It's the Truth
Hwang Seokgu's head swam at the sheer mass of paperwork heaped across his desk.
"...This all piled up in a single day?"
"...Yes, sir."
Kim Byeoknam answered. With Min Yeongsik still tied up at headquarters, he had been handed the adjutant's role in his place.
"...Even so. We haven't even officially launched, and it's already stacking up like this? Does that make any sense?"
The Korea Hero Association was set to launch as a formal state institution the moment the law was fully settled. But the gulf in authority between an official body and an unofficial one was vast. That was why even heroes, for all the name, spent their days brawling with the prosecutors and the police.
"The government has said it will temporarily grant us authority equal to that of an official agency."
"...The government?"
"The situation being what it is. Without official authority a hero's hands are tied, so they rushed the grant through."
"I see..."
Fast work. Without that authority, there would have been talk later. No question about it.
"If they acted like this on an ordinary day, I might even like them."
"Haa... The government's only just realized it."
"Realized what?"
Kim Byeoknam rubbed at the sagging skin beneath his eyes and let out a lament.
"What else could it be, sir. A specialist force whose only job is beating villains down. Who is there but heroes?"
Hwang Seokgu gave a bitter smile.
"That's how it always goes."
During the Heavenly Punishment, too, they had dragged their feet behind one excuse after another. The country was in danger, and still they were busy shoving the blame onto one another. Why? Because the danger had sunk down below them.
And today? Their own bedrooms were under threat, so only now did they scramble to fling a countermeasure onto the table.
"Pathetic wretches."
Hwang Seokgu spat the curse at the dullards who did nothing but warm their seats, then dropped into his chair.
"Byeoknam. This isn't the end, is it?"
"This is all of today's, sir, but more will keep coming tomorrow."
"Sleep's finished, then."
Hwang Seokgu opened a drawer. Fatigue restoratives, stockpiled thick against just such a day, packed it full. He flicked one across.
"I know it's rough, but bear with it a little. The day after tomorrow, you'll get to sleep."
"...So three nights without sleep."
"Not like we haven't done it once or twice."
Kim Byeoknam knocked the restorative back. Highly concentrated caffeine tore through his veins.
"I'll head back, then."
"Go on. Mind the rotation."
"Yes, sir."
Once Byeoknam was gone, Hwang Seokgu dug through his pocket and drew out his smartphone.
"...A rotten thing to do."
Talking business to a man whose family had been hurt, whose mind was in knots. Exactly the sort of act that earned you a proper cursing.
"I've gotten old."
He offered a silent apology to the man who wasn't there, then buried his head in the papers.
Of course, had Hwang Seokgu known what that man was doing at this very moment, he would have placed the call at once.
If only for the sake of saving a single person.
Dan Chuyeon was lying in a hospital bed again today.
A complicated feeling settled over Dan Chuyeon.
"If only I could have stopped it..."
His chest wrenched tight.
Watching the grieving families on the news, the ache went deeper still. He could have stopped it. If he had been a little stronger—if he had not left any mercy in his hands...!
He was furious with himself for failing to finish it when the chance had been his.
"Next time we meet, I won't let you walk away...!"
When that time came, he would make them pay for every last sin.
A ringtone chimed from the smartphone. Dan Chuyeon carefully picked up the phone, half-shattered from the fight.
"Wangrang?"
He answered at the sight of his friend's name through the cracked screen.
"Hello?"
"Chuyeon. It's me."
"Wangrang. What's going on?"
From the other end of the phone came a voice, young and edged with something wild.
"I called because I was worried. You got caught up in this terrorist attack, didn't you?"
"How'd you know?"
"There are ways of knowing. More importantly, you're actually okay? Hurt bad?"
A laugh escaped Dan Chuyeon at his friend's worry. He was glad to have a friend like this.
"I'm in the hospital, idiot. I'm dying."
"The way you're talking, you sound fine."
"Fine, my ass. I went right up to the edge of dying."
"Save the bravado. Hey, I'm the one who's gonna die. The house nearly came down because of the attack."
"It came down?"
"Nearly. I'm perfectly fine, so don't worry."
Really?
Dan Chuyeon couldn't tell whether that was true. He had no idea how far the aftermath of the fight had reached. He could only hope the words were a joke.
"How are things lately? Is it bad?"
"Haa. Don't even start. Every school's shut down, and the streets are a wreck. I can't even step outside."
"It's that bad?"
"Words won't cover it. You'd have to see it. Villains wandering around, heroes fighting in the streets—total chaos."
"How's your family? They're okay?"
"They don't leave the house, so they're fine. The little ones are about ready to die of it, though."
A bitterness clung to his friend's voice.
"What are you doing right now?"
"I'm outside. Need to buy some food. Ah, damn. This place is cleaned out too."
A rustle came through, and a clerk's apology.
"What kind of grocery store doesn't even sell a single pack of ramyeon. Is this the apocalypse or what."
"Is there a shortage or something?"
"Pretty much. I've got the money and still can't buy a thing. Damn it, do I just order delivery? What a headache."
"It's dangerous, so order in. The shops are probably still running."
"Can't trust delivery these days either. People steal every last order."
"No way it's gotten that far..."
"Even if it hasn't, I don't feel like buying by courier. They gouge the price like crazy."
The two of them sighed at the same time.
