*Choke!*

A sudden scream echoed and then abruptly stopped as fresh blood gushed out.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

Alta, who was covering his nose, shut his eyes tightly for a few seconds. He then looked down at the blood running through his hand and glared angrily.

“That bastard is up to his dirty tricks again!”

“Only an idiot falls for such a trap……”

Alta wanted Jeong Taeui to face him directly and test his strength, but Jeong Taeui knew he would lose in a fair fight, so he had no intention of confronting him head-on. After all, this wasn’t a test that required fair competition, and they only cared about the results, not the process.

So, after dodging one of Alta’s attacks, Jeong Taeui seized the opportunity to punch him in the face, leading to the current mess.

Hearing Alta grumble, Jeong Taeui rummaged through his pocket and handed him a handkerchief. Suddenly, a large hand, as big as a pot lid, came out of nowhere and slapped the back of Jeong Taeui’s neck.

“Ouch!”

Jeong Taeui clutched his stinging neck, tears welling up as he turned to look at Carlo. Carlo, who had just finished a bout with Alta, now stood there watching the fun with a look of both amusement and anger.

“Every time you use a trick, you’ll get hit once. Do it properly.”

“……Ah…… I’ve heard that five times now. This is the sixth time. It’s because everyone keeps falling for it.”

Jeong Taeui muttered as if feeling wronged. Alta immediately approached him, squawking loudly.

“If I had known in advance, who knows who would have been knocked down!” – Alta

“Even if it’s a direct attack, if you know your opponent’s move in advance, anyone can dodge it.” 

Jeong Taeui retorted with a reasonable argument. But Alta shouted in frustration. Jeong Taeui could only soothe him by saying, “I know, you’ve already said that” before stepping back a few paces and accidentally bumping into someone standing behind him.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Where are your eyes? And handle that loudmouth on your team.”

The person he bumped into frowned and shouted. It was a member of another team. Jeong Taeui raised an eyebrow at him silently, and the man brushed off the shoulder that had been bumped before walking away.

“Who was that?”

Jeong Taeui asked Carlo.

“Someone under Instructor-Golting. That unlucky guy.”

“Do you know each other?”

“I know his face and name, but if you ask about personal relationships, then no.”

Carlo shrugged and shook his head. Alta, whose bleeding had stopped, returned the handkerchief and complained, ‘Such a bad attitude.’

“Is there something wrong with the other team? Why does everyone seem so unhappy?” – Taeui

“There’s nothing wrong, but there’s nothing right either. That’s just how it is.” – Alta

“That’s just how it is?” – Taeui

“There’s more competition than cooperation, so there’s nothing good about it.” – Alta

“……This place is too dark……”

Jeong Taeui shook his head. Relationships between members of other branches were bad, and relationships between teams in the same branch were equally poor. If he stayed here too long, his humanity might soon erode.

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue and looked down at his wooden sword. Then he was hit on the head a second time.

“Ouch!”

This time it was lighter than Carlo’s hit, but since it landed on the same spot, the pain doubled. Next to Jeong Taeui, who was clutching his head, Alta shared a similar fate.

“No one stops fighting for a break in the middle of a battle. And Alta, you’re his sparring partner, right? If he sits down to rest, you should beat him up.”

The person speaking kindly while smiling was his uncle—someone who had long since abandoned his own humanity.

Jeong Taeui muttered, glaring at his uncle with teary eyes.

“Why is Instructor Jeong here? Shouldn’t you be teaching another class right now?”

But he received no answer.

His uncle should be lecturing on strategy theory at Lecture Hall No. 3 in the West Wing right now. He walked up to the instructor standing in front of him, the second martial arts instructor, and spoke about work-related matters. Then another man glanced at Jeong Taeui, smirked quietly, and followed his uncle.

“Ah…… that driver.”

Jeong Taeui muttered abruptly.

That was the man who had accompanied his uncle when he arrived in Hong Kong and to this island. Now wearing a uniform, he appeared more rigid than before. But there was no mistaking it.

