His hand gripped the gun tightly. He didn’t dare to blink even for a moment. Jeong Taeui focused intensely on every small movement of Ilay while muttering curses to himself.

“Why did I have to interfere for an idiot’s death? This is digging my own grave.”

Without daring to think twice, he had acted on instinct, and now Jeong Taeui felt like biting his tongue to end his life. But what’s done is done, and now he had to follow through. For some reason, this bizarre man gave him the feeling that even if he smashed his head, he would still rise like a zombie. This terrified Jeong Taeui.

Riegrow let out a low chuckle, his shoulders moving slightly with the sound.

“Haha, what to do now…….”

Riegrow mumbled, loosening his grip on the man’s neck. Due to extreme tension, Jeong Taeui flinched when Riegrow moved.

No one needed to explain; Jeong Taeui understood the meaning of those words. Riegrow was contemplating how to eliminate this new intruder.

Jeong Taeui’s grip on the gun tightened further.

A single moment of distraction could end his life.

Just as Riegrow nearly released the man’s neck, the man, who was almost unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted:

“Shoot! Shoot now!”

The shout almost made Jeong Taeui, tense as a bowstring, pull the trigger.

Jeong Taeui felt extremely angry seeing the man he had saved scream like that.

“…….These two madmen met at just the right time. You want to die, but I stopped you. You bastard, if I survive after this……. be prepared for a few punches from me.”

As Jeong Taeui ground his teeth and spoke, Riegrow, who seemed to have almost let go of the man, chuckled and lifted his heel off the ground.

In those few seconds, a bad premonition struck him. (A second slower, and Jeong Taeui would have seen his next life.)

At that moment,

“What happened here?”

A cold voice rang out. Footsteps approached from the door. Jeong Taeui’s finger, ready to squeeze the trigger of the Colt at any moment, paused as he turned his head.

His uncle was walking in, followed by his driver. Seeing his uncle, Jeong Taeui muttered to himself – “Ugh.”

His uncle entered with an expressionless face, glancing around as if assessing the situation. 

He approached them with empty hands, carrying no weapons. When he saw Jeong Taeui holding the gun, his uncle frowned.

“In the headquarters, personal weapons are prohibited. Don’t you know that, Jeong Taeui?”

“…….Yes, I know.”

“Whose is it?”

“…….Mine.”

“Is that so. If you say so, I’ll believe you. Now, head to the Instructor’s office immediately.”

Even though his uncle said that, Jeong Taeui hesitated. Riegrow was still standing in front of him, the gun barrel pointed directly at his spinal cord. He felt that any slight movement of the gun would make Riegrow crush his throat.

This man was not one to hold back his actions because someone else ordered him to.

His uncle looked at the man whose neck Riegrow was gripping.

“Louis. Planning to kill him?”

“—Yes. He deserves to die!”

“Then go to Eoryeong(Prison). Calm down there for six months.”

His uncle spoke briefly to the man, then looked at Riegrow. His uncle’s eyes showed weariness as he sighed. Clearly, he found this bothersome.

“Riegrow.”

When he met his uncle’s eyes, Riegrow lightly frowned, then smiled awkwardly as if in trouble. He shrugged slightly, his voice full of grievance.

“I didn’t do anything. He suddenly pointed a .50 caliber revolver at me. What was I supposed to do, stand there and get shot? I had no choice; I have to stay alive, right?”

Riegrow’s justification sounded reasonable, including the cause of the incident and his actions, all of which seemed well-founded. Nevertheless, he twisted the man’s arm at an unusual angle until it was swollen and bruised, clearly demonstrating his overwhelming strength.

His uncle clicked his tongue several times as if annoyed, then looked at Jeong Taeui, who still had the gun pointed at Riegrow’s neck.

“Release Louis and step forward two steps. Your poor partner is trembling behind you.”

“You mean the poor guy pointing a gun at my neck?”

