“Damn it! What you said was really miserable, you know? What the hell are you saying in front of someone who was forced by violence by you, you bastard!”

“It was truly a wonderful night. No man can stay calm in front of such a masterpiece. You should also observe your partner carefully when making love, honest advice.Seems like because you only intended to play with me for one night, you’re now upset about being stuck with me again, huh?”

Ilay whispered with a smile. He finished his ‘advice’ and immediately kissed Taeui roughly. To be exact, he was trying to swallow Taeui into his mouth rather than kiss him. He sucked hard from his lips to the base of Taeui’s tongue, licked wildly in Taeui’s mouth from teeth to gums, and then licked every drop of saliva at the corner of his lips before separating. His belt stuck close to him and slowly pushed as if rubbing, then backed away a little.

Ilay licked her lips and looked at Jeong Taeui who was rubbing his lips with the back of his hand with an indignant expression. He gently grabbed Taeui’s hand and rubbed it against the hard thing under his waist again before regretfully releasing it.

“I said you don’t need to be too serious about it. It’s just borrowing the hand of a friend you know and gently satisfying each other’s desires, haven’t you and I done it so many times?”

“That was when I only used my hands. But I almost had to go to the King of Hell with my body torn in half just because of your damn desire. Can’t you go and satisfy yourself alone?”.

Jeong Taeui said frantically. On the contrary, Ilay laughed out loud.

“Okay. I’m sorry about that.”

Jeong Taeui returned to the empty room after unsuccessfully swinging his fist at the smiling face that showed no signs of stopping. Then he sighed again like a groan.

“If you want to satisfy your needs, then go find someone else. You also said that as long as you can satisfy them, you can do it with anyone. I know there must be many people who have the same needs as you.”

As soon as he heard that, IIay suddenly stopped laughing. It was as if he had just heard something he had never thought of. He blinked and stared at Taeui, then tilted his head and muttered to himself.

“Yeah… that’s right, I said that.”

Jeong Taeui thought that it would be difficult to have ‘eyes on top of the head’ like him in the world anymore. He pushed him away and went into his uncle’s room and closed the door.

(*Eyes on top of the head: Looking down from above, arrogant, conceited, conceited*)

Taeui feels uncomfortable. That damn bastard just stirred up a grudge he had forgotten about.

He took out a few cans of beer from the refrigerator and drank them in one gulp, hoping that these frustrating feelings would soon disappear. But nothing got better, instead his beer belly became bloated and he could only lie around on the floor.

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

Any building will exist in a place where almost no human footprints have ever been. In the army, military academy, high school, middle school or at least from elementary school, Jeong Taeui already has a habit of looking for such corners so that he can freely use it secretly without anyone bothering him whenever he wants.

During elementary school, there was an empty lot surrounded by tall bushes on a small mountain behind the school. Taeui used it to play with his close friends, avoiding the inquiry of adults and especially those who always bothered him with questions about his brother.

When Taeui was in middle school, that secret corner was among the bookshelves inside the library’s archive room. He often escapes boring classes and takes a nap here.

In high school, it was an art room in a self-contained annex. This is the perfect place to sneak an occasional cigarette. Especially in the late autumn weather when sometimes a few cold winds blow, he really likes to drink a can of beer in such a pleasant space.

When transitioning from the military academy* to the military environment, as an Instructor, he often had to go on patrol so finding that secret corner was a bit difficult. But there was nothing he couldn’t find. He often goes to places deep in a corner and leisurely enjoys his own time. Even though he was caught a few times, he wasn’t afraid to look for new places each time.

<After completing 4 years of studying KMA, Jeong Taeui entered mandatory military service by the state. Taeui is really talented, he passed the exam and completed the program without the help of his family. Then gained high rank in the army. But for someone like Taeui to join this organization, the qualifications are not enough. >

That habit followed Taeui everywhere. Even after returning home from the military, Jeong Taeui also placed a chair on top of the water tank behind the terrace to occasionally go there to enjoy alone.

It didn’t change anything when he went to UNHRDO. As soon as he arrived at the Asia branch, Jeong Taeui slowly walked around the building and found a few places with few people passing by. And where he is sitting right now is one of them. A small emergency staircase on the west side, connecting the second and third floors of the building.

This narrow staircase is not often visited by people because it is so small that whether two people can pass by each other is a matter of consideration. Even he had to doubt the importance and applicability of this staircase. Jeong Taeui had never seen anyone come here since he knew about it. Even though there were probably a few people who came here to flirt with each other from time to time and traces of tissue paper remained, at least he never encountered them directly.

Jeong Taeui sat on the stairs, took a sip of beer and felt it with his taste buds in a satisfying way. If you can hide in a corner like this and relax while knowing the others are having to practice painfully while sweating like a shower, then anything you eat will be delicious right now.