“Driver? You mean Assistant Instructor Kang? He also drives for Instructor Jeong.”

“Assistant Instructor? What’s that?”

“He’s on the same rank as us. In simple terms, he’s like the Instructor’s secretary. Drives, protects, and does whatever the Instructor asks.”

Jeong Taeui thought the hierarchy here was straightforward, but apparently, it wasn’t. New titles kept popping up as he dug deeper.

Jeong Taeui muttered: “Whatever the Instructor asks?” Hearing this, his colleagues chimed in.

“Recently, the Instructors have been like fire and water. I heard Instructor Jeong and Instructor Golting had a conflict not long ago.”

“Is that why? I heard the current governor has moved to headquarters.”

“If that’s the case, everyone will compete for achievements from now on. As for us, it doesn’t matter who becomes Director or Vice Director.”

“You can’t smile so easily…… The South American Branch was once turned upside down in chaos. Some people died in the intense covert conflict back then. You won’t know what’ll happen if this branch starts a battle.”

“Stop it, I’m scared. Just take care of yourself.”

“…………”

Jeong Taeui propped his chin on the hilt of his sword and silently glared at his uncle. The more he listened to the conversation, the more frustrated he felt. If anyone was likely to die, Jeong Taeui would be one of the weakest in terms of combat skills and physical strength. It was like drawing the zero in a death lottery.

“Relying on luck…… Jaeui-nim, please share some luck with me……”

Sighing had become a habit since he arrived here.

Jeong Taeui sighed deeply and stood up.

Alta had moved on to practice with a new opponent as another bout began. The opponents weren’t just from their team; Jeong Taeui had fought against unfamiliar faces a few times.

This time, his new opponent was the man he had bumped into from Trainer Golting’s team. The man frowned at him, seemingly recognizing the incident. Jeong Taeui could only scratch his head in embarrassment.

He didn’t want to get acquainted with him this way. But he could only grip his wooden sword once more. Though made of wood, it was modified to be much heavier than normal; a blow from it, even with armor, was enough to take one’s breath away…… If hit in a vulnerable spot, it could be fatal.

Jeong Taeui had been to the medical room more than ten times in less than a week here. Four of those times were to help his opponents, and the rest he was rolling around in pain. The medical room was on the second basement floor, along with lecture halls and various training rooms, but now he could find his way there with his eyes closed.

Now he was too familiar with the building’s layout. He knew the faces of his team members and could recognize faces from other teams, even if he didn’t know their names. There were nearly 100 people he met in courses or while fighting. Even if beaten to a pulp, he had to remember their faces to repay them later.

Martial arts training had a different focus each day, with different weapons, but today was wooden sword day. Training with swords helped improve close combat skills.

Jeong Taeui sneaked a glance at the man pressing close to him. A rigid sound echoed as the wooden blade struck directly against the man’s wrist. But this man wasn’t easy to deal with either.

“Alright then……”

Jeong Taeui grabbed the opponent’s wrist and twisted it. But the man quickly exploited his weakness and retaliated mercilessly with a wooden sword. Jeong Taeui felt like dying from the pain. He gritted his teeth, swallowed his curses, and endured, then threw away the sword in his hand. He grabbed the opponent’s collar with both hands. The opponent, unable to react in time, tripped and fell on his back.

As the man lay sprawled on the floor, Jeong Taeui grabbed his collar again. The man stared at him in shock.

“Hey, you don’t mean to—”

“What? You need a beating too.”

Jeong Taeui said seriously, rolling up his sleeves, and began punching the man mercilessly. The man tried to get up but was beaten even harder.

Just as the man managed to stand up, Jeong Taeui stopped when he heard him scream with a flushed face, rubbing his biceps and thighs.

“Damn it! You lousy bastard! Don’t you even know how to fight properly?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve always fought like this.”

Jeong Taeui squinted with an innocent face. Alta, who had been on the receiving end of similar moves from Jeong Taeui earlier, glanced at his hand and shrugged with a laugh.

