae-ui's body. The snake was a dark, plain-colored ground snake, commonly seen in mountains that were somewhat deep. It wasn't venomous or aggressive. Even if it had a little venom, it would only work on small mice; for humans, it would just cause a bit of swelling.

Was that it? That presence.

Jeong Tae-ui sighed, putting the half-drawn knife back away. But then, this time, his eyes caught sight of something moving faintly in the distance.

It was a person. One person was moving somewhere in the forest, muffling their footsteps. It was difficult to clearly distinguish the face, but it didn't feel familiar. It seemed like someone from the European branch.

The man didn't seem to notice Jeong Tae-ui and was going in a different direction. His steps were cautious and uneasy, as if he were chasing something.

Jeong Tae-ui hesitated for a moment. No matter how I thought about it, the situation wasn't natural. A person quietly following someone in the middle of the night couldn't possibly be someone just going to relieve themselves or taking a stroll.

Would it be better to follow that man? But the distance was awkward for that. If I followed rashly, I would likely be discovered, and if I waited longer to follow, I might lose sight of him. On the other hand, Jeong Tae-ui's sense of justice and curiosity weren't so great as to risk following someone just because they looked suspicious, without even knowing their business. It wasn't the first or second time he had gotten into trouble by poking his nose into unnecessary matters.

But it is suspicious, isn't it……, While he was contemplating, the need to contemplate disappeared. Or rather, the room for contemplation vanished. The man had gone behind some bushes and disappeared from Jeong Tae-ui's sight.

------

Credits:

Translator: Hoshi Miya

Editor/Proofreader: Tâmago

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