Kwon Jeonghoo, with a chuckle in his voice, scolded in a calm tone.
“Only your mouth is alive, really.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“Right. Even if you fell into water, probably only your snout would be swimming around.”
“You think you wouldn’t be like that, Captain?”
“I’m a beer bottle, so I’d die the moment I fall in.”
That was absolute nonsense. Kwon Jeonghoo had talent in swimming comparable to any professional athlete. His broadly spread shoulders that could provoke the envy and jealousy of other men were probably also results sculpted through swimming.
‘Stop sprawling around and get dressed. We’re going to soak our bodies.’
After all, he was the person who would forcibly wake him up on weekends and drag him to the pool.
“Save that wild behavior for operations, Dowoon. Don’t waste your energy on pointless things.”
While Yeo Dowoon was feeling a peculiar sense of regret, Kwon Jeonghoo skillfully tried to sweet-talk him. From the beginning, skinship was the perfect tactic to make Yeo Dowoon struggle.
He brought his lips down to his plump Adam’s apple and blew, “Buu.”
“Euut…!”
When he exhaled continuously as if tickling a child’s belly, Yeo Dowoon roughly grabbed and crumpled his shirt.
“Crazy bastard, Kwon Jeonghoo!”
He shouted irritably. Hectic movements ran rampant. When Yeo Dowoon’s center of gravity finally tilted backward, Kwon Jeonghoo smoothly climbed on top of him as if greased.
“How fearless do you have to be to call your superior’s name carelessly?”
It was the moment when their lower abdomens pressed together seamlessly. But Kwon Jeonghoo couldn’t make any further contact with Yeo Dowoon. Because an ice blade that had been born silently was aimed closely at the space above the back of his head.
“…Ah, how chilling.”
With a face that seemed free of worldly thoughts, he admired it and stopped approaching as if responding to the threat. A complaint filled with disappointment followed.
“I guess I should stop if I don’t want a hole drilled in the back of my head.”
Then Yeo Dowoon retorted with a nuance of being fed up.
“I’m using this ability because I can’t help it too. Either stop doing pervert stuff.”
“Pervert stuff?”
As if he was about to counter saying all this fuss over just blowing air on his neck once, Yeo Dowoon quickly added.
“What you were planning to do was completely visible on your face.”
“What was my face like?”
The snake-like Kwon Jeonghoo asked while feigning ignorance. Yeo Dowoon fell right into the trap.
“It was the face of someone who was going to do pervert stuff…”
“What does the face of someone who’s going to do pervert stuff look like?”
“…Well. Like the Captain’s?”
“Then, were you imagining being subjected to pervert stuff every time you looked at my face?”
Damn it. What a fucking disaster. What pervert stuff is, what a face that looks like someone who would do pervert stuff is—Yeo Dowoon became confused even by the words and his mouth dried up completely.
“Why would I imagine such a thing?”
When Kwon Jeonghoo started being slippery, it was always difficult to find a way out of the situation. Yeo Dowoon judged it would be better to change the subject when he could and opened his mouth again.
“I heard the coastal gate will be changed to a guide cooperative operation. Why is that?”
“…”
“Guides are defensive personnel, not combat personnel. As far as I know, it was Instructor Kwon Jeonghoo who taught that.”
“…”
“Captain taught that when you were my instructor. Do I need to tell you again?”
When he opened with the operation topic, the fervent atmosphere instantly settled down. The sticky gaze also changed to a dry one. Getting off the sofa, Kwon Jeonghoo silently helped up Yeo Dowoon, whom he had pushed down.
Walking to the rectangular desk piled with documents, he picked up a file and threw it toward Yeo Dowoon.
“Read it.”
The navy blue metal file that flew in a parabola landed stably on Yeo Dowoon’s thigh.
“What is this?”
When he questioned with puzzlement, Kwon Jeonghoo answered while sitting on the desk.
“Casualty list.”
“…”
“All A-rank members from the Gyeonggi branch were processed as deceased. There will be a joint funeral at the end of this month. With the bereaved families’ consent, the Seoul branch will also send mourners, so get a suit tailored or something.”
Yeo Dowoon, who had frozen while holding the file, was suddenly engulfed by an exceptional emotion of unknown origin.
“You should at least see off your comrades on their way.”
In fact, Team Delta hadn’t interacted intimately enough with the Gyeonggi branch Espers to exchange the title of ‘comrades.’ They didn’t even remember each other’s three-character names, so how could they?
But even so, they were undeniably comrades-in-arms. Bound and identified together under the name of Esper.
“…Will you at least erect monuments for them?”
Dying for one’s country is patriotism. They must have received the same teachings, but Yeo Dowoon couldn’t remain as calm as Kwon Jeonghoo.
