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“…Wedding?”
—Yeah.
My father informed me of the date of his wedding ceremony through a phone call. Instead of introducing my soon-to-be stepmother, he announced the wedding date, which was only two weeks away, and asked if I could come.
“I don’t know. The situation’s been pretty urgent these days…”
—Well, even Lieutenant General Jung said it’d be difficult for him to attend, being so busy and all. I was wondering if I should change the date, but since it was confirmed so long ago, it’d be difficult to do that.
“……”
—My secretary sent it to you by email, so if possible, do attend.
The short phone call came to an end. I couldn’t tell whether he was telling me to attend his wedding ceremony or to not attend. Though my father didn’t tell me who he was marrying, how long they’d been together, or when the wedding had even been arranged, I wasn’t actually all that curious about it. I just needed to know the exact time and location his secretary would inform me of.
Maybe he even thought that, as long as Lieutenant General Jung Kyungwon or Jung Haekyung weren’t attending, there wasn’t a need for me to attend either. However, I wanted to go. I’d almost never received an invitation to someone else’s wedding before, but it was the first time I wanted to go this badly. I wanted to escape S.E., to escape from Korea, even if it was only for a while. Legally.
Although I told him we were in an emergency situation, I was actually freer than I usually was. Jung Haekyung never involved me in dangerous missions. He wasn’t here right now, so if I do well, I’ll be able to attend the wedding. The wedding of a direct relative wasn’t considered a viable reason to take a special leave, but I decided that it more or less fit as a reason to take an annual leave and wrote up a leave request. If my superiors approved the leave, I’d be able to receive an overseas travel permit. As always, Jung Haekyung assigned me the job of a deputy while he was off on a long-term mission. I had nothing to do apart from approve the reports or official documents coming my way, but I could also approve my own permit. I had to report it to Jung Haekyung, but maybe he’d understand if it was for a reason like this. I nervously waited for the results. However, my annual leave request was easily returned within two days.
That evening, I received a call from Jung Haekyung. An emoticon of a blue whale emitting white vapour popped up, one that Jung Haekyung had set himself. I pressed the accept call button. The sound quality was cloudy since the connection wasn’t very good, but Jung Haekyung’s voice, which turned livelier on the battlefield, was as bright as ever.
I told him the news of my father’s wedding, how my request for an annual leave had been sent back, and other stuff. He would’ve already known anyway, but he was a lunatic who had to hear me say it from my own mouth again to be satisfied. Jung Haekyung, who had been quietly listening to my words, said,
─Are you sad you can’t go?
“It was to be expected.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
─Do you want to go?
“Po P rjs P kjca ab ub, atfc klii sbe ifa wf?”
─So you do want to go.
“Tfjt, P vb.”
─Alright.
“…Rb, P vbc’a tjnf ab ub.”
─Lies. Your voice sounds sullen. It pains me.
P gfqilfv rbwfktja fnjrlnfis, rjslcu P kjr gfjiis olcf. Ktf reggbecvlcur kfgf cblrs, yea atf mjii mbcalcefv obg j ktlif yfobgf la kjr tecu eq.
Klwf qjrrfv ys klat cbatlcu wemt tjqqfclcu. Off Aecuufbc, qfgtjqr ajxlcu ws rlifcmf jr j gfoerji, vlvc’a rajga jcs wbgf qglnjaf mbcnfgrjalbcr klat wf, jcv tf vlvc’a jqqgbjmt wf yfsbcv ktja kjr cfmfrrjgs.
I handled the few official documents that were passed onto me and tried to take a smoke, but my cigarette pack was empty. I crumpled the empty pack and threw it in the trash before opening the drawer, but the cigarettes I had bought weren’t there either. When I left the office, Lee Junggeon, who was standing in front of the door, followed after me. I was about to leave the main building when I suddenly stopped in front of the large screen installed in the lobby. The name and image that appeared on the military news, which I normally would’ve just walked past, looked familiar.
