PASSION Chapter 4 Part 19

Chapter 4 Part 19

Rigrow's head tilted slightly. His hand rose slightly. His hand seemed about to touch Tae-ui's wrist as he stood frozen staring silently at Rigrow, then slowly, as if caressing, crept upward. From elbow to shoulder to neck, the cold leather glove's touch was smooth and soft like a snake. Though the navy gloves so dark they were almost black were clean without a trace of blood, they seemed to give off the scent of blood from somewhere.

That hand brushed from cheek to ear, then through his hair. A gentle, affectionate touch. Those were hands that could snap Tae-ui's neck at any moment.

The hand reached the back of Tae-ui's head. The broad palm cradling his head pulled Tae-ui slightly toward himself. As if about to embrace him lightly. His shoulder came very close to Tae-ui's eyes.

An affectionate, low voice whispered in his ear.

"Is that... yours?"

Flinch, Tae-ui trembled faintly, barely perceptibly.

Rigrow was looking past Tae-ui's head at Shin Lu's room. Perhaps at Shin Lu himself beyond that single door. With narrow, cruel eyes.

"No, it's not?"

Rigrow found the answer himself in place of Tae-ui whose tongue had frozen.

He laughed pleasantly. After stroking Tae-ui's head a couple times, he released his arms compliantly. Tae-ui, who had been practically trapped in his arms, stepped back one step. Glaring fiercely at Rigrow was all he could do.

"Don't glare like that. I'm not saying I'll completely take what's yours. I'm satisfied just tasting occasionally when I want."

He spoke smiling. That languid voice spread through Tae-ui's chest as thick anxiety.

"Rigrow. Don't."

Tae-ui spoke stiffly. But he gave no answer. As if Tae-ui was already beneath his notice, he looked once more toward Shin Lu's room before turning away.

"Rigrow!"

Tae-ui shouted. Rigrow, walking several steps ahead, turned his head briefly but without stopping or changing direction, just spoke amusedly while continuing to move away:

"To properly claim your share, you need the qualifications. When thrown naked into hell, are you confident you can even properly preserve your own life?"

He waved his hand lightly. Then disappeared around the corner toward the stairs.

Tae-ui stood alone, just glaring at the now empty corridor.

***

"What amazing weather. They said it would clear from tonight, clear my ass. Those weather bureau bastards should all be stripped."

Grumbling sounds came from up ahead. From the voice, it was Tou. Though only a few meters apart, they had to distinguish people by voice.

It wasn't just because it was night. Not just because there were many obstacles blocking vision in the forest.

The fog that had started falling from evening had settled deep into every corner of the forest. It had settled so thickly that after pushing through the fog, their collars had become damp without them realizing.

"More than the weather bureau bastards, I want to strip all the instructors who make us march at night in this weather."

The one muttering somewhere behind Tou was Qing. The laughter beside him was Carlo.

"I could stand the night march, but making us drain all our energy with martial arts sparring all afternoon then suddenly ordering us to depart without warning - that behavior is absolutely unforgivable."

This unfamiliar voice must be someone from another team. From his voice grinding his teeth, he still seemed quite energetic.

Though thinking his uncle would definitely say "Seems they weren't drained enough" if he heard, Tae-ui couldn't help smiling slightly. Moller who was walking right beside him saw this and grumbled:

"You're in a mood to laugh? My legs feel like rubber."

"Days like this happen sometimes, what's the big deal."

"It's not just one day. Right after finishing the march we have endurance training, man. No time to rest."

Moller chewed his words irritably. This guy too seemed energetic enough to rest a bit less for now. Tae-ui smiled invisibly but that smile soon disappeared.

Indeed there was no time to rest. Days were a constant tension, and afternoons were mostly group sparring, spending time in what was practically brawling with European branch members. Today too they had lectures as usual in the morning - though after a few days even lecture time had become verbal knife fights - and did martial arts sparring all afternoon. Not just Tae-ui's team but others must have been the same.