“That’s the first thing you hear when you enter the training camp, right? Dying for one’s country is patriotism. They gave their lives for the country, so I thought they could at least get monuments for each of them.”
“It’s been decided to enshrine them in the common grave for patriotic martyrs.”
“Then I’ll have to erect them with my own money.”
“Dowoon.”
“Can’t I?”
Yeo Dowoon didn’t understand the indignation welling up inside himself.
It wasn’t simply that he was expressing dry anger to honor the Espers who had met a dog’s death after failing to suppress the gate. Hadn’t he seen enough of people dying in droves since his days working as an illegal miner?
‘Why am I now…’
So Yeo Dowoon felt he was being occupied by emotions he himself couldn’t easily discern.
‘Why am I feeling injustice now?’
The Operations Base had dealt with it appropriately. The common grave for patriotic martyrs was the highest honor and glory a deceased Esper could receive. Those left behind would also proudly remember them.
Looking back, it seemed he too had a positive view of dying for one’s country.
He had vowed that when the time came to sacrifice, he would never have regrets. Didn’t he participate in the oath ceremony and pledge the sense of duty and dedication as an Esper?
That’s when it happened.
“If only the bereaved families want it, I’ll give my savings too. Take it all.”
Yeo Dowoon, who had been absorbed in yellowish thoughts, suddenly returned to reality at the joke Kwon Jeonghoo threw that was neither light nor heavy.
“…You even have savings?”
“Half in stocks. Half in savings.”
“You even do financial planning… Now you just need to meet a good person. I’ll root for you.”
“You be that good person. That’s real support.”
“Unfortunately, the country doesn’t allow it. Same-sex marriage is illegal in the Republic of Korea.”
Yeo Dowoon joked around, but Kwon Jeonghoo didn’t let himself be easily played.
“Should we go abroad together?”
With both hands on the desk, he tilted his head as if pointing beyond the window. The sky that had been showing off its vivid blue color until he came to this place had already been painted an gloomy ink-black.
“To Denmark or Finland.”
Kwon Jeonghoo, who had recited a couple of countries where same-sex marriage was legal, swiftly got down from the desk.
But Yeo Dowoon didn’t respond to him and made a face as if he’d chewed on a caterpillar. Well, he understood that contextually a romantic mood had been set. But he had absolutely no intention of laughing “haha hoho” and adding fuel to his affection offensive. Denmark? Finland? That’s nonsense.
“Please explain the operation.”
Therefore, Yeo Dowoon returned to his original position and dealt with him thoroughly in a businesslike manner. With the A4 paper file listing the deceased’s names in alphabetical order shoved under his arm.
It was time to put aside trivial talk and really get to the main point.
“The initial gate entry operation will be carried out in teams of three.”
Kwon Jeonghoo also seemed to acknowledge the gravity of the matter and quickly adjusted his attitude.
“Two Espers and one guide. The operation teams will basically be organized according to matching rates, but for now, the plan is to try various different versions of combinations and pick out the deployment chart with the best mobility.”
“How do you increase mobility when there’s openly a guide on the team?”
“We need to find the optimal line. For suppressing the Yeongjong Island gate, guide accompaniment is unavoidable.”
“…Convince me. I don’t understand the reason for this unavoidability.”
“As long as a group of sirens is hidden on the Yeongjong Island coast, this way will be advantageous for increasing Delta’s survival probability. Even if not all the way to the gate’s origin point, they must essentially accompany us at least to its vicinity.”
But even while explaining, Kwon Jeonghoo carefully chose his words to hide the truly important information as much as possible. He judged it was still premature to hand over all the information to Yeo Dowoon.
It should be at least after he finished training enough to feel the necessity of guides. Only then could the resistance to the operation be reduced.
The coastal gate that wiped out the A-rank Espers of the Gyeonggi branch. That gate boasted monster output and ripple effects incomparable to other gates they had suppressed so far.
They were even planning to close down the entire Incheon coastal area if the Seoul branch S-rank Espers’ second attempt also failed, so they couldn’t create deserters from the initial stage of operation preparation.
“Whether combat personnel or defensive personnel…”
Kwon Jeonghoo crushed Yeo Dowoon’s rebellious spirit with a face devoid of laughter.
“We’re not in a position to be picky. Got it?”
“…”
“The operation will proceed as planned after repair work.”
But because he understood perfectly, Yeo Dowoon truly felt like dying.
“…I’m sorry, Captain.”
Setting aside the justification and basis for the operation, how could he bring Cha Haseong all the way to the gate’s origin point? He couldn’t let him join that living hell that was nothing short of pandemonium.