─…It has been revealed that Mr. Kim Jungseok, CEO of the arms brokerage company Focna, has intentionally omitted a part of the R.S. Company’s atomic manufacturing method, called the Peanut Recipe, and delivered it to the Korean military. Most of the bombs brought in through Focna were used in the suppression of the FEL’s terrorism. At this time, the bomb’s malfunction had almost caused great harm to our troops, and a quick analysis of the cause has revealed this fact. Accordingly, the Korean military requested the compulsory repatriation of Mr. Kim Jungseok, but the French authorities refused, raising the possibility of an international dispute…
I stood right there as I called Jung Haekyung. I wasn’t sure if he could pick up the phone right now, but I couldn’t just gloss over it without checking right away either. After four attempts, Jung Haekyung picked up the phone. His surroundings were extremely noisy. However, his voice, which sounded no different from usual, clearly resonated in my ears.
─Euijin-ah.
“…You…”
─Yes?
“Was it your doing?”
─What?
“The Peanut Recipe.”
─Maybe.
“Why?”
─You said you wanted to go to the wedding.
“I said it was fine!”
─You were sulking because you couldn’t go. It was cute, but it pained me.
“.…..”
─If there’s no wedding, then you’ll have nothing to be sad about.
“…Hey…”
─The inheritance issue will also be handled neatly.
“…You crazy bastard.”
─I’m doing this for you, so why are you cursing?
“…Yeah, let’s just say that. I’m hanging up.”
─Euijin-ah, did you know?
“…What?”
─It’s been over a month since I’ve come here, but…
“.…..”
─This is the first time you’ve called me first.
“.…..”
─My heart is racing. I’m feeling a flutter…
I hung up the phone. Jung Haekyung’s voice tickled and crawled through my ear like a bug, so I had no desire to listen to any more of it. However, I soon regretted that decision. No matter what I was feeling, I shouldn’t have hung up on him like that. I stood there blankly, waiting for Jung Haekyung to call again. However, the phone showed no movement. After a while had passed, I called him again. I heard a voice saying the call was in an area outside the communication zone. Wouldn’t Jung Haekyung think that it wasn’t me who hung up the call, but that the call cut off on its own? Or maybe he wouldn’t even have the time to concern himself with such things since his current surroundings were a mess? Even in the midst of all this, my thoughts flowed in that direction, and I placed my phone back in my pocket.
I felt suffocated. It was nothing new. I suffered from chronic indigestion. It wasn’t a rare occurrence for me to wake up from my slumber, feeling my stomach suddenly twist in knots. I often got indigestion, and during those times, I wouldn’t even be able to drink water properly. No matter how nice of a menu I was presented with, it’d be rare for me to feel that it tasted good.
I started walking again and left the main building. I saw familiar buildings, familiar roads, and familiar people. I wanted to see a sight that wasn’t familiar to me. That would make my stomach feel better. It seemed like my stomach would feel a little more relaxed if I were to stand in between unfamiliar people in an unfamiliar area like the sea, the mountains, the waterfalls, the desert, or the glaciers. I stopped in front of the back door of the general building, which also doubled as the unofficial smoking area. Then I looked to Lee Junggeon, who was following behind me. Our eyes locked on each other’s.
“Do you have a cigarette?”
Lee Junggeon took out a cigarette pack from his pocket. It was menthol. Though it fit well with Lee Junggeon, I didn’t really like it all that much. Regardless, I grabbed one and placed it in my mouth. Lee Junggeon took out a lighter and even lit it for me.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
I puffed out the smoke. I stood there and slowly smoked the entire cigarette before placing its butt in a disposable ashtray and saying, “Every place you mentioned sounds fine, but,”
“..….”
“Shall we go to Cancún after all?”
That crazy bastard 😂 ah well at least there is no longer a wedding to get upset over 😶
modern problems require modern solutions 😔😔
This novel is giving me an unimaginable amount of anxiety lmao… Haekyung is so unpredictable and it’s stressing me out. T he author did a really good job! Also I wanna give Euijin a big hug poor baby 😭
LET’S FUCKING GOOOO WE GETTING OUTTA THIS BITCH 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️