After a light shower to wash off the sweat, Taeui stepped out and glanced toward the living room. It seemed Horgan hadn’t left yet, as the sounds coming from the adjacent room indicated he was still there. In fact, even while showering, Taeui hadn’t heard Horgan leave.

Taeui lightly tapped his knuckles against the glass door of the shower booth, then used a towel to dry his wet hair.

He chuckled at the thought of himself showering naked in a glass booth with the door wide open, constantly glancing outside. The situation was just too ridiculous. If Horgan happened to walk out from the next room while he was showering, it would be so awkward. He might be mistaken for someone who enjoys showing off by showering with the door wide open…

If it were Lieutenant Kim instead – now Captain Kim, but Taeui refused to call him that due to his disdain – he would definitely hurl insults like ‘perverted homosexual’ or ‘weirdo’.

“…….Ah, damn it, why am I thinking about such annoying things…”

Trying to focus on more positive thoughts, Taeui shook his head in frustration.

He opened the fridge, recalling the phrase ‘a life full of twists and turns’. But upon looking inside, he only saw a bottle of water and a can of cola. He left the fridge door open and sank into a gloomy mood. Come to think of it, the last beer had probably been finished last night.

A cold beer after a refreshing shower would have been so much better than a 350ml can of cola, something you can find even in Africa… It was depressing to have no beer to drink after a shower.

While sulking and staring at the empty fridge, the pager on the table suddenly beeped. *Beep, beep*.

It was already after work hours – why would there be a call now? Taeui grumbled, standing up, still annoyed at the sight of the empty fridge.

The number flashing on the pager was 18.

“…….”

For a brief moment, he thought Lieutenant Kim might be cursing him through the pager, but quickly calmed himself. Kim didn’t know his pager number, so Taeui swiftly recalled where that number came from.

Room number 8 on the first basement level. It was the room two doors down from this one. And those on the first basement level were people from outside, participating in joint training – none of the senior instructors or assistant warden.

“……..I didn’t see anything.”

Taeui muttered to himself, almost like self-hypnosis, before setting down the pager and turning away. He might not have known exactly who was in room number 8 – though he had a vague idea – but that only added to his sense of foreboding.

“Guess I’ll just settle for the cola” – He sighed, heading to the fridge, grabbing the can of cola, and popping it open. But just then, the pager beeps again. He tried to ignore it, telling himself – ‘I didn’t hear it, I didn’t hear it’ – but the pager kept beeping persistently, minute after minute.

“………….Tsk. Seriously?”

Taeui frowned, putting down the half-opened cola, and picked up the pager again. The number 18181818… flashed repeatedly on the screen, making his expression sour even more.

The person sending this sequence of numbers probably didn’t mean anything by it, but for someone like him – born and raised in Korea – that number held a rather specific significance. Just looking at it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Let’s just call him ’18’ from now on.” – Yeah, that’s actually not a bad idea. Even if he understood a bit of Korean, he probably wouldn’t think beyond it being his room number.

Feeling pleased at his own silent joke that wouldn’t offend the other person, Taeui tossed the pager aside and picked up the phone to make a call. He dialed the room number on the internal line, and before the first ring had even finished, the voice on the other end picked up immediately, as if the person had been waiting all along.

[“You’re late. Were you showering, or have you trained yourself to tune out the pager?”]

The voice, carrying a faint, ghostly laugh, sounded amused.

Of course. I knew it. Ilay Riegrow.

Taeui clicked his tongue bitterly, muttering under his breath: “Both.”

Raising an eyebrow with a hint of sarcasm, he replied: “Why not just call directly instead of paging me nonstop, 18?”

[“18, huh?”]

“Yeah, that’s your room number, after all. That’s what the pager shows.”

[“Ah, right. Yes, indeed. By the way, have you greeted Horgan yet? I was worried you might still be busy with him, so I paged instead. If you weren’t in the room, calling would’ve been pointless.”]

‘He didn’t catch it, he didn’t catch it.’

Taeui smiled to himself, darkly amused. He had long given up feeling embarrassed for finding amusement in insulting someone without them even realizing. If he’d let small things like that bother him, he wouldn’t have survived living with this guy for so long.