Right outside, a group of hot-tempered people with brains growing into flowers were discussing something. He could also hear his colleagues talking to each other. After the joint training with the South American branch began, within just a few days, loud noises mixed with arguments, cursing, and screaming could be heard everywhere.

On the first night when the members of the South American branch arrived here, an extremely fierce battle broke out in the chaotic hallway and caused some items to be damaged, as a mutual welcoming ritual for both sides.

However, compared to the training with the European branch, where there were people willing to fight until their last breath just to kill their own comrades, this was still a very peaceful fight.

For the European branch, it’s ‘Try until you die’, but this training is just ‘Try it yourself’.

On that first night, after the fierce battle between the two sides ended, the Asian members and the South American branch members sat down and drank together. During the training process, there are very few disputes between the two sides because the officer who resolves those fights is IIay.

“Being an officer is inconvenient, having to crush those damn dogs and make sure everything is under control.”

Witnessing what happened on the 6th floor, Ilay spoke as if it made him very uncomfortable.

He picked up an iron pipe and wrapped his shirt around it, then approached the chaotic crowd like a devil.

He said, “This way, even if you get hit by this thing, you won’t die immediately,” and then rushed into the chaotic battle ahead. < Will wrapping clothes around an iron bar reduce attack damage? IDK…>

After that,…there was no more after that.

The two branches were already having a tense fight, but as soon as they saw IIay’s demon-like appearance slowly entering from the end of the hallway, causing a tornado of blood, they all backed away in panic.

Even members who do not have good relationships with each other must unite when a common enemy appears. Taeui witnessed this hidden rule firsthand that day.

He had not gone halfway down the hallway when other officers arrived to calm the situation down. But that was enough to make Ilay – who was widely known throughout UNHRDO headquarters – become their open enemy.

“It’s not easy to make everyone resent you.”

Taeui thought to himself.

But anyway, in a certain way, Ilay is truly an outstanding commander. Instead of going against a guy like this, it would be good to let him be an officer.

“Why let those talented people train under an officer like that?”

“…..Ah. Probably to cultivate strong will and endurance to not be defeated by any challenge”

Taeui muttered to himself and answered himself then suddenly fell silent with a melancholy expression. He also had to go through difficult challenges while being with him, but to talk about becoming stronger and more resilient… it doesn’t seem like that.

The pager in Taeui’s pocket vibrated. He put down the beer and took out his pager to check his messages.

“Taei-hyung, I’m here.”

Even without verifying the sender’s number, he knew who it was. Taeui put the pager back in his pocket.

When the joint training started, everyone became increasingly busy and it was difficult to meet each other. But Taeui thinks they need to meet and talk. Last night, Taeui received a phone call from Xinlu’s extension, so he decided to meet with him for a while today.

He was lost in his worries when a loud scream rang out in the distance, as if someone had been painfully defeated. Just a while ago Taeui was still there. Even though they said that the Assistant Instructor would always follow his officer, IIay stayed in his office instead of attending this training session as usual.

Until 3 o’clock this afternoon, Ilay had no plans. So as always, Taeui will listen to the lecture in the morning and participate in the free match in the afternoon. After about 30 minutes he had to go to the officer’s office but before that it was time for the match. And now it was his turn but he didn’t even have time to prepare.

While he was still thinking about how to make being hit less painful, his opponent, who was one step ahead of Taeui, looked at Taeui and tilted his head and said:

“It seems like I’ve seen you somewhere before?”

The man who appeared to be Arab rather than South America looked at Taeui with a questioning expression. Jeong Taeui replied: “Wow”, while still engrossed in thinking about how he could end the match without being beaten to a pulp by an opponent many times taller than him.

Of course he had met Taeui, and Taeui soon remembered that too. However, if he talked about the place where they met, there was a high possibility that he would be beaten twice instead of just once. This man was the first person Ilay stabbed with an iron pipe on the first night of arriving at the Asia branch.

Jeong Taeui pulled him and the other victims to the edge of the hallway. Occasionally he heard him cursing Ilay. Jeong Taeui felt like he had done hundreds of pounds of weights that day.

In this situation, he instantly spoke.

“You and I met that first night. I was Riegrow’s Assistant Instructor.” 

However, his efforts were hindered by the betrayal of his teammates.

“He’s Rick’s Assistant Instructor. Don’t be negligent!”

The trembling voices accompanying the screams came from Carlo, Qing and James. Damn bastards.

Even though he didn’t expect anything good from these people, how could they use stones to block his way like that?

When Jeong Taeui turned his head and glared at them, they even whistled loudly.

“Aha. Are you that bastard’s Assistant Instructor? That’s right, nice to meet you. Let’s fight properly today.”

Immediately, the man approached Jeong Taeui with a fierce look in his eyes. Meanwhile, on one side, the officer calmly signaled the start.

Jeong Taeui took a few steps back. Even though he thought it wouldn’t be of any use, he still stubbornly came up with a weak reason.

