Reconstruction Government (3)
Seo Su-yeon took a mask from one of her subordinates. It was a plain white cat mask with openings for the eyes and mouth.
"Is that proof you're the minister?"
I'd expected something impressive, but she pulls out a cat mask? Honestly, it was a letdown.
"Yes, this is the proof."
"Hoo..."
Even as I sighed with a bored expression, Seo Su-yeon didn't so much as blink. She kept her smile and slipped on the mask.
"Allow me to greet you once more. I am Seo Su-yeon, Minister of National Reconstruction."
Was she playing around or just introducing herself? It felt pointless to continue the conversation, so right as I started to stand—
The front door burst open, and Han Seol came rushing in, shouting, "Do-hyun! This woman's the reconstruction government minister!"
"Huh?"
Seo Su-yeon removed the mask again. "Do you believe me now?"
"No. Explain what happened first."
Before leaving the house, I'd asked Han Seol to harvest three tomatoes for a snack—sugar-dusted ones. That's why she now stood beside me, glaring daggers at Seo Su-yeon while gripping a kitchen knife stained with tomato juice.
"I always wear a mask except when meeting my close aides. That's how Lieutenant Han recognized me the moment she saw it."
I turned to Han Seol, who nodded solemnly with a determined look.
Clever move. Instead of rambling on to prove herself, she'd donned the mask to draw Han Seol out—and confirmed her identity in one stroke.
"Fine... I get that you're the minister. So what do you want? How'd you find this place?"
"Five days ago, we captured a deserter."
One of Gwak Dae-hoon's men who'd fled, no doubt.
"Gwak Major's subordinate?"
Lies are for those beneath you in the pecking order. Better to state it boldly and avoid looking weak.
"Yes. Is what the deserter said true?"
I recrossed my legs and replied in an irritated tone. "Don't beat around the bush—just ask if I killed Gwak Major and his men. Yeah, I did. More accurately, they 'suicided.' That seems the right term."
"Suicide?"
"Yep. They barged into my house out of nowhere, threatening and trying to intimidate me to death. I warned them: leave quietly, and I won't take your lives. They ignored it. I even gave them an extra day. But they came back with heavier weapons."
"I see. Understood."
"Good. Then head out. Lieutenant Han's basically family now—no way I'm handing her over."
"F-Family?"
Han Seol's face flushed as she stammered the word.
"Ah, sorry. I have no intention of leaving here either."
"You're under the wrong impression."
Seo Su-yeon raised both hands in a gesture that she wasn't here to fight.
"I'm not one of the hardliners."
"Then why'd you come?"
Apparently, one of her agents had secretly captured the deserter alive, and the reconstruction government was in the dark about it. With Gwak Major's radio going silent, they suspected group desertion at most—no one really thought he'd been killed.
There was only one reason for Seo Su-yeon's visit. Public discontent with the hardliners' policies was boiling over. Before her reconstruction faction could rally real power against them, she wanted to establish friendly ties.
She'd heard everything from the deserter himself. Her subordinates dismissed it as nonsense, but she wanted to verify it personally—hence the trip here.
"Someday... if you need help, come find me."
"Doubt that'll happen."
"You never know with the world."
Seo Su-yeon nodded to her subordinate, who brought over an ice box.
"A gift for our first meeting. Will you accept?"
"Open it first."
The box opened, revealing its contents. My pupils trembled the instant I saw it.
Pork belly. Fresh samgyeopsal packed in a box full of ice. The vacuum-sealed meat glistened—no freezer burn.
I forced myself to stay calm. "Does the reconstruction government raise livestock too?"
"We breed chickens, cows, and pigs. Pigs eat anything, and the cows aren't for food—they're for transport."
"Then this meat?"
"Samgyeopsal from a pig slaughtered two days ago. Do you prefer a different cut?"
Just seeing the samgyeopsal shot my trust in her through the roof. But snapping it up eagerly might make me look weak.
"Nah... if you're offering, I'll take it gratefully."
I glanced at Han Seol. "Lieutenant Han, head upstairs and grab one of those melons we were gonna eat today, plus a few tomatoes. Oh, any figs left?"
I dropped the usual polite tone, issuing it like an order. She caught on immediately, bowing her head. "Right away."
Seo Su-yeon looked puzzled.