One must have small pleasures like this, Taeui consoled himself and asked: “But why?”

[“Ah, it’s been a while since we last met. Isn’t it customary to greet each other when we reunite? I’ve brought you some really good dark beer as a gift.”]

“………….I don’t need it.”

Saying that was truly difficult and painful.

Dark beer. Moreover, if Ilay had personally brought it, it was bound to be top-notch. There was no way it could compare to the bland can of cola tossed aside.

Taeui swallowed dryly and took a sip of water. Damn it, why did water taste so bland?

[“Really? That’s too bad. I bought a variety of different dark beers.”]

“……——.”

The regretful tone of his voice pierced like an arrow to the heart.

Rich, flavorful beer danced momentarily on his palate, teasing his senses. His throat was so dry, it felt like it was on fire. Damn it.

“What are you planning while pulling me away from Horgan?”

Taeui muttered under his breath, glancing toward Horgan’s closed door. From the other end of the line came a sly, soft chuckle.

[“Have you forgotten our agreement? I told you I’d only catch him in the act when he’s trying to steal information.”]

“…….”

He remembered. Ilay had only planned to catch Horgan when he was caught red-handed in shady dealings. At the moment, Horgan had just arrived and hadn’t had enough time to thoroughly investigate internally, so it was unlikely he would act hastily. It would probably be the second half of the investigation before Horgan started making any moves.

However, anything could happen unexpectedly, and there was no guarantee that today wasn’t that day. Moreover, aside from Ilay’s matter, as a lieutenant, it wasn’t proper to leave an inspector unattended during an absence.

…But it was already after working hours.

“Damn it… Fine, number 18. Fine, I’ll go, I’ll go!”

Taeui threw up both hands in surrender. From the other end, Ilay let out a soft laugh, as if he had predicted this all along. Taeui felt slightly irritated.

“I’ll only go after Horgan has fallen asleep. At the very least, I have to follow that rule.”

[“Hmm, I think that’s a pointless waste of time, but if you insist, I won’t stop you. Alright, see you later.”]

“Okay. After Horgan goes to sleep, I’ll head over. Wait for me, 18.”

Taeui tried to keep his tone calm before hanging up. However, after putting down the receiver, his hand lingered on it, and he stared at the phone for a moment.

Dark beer. Different types of dark beer.

Those words echoed in his mind. Even the sound of them was far more appealing than the cloying sweetness of cola or the blandness of water.

Taeui sighed. He shouldn’t have pretended to be so serious – he should’ve just said he’d come right away. But no matter what, he couldn’t pick up the phone and say: ‘It’s me, I’ve changed my mind, I’ll come now’. That wasn’t an option, no matter what.

The only thing he could do now was pray, with a burning desire, that Horgan would fall asleep quickly.

Anxiously, he waited for the sounds from Horgan’s room to fade. As soon as the light seeping through Horgan’s door switched off, Taeui swiftly headed to Ilay’s room. By then, more than half an hour had passed since the phone call.

It felt like an agonizingly long time, but at last, he opened Ilay’s door.

He was about to greet him – “I’m here” – but stopped short when he saw Ilay sitting on the sofa directly in front of him. Ilay sat deep in the plush sofa, one hand resting lightly on his chin, his eyes closed.

“…”

Ilay, being a very sensitive person, might just be pretending to sleep, or perhaps he was simply lost in thought.

However, even as Taeui approached him, Ilay didn’t open his eyes. It seemed as though he was genuinely asleep, in a deeper sleep than his usual light naps.

Hey, where’s my beer…?

Since he couldn’t wake someone up just to ask for beer, Taeui bent down and stared at Ilay. He knew that with someone as sensitive as him, staring long enough would soon rouse him from sleep.

Ilay furrowed his brow, perhaps dreaming. If he really was dreaming, it certainly didn’t seem like a pleasant one. Should I wake him up?

“Ilay.”

