PASSION Chapter 4 Part 15

Chapter 4 Part 15

"News about the rare brave one who pointed a gun at my neck reached my ears before the long hand of the clock made one full turn. Mr. Jung Tae-ui, champion of justice who entered the Asian branch less than a month ago, dragged in by his uncle."

So he hadn't forgotten after all. But why is this madman being so quiet?

Tae-ui silently glared at him while tilting his head. The man raised his eyebrows as if amused.

"Why that face? If anyone should be glaring, it should be me."

"..."

"Or did you think I would tear out your throat the moment I saw you?"

"Yes."

Tae-ui answered with a displeased frown to Rigrow's question. Rigrow laughed.

"That might happen, but I'm not in the mood right now. Just wait a little longer."

After saying that, he opened his book again. And with his gaze fixed on the book as if not wanting any more interruptions, he didn't raise his head again.

Tae-ui watched him for a moment before turning away and starting to move his pen again. As he mechanically moved the pen, he slowly pondered the man's words. The words he pondered longest were the very last ones.

I'm not in the mood right now. Just wait a little longer. And the interpretation of those words came quickly, even before reviewing them several times. It meant that though not at this moment, he would tear out his throat whenever the mood struck him. That could be in 1 minute or it could be the day they returned after finishing joint training.

It would be better to deal with it right now. How was this any different from telling him to keep his nerves on edge for two weeks?

Suddenly feeling sick, strength entered his pen-holding hand. Screech, the notebook tore and got a hole.

Lieutenant Kim, that unpleasant bastard, suddenly came to mind. He had been like this too. When news returned to school that Tae-ui was involved in a knife fight at a gay bar, Lieutenant Kim happened to be the first to hear it. Then too, he had looked at Tae-ui with a sneering smile. And muttered loud enough to be heard: "Well, no need to spread rumors right now."

Are unpleasant bastards similar in that way too? No, but Lieutenant Kim was just unpleasant, not dangerous like this guy. Looking at it that way, Lieutenant Kim was actually better. Though both were bad.

Perhaps because his speed increased with rising indignation, Tae-ui had already finished copying the second volume and pulled over a new notebook. He wrote again on the first page. UNHRDO Rules and Regulations Article 1 Organizational Structure and so on.

The advantage and disadvantage of such simple work was that while his hands kept moving, his head couldn't think of other things. Perhaps because a threat to his life was right before him, only the dark two weeks ahead came to mind.

"Nothing's really changed. Just stay well hidden avoiding attention, and when unavoidable stick close to colleagues, somehow preserving life that way..."

Even if called cowardly and pathetic, Tae-ui was prepared to follow right behind instructors for two weeks if it guaranteed safety. Surely he wouldn't kill in front of an instructor.

While muttering and moving his pen, Tae-ui suddenly felt a gaze and looked up.

Though there was no way his tiny muttering could have been heard, Rigrow had been watching him with an amused face for some time. When their eyes met, he smiled as if saying "go on."

"... What happens if you kill someone in front of an instructor?"

Tae-ui paused his pen and asked since their eyes had met anyway. Though his intentions were probably transparent, this wasn't the time to hide such things. Rigrow laughed deeply then pointed at the paper under Tae-ui's hand.

"Haven't you seen while copying? The punishment sections should be detailed in there."

"There were sections about punishment for killing someone, but none with the condition 'in front of an instructor.'"

Tae-ui muttered sulkily. Actually, even the sections about killing someone were very ambiguous. Like a catch-all phrase, the three pages of explanation could be simply summarized as: 'Treatment varies according to circumstances.'

Rigrow seemed to think for a moment before tilting his head and answering "Well..."

"I don't know well since I've never killed anyone in front of an instructor. Though when I killed an instructor, they put me in solitary for eight months."

Screech. The pen went astray again. Tae-ui glared at the line that had crossed out the line above while closing his mouth.

Damn. If he was someone who would kill even an instructor, pulling someone out from hiding among colleagues to strangle them would be nothing. Suddenly his shallow calculations completely fell apart.

"To add, it was self-defense. Just like this morning."

Rigrow continued. However, those last few words would have been better left unsaid.

