00051 --- The Little Prince in the Ossuary ---
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#Past (4) - After the Deal
Ah-young couldn't easily open the door. The sound of violence emanated from beyond the closed door, where her enraged father, chairman Go Guncheol, was on a rampage, seemingly ready to kill someone.
But she had to go in. Even though she hated him, and he hated her, Ah-young was the only one who could stop him. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open with her entire body.
Chaos greeted her.
"You quack! How dare you deceive me?!"
The chairman was swinging a nameplate at the doctor. Thwack, crack! The sound was vicious. The doctor, who had taken the blows on his back, crawled to a corner, crying. One shoe had been kicked off. Each step left a trail of blood, as the floor was littered with broken glass.
But the doctor's escape was futile. He was quickly grabbed by the chairman's secretary and guards and thrown back into the center of violence. The aides weren't doing this out of joy. Under the extremely mistrustful chairman, they were merely overwhelmed by his power. They glanced at Ah-young, silently pleading for her intervention.
There weren't many familiar faces. There had likely been another purge. Ah-young thought about her father's deep distrust of people and her mother, who had contributed to shaping it.
"You've arrived, ma'am."
As she approached, the chief secretary bowed to Ah-young.
"How long has it been like this?"
"About thirty minutes."
The chief secretary was trembling. On days the chairman raged, it was not uncommon for a few people to be fired. Losing a job was the least of their worries. Once marked by the chairman, their careers were effectively over.
This was why aides sought Ah-young whenever there was trouble. Only she could endure the chairman's fury unscathed.
With a crash, a vase shattered, making Ah-young clench her fists. Her whole body tensed.
'I'm scared, too.'
The memories of witnessing violence as she grew up ran deep. She was rarely the victim herself, but it was a time too traumatic for her young sensitivities to bear.
A fear beyond reason scorched her nerves to the core.
The doctor wailed with a slurred voice.
"I told you! Chairman's erectile dysfunction is a mental issue! His body is perfectly fine!"
The mother-of-pearl nameplate rose high—an indicator of rising anger.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner!"
Thud!
"Proper information is essential for a deal!"
Thud!
"Advance provision is the principle!"
Thud! Blood splattered continuously. The doctor, with his forehead split open, rolled backward and discovered Ah-young for the first time. With a look of desperation as if he'd found a lifeline, he crawled over, clutching at her legs.
"Save me! Please save me! Ma'am! Ma'am!"
The chairman approached, breathing heavily. His demeanor had changed. It was as though old rage had found a new vessel. Go Guncheol had altered so much that he was unrecognizable from the boy he had been before the deal. Could one's interior have such a powerful influence on the exterior? He was now a completely different person.
Ah-young barely managed to move. She intervened between the chairman and the doctor. Lowering her head, she allowed her hair to obscure her face as much as possible.
"Stop."
"Move! Move right now!"
Leaning from side to side, the chairman tried to forcibly remove his daughter. Ah-young clung on.
"You little...!"
A harsh slap sent Ah-young sprawling away.
Suddenly, there was silence. With glaring eyes, the chairman stared at his offending hand—the same hand that had struck Ah-young.
"This isn't right."
Go Guncheol muttered as if to himself. He remained silent for a long time, not moving, almost like a statue. Even his furious breath quickly subsided.
Eventually, his gaze fixed on Ah-young. She didn't meet his eyes. The resemblance to her mother was her inherited sin. She didn't need to look to feel the torrent of love-hate. An impossible contradiction that couldn't fully hate nor fully love.
"This isn't why I started fresh."
Who was he speaking to? After a lengthy silence, the chairman spoke again to Ah-young.
"Move aside."
For this, she stepped aside. The doctor floundered. But before he could grab onto her, the chairman snatched him up by the collar. The attending physician couldn't even properly resist.
"Don't think you can get away after screwing me over. I'm a person who gives back what is given and receives in kind. Come up with a solution. Find a way to solve this problem."
It was a threat he'd made before. With vast connections in politics and business, the chairman's so-called 'amicable business cooperation' methods made social burial possible.
Knowing this, the doctor nodded frantically.
"I understand! I'll do my best! Please trust me!"
"Fine."
The chairman released the doctor.
"Everyone, out. Except President Go."
Why? It was a moment of relief, believing it was over.
The staff members withdrew orderly. There could be no hesitation in carrying out the chairman's orders.
Once alone, the chairman spoke with a newfound calmness unlike before.
"I was going to call you anyway, and here you are."
"... What do you need?"
Asked Ah-young, to which the chairman bared his teeth in a boyish grin.
"Prepare for divorce."
She was left speechless. Go Guncheol's 'economic conversation' was something that even his most familiar daughter found confounding. After a pause, Ah-young managed to ask.
"Why... why now?"
"Do you really not know?"
Ah-young's young father smirked.
"He didn't adhere to the principle of loyalty and sincerity. How dare a married man play around with another woman? Then he must be punished, of course."
