Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: A Reason to Live
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Thump.
Once in the car, Yohan lowered his gaze to his lap.
A clenched fist rested on his knee. The air in the car held the distinct smell of a new vehicle, mixed with the faint scent of tobacco.
*Where are we going?*
That was the question Yohan wanted to ask.
*Thank you.*
That was what Yohan wanted to say.
But for some strange reason, he couldn’t get the words out.
It was probably because he had seen Kanghyeok fight.
Even when he’d learned that Kanghyeok was the one who had dealt with Johannes, he had only perceived him as a strong person.
But the Kanghyeok he had witnessed in person was a man who couldn’t be described with a word like ‘strong.’
Driving a car like this, moving alongside Leila, who exuded an aura that made it hard for Yohan to even meet her eyes.
And having the confidence to tell the flustered landlord to get lost, something Yohan couldn’t even dream of doing.
When he didn’t know much about Kanghyeok, he had spoken to him comfortably. But now that he knew a little, he found it difficult to even dare to speak.
The engine rumbled.
The sports car began to move with a heavy sound, and Yohan occasionally glanced at Kanghyeok’s profile.
Kanghyeok stared straight ahead as he drove, not saying a word.
Not until they reached their destination.
Clunk.
Yohan followed Kanghyeok out of the car.
They were in a desolate patch of land on the outskirts of the city.
It was near the area where the bombing had occurred, and a faint, charred scent hung in the air.
‘Why did we come here?’
As Yohan looked out over the plain, wondering, Kanghyeok pulled a pistol from his coat.
Click.
Then, in front of a flinching Yohan, he loaded the pistol with practiced hands.
The gun was now ready to spit out a bullet at any moment.
It now possessed the power to kill a person.
And this weapon, which could not be carelessly entrusted to another, Kanghyeok handed to Yohan.
Taking the loaded pistol, Yohan looked at Kanghyeok in bewilderment.
Kanghyeok took hold of Yohan’s hand, which was gripping the pistol, and raised it.
“See that over there?”
“What…?”
“The wall.”
Yohan looked where Kanghyeok was pointing.
He saw the outer wall of an unfinished building, dotted with stains that seemed suitable for target practice.
“Tighten your fingers and grip it firmly. Keep your index finger on the frame of the gun.”
Yohan flinched.
He looked at Kanghyeok with a trembling gaze, but Kanghyeok’s face was as impassive as ever.
But this wasn't the usual Kanghyeok.
*Please teach me how to fight.*
That was the request Yohan had made to Kanghyeok—a request that had been refused.
But now, that same Kanghyeok was gripping his hand tightly.
“The barrel is shaking. Hold the grip tighter and align your eyes with the pistol’s sights. Now look at the target.”
Yohan nearly burst into tears.
He had felt all alone in the world, but here was Kanghyeok, holding his hand and teaching him how to fight.
Yohan clenched his jaw, holding back his tears, and aligned his gaze, the pistol, and the target, just as Kanghyeok had instructed.
“You pull the trigger with your index finger. Don’t put your finger in too deep. The center of the first pad should be on the center of the trigger.”
Afraid of messing up his aim, Yohan didn’t even answer. He just squeezed the trigger.
Bang!
It was the first time in his life he had ever fired a gun.
He felt a recoil so strong he might have dropped the pistol if he hadn’t been holding the grip as tightly as Kanghyeok had told him to.
But the bullet hole appeared far from the stain he had aimed for.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stay calm. You have plenty of chances.”
His lips trembling, Yohan aimed again.
This time, he was more careful than before.
Bang!
The second bullet hole was closer to the target.
Kanghyeok adjusted Yohan’s grip and pointed at the target with his index finger.
“Again.”
Bang!
This time, the bullet hit where he had intended.
Yohan felt a shiver run down his spine. Kanghyeok spoke in a calm voice.
“Again.”
Bang!
“Again.”
Bang!
“Again.”
Bang!
