“It’s not me… it’s Ilay.” – That’s what Taeui was about to say, but in the end he kept his mouth shut because he knew that when he said that name, the other person’s face would immediately darken.

It’s been a long time since he has seen Xing Lu, and he’s still the same, bright, white and lovely. But Taeui doesn’t know if it’s because he’s busy these days or for some other reason, but his formerly chubby cheeks have become a lot thinner.

“Xinlu. You’ve gotten thinner.”

When Jeong Taeui whispered, Xinlu asked back: “Yes?”, then smiled and raised the back of his hand to rub his face.

“It’s just that work has been so busy lately, it’s okay.”

Taeui’s heart felt heavy as if he had just heard the words “It’s all because of you.”

“Xinlu, are you planning to leave UNHRDO?”

Taeui spoke calmly as if he was just discussing the weather. Xinlu stopped for a moment then bent down to sit next to Jeong Taeui.

“…Where did you hear this?”

Hearing that hesitant voice, Jeong Taeui wondered if it was true, a feeling of mixed sadness and joy crept into his heart.

“That…. No. I was just considering what it would be like if I quit my job.”

Xinlu muttered. Jeong Taeui reached out and patted the shoulder of this boy who seemed to be in trouble.

If Xinlu quit, he wondered if it would be his fault, he didn’t know. From the beginning, he had intended to leave, but if Xinlu had to quit because of him when he didn’t want to, he would feel terrible even if he could say sorry.

“If you’re doing this because of me, then stop. I’ll be out of here soon anyway.”

Jeong Taeui muttered softly and brought the beer can to his mouth. He could feel Xinlu’s eyes on him in surprise. Jeong Taeui sighed and turned to look at him.

He had no intention of meddling in other people’s affairs, but if it was something important to someone’s future and the cause was because of him, Taeui thought he should do something.

“I only promised my uncle that I would stay here for half a year, and the time is almost here….- I came here because I had something to do, and from the beginning I had no intention of staying here long .”

“Half a year…. ….” Xinlu whispered, Jeong Taeui replied, “Half a year.” then nodded.

Xinlu thought about the first day when Taeui joined UNHRDO and did the math, both of them knew that there weren’t many days left in the half-year deadline.

“So if you’re going to leave here for me, don’t do it.”

Xinlu was speechless.

Jeong Taeui didn’t know what to say after all this. He thought and thought but couldn’t find anything else to say. So he brought the beer can to his mouth and took a sip. The can of beer was almost empty so he was even more confused not knowing what to do next if he drank all of this now.

“So what do you plan to do after you leave here?”

Xinlu was silent for a moment then cautiously asked. Taeui replied “Um” and tilted his head.

“I’ll probably go back home, then find something to do to make a living.”

“I’m only here for a while and the truth is I’m pretty poor right now.”

Jeong Taeui added and drank the remaining few sips of beer immediately.

That’s the truth, he previously spent all his youth in the army and didn’t have any special talent, so when he got out he just planned to find a job to make a living.

His uncle once said that if he joined UNHRDO, it would be easy to find a job out there, but all he learned here was to be patient enough to accumulate ‘Śarīra’* in his body. And no company would hire someone with no experience other than patience. < Taeui means that you can cultivate your mind to become a Buddha after everything you’ve been through 😀 >

*Śarīra: is a generic term referring to Buddhist relics, although in common usage it usually refers to pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters. Normally, Buddhism believes that only a monk with a heart of great compassion, cultivating morality, practicing hard and attaining enlightenment can form a relic. In reality, it is due to vegetarian eating habits or illness.*

“Hyung…! Then let me introduce you to a good place, it’s the best place in the companies that my father runs. You’ll be safe if you work there.”

Xinlu suddenly grabbed Jeong Taeui’s shoulder and shouted impatiently. Taeui became confused at these unfamiliar reactions, then pushed Xinlu’s hand away.

“No need, I’ll go home. I’ll go back to my home. It’s not a dangerous place.”

“But what if that bastard finds you there…!”

Xinlu screamed as if tears were about to fall. Taeui blinked in shock and became speechless at this situation. He feels something is not right about this. It was clear that from the beginning he had come here to talk about Xinlu’s future with the intention of giving up the path he had chosen for him. But now Xinlu threw his matter into the chicken coop and pounced on Taeui saying meaningless words.

When Jeong Taeui understood all the hidden meanings behind Xinlu’s words, he sighed with an expression of disbelief.

“Why did he have to chase me? Don’t tell such scary jokes.”

“Hyung…..you really don’t know.”