The principle of loyalty and sincerity. Ah-young shuddered. It was once the incantation her father used to curse her mother.
"Why now?"
Ah-young bit back her words, then resumed with a sigh.
"What changed to make you do this now? You've known about his affair for a long time, didn't you? You were deliberately ignoring it, weren't you?"
"Yeah. I was pretending not to know."
The chairman's rage flared again.
"Crushing that bastard thoroughly required preparation."
Preparation? Ah-young quickly grasped the chairman's meaning.
"The management rights of Paradise Group..."
Her husband was the heir to Paradise Group, holding significant shares. A divorce with cause assigned to her husband, and the consequent asset division. Ah-young shook her head.
"That's not possible."
"I made it possible. You think I needed time for nothing?"
Go Guncheol's cynical retort hit hard. Ah-young felt dizzy. She unconsciously uttered something she should not have.
"Please don't take my daughter's father away. I've been holding back all this time. At the very least, make my child happy... For her sake. I was so lonely...."
"What?"
Go Guncheol interrupted his daughter. As she realized her mistake, Ah-young squeezed her eyes shut.
"You didn't yearn for that bitch, did you?"
His tone was different from the earlier boiling anger. It was terrifyingly cold. The chairman's hand twitched toward her, but stopped short, trembling slightly.
"That was a fair contract."
His voice carried overwhelming bitterness. The chairman roared.
"I paid with my life to purchase that woman's life! It was a fair contract between us! No one can judge me! No one can side with her! No one should miss her! Especially you—if you're truly Go Guncheol's child, never you!"
"I didn't miss her. I was just lonely."
"Don't even try to deceive me!"
Ah-young opened her eyes. As expected, the human-shaped distrust was glaring at her. Never had her father trusted her words on this matter. He muttered contemptuously.
"Being deceived once is enough. Honestly... with blood that untrustworthy making up half of you..."
"...."
The chairman turned away.
"Don't appear in front of me again today."
Ah-young bowed her head. The sensation of hitting a wall. It hurt. After so much, she'd thought her heart couldn't break any further.
She sighed, a familiar resignation escaping her lips.
#Journal, page 82, Camp Roberts
Even after an operation, a commander's duty isn't over.
After returning from Atascadero, I was asked to submit an operation report.
"They said they're crafting a 『Trickster』 combat manual from our reports. Write in as much detail as you can. Why you made specific movements in each phase, what judgments were based on, characteristics of the Trickster, and so on.... They emphasized not to leave out even the smallest detail."
This was Jeffrey's explanation. It seemed the operation had received positive evaluations in many ways. It was credited to the successful elimination of a special mutant without any prior information, safely neutralized without any losses. The news was that other places suffered significant confusion and damage.
In this mission, the entire platoon was equipped with combat cameras. Attached to helmets, these devices record or transmit exactly what a soldier sees. With the increasing importance of obtaining information about mutants, the U. S. was expanding the provision of combat cameras.
Jeffrey and I reviewed the recorded footage multiple times. With an entire platoon's worth of videos, it took considerable time to thoroughly examine everything.
Typically, report writing was Jeffrey's task, as he was the commander. But the higher-ups seemed to consider my input more valuable. Though it was a matter of pride, Jeffrey nodded in agreement. He added:
"You might receive another medal."
When I asked if that was even possible, he burst into laughter.
"Given the evidence, isn't it obvious?"
He pointed to the screen still in playback.
"Don't act modestly. Aim to become the Murphy of this era. You could manage it."
I had heard of someone named Murphy before. Was it after receiving the Bronze Star Medal? When I asked who it was because I didn't know, Jeffrey seemed surprised. It was as if it was strange not to know. Then he understood, recalling my background.
My expression must have been odd then because Jeffrey hurriedly attempted to justify.
"Who would still think you're a refugee now? It's normal for people to forget, like me."
That didn't seem right.
Anyway, I received an explanation. Murphy was America's most legendary war hero. He was active during World War II and received 27 medals from three countries over just two years.
Being compared to someone like that felt overwhelming.
But being highly regarded is something to be grateful for. I have people to protect now.
The report took quite some time to complete.
I included observations from the second day's search at the end of the report. My hypotheses about the reproduction of infected mutants and their newly gained abilities. Though they're just speculations, I believe they have high plausibility.
I can only hope this isn't an omen of a new disaster.
---------------------------= Author's Note ---------------------------=
The most dangerous animal in the world is said to be one that walks on two legs.
Readers, you walk upright, don't you?
Oh... No wonder...
The author welcomes any readers that are spiders.
-------------= Author's Notes -------------=
I dislike chapters about the past. It's not because it isn't written well, but because it's written well, almost too well. I often push the things that happened to Gyeo-ul to the back of my head, but with chapters that showcases events about the past, I feel things that I prefer not to. But I am already deep into the story, so I have to finish it even if I feel discomfort.
I wrote the paragraph above before I read the chapter because I might forget, but after reading the chapter, apparently, we have a side story regarding Go Guncheol. Bastard got ED, serves him right.