The man, his face red with rage, charged at Jeong Taeui barehanded. Jeong Taeui frowned as he saw the man gripping his collar, aiming for an uppercut.

“Whoa…………!”

“You charge recklessly despite knowing your opponent has a weapon…… You should think more about your own body.”

Jeong Taeui frowned, pretending to pity the man. The man grabbed Jeong Taeui’s neck with one hand and his collar with the other, glaring. In response, Jeong Taeui unhesitatingly tore off his shirt to escape the man’s grip, causing him to stumble back a few steps.

“Listen to what he just said. Something about thinking of his own body? What a cat-and-mouse game.”

“What a sneaky bastard. If there’s ever a spy causing trouble in the future, it’ll surely be him.”

Jeong Taeui could hear his teammates whispering behind his back. He stared at his torn shirt, exposing one side of his chest, and glared at them.

“My ears aren’t deaf, you know.”

“If your ears aren’t deaf, of course you can hear. Hey, look at that. Aww, cute pink nipples.”

“……, ……”

That’s why Jeong Taeui preferred hanging out with cute and adorable young people rather than men like his uncle. If he heard such comments from someone with the same sexual orientation, his mood would plummet. But if it came from a sweet, immature young man, he could show his nipple 100 times to attract all the little fishes. But hearing it from men like himself was different.

Jeong Taeui frowned and covered his exposed chest with his torn shirt. The man who had his neck poked by Jeong Taeui’s sword still stood frozen, clutching his neck and whimpering.

*************

“Why is your shirt in tatters? The budget manager will be furious.”

His uncle glanced at Jeong Taeui while leaving, smiling and saying.

“It’s normal for a shirt to wear out from training.”

“That’s not worn from wear. Though it’s a nice view, it’s not appropriate for others to see. Go to Xinlu and get a new one. “By the way, show off a bit while you’re at it.””

He lowered his voice for the last words, smiled subtly, and walked out.

Then mocking voices started around him.

“Are you going to see Xinlu now?”

“By the way, change in front of him.”

“If you come back late, we’ll understand.”

Followed by loud laughter. Initially, when his colleagues saw his attitude towards Xin Lu, they suspiciously asked, – “Is that your preference?” – At that time, Jeong Taeui wanted to deny it for a moment because it reminded him of unpleasant memories from the military. In such an environment, having feelings for or physical relations with the same sex was seen as a major flaw. So his relationships with former colleagues were also strained.

But now he didn’t intend to lie or hide his orientation anymore. So Jeong Taeui nodded and looked at them seriously.

However, their reaction was unexpectedly indifferent – “Oh, so that’s how it is.”

That was it.

“I’ve been rolling on this wooden floor for years, and that’s not surprising. But don’t be too obvious about it…… oh, I like women, so don’t fall for me!”

Carlo, perhaps understanding Jeong Taeui’s confused look, muttered and gave a serious piece of advice. Then he suddenly smiled and spoke gently.

“Well, Xinlu is really nice after all. Hmm…… You know it’s forbidden to date minors, right?”

Starting with his comment, all the other colleagues joined in. It felt like if he stayed here for another second, he would never stop being teased.

Faced with his colleagues’ normal but unusual attitude, Jeong Taeui felt a sense of relief when he recalled his gloomy past memories.

But of course, hearing such teasing all around wasn’t very pleasant either.

“If you’re so jealous, why don’t you tear off your shirts too? But I wonder who’d be interested in your unsightly bodies.”

Jeong Taeui shamelessly raised his face and spoke. The people who had just been teasing him now became angry and shouted.

“This is speechless! Absolutely speechless! Look at these firm muscles of mine!”

“This attractive tanned skin! This inverted triangle body! All the women are crazy about it!”

“It just makes you look big and dumb, not proportional at all…… And you don’t have cute appealing pink nipples like mine.” 🤤

Jeong Taeui looked around at them with a blatantly mocking gaze, then burst out laughing and ran off.

The shouts of his colleagues echoed behind him all the way down the long hallway.