episode_0059

“The general is waiting inside, so you can go in right away.”

At the end of the corridor of the former water museum, we came across a door with a short sign that said ‘Division Commander’s Office’. The adjutant in front of the door urged us to hurry and go in as we hesitated.

You were going to go in on your own anyway, so why are you urging me? If you didn’t think you were going to go in, why did you come all the way here?

The old man finally put his hand on the doorknob, and the door opened smoothly, without a sound.

A gray-haired man with a star on his epaulettes and beret was sitting at the head of the table, looking straight at us.

He looked a little older, but he had a very neat and tidy look to him. His eyes were full of energy, which made people who saw him feel a little intimidated.

“Yes, since you’ve decided to take care of our work this time, I’d like to express my gratitude on behalf of the soldiers and civilians in the barracks.”

“Well, there’s no reason to refuse. It’s because we’re all asking to live together. I’m grateful that you readily accepted the deal with Purundul Apartments this time.”

“Sergeant Park also has a lot on his mind. On top of that, it was a bit awkward to ignore the fact that he was struggling to take care of the people under him.”

I poked the old man in the ribs. The soldiers’ gossiping was telling me to stop and get to the point.

When the man grabbed my hand and made a gesture telling me to stay still, I thought I should give him some breathing room, even though it wasn’t what I had planned.

“I’m sorry, but I really hate weighing things down. I prefer to get to the point quickly. Why did you call me, sir? You said you didn’t need to come here in the first place.”

“Who?”

The question wasn’t directed at me. The man’s gaze was directed at the old man.

“Part-time job. It’s a short story. I’ve been receiving a lot of help in many ways. My skills are good. I’m still a little immature because I’m young. I’d appreciate it if you could understand.”

“It looks like that. Nice to meet you, my name is Brigadier General Lee Jin-cheol.”

“Oh, yes. Nice to meet you.”

The old man was startled when I answered awkwardly.

That guy, he didn’t even formally greet me, he just sat down and introduced himself. So I responded in kind. Why?

I felt even more frustrated with the old man who was struggling.

Why are we being so humble? This old man always talks about the military. Has he lost his military spirit yet?

“No, it’s a short story. What’s wrong!”

“What. I understand that Brigadier General Lee Jin-cheol over there is a high-ranking official, but if you are a high-ranking soldier, do you have to bow down to people who have nothing to do with the military? Well, if you were protecting the country like in the old days, that would be fine, but now aren’t you just a group of survivors? You entrusted us with the task, or did we bow down to you to ask you to do it for us? Why do we have to beg you like that?”

I poured out the words that were in my heart. Even now, when I think about it again, it seems like a famous saying with not a single word wrong.

“No, that’s true, but it’s a bit much to come to someone else’s house and just kick them in without even looking at the landlord’s face… I’m sorry, General.”

“Haha, no. Now that I hear it, you’re right. Playing soldier is something that only soldiers should do. I was putting all my weight on a civilian girl for no reason. I apologize.”

“Well, I’m glad you noticed. I apologize for being rude.”

For a moment, General Lee Jin-cheol’s eyebrows rose slightly and then returned to their original position. Judging by the smile that never left his face, he seemed to find the current situation amusing.

Well, the world was ruined and he became the king of a kingdom he created, so this kind of thing would never have happened.

“You have an eye for women. Normally, a wife needs to have this level of personality to feel safe when working outside the home.”

What the hell is this old man talking about?

“Is it because you want to hear people say you’re old and foolish? The parties involved have nothing to do with each other, but they’re beating the drum and janggu alone.”

“Didn’t you know? As you get older, all you have left is your scheming. And judging from what you say, I guess it’s not yet. Then let’s change the subject. Do-hoon, you have to catch this girl. From what I can see, she’s not completely uninterested in you. If you push her like a man, she’ll come over right away.”

You crazy kid.

I think he probably felt quite wronged by the attack he received from me earlier. I think he was thinking of trying to get me to do this, but if it was going to come out like this, I had a way out of it.

“No, haha, General, don’t keep joking around. As you know, Danhwa is very sensitive to such jokes…”

“A joke? I don’t know what jokes are. Didn’t that girl just ask me to take off my rank badge? If you take this rank badge off me, all that’s left is an old man about to turn 60. When I reflect on my not-so-short life, I think that’s what old people my age do when they meet young people.”

Yeah, you guys go on and on, I don’t know. If you keep acting like that even though you obviously know I don’t like you, then I should just ignore you.

What are you going to do? Since no one is willing to give you rice cakes, just tell the old people to joke around and waste time.

“Hmm, no response.”

“…”

“Didn’t you say it wasn’t a joke?”

“You never made an oath.”

All old people are like that. I took a deep breath and looked around the items on display in the room.

In addition to personal firearms, there was also an operational map showing the city’s terrain at a glance, and several flags were visible on the way to the IC, as if they had run a simulation among themselves for the commission they had been given this time.

“I asked you what happened earlier. I called because I had something to ask.”

Now you’re getting to the point, you senile old man.

My uncle and I listened to what Brigadier General Lee Jin-cheol had to say. What on earth could he be asking that made us, who are busy with our work, come here?

“A girl came to see me a while ago. If my feeling is not wrong, she seems to be from a similar background to you. You know, the test subjects of the superhuman unit or the superpower unit or something.”

The old man’s movements suddenly froze. It was because we had something to feel. That’s what I thought. Was it the same guy? Or was it a completely different guy?

The story changed a little. I rolled my head.

It was clear that the guys were quite far from here. But did they really come all the way here and only meet me, the old man, and the soldiers at the dam?

I wonder if he might have tried to contact all the survival groups within this city.

The forces that had already established themselves in the city were in a balanced state, and although there was a bit of a tectonic shift due to the recent problems with the Hanmaum Church, it was not enough to disrupt the overall trend.