“Wait, why do you want to hit me when the person who holds a grudge against you is Ilay? Go see him and settle that grudge.”

“?… Who is that?” <No one in the world calls crazy Rick by the name ‘Ilay’ except Taeui>

Jeong Taeui was silent for a moment then corrected himself. 

“…Riegrow. If you have a grudge against him, you should go to him and get revenge, why would you do that to me?”

The man smiled as if he had caught delicious prey.

“Wait. Why are you hitting me? If you have a grudge against Ilay, then go to him and get revenge!”

“If you were so close to that bastard that you could directly call him by his name like that, you should have stopped him. Just thinking about that damn bastard makes me tremble with anger. My teeth were broken just because of that rotten guy.”

His teeth were broken. 

The man quickly reached back and grabbed Jeong Taeui’s collar. His movements were surprisingly fast. Taeui exclaimed “Oops” but mistakenly bit his tongue.

“Hey! But when you fell, who was it that miserably pulled you up and put you in a corner? Aren’t you even grateful for that?”

As soon as he said that, the man turned him around in the air, he reflexively tried to fall properly, but unexpectedly, his body floated lightly as if a thick layer of air had cushioned it underneath, his heels lightly touching the floor.

“Huh? Was it you? You were the one who wiped the blood off with a wet towel, right?

In front of him, the man still holding Jeong Taeui’s neck looked down at him suspiciously. Taeui could only nod in an uncomfortable position, he would lose his balance and roll on the floor as soon as this man let go.

“That’s right. I laid you down, cleaned up the blood, and left the medicine box next to you guys.”

“Ah. So it was you? Okay… okay. Thank you for that. At that time I didn’t even know where the medical team was.”

He nodded and smiled while saying “Um, um” as if it had definitely happened, the oppressive aura completely disappeared from the man’s face, accompanied by a smug smile that, if someone didn’t know him, would find it scary. He pulled Taeui’s face back and patted his shoulder.

Jaeong Taeui rubbed his heart in his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. So it is said that if you do good deeds then you will overcome everything smoothly, that is the reason why people say that everyone should live by doing good deeds every day. Jeong Taeui looked after the man and smiled. He also showed sympathy for Taeui and even comforted him by saying how could someone like him have to become a second-lieutenant to such a crazy person.

Jeong Taeui thought that UNHRDO only had strange people, but he didn’t expect that there were still kind people like this. He nodded.

However, not everything goes as expected.

The man started smiling maniacally again and rolled up his sleeves, saying:

“Then let’s try fighting properly again.”

Jeong Taeui mumbled, “Dammit, I should have just left you there.”

The man immediately said: “Sorry, sorry.” – But still smiling as if there was no remorse here at all.

Fortunately, the match ended without encountering any uncontrolled situations. Jeong Taeui patted his shoulders and waist and walked back to his seat. Even from a distance, Taeui could see Carlo smiling brightly as he called out “My friend.” with that man. When Taeui’s eyes met him, he immediately understood what Carlo said in a different way. What just happened must have been the reason he called these South American members ‘blockheads’.

The match continued and everyone’s attention turned to the front center, Taeui glanced at Cargo and spoke as he left.

“I’m going to the bathroom for a moment.” Then he walked to that rare quiet place, his hands still massaging his sore waist. The members of the South American branch are indeed not bad. They are rough-tempered friends, but not cunning, but also very likable, with their own differences and each branch has its own characteristics. If we could meet each other in a non-competitive environment, Taeui would definitely enjoy meeting such interesting friends.

In fact, if his relationships here had not changed in a negative direction, perhaps he would have liked life at UNHRDO. He can enjoy a life where many types of people gather and live together.

Everything would be fine, if it weren’t for some weird bastard coming out and causing his life to go off track. He can even stay here for another half a year even after the promise of the other half a year with his uncle ends.

Although he was disappointed with that, he figured there was nothing more he could do anyway. Life doesn’t always go in the direction you want. No matter how hard you try, there are still things you want but can’t do and things you don’t want but still have to do.

“….Man proposes, God disposes.”*

* 진인사 대천명: Extreme effort, results according to God’s will *

Jeong Taeui mumbled as he gently shook his beer can. Then he heard footsteps from downstairs. Taeui tilted his head back. The image of Xinlu about to go down is also reversed.

“No matter what you intend to do, you must patiently wait for God’s will.”

Xinlu said with a smile as if he had heard him whisper. Taeui also laughed.

“Everything in this world is like that.”

“Haha, Taei-hyung, when you say things like that, you look like a fatalist.”

“It’s not you… it’s Ilay.”

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

(*Korea Military Academy (KMA) is the leading South Korean institution for the education and training of officer cadets for the Republic of Korea Army. The exam is harsh and the test has high differentiation.)

(*Taeui’s military rank in the South Korean army – Jungwi (중위) – Lieutenant: is a rank conferred on a person holding the position of platoon leader, deputy captain or equivalent in the military.)