If I were her, melon, tomatoes, and figs would've sounded like code for contraband. No way a mansion like this would have fresh fruit—and even if it did, no one would hand it over to outsiders.
A risky play, maybe. But casually offering them sent a clear message: You're nothing to me. Come at me anytime if you dare.
A few minutes of silence passed. Then Han Seol returned with a basket.
Seo Su-yeon's face stiffened at the sight of the fruit inside. Her subordinates grimaced, poking and sniffing them repeatedly, as if double-checking they were real.
"Hand it over."
"Yes."
Han Seol slid the basket beyond the barrier. The subordinate snatched it up, prodding and inhaling deeply before turning to Seo Su-yeon with a dazed expression. "Minister, these are real fruit."
"Give them the meat..."
Her subordinate pushed the ice box inside the barrier. Han Seol cradled it like a treasure chest.
"You sure it's okay to give away something this precious?"
"You gave meat, so this is our reply."
"These fruits... from a trade with another faction?"
I sighed, stood, and folded my chair. "You've got a lot of questions."
"Ah, sorry. It slipped out..."
"That's enough for today."
I gave a light nod and turned toward the house.
From behind came Seo Su-yeon's voice. "I'll visit again! Once more, I'm truly sorry for the trouble our soldiers caused last time!"
I didn't look back.
"Master! Seol-ah! What happened?"
"Han Byeol."
"Yes?"
"Go upstairs and pick some lettuce and garlic. Han Seol, grab three bottles of soju from the basement... We're partying tonight."
Han Byeol looked utterly confused, but Han Seol smiled and opened the ice box to show her.
"Whoa."
In the ruins of Seoul, inside some crumbling mansion, three women conversed before a man bound to a chair.
"Minister, this is..."
"Yes, no doubt about it—this is a professionally grown melon."
One woman silently buried her face in the rind, greedily gnawing at the clinging flesh like it was too precious to waste.
"That man's ability?"
"No way. A house no one can enter without permission is impressive enough—fruit cultivation on top? Impossible."
"Then what..."
"Must be trading with someone who supplies fruit."
"With power like that, it's suspicious his identity's still unknown to everyone."
"Not suspicious. Even if I knew that house's secrets and could trade there, would I spread it around and create rivals?"
"Right."
Seo Su-yeon popped a piece of melon into her mouth, chewing as she approached the bound man.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
The man wore nothing but a pair of panties, blood streaming from wounds all over his body, a gag stuffed in his mouth.
Seo Su-yeon wrapped a cloth around her hand like she hated touching filth, then removed his gag.
"Second Lieutenant Jeong, it was every bit as incredible as you described."
"Ugh... Minister, then keep your promise and release me now..."
"What promise?"
"You said if I confessed everything without lies, you'd let me go...!"
He raised his voice and glared, but wilted under her icy stare, dropping his eyes.
"One little discrepancy, though."
"What..."
"You said it was a two-story house with a rooftop. What I saw was three stories with a rooftop."
"No way. I remember clearly! It was two stories!"
"Memories can get fuzzy. I'll let that slide."
"Then now...!"
Seo Su-yeon went to the table, picked up the knife she'd used to slice the melon, twirled it idly, and approached him.
"But you guys... are you insane?"
"What're you getting at? Honor the deal. Please..."
"Normal reaction to a house like that is to build friendly ties. How do you decide to kill the owner and loot the place? Thanks to your little rampage, he's on extreme alert against us now."
"The Han lieutenant sisters betrayed the revolution and deserted... We were just following orders..."
"Then just take the lieutenant and be done. But no—you plundered every small group on the way. Killed all the men, raped the women..."
She pressed the blade to his throat. Tears streamed down his face as he wailed.
"Please...! I'm sorry! I just followed Gwak Major's orders! Spare me once—just once!"
At his plea, Seo Su-yeon bent down to meet his eyes and smiled. "That 'spare me once'... sounds familiar, doesn't it? Something all those people said right before you and Gwak Major killed them?"
"Ugh... aaah..."
Sensing his fate—or perhaps losing his mind to terror—the man's eyes rolled back. He trembled violently, muttering nonsense.
"The real betrayers of the revolution are you. Lieutenant Han isn't one. Ah, not a lieutenant anymore, thanks to you—she lost faith in the reconstruction government and switched sides. Any last words?"
"P-Please... s-spare... me..."
"No."
A man's scream echoed through the abandoned mansion in Seoul's ruins.