Jeong Taeui smiled and responded: “Hmm, is that so.”

Of course, he had never considered himself a person full of humanity. But he didn’t expect to hear such words. Contrary to everyone’s prejudices about a genius, he himself knew well that Jeong Jaeui was a person full of ‘humanity.’

“Have I done something wrong to you that I don’t know about? Or has my brother helped you with many things? If you don’t understand, this could easily be taken as an insult.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. For example…… Right. It’s because Jeong Jaeui probably has more worries and suffering than you, perhaps? That’s what humanity is.”

Jeong Taeui was speechless for the second time.

The words that this man uttered without thinking today had left him surprised again and again.

Worries and suffering. Perhaps so. But unless you could see inside his brother’s mind, how could you know what he was thinking? Since it’s impossible to measure personal emotions with absolute figures, it’s hard to compare who worries more or less.

“But objectively speaking, he is so lucky that he doesn’t even know what anxiety or worry is. He’s the one who said he wanted to try his luck and left on his own.”

Jeong Taeui shook his head and muttered. Ilay was probably watching him silently. A gentle laugh came from the other side of the screen.

“Indeed, Jeong Jaei is very lucky. I completely agree. But have you ever thought about the mystery behind that luck?”

The smile disappeared from Jeong Taeui’s face.

Previously, he had thought this man was trying to hint at something in his words, but he didn’t know what. Now he might vaguely understand the hidden meaning behind those words.

This man knew something that Jeong Taeui had never thought of and didn’t need to think about.

“He’s my brother, but it seems you understand him better than I do.”

It seemed Ilay immediately sensed the bitterness in Jeong Taeui’s words. The man waved his hand and responded with a confused ‘Oh.’

“This is awkward. I didn’t mean to hurt you by saying these things. Shall we stop talking about this?”

Ilay ended the conversation in a gentle tone. Jeong Taeui stared at the pale hand and sighed. Anyway, this wasn’t a topic he wanted to delve into.

“Now you seem much calmer. Your flushed face has returned to normal.”

Jeong Taeui was rubbing his forehead with his thumb when he heard those words. He turned to look in the mirror. As Ilay had said, his once-red face had returned to normal.

Ilay’s suggestive voice reached Jeong Taeui’s ears as he rubbed his face.

“But if you’ve been stuck on that island and fallen for someone, that person is probably not a woman, right?”

Ilay spoke with a strange tone. Jeong Taeui responded with confusion.

“No way. Since high school, I haven’t held a girl’s hand except for a handshake.”

“Ah ha. So your issue with sexual morality includes that part, right?”

Ilay spoke as if he understood Jeong Taeui’s initial problem. Jeong Taeui had no intention of hiding his orientation and just shrugged his shoulders in response.

“Yes. So does that bother you?”

“Bother me? Why should I be bothered by someone else’s preferences?”

Ilay laughed. Those words felt like drawing a boundary. No matter how close they talked, they were still different people. Even emotionally.

At that moment, Jeong Taeui realized.

Even though this man talked comfortably with him, there was no intimacy or affection. Nor was there any discomfort. It was just like dealing with a completely unfamiliar person.

Though it was obvious, Jeong Taeui felt a bit vaguely surprised. He only realized it now, but he felt quite close to this man. They had only talked on the phone a few times, yet Jeong Taeui felt very close. Just like most people feel close to someone they’ve talked to a few times.

But this man was different from everyone else; it didn’t affect his feelings at all. Time and intimacy were not proportional. In retrospect, there had been many opportunities to realize this, but Jeong Taeui hadn’t noticed. Perhaps even if they talked hundreds of times in the future, this man’s feelings toward him wouldn’t change, unlike others.

Regardless of whether he was born cold-hearted, it seemed that the way emotions developed was not like normal people.

So if it was about ‘humanity,’ this guy wasn’t enough to compare or judge anyone…….

Words rose to his throat, but Jeong Taeui swallowed them. He didn’t intend to argue because he felt it was too arrogant to say such things to someone who had drawn a clear boundary with others.

“It’s a shame, but I quite like you.”

“Ah ha. I also like things that go against sexual morality.”

“…….No, I didn’t mean it that way……”

Jeong Taeui mumbled, waving his hand. Of course, Ilay understood that, and he just smiled softly.