Xinlu muttered with a face that looked like he was about to cry again. Jeong Taeui felt so weak at that expression, as if just touching his cheek lightly would cause tears to immediately flow down.

He fidgeted and searched his pockets but couldn’t find anything useful like tissues or handkerchiefs. So he removed his hand again.

“I don’t know, and I don’t want anything from him either. I don’t owe him anything so what’s the danger?”

“He has dark intentions towards you! That bastard likes you!!!”

Xinlu hugged his chest and cried out in frustration, then immediately opened his eyes wide in shock and bit his mouth with an expression of accidentally saying something he shouldn’t have said.

Jeong Taeui looked at Xinlu with a sullen expression. He thought he had had a conversation similar to this before in the past, and now it happened again. It turns out that unreasonable misconception still exists. Or maybe the rumors about the times he and Ilay “played ” had reached Xinlu’s ears. Or, although I don’t know how, the rumors about Ilay causing him to almost die in bed may have also spread.

Jeong Taeui scratched his head as if he wanted to rip his hair out.

“Xinlu. ….Xinlu. I think I understand him better than you so that will never happen. He’s not even a human being who can have feelings like a normal person.”

Jeong Taeui said with a sigh. His taste suddenly became bitter. Perhaps in the future, even if he doesn’t see him anymore, he will still remember Ilay even though he is still satisfied with his life. After all, he still hopes that man can live a peaceful life. <…>

Xinlu bowed his head as if crying even though the cheeks his eyes had just touched did not contain a single tear, but somehow he could feel Xinlu’s gloomy heart right now.

Taeui gently placed his hand on his smooth hair. Xinlu shivered and shook his head. However, he still gently stroked his tiny head, which was now obedient and no longer moving.

Xinlu is an adorable child. But also a person that he cannot grasp. Xing Lu may be a different person than what he thought. No, nine out of ten people think so. But no matter what, he is still a bright, soft and lovely child.

“Xinlu, it’s because of me that you’re planning to quit your job, right?”

Xinlu did not answer. He just tilted his head slightly towards Jeong Taeui.

He sighed. Even though he looked like an irresponsible person now, it seemed like there was nothing else he could do.

However, Taeui still feels heavy pressure in his heart knowing that someone in this world is placing his future on him.

“Hyung, I really hate him to death. What if that bastard tries to touch you? Just thinking about it makes my heart unbearable.”

Xinlu whispered. Taeui’s hand suddenly stopped for a moment.

It seemed like those rumors had not yet reached Xinlu’s ears. On the one hand, he thought it was lucky, but on the other hand, he thought about what would happen if Xinlu knew about it later? It was as if there were invisible accusing voices weighing heavily on his chest.

“I’ll still stay here if you want. Because I also like this job. Once you leave here, it’s okay for me to stay. As long as you leave that bastard…”

Xinlu kept talking about absurd things that did not fit the current situation, as if he accidentally said all his thoughts in a hurry without thinking. He held Jeong Taeui’s shirt tightly and kept stammering like that.

Jeong Taeui was about to say something, but he decided to stay silent because if he mentioned that name again, Xinlu’s mood would only become more and more confused.

No matter what he said, he wouldn’t listen because he was afraid that if he let go, Jeong Taeui would really disappear. Therefore, he could only hold him tightly and continuously confess everything in his heart.

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

There are some people whose mere existence is a fraud. And Jeong Taeui also knows a few people like that.

His older brother was a quiet person and even looked a bit dull when he was young. In fact, except when reading or calculating something, he always looks dull.

But behind that dull expression of just looking at the sky or up in the air are thoughts that a normal person can hardly keep up with. Even computers can’t keep up with his lightning speed. And very few people know that truth. Jeong Taeui has heard many times from people around him that they can’t believe Jaeui is a genius.

In other words, his uncle was also such a person.

Although his uncle had a negative impression at first glance, when he saw him leisurely strolling in the sunlight in his usual comfortable clothes, he seemed very gentle and upright in his own way. Few people know that under that gentle cover, he can have unexpected calculations. Taeui thinks that even with other Instructors, no one can know his true nature. It’s rare to see someone with a good cover like him.

Thanks to these two examples, he learned early on that human appearance and personality may not match each other at all, and he also took some pride in himself when he had an eye for people in his own way. But after all, perhaps no scammer could do better than that man – who just casually threw down the gauntlet.

Jeong Taeui frowned as he picked up the gloves that were clearly still bright indigo in the morning, now stained with dry black as half a day had passed. But the dry and brittle black patch that could be squeezed out to shatter touching his fingertips was human blood.