Taeui called his name softly, and Ilay opened his eyes. He didn’t look like someone who had just woken up – his eyes were sharp and alert, yet cold, as if he had merely been resting with them closed. That piercing gaze silently met Taeui’s.

“Were you sleeping?” – Taeui asked.

Ilay stared at him for a moment before raising his hand. He gently brushed Taeui’s cheek, as if to confirm something.

“Are you okay?”

Taeui blinked several times, surprised by the sudden question. Ilay must have really been dreaming. And it must have felt very real.

Taeui shrugged lightly.

“No. As you can see, I’m fine.”

“Is that so… come here.”

Ilay pulled Taeui close and embraced him tightly, to the point of suffocation. Taeui let out a small breath, wiggled slightly, then quickly gave up and relaxed. Ilay would let go soon enough.

Recently, Ilay had been doing this sometimes. Not exactly new, but it hadn’t been happening for long either. It seemed like he had been having nightmares more frequently lately.

Taeui gently tilted his head and nudged it against Ilay’s, *thunk*. Then, after a few seconds, he did it again, softly, *thunk*.

Before long, the arms squeezing him began to loosen. As if nothing had happened, Ilay simply said: “Sit there” gesturing toward the sofa opposite him. Taeui sat down on the sofa and asked:

It was hard to imagine Ilay having nightmares. Normally, when you think of nightmares, you picture monsters or demons chasing you, or some horrifying situation. But would Ilay really find those kinds of things scary? (He remembered last time when they watched [The Exorcist] together – while Taeui sat wide-eyed, barely blinking out of fear at the horror scenes, Ilay had calmly chewed on dried beef and murmured: ‘The priest’s mistake was trying to solve the problem too politely from the start’.)

“Nightmare? …….Yeah. A nightmare. I have them sometimes.”

Ilay looked as though he was trying to recall the dream, frowning slightly in displeasure.

“Yeah. You’re probably the complete opposite of me. When I was younger, I used to have nightmares all the time, but as I grew older, I hardly had them anymore. In fact, I rarely dream at all. But if I had to recall a nightmare, there was one where I dreamt of an accident that killed my entire family, leaving me as the only survivor. I was crying uncontrollably in my sleep, and it woke everyone up. Although my father scolded me for causing a commotion in the middle of the night, I felt relieved that it was just a dream……. Still, the feeling of loss in the dream felt very real.”

Taeui smiled softly as he recalled that childhood memory.

Yes, that really happened. After hearing why he’d cried, his father had smiled gently and hugged him. In that embrace, Taeui had felt incredibly comforted. The feeling of loss had been overwhelming, like the whole world had collapsed when the people he loved – the ones who made up most of his world at that time – had suddenly vanished all at once.

“…….”

While lost in his memories, Taeui suddenly caught Ilay’s gaze, who had been watching him intently. Taeui tilted his head, curious.

“What is it?”

Ilay simply replied – “Nothing” – and shook his head.

“Loss… yeah, that feeling is truly terrible.”

“Yeah, it is…….”

Taeui nodded in agreement, though inside, he was slightly surprised and wondered: ‘What could he have lost to feel that way?’ He was about to ask, but Ilay stood up.

It seemed Ilay didn’t want to dwell on the conversation any longer. He shook his head, as if trying to forget something, then pulled over a large cooler, even bigger than the nearby table. He opened it and pulled out a bottle of beer.

Right. This is why I came here.

In that brief moment of distraction, Taeui had forgotten his original purpose. But as he watched Ilay place the bottle of beer on the table, his eyes lit up. However, before Taeui could reach for it, Ilay dipped his hand back into the cooler and pulled out another bottle, then another, and yet another – he kept taking out beer until the table was overflowing with bottles and cans.

It was like a magic box. No matter how large the cooler was, Taeui couldn’t fathom how it could hold so much beer.

Finally, when Ilay placed the last bottle on the only remaining space on the table, he closed the cooler. The table was now completely covered in beer.

…It was definitely the right choice to come here. I’m lucky to be alive.

Taeui stared at the row of beer bottles lined up on the table, feeling utterly satisfied. Just looking at them made him feel full.

“Did you just come back from a beer festival?”