A mechanical sound faintly echoed from the other end of the phone. Regular beeps like an alarm clock or phone.

It seemed Ilay glanced somewhere and sighed, tapping his finger lightly on the table.

“Taking a break for a moment and then calling right away. I have to go.”

“Alright, see you next time if we get the chance.”

“Mm—Oh. Come to think of it, the joint training of the Asian and European branches is coming up soon, right?”

“Yes, you know quite well.”

A used book dealer or an arms dealer. Thinking about it, it was odd that he knew such information.

But then, the joint training schedule wasn’t a secret, and he seemed to have a close relationship with his uncle, so it made sense.

“Just entering the branch and having to participate in joint training must be tough. Good luck. Don’t die.”

“Wishing me luck with those words doesn’t sound lucky at all, but thanks anyway.”

Jeong Taeui laughed and muttered. Ilay seemed to chuckle lightly as well. And just like that, the call was disconnected.

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

It was a mixed Friday night.

On Friday evening, after the official schedule ended, they conducted the drawing as planned. Who would stay at the Asian branch and who would go to other branches. As known, those who came to the Asian branch for this joint training were from the European branch, and those who left would go to the South American branch.

Jeong Taeui thought it didn’t matter whether he stayed or left. But seeing his colleagues trembling and showing clear rejection towards the European branch, he wanted to stay and see. However, for his safety, it was better to join the group leaving and head to the South American branch.

Moreover, every time he closed his eyes—or even when they were open—the image of that man appeared vividly.

The image of a neatly dressed man extending his hand with black gloves, gripping the opponent’s throat, leaving dark red marks.

If he had to face someone like that…….

Just imagining it made Jeong Taeui shudder. He had to think about his own life first.

Jeong Taeui thought as he picked a random number from the box. Number 62. Then the remaining members also drew numbered balls from 1 to 96. The instructor stepped forward and drew a ball from another box. The ball had the number 2. So even numbers would stay.

Jeong Taeui rotated the number 62 ball in his hand with a bitter face. The fate of staying or leaving was decided so simply. Even numbers would stay at the branch, and odd numbers would head to the airport early the next morning, Saturday.

After the drawing ended and they dispersed, a lively atmosphere filled the members.

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue as he left the large hall with other colleagues, their faces full of deep thoughts. Though he couldn’t change it, he still wanted to go to the South American branch for the safety of his life.

Perhaps not only Jeong Taeui, but most people here thought the same. However, they didn’t seem too happy about going to the South American branch.

Regardless of where they went, in three days, they would all undergo a hellish 15-day struggle.

Jeong Taeui was slowly walking behind the noisy colleagues, but he didn’t want to go down like that, so he changed direction and headed towards the stairs.

Even after entering the room and closing the door, he could still hear the noisy chatter of his colleagues in the hallway below. With his current mood, Jeong Taeui just wanted to be in a quiet place.

His uncle’s room was the best choice. His uncle’s floor was almost unoccupied, and his uncle had been very busy these days, so he hadn’t been around.

Jeong Taeui didn’t take off his coat and lay down on the bed, burying his face in the blanket. His whole body felt heavy. Lying face down like this made him sleepy. Recently, the training programs had been intense during official training hours, but even during breaks, his colleagues constantly bothered him, making him extremely tired.

“Right before the official joint training starts, making everyone more tired…… I’ll die of exhaustion first.”

Jeong Taeui sighed and talked to himself, then took a book from the shelf. Every day he came here, he read a few dozen pages before returning. Actually, it was a very interesting book, and he could finish it quickly if he focused, but his body felt like soaked cotton, making it difficult.

Jeong Taeui took the book back to the bed and glanced at the phone.

The phone remained silent and showed no signs of ringing.

When in someone else’s room, it was better not to answer the phone, but calls from the man with the beautiful white hand were quite interesting. Although not only fun.

Jeong Taeui flipped through the pages he had read. In the middle of the book, he saw his uncle’s notes in the margins. It was his uncle’s habit to write his thoughts in the book’s margins while reading. Reading those notes, Jeong Taeui could understand what his uncle was thinking when reading the book, which was a small joy.

Before coming here, he didn’t often see his uncle. Both Jeong Taeui and his brother, and his uncle, had different personalities, so they didn’t see each other often. Even if they only met once or twice a year, they didn’t feel awkward or distant. Even if they met after several years, it felt no different from yesterday.