“Keep going.”
Bang!
A cluster of bullet holes formed on the target.
When the magazine was nearly empty, when his finger on the trigger began to ache and the joints in his arm creaked from the recoil, Kanghyeok spoke.
“Did you love your mother?”
Yohan, about to pull the trigger again, paused his finger.
“Yes.”
“Were you loved a lot?”
“No. Not really.”
There was no trace of hurt in Yohan’s calm voice.
“But you still love your mother.”
“Not being loved isn’t a reason not to love.”
At words that could only be spoken by someone who had experienced such love, Kanghyeok’s eyes widened as he looked at Yohan.
Yohan was crying.
“Thank… you…”
As if all the tears he had been holding back had burst forth at once, Yohan’s shoulders shook as he curled into himself.
A sorrowful cry burst out of him, and Kanghyeok looked down at Yohan with a complicated expression.
He felt a damnable sense of kinship.
*Are you any different from me?*
*Am I any different from you?*
He had a feeling that if he had been Yohan’s age, he would have reacted in a similar way.
Kanghyeok clenched his jaw, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.
Click. Fwoosh.
For a while, the two men who had lost someone precious poured out their grief, each in his own way.
One with tears, the other with cigarette smoke.
A not-insignificant amount of time passed.
“What am I supposed to do with my life now?” Yohan asked in a subdued voice, wiping the moisture from his face.
“Just live. Day by day,” Kanghyeok answered, taking the shortened cigarette from his lips.
“That’s how most people live. They don’t live for a reason or a purpose. They wake up and they breathe, so they just live, one day at a time.”
It was the way most people lived.
He had no intention of looking down on it.
What was wrong with living like that?
Not everyone lived with a noble purpose in their heart.
You live because you’re alive, and because you’re alive, you do something.
Eventually, the thought of ‘why should I live’ disappears, and you focus on the act of living itself.
The wound of losing someone is diluted by life, and sorrow becomes a memory.
Kanghyeok hoped that would happen for Yohan.
“I don’t think I can.”
At the voice of a young man steeped in the grief of losing family for the first time, Kanghyeok shifted his gaze to the pistol in his hand.
“Then learn how to fight.”
*Focus on something.*
*Create your own reason to live.*
That was the meaning embedded in Kanghyeok’s words. Yohan’s lips twisted into a tearful smile.
“I don’t know why I should learn.”
Yohan had wanted to learn how to fight.
It was partly for himself, but also because he wanted to protect his mother.
But now that his mother was gone, what was the point of learning to fight?
Yohan’s hand, holding the pistol, trembled, and he let out a deep, choked sigh.
It was right after that.
Kanghyeok, who had been watching Yohan silently, thrust a hand into his pocket. He pulled out a small mechanical device.
The detonator Nobody had been holding.
The very device that should have completely destroyed the city.
“That’s…”
“He wasn’t alone.”
Kanghyeok met Yohan’s widened eyes and continued.
“I took care of the one who killed your mother. But there are others.”
Nobody had said they would never be found.
But Kanghyeok would find them. Without fail.
For the sake of avenging the landlady and Yohan’s mother?
No.
It wasn't just that.
He had sensed something different from Nobody, something unlike any of the thugs he had faced so far. He wasn’t talking about gangsters or soldiers.
It was something akin to the abyss.
He had a strong premonition that it might be connected to the ones who had destroyed the world. That was why Kanghyeok intended to find out where this detonator was made and how it ended up in Nobody’s hands.
And for that, Kanghyeok had a reason to live today.
*So what about you?*
Kanghyeok looked into Yohan’s eyes, then shifted his gaze back to the target.
“Alright.”
He could see the will to live in Yohan’s eyes.
Yohan roughly wiped the tears from his eyes.
His gaze had changed so much it was hard to believe he was the same person from a moment ago.
Perhaps Yohan was thinking of revenge.
Whether this was the right path or not, he couldn't judge yet.