Riegrow mumbled as if he were wronged – “This is too much, Instructor” – but he still released Louis. Before letting go, he twisted the already bent arm once more, making the man scream. Then he lightly patted the back of the man’s neck. Though it was gentle, the *POP* sound made the man’s eyes bulge as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

Seeing the revolver fall to the ground, his uncle turned and nodded. The lieutenant standing a step away stepped forward and picked up the gun. His uncle took the gun, weighing its heavy weight, then clicked his tongue. This heavy weapon was not only for killing but also suitable for destroying objects. His uncle tapped the gun a few times, then suddenly used the barrel to strike Louis.

“This lunatic aims at people with such a heavy weapon? After leaving Eoryeong, retake a weapon handling class.”

His uncle clicked his tongue, then tossed the gun back to the lieutenant, using the toe of his shoe to roll Louis out of the way. The man collapsed to the ground, unable to utter another sound.

With the path clear ahead, Riegrow smiled faintly, then deliberately pressed his neck against the gun barrel behind him provocatively. He laughed lightly, then slowly stepped forward. He took another step forward.

Jeong Taeui slowly lowered the gun but kept his eyes on him. When his uncle approached, holding out his hand, Taeui placed the Colt in his uncle’s hand.

Riegrow stepped back two steps as instructed, then turned around. As Jeong Taeui watched him intently, he suddenly met Riegrow’s eyes. He looked at Jeong Taeui with a faint smile, his clenched fist as if regretting something.

Had his uncle been a second later, who knows what would have happened? There was no guessing what Riegrow would do. But the instinctive fear that had engulfed Jeong Taeui at that moment was still very clear. Now Jeong Taeui realized the real danger could lie ahead. 

Finally, he understood why Riegrow always wore gloves – to avoid getting his hands dirty with blood.

Jeong Taeui felt a sense of sadness.

The teamwork emphasized in military training seemed ingrained in Jeong Taeui. When he saw someone unrelated in danger, his body reacted instinctively.

Feeling a gaze on him, Jeong Taeui turned back, feeling sad, and saw his uncle looking at him. His uncle looked with an expression that seemed to say ‘You fool’ and clicked his tongue. Despite trying to give valuable advice, Jeong Taeui still did something that warranted criticism.

“Jeong Taeui. What were you planning to do with an unloaded gun?”

His uncle asked in an exasperated tone. The Colt in his hand swayed gently.

Jeong Taeui said nothing, just stood with a gloomy expression. From the moment he took the gun from Maurer, he knew it was unloaded. But to stop Riegrow, he had no other choice.

Riegrow, standing a bit away, froze and stared at Jeong Taeui with a strange expression. 

Then he burst into laughter, as if he couldn’t believe what he just heard, the laughter growing louder and lasting a long while.

The laughter subsided.

Then he looked straight at Jeong Taeui and whispered as if engraving something deeply:

“Jeong Taeui, right?”

Hearing his name pronounced correctly for the first time in a while made Jeong Taeui even sadder. The difficult path ahead was evident in his voice.

‘Uncle, instead of Louis, can I go to prison? Even if it’s for half a year, please lock me up.’

Jeong Taeui decided that when he got to the Instructor’s office, he would cling to his uncle’s leg and beg.

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

Even after begging, all he got was scolding.

His uncle grabbed Jeong Taeui’s cheeks, pulling hard and scolding: “Oh dear, you fool, you fool, why did it come to this from the first day of joint training?”

Every time his uncle said that, Jeong Taeui would reply: “I know, I know.”

The person who saved Jeong Taeui – Taeui at that moment, rubbing his cheeks as if they had been stretched out – was the one who had just walked into the Instructor’s office.

“Instructor Jeong Changin. Are you busy? …….You seem busy. May I bother you for a moment?”

The person who entered – smiling calmly, was his direct superior – Vice Director Rudolf Gentil.

Seeing him enter, his uncle immediately released Jeong Taeui and shook his head as if nothing had happened.

“It’s no bother; everything’s settled. …….You can leave now.”