However, each time his uncle came home, he usually spent time with Jeong Taeui’s father. After his father passed away, his uncle often talked to his brother, so he didn’t talk much with his uncle.

Thinking back, his uncle was a remarkable figure in the family. For someone born and raised in a family to become an officer at UNHRDO was not easy.

“What I desire to achieve in the end is no different from what people hundreds of years ago wished for, and maybe it will be the same hundreds of years later. Is that why humans remain human?”

Jeong Taeui traced his uncle’s handwriting at the bottom of the page with his fingertip.

When he first opened this book, there was a faint smell of dust. His uncle probably read this book a long time ago. So these words were also a fragment of his uncle’s thoughts from a long time ago, at least younger than now.

Searching for someone else’s buried thoughts had its own interest.

After all, what did his uncle desire? Jeong Taeui seemed to know but also not know. He didn’t recall his uncle ever mentioning anything like that.

“Is it because Jeong Jaeui has more worries and suffering than you? That’s what humanity is.”

Suddenly, Ilay’s voice echoed in his mind.

Maybe he was longing for something. But how could he know what his brother wanted when everything his brother wanted could easily be grasped without any effort?

But anyway, the term ‘humanity’ seemed very negative.

Jeong Taeui smiled bitterly.

It seemed his consciousness was fading as he read the book halfway.

His mind became empty, filled with unrelated thoughts.

There was someone who awakened the chaos of such unconsciousness.

Jeong Taeui, who had fallen asleep with the light on and covered his face with an open book because the light disturbed him, woke up at the touch that removed the book. In front of him was the face of his uncle, looking down at him silently.

“I couldn’t sleep with glasses on, but you could sleep with something heavy on your face like this?”

His uncle said, shaking the book as if it were curious. Jeong Taeui sluggishly got up from the bed, rubbed his sleepy face, and scratched his head.

“No wonder my dreams were unsettling, maybe it was because something like that was on my face……”

“A dream? How long did you sleep to dream in that time?”

His uncle laughed as he took off his coat and unbuttoned his shirt cuffs. Jeong Taeui, still with a drowsy face, turned his head to look at the clock. It was a little early to be in the middle of the night.

“I guess I slept for a couple of hours. Dream……what was it. I was dragged by you to some island, trapped there with some vicious men, and lived there shedding blood……”

“Hmm…… I don’t think that’s an ordinary dream. Why don’t you try buying a lottery ticket?”

“When you say it’s not an ordinary dream, do you mean it’s a very ordinary dream?”

“That’s right.”

“……Uncle, did you perhaps change your occupation lately, like to a lottery promotion sales job or something?”

“Ohho. While I was away in Korea, they even came up with that? That sounds fun.”

Muttering that the gambling industry is booming, so it might soon happen, Jeong Taeui woke up from his sleep. As he got out of bed and drank water from the refrigerator, he fully woke up.

He brushed his disheveled hair back and turned to see his uncle taking off his shirt.

“You seem busy these days. It’s been a while since I’ve actually seen you, though you’ve been coming here to read every day recently.”

“Normally, just before joint training, I’m hectically busy. Even with just paperwork, it’s a mountain, a mountain. Moreover, I have to prepare here and there in advance for a few guys who might die.”

“I hope I’m not the beneficiary of such an arrangement” – Jeong Taeui muttered, sitting on the stool beside the bed and watching his uncle. His uncle, who had quickly undressed and was heading towards the bathroom, showed no signs of fatigue despite his voice being hoarse. Given that Jeong Taeui had been reading in this room every night and only returned to the men’s quarters after midnight, it meant his uncle had also been finishing his work past midnight, showing exceptional stamina.

“Come to think of it, I heard you’re staying here.”

“Ah, yes. Is uncle going to South America? I heard one of the instructors will lead the group.”

“No, Golding is going instead of me this time. I’ll go to another branch during the next joint training.”

A voice from the bathroom where his uncle went echoed. After a brief sound of water, the bubbling sound of foam followed, as if he was washing his hair.

“But you couldn’t even draw lots well, staying back in this eerily ominous place. With a 50% chance, you’d think you’d pick a lucky lot.”

“Someone like Jaeui-hyung should have taken all the lucky lots.”

“Is there someone else like Jaeui in this world? The unfairness of the world is summed up in that guy alone.”