Trying to keep his tone as calm as possible, Taeui scanned the bottles on the table and shifted closer. Ilay, reclining slightly on the sofa opposite him, chuckled softly.

“Hong Kong is one of those places where you can get anything if you’ve got money.”

Ah, right, Taeui thought to himself as he reached for a can of dark beer with a familiar logo. The sound of the can opening was completely different from that of the bland cola. Just the smell was enough to make him feel light-headed, almost tipsy.

“Dark beer…… The last time I had something like this was in the UK. I tried a craft beer near Scotland that had a similar taste. A bit strong, but pretty good.”

“You went to the UK? When?”

“Oh, right. You know… a few years ago, when I was on the run from you, I changed my name and traveled everywhere looking for my brother——”

Taeui started speaking cheerfully, savoring the sharp taste in his throat, but then suddenly stopped. Wait, hold on. Both of them knew this story well, and there wasn’t anything to hide, but maybe it wasn’t something worth bringing up right now…

Forcing the smile to stay on his face, Taeui slowly glanced at Ilay. He was still sitting at an angle on the wide sofa, resting his chin on the back of his hand, smiling as if to say: ‘Go on, keep talking’. The slight nod of encouragement from Ilay made Taeui feel uneasy.

“…….I just thought……. maybe one day it wouldn’t be so bad to take a tour and try different local beers around the world……. That’s all.”

“Is that so? I hope you’ll let me know the destination when that day comes.”

“Yeah, sure…….” – Taeui muttered, barely audible, before silently sipping his beer.

Luckily, Ilay seemed to be in a good mood today, and he didn’t press the matter further. He tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, looking thoughtful.

“Come to think of it, that’s right. The first time we met was here.”

“Ah——yes, it was.”

Taeui remembered those days clearly. Every moment from that time still stood out vividly. It seemed that hard times had a way of lingering in the memory. Yet, as time passed, those memories were often painted over with a softer, more beautiful hue.

“Back then, I couldn’t help but wonder how someone like you even existed in the world.”

Taeui glanced at Ilay after voicing his thoughts, and a small smile tugged at his lips.

Life really was unpredictable. Who would have thought that the man who once traveled far and wide, slaughtering countless lives, would end up like this with him? In fact, Taeui no longer regretted it, and sometimes he even thought that perhaps it was a stroke of luck that he met Ilay – a thought his own logic couldn’t quite grasp.

Though he had only taken a few sips, the pleasant buzz of alcohol had already begun to settle in.

“Ilay. You know, back then……. when we first met…….”

Taeui suddenly spoke up, causing Ilay to raise an eyebrow.

“Did you ever imagine we’d end up like this?”

“Probably not… No, I’m not sure. It’s a bit vague.”

Ilay rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as if contemplating. His vague answer was unusual, surprising Taeui. He shook his beer can lightly, and the faint sloshing sound of the liquid echoed softly.

“At that time, I thought you were quite interesting. I don’t usually take an interest in other people, but there was something about you that made me think you’d stay in my memory for a long time.”

Hearing Ilay murmur as he reminisced, Taeui chuckled softly.

“So, when did you realize we’d become like this?”

“……..When I couldn’t kill you.”

Ilay’s response came after a brief pause, causing Taeui to choke slightly, a few drops of beer spilling from the corner of his mouth, which he quickly wiped away with his hand.

Ilay had just said he once intended to kill him. But when…? Taeui couldn’t quite recall any moment when that had come up.

He hadn’t realized it at the time, but perhaps that was the moment, Taeui thought as he tried to remember some vague point in the past. After a brief silence, Ilay unexpectedly turned the question back on him.

“And you? When did you realize we’d end up like this?”

“Me? Uh——when, exactly…”

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

*Fun Fact Corner:

The number ’18’ in Korean is pronounced 십팔 (Sippal).
The phrase ‘You bastard’ or ‘Damn it’ in Korean is 시발 (Ssibal).

Because they sound quite similar, ’18’ has become a metaphorical or slang way of cursing in Korean. Essentially, 18 = You bastard (or similar rude expressions).