“It’s a scam… you scammer.”

Jeong Taeui muttered boredly, Ilay – who was wiping her hands with a wet towel, turned around.

“What?”

Just a short question made Taeui choke to death. Taeui said “Um” and then swallowed those last words into his stomach.

Even the towels he wiped his hands were stained with blood, but the white hand was clean without scars. The same goes for his face as he squeezes and opens his hand a few times as if it had just been washed. The face is white, the body is neat. Even the uniform he wore didn’t have a wrinkle. No matter how neat and careful a person is, they can’t keep it so flat. Those beautiful hands folded the towel gently. Outsiders looking at him probably thought he was a quiet and decent man.

If this is not a scam, then what is?

Taeui grumbled to himself and pulled out a new glove and gave it to him.

In principle, Instructors will not participate in training competitions. Basically, when fighting one-on-one, members will not fight Instructors. The Instructor’s role is to observe the game and point out the shortcomings in it. They do participate from time to time, but only in the spirit of vision and teaching.

Ilay Riegrow is an Instructor so he won’t be able to confront members like he used to. But of course he didn’t bother to teach with the same gentleness as the other Instructors.

In the end, his body was still soaked in blood.

In fact, it cannot be said that Ilay has no reason to confront other members when sometimes during teaching hours there are still students who stupidly rush at him like moths. Rather, it seemed to be a disaster for those who dared to charge rather than a proper battle between the two sides. But at least he won’t cause any trouble during his regular work hours.

However, his hands were stained with the blood of 14 people from a battalion during free training. (Half of them were knocked out as soon as they rushed in). < Oh,..wow 👀 >

“It’s so fierce….” 

Jeong Taeui sighed and muttered. Ilay wiped his hands, then threw the towel down on the face of one of the moths he had just knocked down on the floor, then put on a new pair of gloves. He flexed his knuckles a few times then turned back to look at Taeui.

“At this level, it’s still fine, right?”

Jeong Taeui remained quiet. He was about to say something but felt like he was defending Ilay’s cruel behavior so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Although the Instructor was never the target of the members’ battle, there was a fool who wanted to approach and attack IIay with a fist, then suddenly brandished the knife hidden in his hand. So the reality is that IIay’s response isn’t really cruel to situations like this.

Jeong Taeui picked up a small knife* soaked in blood from the floor. It’s a little shorter than the index finger, looks very cute at first glance, but has a terribly sharp tongue. With just one move it can easily cut off a person’s wrist.

Jeong Taeui looked at the knife boredly and then put the blade back in his pocket.

There were many people who tried to kill Ilay in any way possible. So this was nothing new and he could easily get by with just a smirk. But somehow the severity seems to be getting worse.

It’s been about 4-5 days since the joint training started. Compared to the previous training session, the atmosphere and tension were greatly reduced, but for Jeong Taeui, he did not feel comfortable at all. That was because those moths that took advantage of even the slightest opportunity to rush towards Ilay had increased dramatically.

“Ilay, you probably also spread a lot of hatred towards South America.”

“Let’s see, when I was in Europe, I also had training with the South American branch. Although not as much as Asia, I still warmed up a bit with the guys there.”

Ilay said indifferently, not realizing Jeong Taeui behind him was glaring at his back.

Enough to not cause too much trouble. He must have gently warmed up by beating his opponent like a dog. There will never be another butcher like that in the world again.

Jeong Taeui bent down to look at the pool of blood below and used his foot to gently turn the other man onto his back. His face was almost deformed. When he woke up in Luther’s hospital room, if he wanted to brutally kill the guy who caused it, there would be no debate.

However…..

Jeong Taeui tilted his head, a cold feeling suddenly rushing back in a scary way. It’s truly too scary.

In any case, to think that members of another branch would attack an Instructor as soon as joint training began, it was absurd. Of course, if it was this crazy guy, he probably wouldn’t be able to just spread one or two hatreds around the world, so it’s not strange if he has to make friends with sharp blades constantly pointing towards him, but thinking about it, this isn’t funny at all.

“ILAY RIEGROW!!”

That’s what the man who was lying in a pool of blood and must have spent a lot of money to have his face reconstructed shouted as he ran towards him.

The moment he heard that name, Jeong Taeui had to stop for a moment. For a moment, Taeui didn’t know why he felt so uncomfortable. But when Ilay heard that scream, he just raised his eyebrows and raised the corners of her mouth before speaking: “Hahaha”.

And then Taeui also realized.