Tae-ui spun the pen on his finger. There was a terribly bitter taste in his mouth. He briefly wondered if he had misunderstood the meaning of self-defense, but thinking about it, it seemed the one misunderstanding was that man.

"Let me add one more thing - the dictionary definition of self-defense refers to unavoidable harmful acts taken against an aggressor to prevent urgent and unjust harm to oneself or others."

This man wasn't misunderstanding. Tae-ui thought he was extremely brazen in calling his own actions 'unavoidable.' Those words that had risen to his throat wavered between coming out or not.

"Speaking of this morning's incident, wasn't the harm done to the aggressor excessive?"

He finally couldn't hold back and blurted out. But Rigrow shook his head.

"You heard him too. Telling me to shoot. He's the type who would keep aiming to strike from behind if let off easily. Thinking of future threats, it was an unavoidable choice for me too. Besides, he's still alive and well, though probably sitting in solitary now."

"Right, and is that why you killed that instructor too?"

When Tae-ui asked, Rigrow let out a soft laugh. Then after a slightly troubled, subtle silence, he spoke briefly:

"Well, something like that. I actually almost died. Even for me, if it hadn't gone that far, I wouldn't have killed an instructor. How much I regretted it after killing him."

While steadily watching him speak as if regretful, Tae-ui wanted to say 'your mouth must be dry' again but swallowed those words.

In the end, though the exact reason was unclear, this man was saying that even if it was an instructor - probably even a Deputy Director or Director General - he could calmly kill them if there was sufficient cause or pretext. So, using people as shields to escape this man's eyes had to be considered impossible.

Did that mean the conclusion was that just hiding unconditionally was the best option? Though whether that was possible was unknown.

"Why are things like this lately. Did bad luck get attached to me?"

Tae-ui muttered while throwing his pen down on the notebook. Though he was never particularly lucky to begin with, it had gotten quite bad since coming here. What was this.

"I heard Jung Jae-ui is an exceptionally lucky person, but you're not?"

Rigrow suddenly asked when Tae-ui muttered. Tae-ui just looked at him. He was about to grumble about how fast that news spread, but thinking about it, it was something everyone in this branch knew anyway.

"Just because we're brothers doesn't mean we were born with the same luck. I'm ordinary. Maybe even below ordinary now."

"Ah..."

Rigrow just said that and smiled subtly. However, he didn't say anything more.

Tae-ui thought of his brother whom he hadn't seen in a while. In this case, if it were his brother - though he wouldn't have ended up in this situation - probably this man would either suddenly leave the island due to an unexpected accident or die from being bitten by a dozen snakes that had suddenly appeared from nowhere.

Tae-ui pointed at Rigrow with a very serious face and muttered:

"You should be grateful I'm not my brother. Otherwise your fortune would be very dark by now."

At that Rigrow burst out laughing. Though Tae-ui wondered if he would understand, this man seemed to properly understand his words this time too.

"Yes, thank you for that. In that spirit, I won't do anything to you today, so stop bristling so blue and relax."

"It would be nice if you could do that for the whole two weeks."

"Well... Since I'm not very good at controlling my emotions, I can't make promises I'm not sure about."

It sounded like he was saying he would definitely settle things once before the two weeks were up. Looking at those coldly sunken eyes, it wasn't just imagination.

Tae-ui picked up his pen again with a bitter taste in his mouth. Anyway, minimizing encounters with this man was probably the most passive resistance he could manage.

Suddenly Tae-ui stopped his pen. Then he subtly asked Rigrow who was turning his attention back to his book:

"Earlier, you said you'd help with this, right?"

Rigrow slightly raised his eyebrows at that. Looking at the pile of notebooks and pen, he went "Ah" and shrugged. His tone suggested it was somewhat unexpected for Tae-ui to bring that up.

"I'll help if you ask. It's not difficult just copying... But Instructor Jung would immediately notice different handwriting."

He seemed to have offered help while knowing all that. Meaning it wasn't just empty words.

Tae-ui smiled slightly and held out an empty notebook and pen.

"It's fine, it's fine. Just need to fill the number of copies. I'm not asking for much, just write one."

"Hmm... Well, alright."