Jeong Taeui smiled at his uncle’s muttered comment.

“It seems like this training won’t end smoothly either.”

His uncle spoke in an annoyed tone. Jeong Taeui stopped tapping the stool with his heel. Though he couldn’t see his uncle, he stared at the bathroom as if he could.

“It sounds kind of ominous…… Has the list of European members coming here been received?”

“Well, the final confirmation will be made after the flight takes off tomorrow morning, but it’s more or less decided.”

“If the training doesn’t seem like it’ll end smoothly…… does that mean there’s a troublesome person among the incoming members?”

Jeong Taeui probed. His uncle’s response was muffled by the shower noise but seemed to convey a positive acknowledgment.

Riegrow. The Crazy Rick, whom no one in the European branch dared to touch. The man who had left red marks with black gloves.

Jeong Taeui had remained here at the Asian branch, and that man was coming.

He had countless times thought his brother was a lucky person, but he had never considered himself an unlucky one – he might need to revise that thought slightly.

“He has quite a reputation as a madman…… The members will have a hard time, but the guards will too if such a person comes.”

Jeong Taeui said, to which his uncle responded with a muttering sound of agreement.

“After watching a video recently, I felt discouraged from even putting up a fight…… Uncle, do you think I’d come out intact if I had to confront that man?”

Without much thought, his uncle answered directly.

“It’ll be hard.”

“Mm……”

“Not just for you, but for anyone. It’s tough for anyone to face such a guy intact. Well, if you have the resolve to give a bone and cut a piece of flesh, there’s nothing you can’t do.”

“Giving a bone and cutting flesh…… That’s at a loss here.”

“He’s that kind of guy, I’m telling you. You only saw the video, right? Ask the others who went through it directly. Even if someone has the guts to charge in, you won’t find anyone so boastful as to claim they’ll handle it alone.”

Jeong Taeui closed his mouth. Even when speaking lightly, his uncle never lied. Also, he never made a wrong judgment, at least not that Jeong Taeui knew of.

“……I guess I just have to run well to survive.”

“Well, he’s not a killer who slaughters everyone he comes across, so there’s no need to be that solemn. The important thing is to stay uninvolved.”

His uncle came out of the bathroom. With a towel on his wet hair, he walked out naked and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, drinking straight from it. As if every bit of moisture in his body had been drained, the 1-liter water bottle was more than half empty in no time.

“Are you done washing already?”

“No, I just washed my hair for now. I was thirsty. I spent the whole afternoon working, barely eating or drinking, and then there was an uproar when the list of incoming European members arrived after dinner. When they say that guy’s coming, I have at least one or two places more to call. Like the undertaker.”

“…….Uncle. I want to live.”

“Of course. A clinging to life is a human instinct. Unless suffering from depression, that’s how everyone is.”

“When you say staying uninvolved, does it mean we’d be safe as long as we don’t provoke him?”

His uncle didn’t answer immediately, as he was busy finishing off the rest of the water bottle. After draining the last drop, he wiped the few drops that escaped his lips with his hand and looked at his nephew blankly.

“Do you think that’s the case?”

“…….Well…… I don’t know that person at all, so I have no idea how to handle the situation.”

“I don’t think so.”

“From what you say, I feel the same.”

Jeong Taeui said gloomily. His uncle flippantly threw the empty bottle and went back to the bathroom, speaking as he did so.

“It’s not about provoking or not; it’s simply best not to get involved with a madman. Once you’re entangled, running away might not help. The key is to not be seen at all.”

“Mm––––––it’s tough. In this cramped space with hardly a hundred people, I’m not invisible, so how can I avoid being seen?”

“He doesn’t go around catching everyone he sees and massacring them. You just need not get caught by his eye. Then just be careful not to run into him right during the joint training.”

The sound of water resumed. Ah ouch, it’s hot, what’s with this, is there something wrong with the control…… muttering to himself, his uncle’s tone soon turned cheerful enough to hum a tune.

“Are you acquainted with this person, Riegrow?”

Prompted by the familiar tone from his uncle, Jeong Taeui asked. Due to the sound of water, there was no answer. But on second thought, it would be strange if he didn’t know him at all. After all, the man from the European branch seemed to be renowned enough throughout the entire branch and headquarters that no one didn’t know him, and his uncle had visited the European branch several times for work.