But for now, Yohan had a purpose to live for.
His face somber, Kanghyeok raised Yohan’s hand, which was still gripping the pistol.
“Again.”
Through their joined hands, he could feel how tightly Yohan was holding the gun.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out.
Flutter.
Birds perched nearby, startled by the sound, took flight with a flurry of wings.
***
The room was white on all sides.
A research lab inside the company.
It was a place where equipment to be supplied to employees was developed and tested, and where various inspections were carried out. It was not a place just anyone could enter.
There were currently two people here.
One was an inspection agent, the other was William.
Dressed in a white coat like the agent, he looked down at the scarred suit lying on the stainless steel table like a patient.
Bullet holes dotted its surface.
The smell of sweat and something fishy.
Slashes from a bladed weapon and scorch marks.
To anyone’s eyes, the suit was in terrible condition.
“Begin,” William said softly.
The agent began to cut into the suit with a pair of sharp surgical scissors.
As he cut away the outer fabric, the Kevlar fibers within were revealed.
The Kevlar, clearly marked with bullet holes, was cut into uniform shapes and placed on a silver tray.
Snip, snip.
William watched silently as the process was repeated.
This suit belonged to Kanghyeok.
It had been sent to the company for disposal, and he had secured it before it could be incinerated.
The process had not been easy.
He had done it without being seen by anyone, without leaving any record.
The reason he had gone to such lengths?
The reports from Olga, who had personally checked Kanghyeok’s condition, the hospital’s medical records, and Leila’s report did not align.
Clatter.
The agent took the tray of Kevlar fibers and moved to the analysis computer.
A lid opened, and a piece of Kevlar fiber was placed inside a transparent cylinder. The agent pressed a button, the lid closed, and the fiber was drawn into the machine.
Whirrrrr.
The hum of the computer starting its analysis filled the lab.
“How long will it take?”
“It’s a detailed analysis, so it will take about ten minutes.”
William nodded and watched the computer with his arms crossed.
“This is between you and me.”
“Yes, sir. I understand.”
The agent, though curious, replied immediately.
He was one of the few people William could trust completely.
With his arms crossed, William took a slow breath in and out.
Ten minutes felt excruciatingly slow.
The computer would provide a complete analysis of the impacts Kanghyeok must have sustained during his mission.
What was the force of the bullets when they hit?
What kind of effect would that have had on the human body?
And the severity of the injuries.
William stared at the computer with narrowed eyes, waiting for the ten minutes to pass. Finally, the computer finished its analysis and began printing graphs and text onto a thin sheet of analysis paper.
Zzzzt.
The agent tore off the report and handed it to William.
“If you have any questions, please let me know. I can interpret the results for you.”
William raised a single finger, signaling for silence as he read the report.
Then he focused, reading through the front and back pages.
Yes, front and back.
That was how many bullets and attacks had assailed Kanghyeok’s body.
William’s brow furrowed, and he exhaled a long breath through his nose before speaking.
“What’s the probability of an error in these results?”
“None, sir.”
“Are you sure this wasn’t made with the older model of Kevlar fiber?”
The suit issued to Kanghyeok this time had been made with the new model of Kevlar fiber. There was a performance difference between the old and new models, which could significantly alter the test results.
“No, sir. I confirmed it was the new model.”
But the agent replied that he had definitely run the analysis based on the new model.
In that case, there were no errors in these results.
William sucked in his lips and crumpled the printout.
“Erase the data. And incinerate this suit.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll see to it immediately.”
“No one must see this.”
William was about to place the crumpled report on top of the mutilated suit, but then stuffed it into his pocket instead.
He would burn this himself later in his room.
That was how important it was that no one else saw it.
One impact sufficient to cause instant death.
Numerous fractures and at least two compound fractures.
It had been revealed that Kanghyeok had sustained injuries on his mission that could have taken months to recover from.
*So how is he up and moving?*
William’s eyes deepened with question and suspicion.