"Chuyeon. I'm watching the news on a billboard right now."
"Why?"
Unease stirred in Dan Chuyeon. Why bring up the news all of a sudden?
"...Is that you, fighting that dragon?"
"......What are you talking about."
For an instant his heart dropped. His friend's instincts had always been sharp, but he had never imagined they would land on him.
"The picture's bad, so I can't see it clearly, but it looks like you to me."
"Talk sense. How would I fight a dragon? I'm not Captain Earth."
"Right. That's what makes sense. But more witnesses have been coming forward, too..."
"I heard this somewhere. That person's at death's door right now. Limbs wrecked, neck twisted, rushed straight to the hospital."
"Really?"
"Use your head. You fight a dragon and come out normal? They'd have to be hurt."
"That's fair. Then it isn't you. You're in one piece."
"Well enough I could check out of here right now."
Dan Chuyeon relaxed. Thankfully, his friend seemed to have believed him.
"......Out of the way!"
"Kyaaaa!"
"...What's that?"
Had that been a scream?
"Hang on."
Thud, thud, thud, thud. Then a wet crack of bone.
And what was that ominous sound of something striking bone?
"...What's going on?"
"There's a bank robber. Whoa. First time I've seen one right in front of a hero."
"Guhhhk."
Thud.
"They're beating him without an ounce of mercy."
"......That's not you, is it?"
"How's someone five-foot-two supposed to catch a robber? The robber would catch me."
This one's hiding something too.
"Get inside, quick. It'll be dangerous."
"Guess I should. Rest up. See you next time."
"Yeah. You too."
The line went dead.
"Tsk. Not a single ordinary person around here."
Then, at last, the door that had stayed shut all this time swung open.
And the moment it did, a person worn down to skin and bone collapsed through it.
"Dad?"
"......"
No answer. He might as well have been a corpse.
"Oh my, Chuyeon. You're awake?"
Mi Soryeong appeared, hauling the fallen body upright.
"Oh, Mom? Your skin looks... better?"
"Hehehe. Does it?"
Mi Soryeong's skin gleamed, glossy enough to throw back the light.
"...Why is Dad like that?"
"He worked very hard for Mommy."
It looked like it. The necklace was shining, and still he showed no sign of coming back to himself.
"Honey. Chuyeon's awake. Pull yourself together."
"......"
"If you don't get up..."
Mi Soryeong's voice dropped to a honeyed whisper.
"Shall we go home like this and start round two?"
"Huk—!"
Dan Miryu's eyes flew open.
"Dad. Sleep well?"
"Urk! Hhk—!"
"Oh, for real."
Dan Chuyeon buried his face in his hands.
"...Chuyeon? You're up."
Dan Miryu, trembling as he crawled up out of the pleasure, smiled at his son with hollow eyes.
"I woke up ages ago."
"...Sorry. Mom and Dad were so tired we didn't notice. You must have been bored all day."
"...It wasn't a day. It was three."
"Huh?" said Dan Miryu.
"What?" said Mi Soryeong.
The couple wore matching, foolish looks.
"Haa. You really thought I wouldn't notice?"
"Three days? Mom and Dad were only gone for a day..."
"Every time the doctor asked where you'd gone, it was awful. Coming up with excuses."
Cold sweat poured down both their backs.
"Was it really three days?"
Mi Soryeong asked it with a hard swallow.
"Yes. Really..."
The door slammed open.
"So this is where you were! Where have you been for three days? I've been looking all this time!"
Pele kicked her way in.
"P-Pele?! This is a VVIP room—how did you—?!"
"They said you'd come to visit the patient. I let you in."
"And while I was at it, I meant to ask where you two had gotten to."
Pele narrowed her eyes at the couple.
"...I wondered why there hadn't been a single word. Busy biting and sucking on each other, I see."
"Pele! What are you saying!"
Dan Miryu shouted it with his face gone scarlet. Mi Soryeong stamped her feet under the crash of embarrassment.
"What's there to hide? A wife comforting a husband home from a great labor is only natural. I had plenty of times like that myself."
"No! We absolutely did nothing of the sort!"
"Wipe the smell off before you talk. The stench of sex is thick enough to choke."
Dan Miryu was struck speechless. Mi Soryeong bolted for the bathroom.
"If you're going to do it, do it where nobody knows. Have you no shame in front of the child?"
"...Chuyeon. It isn't— Mom and Dad aren't like that."
Dan Chuyeon turned his face away from his father's pitiful eyes.
"...Have you picked a name for the baby?"
"...Aigoo."
Dan Miryu folded to the floor as if his strings had been cut.
"All this moaning over so little."
"...Did something happen?"
Dan Chuyeon took the question in his parents' place. Both of them had mentally collapsed.
"Yeah. Something did."
"Something?"
Pele's expression turned grave, and at that look Dan Chuyeon's whole body went taut.
"...A very big something."
"...What on earth could it be."
Pele worked her mouth as if afraid to let the words out.
The air went cold. Dan Miryu, slumped where he sat, straightened his posture, and Mi Soryeong peeked her head from the bathroom.
After several deep breaths, Pele opened her mouth.
"What?"
All three of them said it at once.
"I know. You don't believe it."
But.
The Dan family gave Pele's words no reaction at all.
About five minutes passed.
Only then did it land. Mi Soryeong clutched her head in both hands and screamed.