It was martial arts sparring where new opponents kept coming even after taking down one after another. If it were with teammates they would watch each other's condition and take turns resting and losing appropriately, but not when the opponents were European branch members who seemed like mortal enemies. Most thought they had to throw down their opponent spectacularly and break an arm or something even if they were exhausted to death themselves.

Though Tae-ui had no reason to hold such grudges and wanted to go easy on each other, it was regrettable that opponents didn't think the same way. He couldn't quietly offer up his arms and legs to opponents who came at him like they would devour him.

They had barely finished another day as regular hours ended. Or so they thought, when the instructor suddenly called them as they were cleaning up to leave. And said there would be a 20-kilometer night march tonight so go eat at the cafeteria now and reassemble within 30 minutes.

At that moment, Tae-ui probably wasn't the only one who wanted to throw his headgear right at that instructor. The satisfying atmosphere of finishing another tough day instantly froze murderously.

20 kilometers wasn't far enough to make such dying faces. That distance circling about half the island could be finished in about five hours of marching. Normally they would have walked it lightly like a picnic, laughing and chatting.

But they were exhausted. Even during dinner with only 30 minutes given, they couldn't properly chew and swallow their food, busy denouncing the instructors for the sudden night march announcement without warning. What made it even worse was having to march in full gear.

Uncle. You said this wasn't the military. Then what's all this? Why are we marching, why the full gear?

While bearing the heavy pile of luggage weighing on his shoulders with his whole body, Tae-ui internally poured out who knew how many curses at his uncle since coming to this island.

"If instructors can't be stripped, I'd rather strip myself and run away from this damn island."

It was when someone grumbled that from up ahead.

"Strip if you want to, after joint training ends. And anyone who wants to strip me, I'll welcome you anytime after the march ends."

This lively voice without a trace of fatigue came from behind Tae-ui. An instant chilling silence flowed. Not only did the men talking up front close their mouths, but those behind also jumped in surprise. They hadn't dreamed an instructor would be mixed among the surrounding people they hadn't properly checked.

Tae-ui flinched in surprise at the unexpected familiar voice right beside him. Though there was no way his mental cursing could have been heard, he felt oddly conscious.

"Un... Instructor Jung, are you coming along too?"

"How could I just sit around in the instructor's office? Never know when some incident might happen. Besides, in another hour or two we should start running into other teams."

His uncle muttered as if annoyed, having been there since who knew when - though he definitely hadn't been there at departure. As he said, though they had departed separately, after wandering the forest this long they might start meeting other teams. If those teams were from the same Asian branch it wouldn't matter, but if not it would be troublesome.

"With fog this thick, if we go a bit deeper you could kill someone and bury them secretly without anyone knowing. Though if this whole forest were dug up, several corpses would probably be found."

His uncle spoke the joke casually as if serious. Thinking it might actually be serious, Tae-ui glanced at his wrist watch. About an hour had passed since departure.

"We must have come about 3-4 kilometers. With 20 kilometers, even if we finish quickly and return it'll be midnight."

Wondering if they could find their way well in the middle of the night, Tae-ui scratched his nape while muttering.

Everything was already dark. The forest was so dense it was dim even in daytime, but now with night fallen and thick fog it was even darker. It wouldn't be strange to get lost like this.

"Well, since it's not that big an island, even if we get lost it's all the same."

To Tae-ui muttering this addition, his uncle answered as if saying what nonsense:

"We won't return by midnight. We'll sleep in the forest tonight."

"What?"

"We'll unpack at a suitable spot after about 10 more kilometers. I told you to bring sleeping bags. Didn't you bring one?"

"No, since I just brought the packed bag as is there should be a sleeping bag, but that's not the issue - sleeping in the forest, you mean camping out?"

"Mm. People need to train sometimes sleeping outdoors too. We'll take turns standing guard watch while keeping the bonfire going."

"I heard there are snakes here, poisonous snakes!"

"That's why we're posting guards. You need to be able to sleep trusting your colleagues."

"No, what kind of rule is it to let people sleep in a forest where poisonous snakes come out at night!"

"I think I said even if they're poisonous snakes, their venom isn't that strong so if treated properly right after being bitten you won't die."

"That's not the issue, Uncle. There are more dangerous things running around than snakes--"