PASSION Chapter 3 Part 5

Chapter 3 Part 5

'How scary. So, are you going to cut ties with your precious brother?'

"How would I know? He's the one who cut ties and left first."

'Oh?'

The man's voice changed to one of interest. Tae-ui wanted to see his face once. He was surely looking at the monitor with a slow, subtle smile.

'I didn't know you were such poor brothers. I thought you got along quite well. Why, did you fight? I wouldn't have thought Jung Jae-ui would be the type to initiate cutting ties with his brother.'

"He said he'd snip the thread connected here, and left home that very day. And he's still missing."

Tae-ui muttered while showing his pinky finger. Though not the complete truth, that was essentially the point. At that, the man was briefly silent before speaking.

'Haha. Jung Jae-ui did that? How interesting.'

"It might sound interesting to you, but to me it's a family crisis."

'Haha, ahahaha.'

The man kept laughing for some reason. A mechanical voice's laughter was quite strange.

"You seem pleased."

'No... I just think what different brothers you are. Though you're twins I thought there might be some similarities, but your faces are different, personalities are different. It's interesting.'

"--Have you met my brother?"

'Mm. Well I've briefly crossed paths with him face to face. I was quite surprised by how young he was.'

That was something that had happened many times. From childhood, people who had heard about Jung Jae-ui through whatever channels and came looking for him were all surprised when they saw him. It was rare for someone not to express shock at how young he was.

But this man didn't seem like he would be that much older either.

Though there was no way to tell age just from hands, Tae-ui stared intently at those white hands.

However, he didn't feel like probing into something so personal, so he changed the subject.

"The way you talk, you must look exactly like that brother of yours who deals in weapons."

'Well. I haven't really been told we look alike, but then my brother and I aren't twins. There's quite an age gap.'

While giving the retort that age gaps had nothing to do with siblings looking alike or not, Tae-ui waved his hand dismissively.

At that moment the man paused. The way he slightly turned his body suggested someone had come or some sound had occurred behind him. Since he said he helped with the family business, perhaps he lived cozily with his family.

'Though sudden, I need to go now. Let's meet again later.'

"Oh? Ah, yes. Oh, but what about your business with uncle?"

'I'll call again later. Bye bye.'

The white hand waved slightly. With that, the call ended. The monitor went dark again.

Tae-ui sighed as he pressed the light again. The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Tok, tok, just as the white hands had done inside the monitor, Tae-ui silently tapped the desk while standing like a statue. His thoughts threatened to become complicated. But thinking about it differently, there was no reason for Tae-ui to get complicated about it now.

"Ah... whatever. I'm just told to live in a world where wars break out. It's not like I'm going to start an anti-war movement."

Right. Though I've quit, there are many career soldiers in the world who need to make a living too, he muttered while throwing himself onto the bed.

Thwack, he hit his instep on the corner of the bed. It hurt like hell.

***

As expected, he got thoroughly chewed out.

The person who summoned Tae-ui more than 30 minutes before regular hours started the next day was none other than Instructor Golding of Second Combat Training. When taking roll call at the end of regular hours, someone who had gone to change clothes over 30 minutes ago was missing, so it was only natural. Actually, he had tried summoning him right after evening roll call yesterday, but Tae-ui, sprawled on his uncle's bed with a "to hell with it" attitude, hadn't budged an inch.

And he thoroughly paid the price for that the next morning, getting called in before regular hours started and getting put through the wringer, entering morning regular lectures exhausted in body and mind.

The Combat Field Analysis class that took up all morning hours hadn't started yet.

The lecture hall with the large screen installed wasn't very large, more like a slightly spacious seminar room. The team members were already seated in a circle, maintaining quiet silence.

When Tae-ui entered the lecture hall, the instructor glared fiercely but didn't say anything, probably because he had already heard from Instructor Golding.

As he slunk over to find an empty seat, Tou next to him grinned.

"Had a good date with Golding? Getting called right after breakfast, you must be close."

"Yeah, so close it was burning hot enough to kill me."

Tae-ui grumpily shot back at Tou's needling whisper, then had to bow his head as the instructor up front glared their way again. Tou pretended not to notice and looked ahead.

"As you all know, joint training with the European branch is approaching. So today, as part of personnel analysis, we'll look at records from last time. Now, here are records from last year's joint training."

While Tae-ui was mercilessly jabbing Tou in the side, the instructor pressed the controller key. The dark screen brightened and footage appeared. Though the quality wasn't great, it was more than adequate for recognizing what was happening.

'Ow, that hurts you bastard!'

Tou whispered fiercely with an ugly face, but Tae-ui pretended not to notice and just looked ahead.

'Be quiet and watch that. It's joint training footage.'

Tae-ui said coldly. Though Tou reached out as if for revenge, Carlo from the back row lightly kicked Tou's chair. When the small clatter rang out, the instructor's icy gaze flew their way. The footage stopped with a beep.

"You there. Want to watch separately during free time after regular hours?"

A frost-like voice rang out sternly. Tou straightened his back into proper posture and said seriously:

"No. I absolutely do not want that."

"I'm sorry. We'll be quiet."

Groveling was the best strategy. Tae-ui had just learned this morning that standing up to superiors here would only hurt oneself. Of course Tou, who had been here longer, would know this too.

Though after Director General and Deputy Directors came instructors then branch members, the position of instructor was not one to be taken lightly. It was said that though they were instructors here at UNHRDO, if they moved to other organizations they would immediately secure senior positions.

The instructor, whose hair was starting to turn gray, glared at them fiercely for a moment before gripping the controller again.

"If you want to survive even one more day, don't slack off in your studies. Watch carefully."

As the instructor finished speaking, the footage began moving again.

It was footage from last year's joint training with the European branch. It wasn't the complete record but seemed edited to include only necessary parts, with scenes cut together.

The lecture hall, which had been quiet when the footage started, began stirring as the content progressed. Everyone watched those records with serious gazes while quietly having brief conversations with nearby colleagues. It could be called discussion in a form similar to casual chat.

Tae-ui, who had never experienced joint training, focused on the screen while casually picking up bits of conversation from around him.

"So, what do you think? Less than ten days left. Think you can keep up after seeing that?"

Tou leaned over and muttered quietly beside him. Tae-ui answered without taking his eyes off the screen while resting his chin on his interlocked hands:

"It feels like organized gang fighting. I mean, it's just about teaming up with your side and beating down the other side as much as possible... But I'm not very confident about keeping myself alive."

There were familiar faces among the men fighting in the footage. Even some colleagues currently sitting in this lecture hall appeared occasionally. However, they wore expressions he had never seen before. Faces truly on the border between life and death. Like they would die if they lost.

No lethal weapons were provided. The guns were paint guns or air guns. The knives had dulled edges that couldn't cut people. That is, formally it was just training anywhere you looked.

However, everyone here knew that you could still kill someone plenty well with such things.

"Ah, look, there's Tou doing something stupid."

Tae-ui pointed at the screen with a slight laugh. The man grimacing next to him appeared in the footage. Having caught a good opportunity to land a hit on his opponent, he accidentally stepped on someone collapsed behind him and lost his balance. Because of that, his punch didn't land properly with full force and was practically a miss, and naturally his opponent seized the chance to counterattack.

Tou grumbled about why they had to record such things while clicking his tongue. Yuan Ho, who had been snickering beside him, soon had to draw a fierce line across his own face when he appeared on screen as well.

"Really now, instead of just showing failure cases they should show some success cases too. It's embarrassing seeing just our team members acting like fools."

"You bastard...─Acting all carefree since your mistakes won't show up?!"