Feeling slightly annoyed but wisely bowing his head a bit, Jeong Taeui backed out. When he turned, he met the Vice Director’s eyes and bowed again. Intending to quietly exit, the 

Vice Director looked at him.

“Ah, right, this young man is your nephew, isn’t he?”

Though talking to his uncle, the Vice Director’s gaze remained on Jeong Taeui. Jeong Taeui froze, feeling awkward. Talking about him while pretending not to hear was not an option. His uncle smiled cleverly and nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“Hmm. So this young man is the brother of researcher Jeong Jay.”

“Yes, Jeong Jaeui is his brother, and this is his younger sibling. They are twins, so there’s no age difference.”

“Hmm. Right. This young man…….”

The Vice Director suddenly turned his attention to Jeong Taeui as if surprised. When Jeong Taeui first arrived, he had briefly introduced himself like a report, but the Deputy 

Minister had been too busy to talk much. Jeong Taeui had thought that meeting high-ranking officials would always be like that and felt more at ease because of it.

Feeling the Vice Director’s scrutinizing gaze, Jeong Taeui sighed inwardly.

His brother Jaeui was indeed very famous. Though used to it, being stared at so openly since growing up was still rare.

“But if you’re here, what about your brother?”

The Vice Director suddenly asked. After a few seconds, Jeong Taeui realized the question was directed at him and hesitated a bit before replying.

“If it’s my brother, he’ll be fine even if I’m not there.”

Jeong Taeui gave the safest answer, glancing at his uncle. Siblings are not spouses or patients and caregivers, so being apart is not an issue, but he still had to hear such words.

His uncle, standing next to him, saw Jeong Taeui’s look and interjected.

“Being twins doesn’t mean they have to be together all the time. Even apart, brotherly love remains strong.”

“Ah, yes.”

The Vice Director nodded but continued to observe Jeong Taeui closely.

Jeong Taeui sighed inwardly, thinking the man was trying to find the differences between him and Jeong Jaeui.

Having a famous brother meant this was inevitable, but clearly, in this institution, his brother Jaeui was very popular. Everywhere he went, he heard about Jeong Jaeui, making him start to feel weary.

His uncle signaled him to leave, then spoke to the Vice Director:

“By the way, the second military room of the headquarters just contacted…….”

The Vice Director immediately listened intently.

Jeong Taeui bowed and exited the Instructor’s office.

After the morning commotion, Jeong Taeui had been called to the Instructor’s office and scolded. When he stepped out, it was already the start of the morning shift. In this situation, everyone in the branch knew what had happened, so Jeong Taeui being a bit late to class wouldn’t get him reprimanded by the instructor. But skipping entirely would certainly result in double the punishment.

Ah……. He really doesn’t want to go in. Thinking back, now he had to go to the weapons technology class. The story about him carrying a gun had spread, and the strict instructor would surely scold him. He might even get hit with the Colt.

Jeong Taeui looked out the window with a heavy heart. The Instructor’s office was on the ground floor, so from the corridor, he could see outside. The weather was beautiful, which made him feel even sadder.

He slowly walked towards the elevator, passing by the office. Jeong Taeui slowed down.

There was no reason to go into the office, but if he could meet Xinlu and lift his spirits, that would be great. But he had no valid reason to enter.

Today seemed to have someone sympathizing with Jeong Taeui’s sorrowful mood.

As he passed the office, Jeong Taeui saw a familiar face coming from the hallway corner.

Xinlu had just washed his hands and was putting a handkerchief in his pocket. Seeing Jeong Taeui, his eyes widened, then he smiled brightly.

“Hyung, what are you doing here at this hour? Aren’t you going to class?”

“Yeah, I just had something to do in the Instructor’s office……..The weather is really nice today.”

Though they wanted to be together, they always lacked topics to talk about. Not knowing much about each other, they could only talk about the weather.

“Yes, it is. But the weather forecast says it will be cloudy tonight. Tomorrow and the day after, it will rain, then clear up the day after.”

“Yes. If the weather clears up, let’s go for a walk by the sea.”

“Sure.”