After all, the number of combat troops did not increase or decrease significantly.

However, if those inhuman guys intervened from the outside, it would not be strange if the current balance was quickly destroyed.

Isn’t it true that even the old man is raising his value by becoming an unexpected being based on his outstanding abilities?

“To cut to the chase, they told me that they wanted me to cooperate. Then they said they would actively help me with anything. However, I am not particularly dissatisfied with the current situation in the city. It would not be pleasant for me or the soldiers below me to experience the riots of the early days again.”

The thought that followed was, ‘In a situation where we already know each other’s circumstances, why would we fight and grab each other by the collar?’

I agree with that part.

At the time when the world had just come to an end, there was no way to make a living right away, so they fought fiercely over the supplies they already had, but now, each person had at least one or two things they could eat to survive.

There was absolutely no reason to cause bloodshed and attack another group while incurring the resentment of its own members.

Of course, that was true for groups that had reached a certain level of maturity, but there were also groups that didn’t.

“I decided not to take on the risk of coming in because I didn’t make a deal with them. And I thought it would be better to divert their power out of the city. That’s why I gave you this mission.”

There hasn’t been any question from Brigadier General Lee Jin-cheol yet. He just kept talking about how this situation happened.

“I don’t think there’s a bigger or more influential group in the city than us. So while we’re doing our job, I don’t think they’ll come into contact with other groups in the city. Why don’t you contact them under the pretext of developing a shelter and then dig up some background? What are they thinking? That’s what I’m most curious about.”

My uncle and I were invited to visit him a while ago, but we didn’t hear what he had in mind. We declined at the time, but the one month grace period hadn’t yet passed, so the invitation was still valid.

“You talk about a difficult mission as if you were peeling a tangerine.”

But apart from that, you have to take what you get.

“Isn’t that how it was originally? Besides, since they’re both still young, they’ll easily overcome this difficult task. The energy of youth will never return, but it gives endless possibilities to the owner who has it now.”

Oh, you want to eat it raw? You’ve aged as much as you do, so if you like it raw like that, you’ll lose your brain and it won’t be good for your stomach.

“Damn old people. The country is in this state because they pass their work on to the younger generation.”

“Danhwa, why do you have to say that…”

The old man tried to explain my words belatedly, but when the words rang deep in his ears, Brigadier General Lee Jin-cheol burst out laughing.

“Oh, that’s right. What can I do? It happened to me a lot when I was young. If you’re dissatisfied, then when you get older, you can have a lot of young guys take care of you.”

He came out so confidently that I couldn’t say anything because it was so absurd. No, he’s been through a lot too, so he’s saying it’s legal? Who can do whatever they want…?

“Of course, I will pay you a price that you won’t regret. If you want, I will gladly give you one of the official residences.”

The official residence? Something like an apartment outside? It was a tempting suggestion. When I glanced at it earlier, it seemed like they were even running something like a school.

“You still do that even though you know you can’t leave where you are. Then, I’ll take it as you saying you’ll take care of me generously to that extent.”

And that suggestion disappeared like a mirage with the old man’s words. To be honest, it was a bit. No, it was a big pity, but the old man had a point.

If Grandpa Chunbong had helped me so much and then suddenly moved to Dam, there would be no greater betrayal than that.

No matter how good the proposal may seem, it is important not to forget loyalty and kindness.

“Do as you wish. Oh, and you can ask me how to knock that girl over. When I was young, I was so popular with the girls, so I thought it was tuition for getting advice from a senior in life…”

“Get out, you old lady.”

This old man keeps talking so nicely that he’s going crazy. Should I kill him, the general or the idiot?

“I’m sorry. You may leave. My story is over. And when we’re ready to leave, I’ll contact you by messenger. Until then, rest at our camp. Even if you came here by sewer, it must have been quite a struggle.”

It was practically a curse. To be honest, I was tired of dealing with that old lady who was like a snake, so I thought it was a good thing and dragged the old man out of the room.

“No, it’s Danhwa. It’s fortunate that things worked out well. What are you talking about…”

“That’s not right, sir. You’re always being lax, so you’re being looked down on and getting paid. So did I step in and ruin things? What, did they kill us or something?”

“That’s not it…”

“Then that’s fine. Sir, we’re freelancers. Freelancers aren’t supposed to be swayed by clients. They called us because they were sorry, so why should we try to please them? No, I didn’t even tell you to please them, but you’re always trying to please them. What? Me and Sir, what? Can you feed all those loads of luggage you brought?”

The old man kept his mouth shut, as if he couldn’t find a way to refute what I said.

“The old man is the one in charge of the shelter. If we compare him to a family, he’s the head of the household. How can a head of household who feeds his family go around stealing money like a retard? Fix it in the future, do better. Got it?”

I don’t know how many times I’ve said this.

Maybe things will start to change little by little when the old man gets married and has children.

Instead of answering right away, the old man rolled his eyes.

It seemed so hard to answer with, “Okay.” I felt like hitting the back of his head out of frustration, but I held it in because everyone was watching.

If it goes beyond just verbally scratching and into physical actions, the surface will be worn away.

If it had been a shelter, especially in my neighborhood, I would have beaten him without hesitation, but now I had to endure it.

“Answer!”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Let’s calm down.”

“What the truth is… Okay, let me just show you around. I told that old lady to rest earlier too.”

“Yeah! Danhwa, there are some street vendors here, right? A lot of kids go there, so they sell a lot of snacks…”

A sigh escaped my lips. It was pointless to not hit the back of the head just to save the noodles. The person was crouching in front of everyone…

“Where are you going? Hurry up and take the lead.”

Since I was going to eat it wrong anyway, I thought I should get something delicious to eat.